Page 43 of Untouchable

He opens my door quickly and offers a hand to help me out. It isn’t like I actually need help, but I find myself taking it anyways. Those old tingles start up again at the contact and I have to physically will my racing heart to calm down.

Alessandro looks down at me, my hand still resting in his as I stand in front of him. He doesn’t say anything as he just watches me before he gives me a half of a smile and turns, ushering us to the front.

We walk inside and head over to the back of the store where the meat is. Alessandro grabs a nearby basket and starts tossing random things in like bacon, hamburgers and chicken breasts before he heads over to the produce section. This place isn’t a dinky little shop, but it is also at least a fifth of the size of a big named grocery store. They have just enough for about 1 of everything you could ever need, but not much more than that.

I follow Alessandro around when a section catches my eye. Smirking to myself, I quietly slip away as I grab a basket of my own and begin filling it up with items. I go over to the cooler and grab a case of the last thing before I walk over to the check out where a frazzled looking Alessandro apparently is searching for me. When his eyes lock on mine, relief and irritation flood his deep green eyes.

“Where did you go? You can’t just disappear like that,” he flicks his eyes over to the bored clerk who is ringing up the things he bought before coming back to me. “Especially right now.”

I place the basket of junk food that I packed my basket full of onto the conveyor belt and shrug as I watch him. He looks over at the items I grabbed, and I swear his previous irritation practically bleeds out of him. His lips twitch for a moment like he is fighting a smile before he lets it slip as he picks up the case of citrus hard seltzers.

“You know these things are disgusting, right? The only reason we ever bought them was because you were a baby about anything else.”

I shrug which causes him to chuckle and shake his head as he puts it back onto the counter. We check out quickly and soon are back in the car heading to the lake house. When we get there, we unload the groceries, and I can’t help but notice the insane amount of food and other supplies that Alessandro bought.

“Why did you get so much?” I ask.

“We had hardly anything here. Who knows how long we will have to hide out here for?”

“Wait, you think it could be longer than another day or so?”

He raises one brow as he turns to face me. “Definitely. I spoke to my dad this morning while you were in the shower. They are still struggling to get a plane since all flights have been grounded until further notice. Your dad is freaking the fuck out.”

I worry my lip between my teeth as my stomach begins to twist. I would feel a whole lot better if my dad and Uncle Gio were here with us, or at least in the same country as us. I think about what my father said about me being safe with Alessandro. He has proven that several times now, but even if those things never happened, I still know in my heart that it would be true.

“Hey,” Alessandro says gently as he steps towards me. His large hands wrap around the tops of my shoulders causing me to look up at him. “It’s going to be okay. I promise, I will never let anyone hurt you.”

His grip on my arms tightens as he slowly inches closer to me. Just like last night he seems to be doing it almost subconsciously. I know I should pull away. I should push him away. But the feeling of his hands on my body and his breath intermingling with mine is like a balm to an old wound that I had hoped was healed by now. It seems that I have done a good job of blocking out the pain, but it never really healed.

“Even if that person, is you?” I ask when his lips are only inches from mine.

He stills as his body stiffens in an instant. He is so close that I can barely see his eyes, but I am able to notice what looks like hurt flare in them. Slowly, he pulls himself away and pulls his arms back to rest at his sides. He stares at me silently for a few moments before giving me a terse nod.

“I promise.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding as I nod gently. Alessandro gives me a half-hearted smile before he turns on his heel and strolls out of the room. I look over to the bookshelf in the living room and pick up a few thick magazines before plopping down onto the couch and flipping through them mindlessly. These were ones that I brought last time I came here with my parents about a year ago. Most of the styles are already outdated but if it keeps my mind off everything going on around me, including Alessandro, then I will take it.

-

A few hours later, Alessandro emerges from his room with the phone held up to his ear. He gestures for me to follow him. I nod silently as I set the magazine I was reading down and unfold myself from the couch as I trail after him.

When we get into his room, he shuts the door before putting the phone on speaker. I don’t know why he feels the need to talk in his room instead of in the living room. It isn’t like anyone else is here to overhear anything. Whatever, I guess better safe than sorry.

“Go ahead, Boss,” Alessandro says.

“Seraphina. How are you, Bambina?” My dad asks gently.

“I am okay, Papà. Where are you?”

An irritated sigh rumbles through the phone. “We are still in Hawaii. We are doing everything we can do to get back to you guys. We will be there soon, I promise.”

I frown and nod, even though it isn’t like he can see me.

“Has Benjamin been able to work up anything on who could be behind this?” Alessandro asks.

“No. All we have on footage is several motorcycles pulling up just down the road at once before masked men made their way to the gate. As soon as they reached the gate, they came in guns blazing. The first thing they did was go to the security stand and cut all of the feeds and alarms. Of course, by them doing that it triggered the emergency setting on the silent alarm which is how you guys were able to get out of there in the first place.”

“Motorcycles?” I question curiously. All the men that have chased us lately have been in cars, not motorcycles.

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