Page 34 of Twisted Knight

“She’s been getting calls… She rejects them but she’s different after that—more distant, worried.”

“And it rubs you the wrong way? To have her distancing herself?”

He was still fishing for information; I could totally imagine him and Cassie talking behind our backs like two oldnonnasin church.

“It’s more a concern of any potential threat, really. She seems nervous and dodges questions… That's a red flag, and as you said before, I'm the protector of my family.”

He twisted his mouth to the side; it was not really the answer he hoped for.

“I’m not sure who Jake is, but I think he may have a part to play in India coming here,” he admitted. “I know my wife by heart and she's a protector. It’s not like Cassie to involve someone in our lives. By allowing India to come into our circle, she was always risking her discovering the truth and therefore being a target in some way. I just don’t think she did it without some serious forethought.”

I nodded, trying to rein in my urge to kill this man, whoever he was, for hurting what was mine.

Yours? Fuck, are you crazy?! That woman will never be yours.

Truth was India managed to wake my body in ways that softness never did before. My cock hardened to her softness. It almost felt like I was not broken, like I could be saved, and this was the worst.

She was waking up a part of me that I thought only responded to pain and fear… and that both intrigued and terrified me. Part of me wanted to hope that maybe if I tried with her, things could be different, but it was too dangerous to hope—it cost too much.

“Cassie won’t tell me much either,” Luca continued, somehow clueless of my internal turmoil, something that I was grateful for.

“Your wife is the most faithful, trustworthy woman I’ve ever met. It’s not a pick and choose quality that you know. If we love her being like that with us, we can’t blame her for being like that with everyone else.”

Luca rolled his eyes. “It’s infuriating when it’s not to my advantage.”

I let out a low chuckle. “I bet it is.”

He leaned back on his seat and crossed his arms on his chest. “I know my time will be otherwise occupied when we’re in the city, but I’d like for you to run down your program for me. I know what Matteo said, but you’re my consigliere. There’s no one in our circle I trust more than you.”

This meant so much more to me than he could ever imagine. Luca’s trust had been what kept me going for so long, what kept the blackness in me at bay.

I told him about the places Matteo wanted me to go and the two meetings I was supposed to attend, but I did something that showed me that India meant much more to me than I even expected. I didn’t tell him about my plan to show her the city.

I was not ready to share this because I didn’t even know what it meant for me or for her.

But for now I just need to find out who was the rat and forget the beautiful doctor occupying my mind.

Chapter Eight

DOM

“How are you?” I asked Jude as he tapped his foot rhythmically against the ugly lime-green linoleum in the hospital waiting room.

He stopped tapping his foot. “It bothers you? Cassie says some people get annoyed by it but…” He shrugged his frail shoulder. “I do that. I don’t know why.”

I slid to the chair closer to his and rested my hand on his shoulder. I looked down at my hand, how massive it looked on his small frame. This boy needed to be protected at all costs.

“It doesn’t bother me; you can tap away. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yes, I think so,” he replied with a certain uncertainty, his eyes still locked on the ugly floor.

Not really the answer I was going for but that would have to do. I was not good at pushing him; I was more the kind to let him know I was here and open to chat whenever he felt like he wanted to.

I started to tap my own foot, a welcome distraction. “We can even do a concerto if you want.”

Jude gave me a little side smile and it made me feel better. I helped him, this sweet little innocent boy. I couldn’t be as bad, as rotten as that if I managed that.

“Any space for a third one?”

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