Page 113 of Devil Mine

Even now, my skin still gets cold thinking about what Augusto Leone threatened me with. His face had been obscured by Thiago’s body so his words alone had been spine-chilling enough to scare me to my bones. Over the past week, I’d woken up on more than one occasion in the middle of the night, my heart racing in fear that someone was coming to take me. Each time, I’d awoken held tightly in Thiago’s arms, his bare chest enveloping me like a cocoon and immediately calming my anxiety.

They’re nightmares and not reality, and I know I’ll get over them soon. Still, being able to go back to work this morning has been a blessing. Now I’ve got something else to occupy my racing thoughts so I’m not continually spiraling in a swell of anxiety.

“So the rumors are true. You are back.”

A smile breaks out across my face before I’ve even turned around. I fling myself into the speaker’s arms, hugging him tightly even though I know he’ll hate it.

“Wiz,” I whisper affectionately. Pushing him away but holding onto his shoulders, I look up into his face. He’s unchanged and familiar and I’m so happy to see him. “What the hell are you doing up here?”

“I had to see for myself if the gossip was true.”

“I didn’t know the gossip traveled all the way down to the second floor.”

“You’d be surprised,” he replies in his usual even tone.

Grinning, I turn away and grab my coffee mug. He walks alongside me as we head towards my office.

“You didn’t have to come up yourself, I know you don’t like to. I was going to come to see you later, it’s just been a crazy first day back as you can imagine.”

“I hacked your calendar and emails to make sure you were free before I came up, so I have no need for imagination.”

With a snort, I head into my office and settle behind my desk. He follows, dropping easily into the chair opposite me.

“Why did you come back?” he asks.

“It wasn’t exactly of my own free will,” I explain.

“Your father forced you back?”

My father is apparently away on business, so I haven’t had to see him. It’s made the return to the office that much smoother.

“No, I… I was never running from him, Wiz. I was running from someone else. He found me and brought me back. But I’m not… I don’t mind. I think I’m making it work. I’m happy to be back.”

I stumble on the words, lacking the appropriate self-awareness to correctly diagnose what I’m feeling and how to communicate it back to my friend. Ithasbeen nice being back, something I never thought I’d be caught dead saying a month ago. And the way the last week has gone has me feeling embers of the most dangerous emotion of all. Hope. Hope that maybe this could be a life I could make something of. Hope that one day my marriage with Thiago might even turn into something more than just a physical relationship.

“Can I assume that whoever ‘he’ is, he’s responsible for that massive ring on your finger?”

“Yes.” I look down at the diamond, playing with it absentmindedly before flicking my gaze back up to Wiz’s. “I’m married now.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t escape the arranged marriage?”

“Nope.”

“I don’t like to hear that. Happily married at least?”

I blow out a breath, going for the easiest answer.

“Sort of?”

He laughs, the first time I’ve ever heard him do so. “You’re one of a kind, Tess. Whoever he is, I hope he knows that.” He stands, heading for the door. “Let me know if you ever need to run away again. I’ll do better next time.”

“Wiz.” He pauses, turning back towards me. “You gave me a taste of freedom when you helped me disappear, and I know you risked a lot to do it. I can’t ever thank you enough for what you did for me, but I hope to try one day.”

He looks at me impassively, not doing well with processing the note of emotion in my tone. “You were kind to me. You decided to be my friend.” He scratches his nose uncomfortably. “I don’t have many of those but I think this is what you’re supposed to do for your friends, isn’t it?”

He leaves without waiting for a reply and I know that he’s not likely to come back upstairs anytime soon. The next time I want to see him, I’ll go down to two and sit on my pink couch, talking his ear off while he types away studiously.

Exactly the way it’s always been.

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