Page 17 of Reign of Psychos

“Figures.” She tapped in a code and waited for the lock to turn green. When she stepped inside, I followed her.

“Don’t you have to be somewhere?” she asked.

“Not tonight, no.” I had a hotel room waiting for me, but the truth was, I didn’t want to be alone. Not tonight.

For once Thea didn’t fight me. She sighed and waited for me to close the door, then I followed her up two flights of stairs until we reached a second, even less secure door. This one needed a key.

One hard kick and it would fall apart. The idea of her choosing to stay somewhere so unsafe, without anyone to watch over her, made me clench my fists with rage. If Kyril was here, he’d have gone berserk. I was almost tempted to take a photo of the shitty door and send it to him, so he could see the kind of danger she’d put herself in.

But if I did, the stupid fuck would catch the first flight out here and cause all kinds of bother.

“Well I’m off to bed. There’s a blanket on the sofa for you.” She kicked her boots off and shed her coat. The apartment was small and bland, with some generic art on the wall and a beige sofa positioned in front of a large, flat-screen TV. Homely it was not.

“We know about the baby,” I said before she could leave. The minute the words fell from my lips, she froze.

“What baby?”

“Don’t act dumb, Thea. Michael found the pregnancy test and thought it was Eden’s. She was forced to admit it was yours. We were all there at the time, losing our shit because you’d fucked off in the middle of the night.”

“I had no choice, Dario. My father is a threat to me, to us all,” she replied, neatly side-stepping the baby issue. “I’d have thought you, of all people, would understand.”

“Who’s baby is it?” The fact it wasn’t mine bothered me more than I cared to admit.

“Does it matter?” She turned to face me, her face blank, but her dark eyes gave her away. She was afraid. Mostly likely terrified. And with good reason.

“It matters. Kyril assumes it’s his, which creates a whole new set of problems none of us wish to think about.”

“Yes, it’s his.” She placed a protective hand on her flat stomach. “We didn’t use protection at the Christmas Gala before it all went to shit. I was supposed to take a morning-after pill, but then…”

“Then Torrance came after you and threw you in your father’s dungeon,” I finished. “Which meant it was too late.”

She nodded and stared at the floor. “I have no idea what I’m going to do.” The hitch in her voice tugged hard at my heartstrings. Thea rarely showed her vulnerable side. She’d learned the hard way that it was a bad idea, for many reasons.

“You have time to consider your options. It’s your body and your life.” I knew damn well Kyril would never condone her aborting his baby, but he wasn’t my concern.

Thea meant everything to me now my father was gone. If for whatever reason she decided she didn’t want the baby, I’d make sure she had the means to end the pregnancy. We weren’t living in fucking Idaho or Arkansas or some other place where abortions had been banned.

“I’m not getting rid of the baby,” she said, her voice firm as she fixed me with a hard look before slumping down on the sofa. “Are they mad I left?” I knew she’d gone radio silent before I flew here three days ago, but I hadn’t spoken to any of the assholes since then.

“They were worried, not mad.”

She chewed her lip and tugged at the short strands of hair around her ears. So cute.

“I couldn’t stay, not with Dad still out here. We both know he won’t stop until he’s handed me over to that fucking monster.” I moved to sit down next to her, conscious of how late it was. Too late to be sitting here talking, but I was powerless to move. “Fausto told me Dad’s in debt to the cartel. And because I escaped the wedding from hell, Marku’s on his case as well.” She threw me a small smile. “Karma’s a bitch.”

I chuckled.

“One thing that puzzles me, though,” she continued, “Is why he has beef with Lucian Forsyth. Any idea why he’s going after him? It makes no sense. Lucian isn’t someone to mess with, and Dad knows this. He already has the cartel gunning for him, so why waste resources on Lucian?”

She made a good point. Unfortunately, Francesco had never discussed his operational motivations with me - I was his soldier, not his general - which meant he’d not shared his thoughts on why he’d ordered me to plant a recording device in Cassian’s hotel room.

“Honestly, I have no idea,” I admitted. “Torrance would probably know why. Those two have been allies since Francesco’s father died. He helped Francesco take the reins and eliminated any dissenters.” My father had spoken of how ruthless a much younger Francesco had been when a few of the older guys questioned his abilities in running the family business.

Thea shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m sure he has some bullshit reason in his head, even if that reason is simply that he wants more power. The only thing he told me was Lucian’s anti-organized crime initiatives were causing him issues, which kind of makes sense. But still, my gut tells me there’s more to it.”

I agreed with her but now was not the time to analyze Francesco’s motivations. “You need to sleep,” I reminded her as she fought back a yawn.

She nodded and stood. “I have to be up early. I have a ferry to catch to Palermo.”

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