Page 34 of Secret Confession
Eventually, she lets out a sigh before asking, “Does that mean my stalker threat will be gone by tomorrow?”
“Yes,” I tell her, not able to hide the elation I feel at knowing she’ll be safe after tomorrow.
Her face crumples, and for some reason, she looks sad. My brow furrows as I try to work out why she looks that way, and when I draw a blank, I decide to ask her. “What’s wrong?”
She waves me off, but her expression doesn’t change. “Nothing,” she mutters, dropping her gaze to the floor.
I hook my fingers underneath her chin, lifting her head until shehas no choice but to meet my gaze. “Tell me what is wrong.” My tone leaves no room for arguments.
Her voice is barely above a whisper as she admits, “I’m not sure I want to leave.”
My heart speeds up at her confession, my stomach fluttering in a way I very much didn’t expect. Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about her leaving once the threat was no longer there, but now that I am thinking about it, I don’t want her to leave either.
“Who said you have to leave?”
There’s a sparkle in her eyes that looks very close to hope, and it does stupid things to my heart. “Miles will…”
Before she can finish her sentence, I silence her with a kiss. When I pull back, I tell her, “Let me worry about that, Little Lamb. You can stay here as long as you’d like. Besides, I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”
Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever be done with her, and that’s a really fucking terrifying thought—one that I haven’t had in a very long time.
We reluctantly part ways, leaving me to get on with my afternoon meeting, and all I can think about is how much I desperately don’t want her to leave. To start with, the thought more than scared me, but the more time I’ve spent thinking about it, the more sure I am.
Courtney is slowly worming her way under the walls I’ve had in place for over two decades, but that doesn’t scare me in the way I thought it would. Instead, it brings me a level of peace I didn’t even know I was searching for.
Although there’s a million reasons why this shouldn’t work, why we shouldn’t be together, I don’t care about any of them. She makes me forget that every other woman exists, and I only have eyes for her.
Waking up in Courtney’s bed again this morning felt more natural than it did the morning before. After losing ourselves in each other’s bodies the night before, we both fell into a blissful sleep that wasn’t disturbed by the nightmares we were expecting.
I love seeing how well rested Courtney is when she wakes up beside me, with significantly less dark circles around her eyes. She looks so relaxed, with this expression that can only be described as bliss, and I want to puff out my chest with pride that I’m responsible for it.
As much as I want to stay in bed with her, a different kind of excitement thrums through my veins as I think about what I have planned for today. Since my feelings for Courtney have grown, so has my possessive need to protect her.
Eddie threatened someone who I care a lot about, and now he’ll regret the choices he made. He’s going to feel the full force of the Morelli family’s wrath, as he learns not to touch those we hold dear.
I arrive at the safehouse to find Marcus and Miles are already there, despite me being exactly on time. They look just as excited as I feel, and when they lead me into the room where they’re holding Eddie, my nerves tingle with anticipation.
I haven’t felt this much blood lust in a very long time, but as it heats myveins, making me feel almost electric, I embrace the sensations, drawing on its power as I stand even taller.
Eddie is tied to a chair in the middle of the room. There’s rope connecting one of his legs to one of the chair’s, his hands are tied behind his back, and there’s some around his waist, keeping him securely in place. The boys have clearly forgotten to gag him, and he begins shouting at us the moment we step into the room.
“What the fuck is going on here? You have no fucking right to do this. I’m aligned with the Santoros. You can’t fucking touch me.” Spit flies from his lips as he gets more animated the longer he rants, whilst trying to thrash around, as if that will help loosen the rope.
“We have already been granted permission from the Santoros. You are no longer aligned with them,” Marcus replies lazily as he leans one shoulder against the wall, looking bored.
I step closer to Eddie, drawing his attention to me. “I take it you know who we are and why you’re here?”
This time he has the good sense to keep his mouth closed, choosing to sneer at me instead.
“You’re here because you threatened my little sister,” Miles growls, taking a threatening step towards Eddie.
Fear flashes in his eyes when he thinks Miles is going to attack him, and I almost feel sad about how fucking easy this will be.
“You killed my fucking father. This is nothing more than revenge,” Eddie snarls, clearly no longer taking the sensible option of remaining silent.
Miles starts to respond, but I hold my hand up to stop him, answering on his behalf. “Your father died of a drug overdose. If anyone is to blame, it is the dealer who sold it to him.”
Eddie’s face contorts with rage. “He would never have taken an overdose if their whore of a mother hadn’t died.”
