Page 253 of When We Fall: Part One
I smiled at that, feeling a lot more confident than I’d felt before. And safer.
Matteo came out, a black t-shirt on, and his face clean of blood. I could see he had some bruising forming under his eyes, though.
“I’m sorry,” I said, wincing as I took in his face.
“For what? We don’t apologize when we win,” he said, taking bottled water from Alessio. “Never apologize.”
I nodded wordlessly.
“Alessio,” Matteo said. “Phone, please.”
A moment later, Alessio was handing me a cell phone. I stared down at it, my heart in my throat.
“Who will you call,bel fiore?” Matteo murmured.
I said nothing, staring at the device in my hands. I wasn’t sure who to call or what to say. They’d be mad at me for doing what I did. I didn’t want them to worry anymore, though.
I exhaled and was just about to dial Fox when Matteo’s office door was knocked on. Matteo frowned, and Alessio immediately went to open it.
“Where is she?” Anson’s voice shouted. “I know she’s in here.”
“Alessandro, what a pleasant surprise,” Matteo called out as Anson shoved past Alessio into the room. His blue eyes fixed on me, and he wasted no time closing the space between us.
“LeeLee,” he choked out, going to his knees in front of me before pulling me into his arms. “Fuck, baby. I was so worried about you. Are you OK?” He pulled away and checked me over, frowning at the bruises I had scattered over my skin from training with Klaus and Alessio.
“I’m OK,” I assured him.
“Fuck, we’ve been worried sick. I-I thought I’d lost you,” his voice cracked, his blue eyes shining with tears.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
He shook his head. “No. You’re not the one who should be sorry.”
He stood and faced Matteo. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why is she here?”
Matteo didn’t even get to his feet. I’d never seen the man look so casual in sweatpants and a dark t-shirt.
“We were working,” he answered. “Bel fioreneeded my help. I gave it to her. She was not harmed.”
Anson visibly shook. “Do you have any idea the hell we’ve been through? I thought she was dead. The guys… Ethan. Fuck. Why? You could have called. You could have said something!”
Matteo finally got to his feet. “I’m sorry. I knew if I told you, you’d come here and try to take her home. She needed to be here. She is happy here. I promise she was never harmed.”
“Why is she bruised?”
“I was learning to fight,” I answered. “They were teaching me how to protect myself. They did nothing wrong.”
Anson turned to me, went to his knees again, and cradled my face.
“Why didn’t you call, LeeLee?”
“I-”
“It wasn’t allowed. Calling would weaken her. It would weaken the horsemen and make them more feral to find her. She just won her free call when she beat me today,” Matteo said. “Besides, they should learn to live without her.”
I glanced from Matteo to Anson, my heart in my throat. Matteo spoke to me at length about taking the recording contract and leaving. He said I deserved to have my dreams. If the guys really loved me, they’d let me go and still love and honor me. It’s what good men would do.
I made a promise to consider signing the deal.
