Page 51 of Where Wild Hearts Dance
I wait for Cristiano to come back outside, but it takes anage. My fingers ache from curling and flexing and I can feel blood in my palms from where my nails have dug in deep. I’m looking at one of the most beautiful views New York has to offer, yet all I can see is black. Black hair, black skirt, black lashes. They blur into more black. The black room that held hundreds of pictures of her, black painted carpet and windows. The black dress she wore to Gianni’s funeral with the long, sexy split up the side—the only thing distracting me from the black hatred in her eyes.
Black, black,black.
“You okay?” Cristiano’s voice slides into my ears. “You look like you’re about to kill someone.”
I rub a hand down my face, dragging the visions with it.
“Not today,” I reply.
His brows hitch and he looks sideways at me. “What’s bothering you?”
“I need someone else to watch her, Cristiano.”
“Who? Tess?” He sounds surprised.
I shove my hands deep in my pockets to hide the blood. “Yeah.”
“Why?” He draws the word out slowly, as though he’s relishing the change in topic.
“I have too much on and… I know how important she is to the family. I can’t protect her properly right now—my head is in a million other places. We need to find someone else.”
Cristiano’s gaze pans to the horizon. “But you’re the best, Benito. And I don’t trust many other people.”
My chest feels so tight I worry it might explode.
“Nicolò can do it.”
“I’ve just given him the lower east side.”
Fuck. “I’ll take it.”
“Benny, it was kind of a promotion for him.”
I groan. Something tells me I’m not getting out of this. “Fine. Maybe we can split our time with her. I’ll keep an eye on her when she’s in the studio…”When she’s a floor below and I can’t see her. “And Nicolò can watch her at your place.”
“Okay, sure. I’ll let you talk to him.” Cristiano’s lip twitches as he delivers the next blow. “Either way, you should both know she’s headed to a party right now.”
I do a double take. “What?”
“Pool party, about ten miles east of here.”
“But she doesn’t do parties.”
Cristiano shrugs and I can almost sense glee rolling off his shoulders. “She does now.”
An unpleasant taste fills my mouth. Something is amiss here. The whole time I’ve been watching her, Contessa has never been to a pool party, nor a social event for that matter. What the fuck is she playing at? Maybe she’s seeing someone, in secret. That could solve the problem of having to turn down an arranged marriage because of a lack of innocence.
“You let her go?” I can’t help the growl at the base of my throat. Cristiano pans an innocent gaze in mydirection. “Dressed in—” I’m about to say ‘next to nothing’ but think better of it, “atwo-piece?”
A small smile dances across his face. “She’s a grown woman, Benny. She can wear whatever she likes. And as far as I know, her father hasn’t promised her to anyone—yet, so she can come and go as she pleases. Our remit is only to make sure she’s safe.”
Yet.Something dark and inhuman explodes behind my eyes.
“She’snotsafe,” I say, my voice dropping to inhuman depths.
Cristiano steps to one side and I take that as my cue to leave. I scrub my bloodied hand down my pants as I stride across the terrace and over the lawns. When I’m sure I’m out of sight, I break into a run. As soon as I’m sitting in the driver seat of my car, the gates open, as though the world knows exactly what my game plan is.
Only…. I didn’t finish my sentence.
