Page 40 of Don't Break My Heart
“Agreed,” says Romeo as they share a look. One I don’t like because it feels like they are blocking me out. Like they are doing exactly what they are pissed at me for doing.
Reef looks over his shoulder. He has been very quiet through all of this. I see the disappointment in his eyes when they come to me, and it hurts more than the anger of the twins. “What the fuck do we do then? I don’t want to stay here and run this shit show. You cut your brother off, then are you saying we work with Dante?” he asks the twins.
“You know him better than I do,” Romeo says to Orlando.
Orlando stays silent for a long time, staring out the car window. A heaviness comes over the car. We’re all trapped here.
“Does anyone care what I think?” I snip, bitchy as hell and on the verge of going postal. I know it’s the last thing they all want. But at the same time, people’s lives are at stake, and I for one can’t just walk away knowing all I do now. “We have to do something. We might not like it, but this responsibility has been left with us for a reason. And we can make a difference.”
I know they don’t want to listen to me on this one. Reef is desperate to get home, Romeo as well. And a week ago, I would have said the same, but now I know there are other people suffering. I can’t go back home knowing I could have made a difference.
Chapter 18
Whenwegetbackto the villa, I disappear straight to my room. It’s been bleached and scrubbed, the pool drained and refilled after what happened in here the other night. Until tonight I haven’t felt comfortable to stay back in here, but I have no interest in sleeping in any of their rooms tonight. I need to be alone with my thoughts. I feel panicky and out of control in a whole new way. All I wanted was to get back to Ravens Hollow to my club, but now... Now I can’t. We have to stay, at least until I can clean up their clubs and help the women working in them. I also know I need to find a way to get through to Daisy. Keeping her heart locked up tight won’t save her like she thinks it will. It’s an empty existence, she deserves better. I pace the length of my room trying to think. Is Dante a better option? What the fuck will Valentine do when he works out his brothers are going to cut him off? I have a million questions and no answers.
Knowing there is nothing else I can do to help anyone tonight, I get out of my expensive dress and have a quick shower, ready for bed.
Propping up a couple of pillows behind my head, I pull out my phone and type “Moretti clubs” into the search engine. A list of ten clubs pops up, followed by a write-up of a couple of them from a media outlet I know is owned by the family.Italy’s most exclusive and high-end experience,it says, showing an image of the club we visited the first night I was here. I guess it helps with promotion when yourun the fucking media as well as all the entertainment. But nowhere on this list is the place we met Dante at tonight. What was that place? I didn’t see a name and all Dante gave me was an address on that card he handed me. It’s like it doesn’t even exist. Maybe that’s what the family want most of this city to believe.
Orlando appears in the doorway with a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hand, and I wonder how long he’s been standing there watching me. His lips quirk up at the sides like he’s testing the waters with me. They are fucking icy, Orlando.
“What do you want?” I snip, not up for another fight tonight.
He raises a brow and pushes off the wall. “I think we need to talk.”
I roll my eyes. “So, you brought wine? Whiskey would have been a better option,” I say, bitchy as all hell.
He moves further into the room, coming to sit beside me. “Let’s start with the wine, hey, treasure.” He cracks open the bottle, fills my glass, and passes it to me. He places the other glass and the bottle on my bedside table.
I take a big swig, wondering why he’s looking at me the way he is. An hour ago, when we got back to this place, he was mighty pissed and stormed off in the opposite direction with Romeo. But now there is a hint of lust in his eyes alongside curiosity. At least I think that’s what this look is.
“What were you looking at on your phone?”
“Nothing important,” I mutter, trying to play it cool.
“Still lying to me.” He huffs, leaning back into my headboard.
I pull a face, like is he kidding me, with all the shit he has lied to me about? “I don’t have to tell you everything I do.”
His eyes narrow. “Rule five. When I ask you a question, you answer honestly, even if the truth hurts you or me,” he snips.
I throw my drink back and hold the glass out for him to top me up. “We’re not still fussing over your ridiculous rules, are we? I feel like it’s time we moved on from that shit.”
His glare intensifies. “My rules are in place to keep you safe.”
“Yeah, I remember.Obey me, and I will keep you safe. Break the rules, and I can’t promise protection—from me or anyone else,” I mock him. He and Onyx are the same, all control and no trust in me, and I’m about done with it.
He moves quickly, trapping me beneath his body in one move. Stradling my waist, his large hands encircle my wrists as he pins them above my head. He glares down at me, nostrils flaring like a raging bull. “If you want to survive with me, learn to be a good girl and play nice. It’s fucking simple, Sloane, but you can’t play by the rules, can you. You think you know better, think you’re tough enough to survive anything. Let me make one thing fucking crystal clear for you—without me and the other three men out there, you wouldn’t still be alive.”
My whole body stiffens with rage. “Without me, you wouldn’t still be here either. Does that make you weak and not able to take care of yourself?” I snip back because fuck him.
He cracks his neck. “You…” He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as if trying to control himself. “What the fuck happened that night while I was recovering? The truth.”
I try to buck him off me, needing space, but he doesn’t budge. He just glares down at me all fucking broody and gorgeous. How can this man angry as hell be a turn-on. I should hate him right now. “I caught your fucking piece-of-shit brother on a phone call, cursing out whoever was on the other end of the call for shooting you and not me. He had orchestrated that whole thing, knowing where we would be and what time we would leave the club. He wanted me dead.”
His body tightens. “The fucker is dead.”
“I dealt with him, Orlando, there was no reason for any of you to get involved.”
