Page 73 of Dreadful
She swallows and whispers so low I almost can’t make it out. “But our past…”
“What about our pasts? Can they be so awful that you wouldn’t want me?”
Yes.
My conscience creeps in, making me question what I’m doing with her.
She’s worried because I don’t know her? She doesn’t knowme.When she does, though, why would the bakers’ granddaughter ever take a chance on a dead mafioso’s son? Not to mention my uncle is the man who’s tormenting her grandfathers.
Putting an outsider in danger has been the main reason why I’ve resorted to only dating women who know what they’re getting into dating a mafioso. Sure, they’ll lie through their teeth and do whatever it takes to get what they want. They’ve all used me for one reason or another, but we both knew the score. Tallie is nothing like them.
She doesn’t know my world, and she’s never manipulated me or used me to get on Claudio’s good side. Mydolcezzais thoughtful, fiercely protective, and guarded. There’s been only one other person like that in my life…and she sacrificed everything for me.
Am I making a mistake?
My instincts are screaming that I need Talia Amoretti. Deep down to the depths of my soul, I need her. But what if my selfishness costs us everything?
My fingers lightly brush her hair out of her face and graze down her cheek to trace her scar again. I swallow as I confess what I’ve been afraid of admitting this whole time.
“You…you remind me of someone.” Her eyes widen, and I quickly continue, afraid she’ll stop me before I can get out the truth. “That girl I told you about? She was strong, loyal, and fearless. Like you. If I could, I’d go back and do everything in my power to save her.”
Sadness splinters her expression for the tiniest moment before rage floods the cracks.
“I’mnotthat little girl. I don’t need saving.” Her eyes are still rife with pain, even as she tries to swat my hand away. I’m too quick this time, and I pull her flush against my body.
“But what ifI’mthe one that needs saving?”
Her lips part in surprise, but before she can respond, the moment is cut off by the screeching of tires out front.
“What the hell?” she murmurs.
“Stay here.” I push through the door and past hernonnito peer through the bakery’s picture window. The street is empty, but I can’t shake the eerie, sick feeling that’s churning in my stomach.
“What was that?” Tallie asks. “Was someone street racing?”
I whip around to find all three of them right behind me.
“I told you to stay in the kitchen. Go in there until I tell you to come out. All of you.”
Tires screech again, and my heart thunders in my chest, pressuring me to protect them.
“Get out of here. Go!”
“The car is back!” Tony points at the all black, beat-up old sedan.
My heart stops. I watch in slow motion as the driver’s arm extends out of the window and raises a submachine gun.
“Look out!” I shield Tallie with my body and cradle the back of her head before shoving us both to the ground. In the chaos, I reach out to grab someone else and manage to yank the hem of a shirt down beside us.
It all happens so fast, but we’re down right before the rapid-firerat-tatof an uzi peppers the picture window. Glass crashes around us. The tires screech away, but the deafening noises ring in my head long after the car is gone.
The world quiets around me, leaving only the thick hum of adrenaline and thundering heartbeats in my skull. I lift up and run my hands over Tallie, checking for injuries. I don’t see anything other than scratches from the broken glass, but her eyes are wide with terror, and she’s as still as stone.
“Tallie, are you okay? Answer me,dolcezza.”
Her brow furrows, and her gaze locks onto mine. She glances behind me at the window before scanning me like I just did her.
“Sever, are you—”
