Page 70 of Unleashed
Confusion settles on her features.
“After the whole Micah thing, Mira got hurt by a family rival. Really, really hurt. I’m talking no amount of therapy could ever heal her scars. And to this day it fucks with Nicoli’s head, knowing he couldn’t save her from it. Thinking of all the things he could have done differently to protect her. Every time he looks into his wife’s eyes, he sees the million ways he failed her. And he made me realize that the safest place for you and our baby would be anywhere but with me. Not being tied to the Del Rossa name was the only way I could protect you.”
Her throat bobs as she swallows, her lips parting like she wants to speak, but nothing comes. Just silence, heavy and deafening.
I drag a hand down my face, elbows pressing into my knees. “I told myself I could live with it. With the distance. With you thinking I was gone, as long as it meant you were safe.” My laugh is harsh and hollow. “But I wasn’t living. I was rotting. And you were crying into a fucking voicemail while I drank myself half to death.”
Her shoulders curl in, arms wrapping around her stomach, protective and fragile all at once. “The elevator?”
I smile, rough a hand through my hair as I lean back, remembering how I slipped up that day. “I knew you had a doctor’s appointment. Followed you, thought if I can’t be with you in that room, I can at least be in the same fucking building. But when you stepped into that elevator—Jesus, Everly. I fucking lost it. I couldn’t have you so fucking close and not touch you.”
Color spreads across her cheeks, and Christ, if that isn’t the most beautiful thing I’ve ever fucking seen. Her blush. Her blood reacting to a memory where I touch her, feel her, claim her.
“Everly—”
“Why now, Isaia? What changed your mind?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Call it a mutual…acquaintance.”
“Who?”
There’s a knock on the front door, and I let out a half snort, half scoff because—goddammit—even his timing is fucking perfect. “You, ah…” I get up and grab my shirt. “I don’t think you’re going to believe this.”
Everly’s already on her feet, bare legs flashing under her oversized shirt, heading for the door before I can blink.
I snag the hem, yanking her back against me, a growl in my chest. “Unless you want me to commit murder on the goddamn welcome mat, you’ll put on something else.”
She arches a brow at me, chin tilted in that defiant way that makes me want to fuck her until she screams. “Like what?”
I give her a look, deadpan. “A large sweater. Or a nun’s habit. Take your pick.” I crash my lips to hers, kiss her hard, leaving no room for argument. “You get dressed, and I’ll get the door.”
This is going to be fun.Not.
Chapter 24
EVERLY
The second I step into the living room, I freeze.
Anthony’s standing by the door, cane braced against the floor, shoulders taut like he’s fighting to keep his balance.
Isaia’s on the far wall, arms crossed, jaw locked, glaring like he’s one breath away from lunging. The distance between them feels deliberate, as though the only thing keeping Isaia from burying Anthony six feet under is the width of the room.
My stomach twists. “What’s going on?”
Anthony’s gaze flicks to me, and I have to catch my breath. He looks…wrecked. Tired. And his voice, when it comes, is low, rough, stripped down. “I’ve made mistakes. Too many to count. And yesterday I realized that if the choice is between having you as a friend or not at all, I’d rather take the scraps than lose you forever.”
My chest tightens. The sincerity cuts, but the pain in his eyes slices deeper.
“I know you love him.” His chin tips toward Isaia, as if it costs him blood to admit it. “I hate it. I’ll always hate it. But I can’t change it. So I’m bowing out. Accepting the loss. You love him. And no matter how much I wish otherwise, I can’t fight that anymore.”
Behind him, Isaia scoffs under his breath, the sound dark, violent. “You think saying that makes you noble?”
“You can hate me all you want, Del Rossa. But don’t act like you’re the only man in this room who will bleed for her.”
“I’ll act like the only man she belongs to, then. How’s that?”
“Would you two stop and tell me what the hell is happening?”
