Page 127 of Immoral

I kiss her on the lips and refrain from telling her how sorry I am for fucking up. I push the thoughts about what might have already happened away for the time being and focus on the roof.

It feels like it takes forever. The others are hot on my heels. I jump over the building and land safely on the other rooftop. Cara keeps her arms wrapped tightly around me. I run over the other units and get to the one we came in from.

"Three more buildings," Luca calls out.

"What?" I ask in surprise.

"Go," he says, running in front of me.

I follow him, and we jump over several more buildings. We finally get to the third building, and the door is open. Papà stands on the roof, glances at Cara, then meets my eyes with a worried expression.

I nod and blink hard, overcome with emotion. He kisses the top of her head then motions for me to go. I run down the flights of stairs and pause at the door.

"All clear," Papà informs me.

I rush outside, get to the SUV as quickly as possible, and slide into the back seat with Cara on my lap. The others join me, slam the doors, and the SUV takes off.

Sirens scream, getting louder, then softer the farther away we drive. I avoid everyone's stares, trying to calm Cara and holding her tighter.

She sobs harder, her body convulsing in my arms. No matter what I do, I can't seem to help her. I want to know what he did to her, but part of me doesn't. I've never been so terrified, including when she was on the stage at the auction. That seemed like a situation I had control over. It was something routine, and I knew no one would lay a hand on her before she got auctioned off. This was an entirely new ball game of Abruzzo despicableness.

"It's okay, tesoro. You're safe," I confidently tell her in her ear.

My shirt becomes soaked with her tears. She trembles so violently, I get scared she might be in shock. I bark at the driver, "Go faster." Then I say to Papà, "Make sure Silvio gets to the house."

"He's already on his way," Papà replies.

A small amount of relief hits me, but it's short-lived. The longer Cara's distressed, the antsier I get. I bark to the driver, "I said drive faster."

He steps on the gas, and the next few minutes seem to stretch forever. The gate's already open when we pull up to it. As soon as the SUV parks, I open the door and carry Cara inside, heading straight to our suite.

Arianna and Killian stand at the top of the staircase.

"Is she okay?" my sister frets.

"Yeah. I think," I add, suddenly fearful again of all the things I don't know that occurred. I brush past them and hustle to my wing.

I go straight to the bathroom and turn on the shower. Cara retreats from my chest and puts her hand on my cheek. "Gianni," she whispers then she sobs harder.

"Shhh. It's okay, tesoro," I claim, but I can't shut up the voice in my head telling me I don't know if she's okay. I kiss her on the lips. "You're shaking badly. Let's get in the shower."

She nods through her tears. I drop the blanket. "I'm going to set you down. Can you stand?"

"Y-y-yeah," she replies.

I cautiously set her on the floor. When I'm confident she has her balance, I tear off my shirt and drop my pants. I don't even take my socks off. I step into the shower with her, hoping my body heat and the water will help her convulsions stop.

We don't speak. I take my time washing her hair and body then hold her while the water runs over us. Her sobs get quieter, and her shaking is almost gone when the water turns cold.

I turn off the shower, wrap a towel around her hair, then dry her off. I reach for her robe and take it off the hook, putting it on her and tying the waist.

Her blue eyes meet mine. She swallows hard then puts her palms over my cheeks. Her eyes well up again. She sniffles then cries out, "I didn't think you'd find me."

I pull her back into my arms. "Shhh. I'll always find you, tesoro. Always. You're my heart and soul. But no one, and I mean no one, will ever take you away from me again."

"Promise," she chokes out, her chest heaving.

I blink away my tears. "Yeah. I promise. Come lie down. You need some rest." I lead her to the bed, pull back the blankets, then take her robe off her. She slides into bed, and I pull the covers up. "Let me get you a nightgown."

---