Page 49 of Romeo Pagani

“It’s okay,” I rushed out, jumping over the back of the sofa to get to Bailey. “It’s just Aida, Lorenzo’s wife.” I held my hands in front of her, trying to stick to the promise I’d made myself of not touching her without her permission, but it was too damn hard to do when she was clearly having a panic attack.

Her breaths were fast, her body swaying side to side as she murmured something under her breath.

“Maybe we should go?” Aida said, her voice sad.

“No,” Lorenzo told her. “I need to talk to Romeo.”

The boss had spoken, and I didn’t want to waste his time, but I couldn’t leave Bailey like this. Not when I was part of the problem.

“Remember what I said, Bailey. Breathe. Just breathe.” She tried to breathe but her shaking head told me that she was finding it impossible. Fuck. I didn’t know what to do, not without touching her. Dammit. “I’m gonna touch you,” I whispered. Her wide eyes made my stomach dip, scared at how she was reacting. It was too soon for all of this for her. Too soon to have people in her space.

But there was nothing I could do about it. Lorenzo was the boss, and he needed to talk to me. He’d already made allowances by saying he’d come to me instead of us going to the mansion this morning.

“Ten,” I started, placing my hands on either side of her face. “Nine.” I pressed my body against hers, backing us up until we were against the wall. “Eight.” Bending my knees, I brought my face level with hers. “Seven.” I pressed my forehead to hers, feeling a lump build in my throat. “Six.” Her breaths started to come easier. “Five.” Her hands gripped onto my forearms, keeping me in place as her body melted against mine. “Four.” My voice got lower and lower with the more breaths she inhaled. “Three.” I wanted time to slow down so that we could stay like this a little longer. “Two.” I inhaled a breath and closed my eyes. “One.”

The room was calm and still, her breathing back to normal, her body against mine. We’d created our own cocoon, and as I opened my eyes, I was captivated by hers. This close, I realized the colors were a starburst effect, going from green to brown with a little yellow in there too. Captivating, that was the only way to describe them.

“You good?” I whispered.

“No,” she replied, her voice just as quiet as mine. “But you always seem to make it a little better.” Her words had a fire lighting inside of me, one that I was sure would never go out. “I should hate you,” she continued, pouring water onto the flames. “But I can’t. I can’t hate you.”

“I want to hate me too,” I confessed, looking away from her. I couldn’t stare into her eyes any longer. I couldn’t look at her without seeing the pain and hurt shining in hers.

So I pulled back. I kept my gaze on anything other than her until I looked directly at Lorenzo. Tilting my head, I signaled for him to follow me into the kitchen. At least there I would get some distance from her, and we’d be able to talk in private.

“Dante is pissed at you,” Lorenzo started.

“I know.” I inhaled a deep breath. “I’d be pissed at me too.”

“He doesn’t understand it yet. Give him time.”

I paced the kitchen, feeling antsy after being so close to Bailey. “And you do?” I laughed, the sound manic. “Because I don’t fuckin’ understand any of this. I don’t understand how she can want to be near me.” I slammed my fist down on my countertop. “I can’t fuckin’ understand why I can’t get her out of my goddamn head.”

Lorenzo grinned like a damn fool. I’d never seen that look on his face before and it had me taking a giant step back. “You’ll understand it all one day.”

Frowning, I shook my head. “That makes no sense.” I huffed out a breath and pushed my hand through my hair, pulling on it. “And it doesn’t solve the fact that I have her in my house, sleeping in my damn bed.” Dropping my head back, I let out a string of curses under my breath. Lorenzo didn’t come here for me to confess how I was feeling. He didn’t come here for a damn heart-to-heart.

So I pushed my shoulders back, brought my head level, and stared at him. “What happens from here?”

“Everything from now on needs approval from me,” Lorenzo grunted, leaning against the kitchen island that I’d been gripping on to in the early hours of the morning. “No going off and trying to do everything yourself.” His gaze pierced mine, the seriousness of his words echoing in his eyes. “We lean on each other, Romeo. It’s how this shit works. We’re goddamn family.”

“I know.” I crossed my arms over my chest, glancing at the open doorway and seeing Aida and Bailey sitting there in silence. I’d never worried about anyone but my mom before. But this…this was something totally different. My eyes needed to be on her at all times, just so I knew she was okay.

“She’ll be okay,” Lorenzo suddenly said, and when I flitted my attention over to him, I could see him staring into the living room too. “It’ll take a while to get there, but she’ll be okay.” He turned back to me. “But you need to decide what you’re doing here, Romeo. Are you protecting her until the threat is gone? Or are you plain old protecting her because you don’t trust anyone else to protect her ever again?”

“The first one,” I said, entirely too quickly, to which Lorenzo promptly grinned at.

“Well…” He knocked on the kitchen island twice and pushed up off the edge. “If there’s one piece of advice I can give you”—he glanced back at the living room where they were now talking—“communication is key. Tell her what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling. Be honest with her. If you aren’t, you’ll only regret it.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, so I kept my lips sealed and followed him toward Aida and Bailey. There was no way in hell I was going to confess anything to Bailey. She didn’t need that—she didn’t need me.

“You have my number now. If you ever need anything, call or text,” Aida told Bailey, standing. “I mean it. Anything at all. We’re here to help.”

“I…” Bailey stood, wobbling as she did, clearly unsteady on her feet. Her wince didn’t go unnoticed by any of us, and I cursed myself. Not once had I asked if she was okay. I’d been so focused on getting her to safety that I hadn’t even thought about it. “What about my uncle?”

“What about him?” I answered, but Bailey wasn’t looking at me, she was staring right at Lorenzo.

“Why can’t he come here? I want to see him. I need to…I need to talk to him.”

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