Page 70 of Beautiful Devil

I take my phone out to call Marco. The screen is smashed to pieces.Damn it.It’s broken. I won’t be able to contact anyone.

“We aren't too far from the house now. Santino, are you okay to walk?”

“Si.”

I ignore the pain vibrating through my body as we start to walk in the direction of the house.

I look over at Santino and ask, “Did you happen to see the license plate or any details from the SUV?”

He shakes his head solemnly before replying, “No, sir, I’m sorry. Did you?”

I sigh. “No, and I don't think it's a coincidence that this happened now so soon after the fire last night.”

He doesn’t say anything in return, just nods his head in agreement.

We make the rest of the journey in silence, and not too much later, I start to see the compound come into view. Relief washes over me as we get closer to the house. When a few of the guards see us coming out from the forest they run in our direction. Seconds later, I see a worried Marco bustling out of the back door.

“Fab, what the fuck happened?”

“Some bastard railroaded us a couple miles away when we were coming back from the warehouse. I didn’t get a look at the license plate – it was a black SUV with a push bar on the front – but I’m gonna take a wild guess and say whoever it was is connected to the fire.”

“Too much of a coincidence not to be,” he firmly agrees.

I turn to one of the guards who is helping Santino. “Take him into the house and call Dr. Anderson.”

They all head into the house, leaving me and Marco trailing behind. I try to push the hair out of my face but wince when a shooting pain explodes up my arm. Holyshit, that fucking hurts. Of course Marco doesn’t miss and stops to look me over.

“What's up with your arm? You should let the doctor take a look at you when he’s done with Santino.”

“I’m fine. Besides, I’ve had much worse.”

“That you have. So, who do you think was behind this?” he asks casually as we start to walk again.

“My gut is telling me that bastard Dante was behind this. He’s been too quiet lately. This has to be him. We still haven’t figured out what he wanted with Gia, and he clearly hasn’t given up.”

Now that we’re back, all I want to do is find my wife and forget about today. I can’t help but ask, “How’s she been today?”

“She’s been spending a lot of time wandering around the compound. The entire day, actually.”

“Good,” I say as we enter the house.

Entering the house, I think now would be a good time to freshen up before I go in search of my wife, but she finds me first. Both of us are walking from opposite ends of the hallway toward our bedroom when we spot each other at the same time. Upon seeing me, she freezes; her face drops and loses all color.

“Oh, my God! Wh-what happened? Are you okay?” she asks, rushing toward me.

Surprise and joy hit me in the gut. Seeing that she’s shocked at my appearance makes me feel...happy? Maybe she doesn’t hate me as much as she lets on.

“I’m fine,dolcezza, although a little TLC from my wife would make me a whole lot better.”

I’m a bastard, but I don’t give a fuck. My wife is hot, and the image of her on her knees has been with me all day. Ignoring my words and trying to hide the pink blush that’s tinted her cheeks, she moves past me, making her way into our bedroom.

I hold out my uninjured arm and say, “After you, darling wife.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost think you enjoy calling me that,” she replies.

Not wanting to dive into that, I ignore her comment because if I were to be honest, Idoenjoy calling her my wife. I throw my jacket on the floor and step out of my shoes as we enter our bedroom. I’m beat and just want to clean up and go to bed. I hear the sound of running water and find Gia filling a bath.

“Does this meet your requirement for some TLC from your wife,dear husband?” she replies with a delicious smile on her face, and although I know she's trying to play it off as an act, I can tell she’s actually enjoying this.

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