Page 49 of Embracing Darkness

I moved away from Gianni, hoping he’d get the hint that I’d rather leave than start up a commotion. He gave one last look around the room, that terrifying smile widening just a little. “I was really excited to meet all of you. Truly. But not if this is the company you keep.”

Not wanting to deal with whatever Gianni was going to do, I slipped back outside and raced to the car, shutting myself inside with my head in my lap. A tap against the glass had me looking up as pure horror flooded my veins. The door was yanked open, Owen tearing me from my seat and thrusting me against the side of the car so hard that I cried out in pain.

“You little fucker. Bringing him here? For what? To see me angry? I told you that I loved you, that I wanted to marry you and this is how you treat me?” He yanked me forward, ready to thrust me against the car again when he was ripped off of me and thrown to the pavement.

Gianni growled in his face, an animalistic version of the sweet, loving man who had taken me to bed this afternoon. For some reason, I wasn’t really scared of him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You break into his house,” Punch. “And then you terrify him for hours,” Punch. “And then you try to make him believe that you still love him?” Punch. “Not to mention you’re not supposed to be anywhere near Rhys.” Punch. I whimpered as blood splattered across the pavement and Gianni’s fist, Owen groaning from the impact of his head hitting the gravel.

Mom screamed for him to stop, Joey and Liam rushing over to me to check my injuries. “Hey, what… is what he’s saying true? Owen broke in again?”

My bottom lip trembled as I tried to fight the tears. “I didn’t want to say anything.”

Gianni stood up off Owen, moving back toward me as he looked me over, my brother and his husband stepping away. Blood droplets ran down his face, spreading across his shirt. There would be so many fucking questions to answer later. “I just want to go home,” I cried.

Gianni didn’t question it as he helped me back into the car. Liam and him shared a silent conversation over a handshake before my brother slipped out his phone and pressed it to his ear. “Yeah, I have an Owen Hall that violated a restraining order. Yes, the other party is safe. I’m his brother. Yes.” Liam nodded to Gianni, the man taking that as permission to leave. He slipped into the driver’s seat and took off down the street.

The panic in my chest was building again and if I didn’t do something, I was going to pass out. Gianni reached over the console and grabbed my hand but instead of drawing comfort from him, I chose the easy way out and distanced myself from my emotions. If I couldn’t feel anything, then I couldn’t be scared of Owen still trying to get at me and tell me he loved me so that he could get my program.

I knew it was dangerous what I was doing, constantly pushing everything away to deal with later but it was so much easier than facing it.

By the time we made it to their house, I was a walking zombie, asking for them to put a movie on so I could mindlessly sit in one place and not think about anything else. I probably said three words before I was cuddled up against Dmitri’s chest, everyone silent as something played on the screen.

“Rhys-”

Like a fucking toddler, I turned away from the voice and curled into myself, shaking my head. “No, no talking. There’s a movie on. We need to watch.” The silent disappointment and concern that came from my three men was deafening.

Chapter thirty-seven

VALENTYN

My heart broke just a little more as I watched Rhys curl up tighter against Dmitri’s chest. It only took one visit with Owen to undo everything we had been trying to do to build him back up. Then again, it hadn’t even been a week since the other had met him and we couldn’t expect a fucking miracle to drop out of the sky and undo all of the nightmares Owen had created.

Tearing my attention from him, I looked at Gianni, frowning at the murderous aura surrounding him, blood splattered across his face and shirt. Sometimes I forgot how much younger he was than all of us and while he was a sharp tool, he could also be a loose cannon.

He was still seething from a fight that I knew he hadn’t been able to finish, which meant he was running on adrenaline that was absolutely going to terrify our boy.

“Shower, now.”

Gianni’s expression broke, those big eyes looking at me, challenging me. “But-”

I shook my head and pointed to the stairs. “Don’t make me say it again.” He growled at me, taking one last look at Rhys before going upstairs. I was right behind him after I checked on Paval, surprised to see the kid actually asleep rather than hiding under the covers with a book or a puzzle.

I waited for Gianni to emerge from his shower, the fresh smell of coconut filling my nose. His pants hung low on his hips, the gentle designs on his chest reminding me of the many years we had spent together. His blonde hair hung around his face, bringing out the boyishness that I sometimes forgot about. Leaning against his bedframe, my arms folded across my chest, I watched him timidly step back into his room, eyes focused on me.

“Sit,” I ordered.

He did and then his shoulders fell. “I just, fuck, I almost killed him.”

“What stopped you?” I wasn’t mad at him but I was curious.

“Rhys, fuck, he was crying. I knew Owen was a slippery fuck but I didn’t think he was stupid enough to go outside and-”

I could see that Gianni was going to take this one pretty hard, that he was going to blame this misstep on himself. I hadn’t been there so I had no idea what happened or how the situation transpired. I just knew that there was now a terrified family trying to figure out why Rhys’ new boyfriend had nearly killed the ex. “Mistakes happen.” Unfortunately, in our line of work though, mistakes were deadly.

“But they can’t. Not anymore. Not with Owen. You should have seen him. Rhys was so fucking scared…” Gianni began rambling about how he had fucked up and how we were right back at square one. He got lost in his head sometimes too and I couldn’t help but smile as he started reasoning with himself and making plans when all he needed to do was take a breath.

I placed a firm hand on the back of his neck and squeezed a little, Gianni’s back arching as he let out a little sigh. My smile widened at how easy it was to pull Gianni back, not to mention how fucking sexy it was when he gave in. “Look at me. Gianni. We will get through this and there will be a moment when Owen dies but not until we tell Rhys what’s going to happen.”

His frown was so fucking kissable but there were a few conversations that needed to happen before I went down that road because for as much as he needed to be dragged out of his head, I also needed a way to release my frustration.

---