Page 46 of Vicious Intentions
“Well, I’m not,” I reprimand. “What if one of my father’s men found out you were here? Or one of my brothers? Do you know what they’d do to you?”
“I’m not scared of them,” he replies, though his smile thins.
“Well, you should be. You shouldn’t risk your life for me. If anything happened to you…” My voice trails off as my nerves begin to fray.
“Hey. Hey.” He closes the small distance between us and wraps his arms around me again. “Nothing is going to happen to me, okay? I got to Chicago without anyone being the wiser. We’re good.”
I cling to him, letting myself believe he did his due diligence before coming to see me.
“Does your family know you’re here?”
“Hell no. If Matteo even suspected I came, he’d be the one to kill me. Not your family.”
“I doubt that. He’s your brother. He loves you.”
“He’s a pain in my ass, that’s what he is.” Raffaele groans. “Always in my business.” He then pulls back just enough to look at me, one hand cupping my cheek. “But I don’t want to talk about my asshole brother. I want to talk about you. How are you, beautiful?” The way his eyes search mine tells me exactly what he’s asking.
“I’m okay.” Raffaele nods, but he doesn’t look convinced.
“Are you still having nightmares?” I swallow and lower my gaze.
I knew I shouldn’t have told him about those. I knew Raffaele would worry. But I needed someone to talk to.
Ever since I learned that Stella and Marcello killed the boys who attacked me, I haven’t slept well. I had a few nightmares where they were the ones dying in a car crash, instead of Alec and Tim. I always wake up screaming with the images etched into my mind of them being burned alive in twisted metal, the phantom smell of scorched flesh still lingering in the air.
“It will get better, angel,” Raffaele says softly. “I promise.”
“Can we please not talk about it?” I plead, swallowing the lump that has taken residence in my throat.
Raffaele nods, releasing his grip on me and threading his fingers through mine instead. “Fine. How much time do you have?”
“I asked Izzie to cover for me for half an hour. I might be able to stretch it to an hour.”
“Good.” He smiles. “Then let’s make it count, yeah?” I nod, the heaviness in my chest easing with just one look from him.
Raffaele shrugs out of his coat and spreads it on the ground before sitting down and holding a hand out to me. I take it, and he gently pulls me down until I’m seated on his lap. His arms circle my waist, my head resting against his firm chest, warm despite the cold wind blowing around us.
“So, Izzie, huh?” he says casually. “That’s Marcello’s new girlfriend, right?”
I chew on my lower lip and nod. Since Isobel has no affiliation with the Outfit, I don’t think I’m betraying my family by admitting Marcello is dating her.
“Wow,” Raffaele chuckles. “First Lucky gets a girlfriend, and now Marcello. Love must really be in the air in Chicago.”
I laugh because it’s true. Most of my siblings have found their person in the last six months. Lucky found Frankie. Marcello found Isobel. Even Enzo somehow managed to charm a priest into falling in love with him. But they aren’t the only ones that have been hit by Cupid’s arrow.
“I think,” I say slowly, unsure if I’m crossing a line, “I think Stella might be in love, too.”
“No shit,” Raffaele says, surprised. “With who?”
I hesitate for a beat before confessing my suspicion. “Kirill Petrov.”
“No fucking way,” he blurts, lifting my chin to look at me. “Wasn’t he the guy who kidnapped her last Christmas?”
“Is it kidnapping if there was no ransom?” I ask quietly.
“Technicalities, angel. TheBratvataking your sister and brother to Moscow without your dad’s consent is kidnapping in my book. I still can’t believe the Outfit didn’t go to war over it. Matteo wouldn’t have hesitated if they pulled that shit with us.”
Uncomfortable with the conversation wandering into dangerous territory, I redirect it before he asks questions I’m not allowed to answer, especially not to aCosa Nostraprince.
