Page 58 of In My Heart
“So should you. You look so tired,Principe,” Terza scolded gently, adorably calling him the Italian equivalent of ‘prince’ just as she always had. She leaned in to kiss his cheek, gave me one final squeeze, then she returned to the stove.
“She’s right. You barely slept a wink last night,” I agreed.
Without thought my hand moved to cover his where he had set it on the counter. The relief that simple contact gave me was astounding.
“Neither did you.” He turned his hand beneath mine and held it instead. “Brax called me. He let me know you were worried about security.”
“I just needed to know for sure that Rafe is safe.”
“He is, baby. I made sure of it, and that this house is well protected too. I won’t let anything happen to either of you.”
“Do we know who it was? Who sh-shot Rafe?”
“Our men are trying to identify the bodies we removed from the scene, but they didn’t have anything on them, not even phones. It’s pretty safe to assume it was either Kozlov, trying to take Rafe out, or Adamian, hoping to grab you while he had the chance.”
“That’s what I thought,” I uttered, fighting the tears that wanted to fall at the knowledge it had been my fault – it had been me those monsters were most likely coming after.
“Cara…”
“Can you get pictures, of the bodies? I should check if any of them are Hilt or his brother, Dev. If either of them were there, then at least we’d know it was Adamian.”
“Cara, don’t you dare blame yourself…”
“Just stop, Dio!” I snapped, finding it harder and harder not to let the emotions flow. I didn’t want to break. I wanted to keep myself together.
“Dario. Hush and let Cara eat. She needs to settle her stomach,” Terza scolded her son, yet again, as she returned with a plate of eggs and toast for me, and a mug of coffee for her son.
“Rafe wouldn’t be happy to know she’s sat here blaming herself, Mum,” Dio sighed.
“Nor would Rafe be happy knowing his sister has not eaten since yesterday morning. Just let her eat without you upsetting her further. Drink your coffee while I cook more food.”
“Well, I think that told me,” he joked quietly, making me smile, especially when I saw the chagrined look on his face.
“Hush and drink your coffee,” I teased him. He just chuckled as he picked up his mug and took a sip.
I ate a few bites of my eggs, then looked to Dio again. I smiled when I found him sat back in his seat looking relaxed and just watching me.
“What?” I asked.
“Just watching you,” he shrugged. “You’re so beautiful. I don’t know what I would have done if you had been hurt yesterday.”
The smile dropped from his face with those last words and he leaned in closer to me, placing a hand on my back as though he needed the reminder that I was there and whole.
“I wasn’t though. I’m here, thanks to Rafe.”
“It can’t happen again, Cara. Whoever shot Rafe last night needs to be handled the old fashioned way. There’s no more room for diplomacy in all of this.”
“But what about Rafe’s exit plan? He said he wanted to handle things discreetly to stop a war from breaking out,” I reminded him.
“It can still be handled with care. Kean, the leader of the Irish families, who will be taking over the docks, is on side. I already spoke with him.”
“And that’s a good thing?” I questioned.
“Yes. As long as we have Kean’s support, it shouldn’t blow up the deal Rafe struck with him, no matter where our retaliation goes.”
“But if it breaks out into some huge gang war, that’s going to put us all at risk, isn’t it?”
“Not if we win,” Dio smirked.
