Page 97 of Beautiful Villain
He hadn’t come.
That was the part that wouldn’t settle.
Gianni had sent Dunn.He’d sent men.He’d sent fire and guns and planning and blood—but not himself.And I told myself it shouldn’t matter.I was the one who’d walked away.I was the one who’d told him I never wanted to see him again.I didn’t get to be hurt by the fact that he hadn’t been the one to pull me out of that place.
And yet…
There was something about being rescued by everyone except the man you loved that left a bruise you couldn’t point to.
“Where do you want to go?”Dunn asked quietly, eyes flicking to me in the mirror.
The question hit harder than any of Archie’s threats ever had.
I opened my mouth, then closed it again.
I hadn’t thought past survival.Past getting out.I hadn’t imagined a world where Archie was gone, where his shadow wasn’t waiting around the next corner.And now that he was, suddenly there was all this empty space where fear used to be.
George was gone.Archie was no longer a threat.
I had no family left.
The only thing that still belonged to me was a house that clung to the past.
“Siena,” I said finally.“Take me to my family home, please.”
Dunn nodded once, sharp and final, and turned us toward the city.
When we arrived, he didn’t let me get out right away.His men checked the street.The doors.The windows.Everything.Only when he was satisfied did he step back and open my door.
“It’s clear,” he said.
I climbed out slowly, staring up at the familiar stone facade like it might vanish if I looked at it too long.
Dunn held out a phone.
It was small.Black.Unassuming.The kind of thing that could hold a whole life inside it if you let it.
“I got you a new phone,” he said.“My number’s already in there.”
I took it, my fingers stiff and cold against the smooth glass, like I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know,” he replied.“But I’ll sleep better knowing you can call me if you need anything.”
Something in his voice made my throat tighten.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
He nodded, then glanced down the street.“We’ve relocated to Siena,” he added.“So if you need anything—anything at all—we’re close.”
I nodded.I didn’t trust my mouth not to do something stupid if I opened it.
There was a pause.One of those heavy ones that meant something was coming.
“I also…” Dunn hesitated, just for a fraction of a second.“I programmed Gianni’s number in there, too.In case you ever need to reach him.”
The words landed soft and brutal all at once.
