I just need to get to his files.
After I can escape my sister’s lewd version of the third degree.
“Something smells good in here.”
Massimo lounges in the kitchen doorway, running his fingers through his tousled hair.
Hair I personally helped to attain that very naughty and sexed-up look, thank you very much.
“Thanks,” I say. “Um, are you hungry?”
“Yeah, he is,” Sofia mutters with a sly smile plastered across her face.
I turn toward the stove, ignoring her comment. I scoop mounds of scrambled eggs onto a plate and bring them to the table, along with the package of bacon I cooked, because I had oodles of nervous energy to burn off before facing anyone.
It’s still oozing out of me, though, and my sister can clearly see it billowing around me.
“Massimo, how’s the sleeper sofa downstairs? Comfy enough for ya? Is it still super squeaky?”
“I wouldn’t know. I slept like a baby last night.” A lazy grin lifts his lips, his gaze lingering on me. And I can’t seem to tear my eyes off of him in that white tank top. His tan skin pops against the light fabric. It stretches across his muscular chest, his biceps bulging as he leans over the table.
Mmm, I remember those bulging biceps cocooning me…
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Sofia watching me drool over our bodyguard and I recoil, forcing myself to look away and head toward the refrigerator and out of his airspace. I grab a container of orange juice like it’s supposed to guard me from his deviant charm.
I’m going to need a whole lot more ammunition than that.
“So are we going to school today?” Maria asks.
I walk the juice over to the table with a sleeve of plastic cups and sink into a chair. I cover my face with my hands. “I don’t know what to do,” I say. “Honestly, after what happened, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you there, especially since there is still a guy who we know of on the loose. And we didn’t have time to ask questions last night, but are the guys who invaded our house also responsible for those texts?” I groan. “How do I send you out there by yourselves if we don’t even know who’s watching?”
“Well, I can’t miss another day. I’m already behind, and biology is kicking my butt this year. I have two labs to make up,” Maria says, looking at me. “I’m scared, too, but are we going to hide forever? Is there going to be a time when we’re really safe, Kristi?”
I sit back against the chair. “God, I hope so, babe. But you’re right. We have to keep living, we just need to be vigilant.” I drum my fingertips on the table top. “I can’t keep us all in a bubble. We were living in one before and look how that worked out.”
“I’ll get some backup to stay with them at school.” Massimo shovels a forkful of eggs into his mouth and washes it down with orange juice.
“What kind of backup?” I furrow my brow. “More of Savio’s guys?”
“Nah. I’ll text my friend Quinn.” He pulls out his phone and shoots off a text. “Boom. Done.”
“Quinn?” Sofia’s eyes light up. “Like, the guy from the basketball gym?”
“The one and only,” Massimo says with a wink. “I’d trust him with my life, and therefore, yours.”
“Where will you be?” Sofia asks with a coy innocence.
He nods at me. “Someone needs to be here with your sister.”
His phone pings a few seconds later and he glances at the screen. “He’ll be here in about an hour and a half since he’s driving in from the city.”
“Good. I hate rushing,” Sofia says, stretching her arms overhead. We eat in silence for a few more minutes, Maria buried in her biology textbook. She barely looks up from the pages as she spoons eggs into her mouth and misses half the time.
I take a long gulp of my coffee, draining the mug, deciding that erotic adrenaline is way better than caffeine any day of the week. “Okay, guys, finish up and get ready for school. You’ll be a little late, but it’s better than missing another day. I think we could all use a distraction.”
I don’t tell them about the distraction I’d like to get lost in again, sooner than later.
They bring their plates to the sink and I scrape the remains of breakfast into the trash, pretending my focus isn’t on Massimo’s back and the cuts of muscle that ripple every time he grabs a plate or glass from the table.
My knees lock together, tingles coiling in my core. I’m still a little sore, which is understandable considering what managed to fit inside of me last night.
And again early this morning right before I sneaked back to my own room…
My belly does little flips when he walks toward me, a sexy half-smile making everything around me fade to white noise.
He erases the angst and the uncertainty, he overshadows the panic and the fear.
I feel safe and secure with him, just like he’d promised I would.
And right now, I need to grasp onto those feelings because the rest of my world is spiraling out of control. I pick up Maria’s textbook and place it on the kitchen island, letting out a sigh as I flip through pages.
“A little light reading?” Massimo asks.
“I just…I miss my life. I’ve been thrust into what feels like some kind of alternate reality, a reality I was trying so hard to escape because I hated what it was. Now I’m in it, rooted by responsibility and expectation. I have no idea how to be this person, how I’m going to run my father’s businesses, or if I’m going to be able to stay alive to do any of it. I feel displaced, sad, and lonely, and it just sucks.”
“Why were you trying so hard to escape?”
“Because I knew what my father was into. I mean, kind of. I saw something one night and I…” I pause, taking in a deep breath. No, I’m not going there. I held a lot of anger inside because of that night, and badmouthing my father to a virtual stranger when he can’t even defend himself or his actions doesn’t feel right.
I never heard his side of the story. I didn’t want to listen and left before he could explain.
Now that he’s gone, I’ll never know the truth.
“It doesn’t matter. The point is, I wanted my own life. I wanted to help people. But now I feel just as helpless as I did before.” I stare at my scar, tracing a finger over it. “I never wanted to feel that way again.”
He gently rubs his thumb against my scar. “What’s this from?”
“It’s from one of the worst days of my life,” I say. “Before now, I’d never felt more hopeless and lost than I did on that day.”
“What happened?”
“My best friend Lila and I were swimming in her pool. I’d gotten out to grab us drinks and when I got back outside, she wasn’t there. It was only when I got close to the pool that I saw her with her face in the water. I didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. I was probably gone for about five minutes. I panicked and pulled her out. My arm got caught on a sharp piece of concrete. That’s how I got the scar.”
A shudder runs through me. “It was horrible. The medical examiner saw the laceration on her head and determined that she hit it against one of the walls while she was swimming. I couldn’t revive her. I tried so hard but she’d been gone for too long. If I’d have just come outside sooner, I could have saved her. That’s why I wanted to become a doctor, so I could help people. Save them. I never wanted to feel that powerless again.”