Page 70 of Broken Promises

If Raven woke up and I wasn’t here, she’d probably feel like I didn’t want more than the fun stuff. Actions spoke louder than words, so I stuffed my guilt down and stayed, managing to somehow fall asleep with ease.

That was until something woke me up.

The click of a door sounded so loud in the silent house, my eyes flying open as I strained to listen for any other sounds. A footstep had me easing away from Raven and reaching for the gun I kept in my bedside drawer that had a silencer, then I crept towards the bedroom door to poke my head out.

I saw a glimpse of a person walk past the hallway and through the living room, putting me on high alert.

Had Stefano found us?

I stepped out of the bedroom and silently closed the door behind me, slowly moving through the house to see who the fuck had the balls to break in.

They were distracted as they searched the tiny house, not hearing me step up behind them until I’d pressed the barrel of the gun to the back of their head.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Mr. Ricci sent me to find out why you’re here. You were supposed to stay in Italy,” the man said, all of it in Italian. He didn’t cower from me, Stefano would never hire cowards who weren’t willing to die for him.

“I have unfinished business to deal with,” I replied quietly in Italian, pressing my gun harder against his head. “I told him I didn’t tell anyone shit. He’s wasting his time going after a bunch of nobodies.”

“Nobodies, eh? You were on a flight here before that bitch’s body had barely bounced off the hood. Do I need to tell Mr. Ricci that you’ve forgotten your place? He wouldn’t be pleased to know you’ve turned on him.”

I was vaguely aware of the bed creak down the hallway, and there was no way I’d allow Raven or Zavier to walk in on this conversation. I doubted Raven spoke Italian, but I wasn’t sure about Zavier. I couldn’t lose them, not now.

The bedroom door opened and the hall light went on, my time running out. I pulled the trigger, the man’s body dropping to the floor with a thud.

“Ander?” Raven croaked out, and I turned to see her behind me in the doorway, her eyes on the body at my feet. I went to reach for her and she slapped my hand away, confusion and worry in her eyes. “What the fuck? Who’s that?”

“He broke in. He’s one of Stefano’s men. He was here to hurt you and Zav.”

The guy didn’t seem to even know they were here, but Raven didn’t know that.

“I heard him talking in another language. You understood him?” she asked, glancing towards the door.

I had to make her trust me again before she bolted. If she knew the truth, there was no way she’d stay.

“Bits of it. You know I’m friends with Dante. He taught me some Italian so I could eavesdrop on Stefano’s conversations with his men when he visited me to check on business.”

The living room light switched on and Zavier appeared, taking in the scene in front of him with a frown. “What happened?”

“Stefano sent a guy. Can you stay with Raven while I check the perimeter? I want to make sure he was alone,” I explained as I slid an arm around Raven. She was stiff, but she allowed my touch.

I was pretty sure dead bodies weren’t a common occurrence around her, so I wasn’t surprised if she was in some kind of shock. It took a lot of exposure to that type of shit before you became numb to it.

“Shit, should we find somewhere else to stay?” Zavier asked as I dropped a kiss to the top of Raven’s head and guided her over to him.

“Stefano will give his guy a few days to return before going looking for him. I’ll see what I can do about finding a new place,” I answered. “Take Raven back to bed. I’ll handle this.”

He nodded and did as I asked, and I blew out a breath as I looked down at the mess once they’d left the room.

It was going to be a long night.

It wasn’t a cold, so I held my gun out in front of me and stepped outside in my boxers to walk the perimeter, then I headed back inside to call a cleanup crew to remove the body.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

RAVEN

“Raven?”

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