Page 52 of Savage Claim

I left another fluttering kiss on her lips. “Do that.”

Isabella

Gemma’s eyes were swimming in tears. “You’re really going to leave me in here?” she blubbered. She looked around the blue room like it was a torture dungeon.

I hadn’t gotten around to telling her about the real chamber of horrors in the basement. If I had my way, she wouldneverknow about it.

I petted her hair. “We have to start getting back to?—”

“Donotuse the word normal,” Gemma spat. “Nothing about this is normal, Isabella.”

“I know,” I murmured. “I know.”

She sobbed harder. “How did this happen?” she demanded. It was a question that she had been asking for days, and it was one that I didn’t know how to answer. I had told her what Santino had done to me over the years, but that hadn’t been enough for her.

I knew how hard it was to wrap your head around something like this. Her whole world had gone pear-shaped in a way that I hoped would never happen to her.

“I can’t make it better,” I told her. “I can’t give her back to you. But I’ll be here for you from now on, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

Gemma’s eyes went cold. It was almost scary how easily her switch was flipped and I pushed away the thought at how much it reminded me of Santino. “Except you won’t stay with me tonight.”

“I’ll be right down the hall,” I promised. “If you need me, all you need to do is call, and I’ll come running.”

“Isabella, please.” She buried her head against my shoulder. “Please, don’t leave me alone yet.”

My chest ached for her. I won’t mourn Santino when Lorenzo finally gets his hands on him. Quite the opposite, in fact, because I’m fairly certain that there would be some kind of celebration in honor of that bastard’s demise. But seeing Gemma like this was truly heartbreaking. She had watched our mother being ripped apart, and she hadn’t begun to unpack the trauma of being left with our mother’s body for hours.

She was going to need years’ worth of therapy, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. The wounds were still too fresh. Maybe it wasn’t the time to leave her on her own. At least, not yet.

“Let me talk to Lorenzo,” I finally said. I expected her to say ‘thank you’ or some other acknowledgment that she’d heard me and appreciated what I was doing for her, but she just stared at me. “Get some rest, okay? You haven’t been sleeping well.”

“I’ll try,” she mumbled and laid down on top of her covers. I sighed and fussed until she allowed me to tuck her in.

Once she had settled for a nap, I made my way to Lorenzo’s office. For once, he was alone: Damian and Elio had been sent on one assignment or another. The moment Lorenzo saw me, his jaw tightened. “No.”

Of course, he knows what I came here for.“She needs me,” I argued.

His frown deepened into an ugly slash across his face. “What about what I need,dolcezza?” he snapped.

I stared at him for a moment, thunderstruck. Unbidden, a giggle worked its way out of my throat, and I could do nothing to hold it back. His eyes were practically smoldering with anger, and it only made me laugh harder. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“Dolcezza.”

“No, really,” I insisted, forcing myself to smother the laughter. “It’s just funny that you’re so jealous.”

The moment the word was out of my mouth, I knew that I had made a fundamental mistake. Lorenzo stood, looming over me, and the laughter dried up in my throat. “I am jealous,” he said.His voice came out a low growl. He stepped around his desk and held out his hand to me.

Without hesitation, I stepped into the room and placed my hand in his, allowing him to draw me against his body. “Are you being serious?” I asked. “You’re jealous of my sister?”

Lorenzo tipped my chin upward so that our eyes met. “I don’t like being second to anyone when it comes to you.”

I frowned. What about the baby? He had to know that a child would always come first, right? I would hope that he would feel the same way. “Lorenzo.”

He shook his head, hushing me. “Our familycomes first,” he said, as if he could read my worries on my face.

“She’s my family too,” I reminded him. But I knew that Lorenzo would never really see Gemma as his family.

Lorenzo stared down at me, mouth set in a hard line. “I don’t come second,dolcezza.” His hand cupped my belly. “Our baby won’t come second.” I swallowed hard and nodded, but that wasn’t enough for Lorenzo. “Say it,” he commanded.

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