Page 82 of Savage Claim

I took a sip and hummed. Comforting warmth spread through my belly. “Thank you.” I handed the tickets to him.

His eyes widened a little when he realized that I had only handed him two. “Isabella.”

I forced my mouth into a soothing smile. “You’re going to take her to Connecticut,” I told him.

“Wait,” Gemma said. “What?”

I ignored her. “Once you get there, you buy tickets for whatever destination is the furthest away. Then, do it again from wherever you end up,” I said. “Don’t contact me to let me know where.”

Cristian stared at me, blankly, for the longest time, but then he nodded. “Okay.”

“Isabella, I don’t understand,” Gemma said again, but still, I didn’t acknowledge her. My eyes were on Cristian.

“You’re going to protect her,” I said. “You’re going to start fresh somewhere as far from here as possible, and you’re going to make her happy. Do you understand?” I blinked my burning eyes. “Try to make yourself happy as well.”

Cristian glanced at Gemma, and I watched his expression soften. I didn’t know what was going on between them, but it was softer than lust. “I promise,” he said. “I’ll take care of her.”

“Now, wait a fucking minute!” Gemma was done being ignored. “What is going on here?” She looked at me, angry and sad andoverwhelmed all at once. “You’re coming with us.” It wasn’t a question.

“I have to go back,” I said. I wasn’t going to apologize to my sister for my decision.

Sheer panic overtook her, and she grabbed my arms. “You can’t,” she pleaded. “Who knows what that monster will do to you when you go back?”

I shook my head. “Lorenzo isn’t going to hurt me.”At least, not physically. I wasn’t worried about Lorenzo killing me. He might lock me away in one of his cells for the rest of my life, but it was a price that I had been willing to pay the second that I climbed into Cristian’s car. “Not going back was never going to be an option, Gem,” I told her.

“Why?” Gemma demanded, voice wet and thick with emotion.

I shrugged. “I love him,” I said simply.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Love doesn’t excuse what he’s done.”

“It doesn’t,” I agreed. “But what he’s done, what he’ll continue to do, is what I signed up for.”

Fat tears rolled down her face, and she leaned against Cristian’s chest, even as she refused to let me go. “How could you do this?” she demanded, over and over. “How could you tie yourself to someone like him?”

There was nothing I could say to explain myself; there certainly wasn’t time before she and Cristian had to be on the train. I cupped her face, kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry about me,” I said. “All I want is for you to be safe, all right? That’s all I need, and I’ll be fine.”

A robotic voice overhead announced that their train was now boarding. Gemma cried harder, but Cristian simply wrapped his arms around her. He handed me the keys to his car; he didn’t need them anymore. “We won’t contact you,” he said and pulled my sister towards the terminal.

I was able to give him a shaky smile. “Thank you.” I didn’t let myself cry until he turned his back to me.

I stood there until I knew, for sure, that the train was gone. The car was parked in a public parking garage on the next block, but I considered getting a ticket for a train back to Long Island. Surely, if I called Lorenzo from the station, he would come to get me?

I heard someone click their tongue against their teeth beside me. “I’ve been waiting for you, Izzie.”

Santino stood behind me; his smile was made garish by the burns that were still pink and healing on his face. I went cold.

CHAPTER 54

Lorenzo

Ithought I knew anger. I thought rage and I were old friends, but the feeling that was burning my chest to cinders now was different. Isabella was goneagain. Somehow, she had gotten Gemma out of the house without anyone seeing them.

I wanted to destroy everything around me. Burn it and myself to the ground. When Sienna was killed, everything inside of me went numb. Now, it felt like my insides were on fire. The heat was melting my very bones, and I had to dosomethingto make it stop.

In the office, Damian was already on the computer, furiously tapping away on the keyboard. “Find her,” I barked at Damian, knowing that he was already working on it. “I don’t care what you do, or who you have to pay, but you find her so that I can drag her back here.”

“Sure thing, boss,” he said, not bothering to look at me.

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