Page 39 of Savage Claim

“Dolcezza.”

“Lorenzo,” I shot back at him. “You’re the one who insists that I learn, right? So, let me learn.”

He stared at me, eyes hard and jaw clenched, but finally, he relented. “Come sit behind the desk,” he said.

Giving him a tight smile, I did what he asked. He sat on the desk’s corner, putting himself between me and whoever was coming through the door. I wished that I could roll my eyes and call him overprotective…but I was happier using him as a human shield, to be honest.

Barbara moved out of the way and beckoned to whoever had followed her to the office. A massive man came through the door, followed by a dainty woman whose lips were already curved into a sultry smile. “Don Vitali,” she greeted, giving him ‘fuck me’ eyes. “Nikolaiprislal mne v podarok.”

I didn’t speak Russian, but from the expression on her face and the way Lorenzo stiffened, I could hazard a guess. Lorenzo looked to her escort. “Tell yourpakhanthat allowing us to scoop the weapons cache was thanks enough.”

The man’s face was as hard as granite. “Nikolai insisted that he send a gift in honor of our alliance.” He glanced at the woman and put his huge hand on her shoulder. “If Yulia is returned without being enjoyed, Nikolai might be insulted. She’s one of his favorites, after all.”

My stomach twisted sickeningly. In theory, I had no problem with sex workers. I understood doing whatever you had to in order to survive…or even doing it out of enjoyment. But whatwas the chance that this woman had been trafficked to the US? She was the so-called favorite of a powerful man, and all that meant for her was that she was traded to his friends whenever he wanted to thank them. Bile rose in my throat, and I did all that I could to swallow it back. Now wasn’t the time to throw up.

I expected Lorenzo to demand that they leave, but instead, I watched his shoulders heave as he sighed. “She can stay,” he said. “I’ll have Barbara prepare a room for her.”

Yulia’s smile dropped. “You want me to stay in this hotel?” Her nose wrinkled at the suggestion.

Lorenzo cocked his head at her. “Did you think I was going to bring you to my home?” He shook his head.

He kept talking, but my ears were starting to ring. Was he serious about this? He wouldn’t.

No, Lorenzo wouldn’t sleep with her just to make someone else happy. If he had a habit of that, all of those Cosa Nostra daughters, like Gia, who had stayed at the house would have ended up in his bed.

I stood, unable to be here for another second. Lorenzo glanced at me. “Isabella?”

I put a hand on my belly. “Bathroom,” I told him. It wasn't the whole truth, but it also wasn't a total lie either. I didn't have to go, but it was the one place that I could go that Lorenzo wouldn’t try to follow, most of the time.

Lorenzo nodded. “The bathroom is?—”

“Just outside,” I said. “I know.” I skirted around Yulia and her bodyguard. “Excuse me,” I said with a little dip of my head as I stepped out of the office. The bathroom was tucked into thecorner of the outer office, and I made a beeline for it, locking the door behind me just as the nausea hit again.

I splashed water on my face and then held onto the sink and took deep, steadying breaths. I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, but eventually, there was a knock on the door. “I’ll be right out,” I called, voice shaky.

Another heavy knock shook the door. “If you’re done, get out of there.” I thought it might be Lorenzo, but whoever was on the other side of the door wasn’t my fiancé for sure.

Trembling, I opened the door to a man with a scowl cut deeply into his face. “What the fuck are you doing in there?” he demanded as he all but shoved me out of the way. “Entitledstronza.” I knocked into the wall, yelping as he slammed the door shut behind him.

The door of Lorenzo’s office opened, and he stuck his head out. “Dolcezza? What’s wrong?”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him, but I swallowed it back. “I tripped over my own feet,” I said. “I’m fine.”

“You’re sure?”

I nodded. “Yeah,” I said and followed him back into the office. Yulia and her bodyguard were gone. “Where did they go?”

“To get Yulia settled into her room,” he said. “She’ll go back to Nikolai in a week.”

My stomach swirled again. “Is that all?”

“Damian will find someone who wants to enjoy Nikolai’s gift,” Lorenzo said. He touched my cheek. “It would have never been me.”

I understood that he was trying to comfort me, to reassure me that he would never cheat on me, but I hadn’t worried about that at all. I had seen how he had treated Gia; I knew he wasn’t going to hop into bed with that woman.

But someone would, and I couldn’t reconcile with that. I didn’t know that woman’s story or how willingly she came here, but I had a hard time believing that she was one hundred percent consenting. And it scared me that Lorenzo didn’t seem at all bothered by it. In fact, he was downright blase about it.

I stepped back so that he wasn’t touching me anymore. “Can you take me home now, please?”

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