Page 15 of His to Destroy

His eyes darken. “I can’t say for now. But it’s definitely someone with resources. Someone who doesn’t care who gets caught in the crossfire.”

I hold Luca tighter.

“We need to move you. Tonight. Somewhere safer.”

I don’t want to agree.

But I nod.

Because I don’t have a choice.

Gaspare takes us to a house outside the city. It’s huge. Cold. Impossibly clean. A mansion with high walls and guards at every entrance.

Despite the large bed, Luca and I are huddled in a corner of it, holding on to each other. Neither of us get much sleep that night. Him, because he keeps waking up from the nightmares those monsters are making him have now. And me, because I still don’t trust Gaspare enough to let my guard down in a building that belongs to him.

I watch the shadows crawl across the ceiling. Every creak of the house makes my skin crawl.

The fear hasn’t left me.

It’s just waiting.

In the morning, Gaspare finds me in the kitchen.

He’s already dressed. Crisp. Alert.

I look like hell.

“We need to talk,” he says.

I nod.

We sit at the long dining table. The guards give us space.

He watches me for a long moment. Then:

“They’ll try again. That wasn’t a real attempt. It was a test.”

“A test?”

“To see how fast I react. How much you matter to me.”

I look away. “I don’t want to matter to you.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you do.”

The silence stretches.

“I’m offering full protection,” he says. “A permanent detail. Safe house. Armed security."

“And what do you want in return?”

His jaw tightens. “A marriage.”

I laugh. A hollow, broken sound.

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“I’m not. It would secure your safety. Make you untouchable...”

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