Page 233 of Saving Her

“Poison?” I pull back, taking in his faint smirk.

“Has Sebastian turned you against me?” He appears calm on the surface, but I see the underlying fear in the tight set of his jaw. He’s joking on the outside. On the inside he’s worried.

“No, and he never will. You’re stuck with me.”

The smirk fades as he returns his attention to the neighboring building. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

I square my shoulders, preparing for the worst. “Is this what you wanted to tell me last night?”

He nods. “It’s not good news, Pen.”

I already gathered as much when he brought it up yesterday. I just hadn’t been willing to face it. And if the news hadn’t been about Tobias and Sebastian, that only left my sisters. “He killed one of them, didn’t he? Robert found Lilly or Nina.”

His chin hitches almost imperceptibly. It’s all the answer I need for a wave of grief to take hold. I steel myself against the onslaught, straightening my shoulders in anticipation.

“Not dead, shorty. But Nina is hurt pretty bad. She’s in hospital.”

Relief doesn’t come. It’s as if the sorrow is merely placed on the back burner, waiting for the follow-through. “Will she make it?”

“I hope so. They’re not sure at this point. The only good news is that Torian now believes you.”

Again, my relief is non-existent. I’m left to drown in guilt. I should never have let them leave Greece without me. We should’ve stayed together.

“This isn’t your fault,” he murmurs. “I should’ve made sure they were protected. And when I found out, instead of telling you, I focused on getting my rocks off.”

“No, you didn’t. I knew. I may not have had the specifics, but I knew.” I graze my fingers over his jaw. “We both needed the distraction.”

He scoffs. “That doesn’t stop me from feeling like a prick.”

The glass door slides open. The dog bursts into more aggressive barking as I glance over my shoulder to see Keira poking her head outside. “Sorry to interrupt but breakfast is ready and Cole wants us all together to talk about what’s happening.”

Luca jerks his chin in acknowledgement. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

She smiles and sneaks back inside, closing the door behind her.

“I’m going to have to get out of here today.” He drags me into his chest, his arms locking around me. “I can’t sit on my ass while that fucker is out there.”

I nod, already feeling the distance that will come between us. The exposure. The fear.

“Will you be okay without me?” he asks.

“No. But I’ll manage, as long as you promise to stay safe.”

“I can do that.”

There’s little conviction in his tone. There’s definitely not assurance. I tilt my head to meet his gaze and stare into those harshly intense eyes, wordlessly begging for a more confident affirmation.

“I need you to return to me,” I whisper. “You have no idea how much I need it.”

His lips lift in a half-hearted smile. “Yeah, I do, shorty. Because I feel the same way.”

26

Penny

We sitat the two remaining seats at the dining table. Benji is slouched in the chair to Luca’s left, his wife at his side. Sebastian is strung tight at my right beside Keira, while Sarah and Hunt sit across the table from us as Cole claims the head chair.

The kids are no longer around, their laughter and occasional shouts carrying from a far corner of the house.

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