Page 25 of Ravage God
“Yes,” I answered, ignoring the heavy sarcasm I could hear in her voice.
I turned back to Valentino.
His gaze was back on the redhead. I rolled my eyes and stood up, holding my hand out to Isa. She hesitated for a beat before placing her hand in mine. A strange sensation hit me from thesimple contact, and it took everything in me to ignore that and just focus on her.
“Come on. I’ll take you home.”
Isa turned and looked at her brother, who was barely paying us any attention. I shot her a look, my hand squeezing hers.
She mutely nodded.
“I’m taking your sister home.”
Valentino finally turned back to us, focusing his eyes on Isa. “Are you okay with that?”
“Yes,” Isa said quietly. “But can… can I sleep over at your place tonight?”
Valentino's face softened. “Of course, sweetheart. I will be home later tonight.”
He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, forcing me to let go of her hand. For some goddamn reason, I felt cold over the loss of contact.
Valentino nodded at me as Isa and I turned and headed for the door. I made sure Isa was walking close to me, my eyes scanning the place for any signs of threat.
It didn’t seem likely to happen here, but after Massimo’s warning about the Devil’s Wings MC’s attempt at a resurrection, I had been feeling on edge.
Thankfully, I had the common sense to suggest we take my car to the bar. Valentino could find his own ride home to the apartment,ifhe was going back to the apartment, that was.
Isa was quiet next to me as we walked. I didn't know what she was thinking about right now, or if she was even thinking about anything important, considering how much she had to drink. She stumbled into me just as my car came into view, and I quickly wrapped my arms around her, pulling her body in close to me, and wondering why the fuck it felt like I would die if I didn’t keep her close.
I shook my head over my dramatic thoughts and quickly righted her, forcing myself to pull away. “Are you okay?” I asked.
She didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “Yes. Thank you for the save.”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
“You’re always trying to save me,” she said softly. So softly, I almost didn’t hear her.
I didn’t say anything to that, unsure of where her thought process was at.
“But you’re only doing that for Valentino. Because you’re his friend…”
I cupped her shoulders with my hands, halting her words, and bent down until we were at eye level. She kept her eyes on me. The thought that something was wrong hit me once more, and I didn’t know why the fuck that was.
All I knew was that she looked fucking sad tonight, and I wasn’t sure why or how I could make it go away.
“It’s not for Valentino,” I said gruffly. It might have started as that, me looking out for her. But not anymore. It hadn’t been like that for a while now. It was all for her. “Okay?”
She shot me a small smile. “Okay.”
I kept my eyes on her. There was something more I wanted to say to her. I just didn’t know which words to use. Then she took a deep breath, breaking me out of my thoughts. I let go of her and straightened.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
We were quiet on the ride home. I glanced at her as often as I could. She had her head leaned against the window, her eyes focused outside, yet it felt like she wasn’t really looking at anything.
The drive ended much too soon. I parked my car in its usual spot and shut off the engine. She looked sideways at me.
“I can manage to get inside myself.”
