Page 96 of Where Dark Hearts Devour
She looks back at me thoughtfully, then she nods. “I’m glad it was you,” she whispers.
I drop a kiss on her lips. “So am I. But I don’t deserve it.”
She smiles sadly and shrugs. “It was always yours.”
I inhale deeply and pull a pen out of my pocket. “May I?”
She gazes back at me confused, but she nods anyway.
I push the neckline of her dress to one side and write out my cell number on her right breast, where it will be hidden from everyone but her. “If you need anything—anythingat all—you call me.” My voice cracks. “Do you understand?”
She swallows loudly. “Yes.”
I place my hands on her shoulders and dip my head so she can’t avoid the seriousness of my stare. “Your safety is the most important thing in the world to me.”
Her bottom lip quivers.
“If you ever feel like you’re in jeopardy, don’t waste a second, all right? You call me.”
She nods again, and I pull her close one last time.
“What about your shirt?” she asks eventually.
“I have a clean one in the car. Don’t you worry about me. Just get back to the dinner. Say you got lost in the maze out back—it isn’t unheard of.”
She’s about to pull away when I press my cheek to her ear. “I ...”
For some reason the words won’t trip off my tongue. I fucking love her. But I can’t tell her. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. So I drop my voice to a low moan.
“I will never forget this.”
Her eyes catch mine before she turns away. “Neither will I.”
I feel Savero’s eyes on me as I walk back to the table. Trilby is already back in her seat and talking animatedly with her sister. I made sure to leave it a good ten minutes before I returned, but Savero still eyes me with suspicion.
He turns his face from the table as I approach. “Anything I need to know about?” His voice is quiet, but his tone is severe.
“Just a work call. Things are getting heated though. I should probably head back sooner than planned.”
His gaze is pointed when he looks up at me. “So what’s keeping you?”
I blink. “Nothing.”
His glare doesn’t falter. It’s as though I’m looking back at a plastic figurine. Something in his manner has darkened since Father died, and it reminds me of the child he used to be. He can sense there’s something I’m not telling him.
“My bags are all packed. If I leave tomorrow afternoon, I can be back at my desk first thing Monday.”
He arches a brow.
I rest a hand on his shoulder, and his gaze tracks it like it’s a foreign object. “You know where I am if you need me,” I say, now suspecting I’m the last person he’d contact if he needed anything.
His gaze pans back to mine, and there’s a calculating look in his eyes. “Drop in before you go. I’d like to say goodbye without allthisaround.” He flicks his hand in the general direction of the table.
“Sure.” I nod. “I’ll come by on my way out of town.”
He watches me carefully as I say goodbye to the two capos seated either side of him. As much as I want to, I don’t let my gaze flicker to the girls across the table. I leave the terrace without looking back once.
I walk around the outer edge of the house, not wanting to be reminded of where I was just thirty minutes ago, with Trilby Castellano riding my lap. It’s taking all my energy just to leave her behind. It feels wrong. All of it. I know all the reasons why, but there’s something else too. A feeling I just can’t put my finger on.
