Page 106 of Sweet Addiction
“I’m so sorry,principessa.”
Principessa.That word has never sounded sadder falling from his lips.
“Tell me,” I demand, scared to breathe.
Am I losing him when I only just got him back?
His eyes sink, and so does my heart.
“The scum bag who faked the sex tape is trying to extort money now... He didn’t get what he wanted the first time, so now he’s blackmailing me...” I suck in a breath. “And he’s using you to do it.”
“Oh my God.” I drop his hands and cover my mouth. Guilt that I somehow helped put him in this situation instantly threatens to drown me. “I’m so sorry.”
“Dillan . . . No.” He kisses my forehead. “You didn’t do anything wrong . . .He knows.”
My eyes search his for an answer I’m not getting.
A path of breadcrumbs I’m struggling to follow.
Awareness pricks at my mind but doesn’t sync.
And maybe it’s the long day or the heightened emotions, or maybe it’s just me, and I don’t want to see the answer, but it’s not making any sense. “Just tell me.”
I watch his Adams apple work as he swallows and presses our foreheads together.
Closing his eyes and breathing me in.
“He knows you’re Theia DeLaurentiis,” he finally admits, and all the air is suddenly sucked from the room, and I’m struggling to breathe. “And he’s threatening to tell the world if I don’t do what he wants.”
I step back, putting physical space between us. Matching the space Rome has forcefully shoved there all day. “What does he want?”
Rome looks past me to Lucky, and for a moment, I think he’s not going to answer me, and I swear to God I see red. “Don’t do this. Don’t shut me out.”
My head and my heart war with each other, anger and rage mixing with hurt for a lethal kind of battle as I hold my breath, waiting for an answer so we can come up with a strategy. But how can you plan if you don’t know all the pieces in play? “What does he want?”
Rome brushes his lips over mine so softly I could cry because it feels like I’m losing him.
“They want him to throw the fight,” Lucky announces, and my head spins.
No. He can’t do that.
Rome fucking freaks, and tears fill my eyes as the brothers practically come to blows. Killian rushes back inside, no doubt hearing Rome’s roar of anger. He steps between them, momentarily cooling everyone down and inadvertently giving me the time I need to slip through the door.
ROME
Brave is the man who loves a wild woman. Stupid is the one who lets her get away.
—Rome’s Secret Thoughts
“You’ve got to calm down,” Liv tells me as I pace the damn room like a wild fucking animal ready to rip the hinges from the cage to get free. “Everyone is looking for Dillan. We’re going to find her, and she’s going to be fine when we do. She’s mad. But she’ll get over it.”
“Fuck you, Olivia. None of this would have happened if you’d told me what was going on,” I snap, seething.
“Pot. Meet. Kettle.” Her words are sharp, and her aim is true because she’s right.
She handled me the way I tried to handle Dillan.
“Enough.” Dad moves in front of me and grabs my shoulders. His voice is calm and quiet and more powerful than most men twice his size. “You have to get yourself under control,” he warnsbefore turning to Liv. “And you, Olivia, need to give him some space.”
