Page 20 of Don’t Break My Heart (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #3)

A sudden movement, followed by Onyx’s deep, guttural growl, jolts me from my sleep.

I grab hold of my sheets and cling to them as I sit up in a rush, trying to get my body to come to.

I was totally out of it. When my eyes adjust to the dark of the night, I find Onyx’s eyes staring back at me.

Filled with chilling horror, their dark depths send a shiver down my spine.

A shadow of a man, his face obscured by a black mask, levels a gun at his head, a wicked gleam shining in his eyes.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. My heart races out of my chest.

Am I having a nightmare? My groggy brain slowly registers another figure emerging from the darkness, and I know this is fucking real. A blood-curdling scream flies from my lips.

It doesn’t stop him from moving closer, his movements muffled by the shadows as he sneaks toward me.

As I scramble over the other side of the bed, my hand whips instinctively under my pillow, fingers closing around the cool metal of my gun.

I steal myself for just a second, long enough to get the tremble of my fingers under control.

Taking aim at the man threatening Onyx with a weapon first, I fire a single shot, hitting him square in the head.

He flies backwards. With my muscles tense, I shift quickly, raising my weapon toward the other man.

Onyx shoots at the same time, the man’s body flying across the room with chilling force before he has time to pull his trigger.

My breath hitches in ragged gasps as I suck in air. Each inhale is a desperate attempt to understand what the fuck I just woke up to. The sound of gunfire still echoes in my ears as the air fills with the metallic tang of blood, causing me to dry heave.

Onyx rushes toward me, his face haunted in a way I haven’t seen in a very long time. “Are you okay, trouble?”

“Yes,” I whisper, my entire body breaking into a cold sweat as I start to shake all over.

I fell asleep in Reef’s arms. I was warm and safe and utterly shattered.

His promise to send me into a deep sleep worked.

I stare back at Onyx, wondering what the hell just happened.

When did he come into my room and when did Reef leave?

“I shouldn’t have closed my eyes,” he mutters as he pulls me in close to his body, gripping me like he’s never going to let me go. He tugs up the comforter with his spare hand, cocooning me in its warmth. His gun still firmly held in the other.

For a second I let him, trying to get my racing heart back under control and ease the shaking.

But then I register what he just said. I pull back so I can stare into his eyes.

He’s blaming himself for this. Fuck no. “You have to sleep sometime, big guy, or you won’t be able to protect me at all if you don’t, and I swear it’s been days. ”

“What the fuck was that?” Romeo and Reef come running through the open door to my bedroom, eyes bouncing everywhere. The two of them are only in sleep shorts with their bare chests on full display. They hold guns, ready to fight, and make quite a sight.

“What happened, how did they get in?” Reef asks, looking over the now very- dead intruders.

Romeo walks over to them and pulls his gun out, shooting the first man in the head. Then he does the same with the second, fresh blood splattering up and over him.

I cover my face and scream, “What the fuck, Romeo.”

He moves back through the room, coming to sit on the other side of me. “Had to make sure they were really dead.”

I glance back at the horrific mess on the floor of my room. Blood leaks through the tiles and tangles with the water in the pool, turning it a pale shade of crimson. “I’m never going to be able to sleep in this room again,” I mutter.

“You will never be sleeping alone again,” Romeo snips, his attention turning to Onyx.

Reef moves to the patio door and checks the lock, and the door slides open as if it wasn’t locked at all.

“I fucking locked it,” Onyx mutters.

“I checked it before I left as well,” Reef agrees, running a hand through his messy hair.

Romeo has picked up his phone and is shouting orders down the line from just outside my room. I didn’t even feel him walk away. I was too focused on Reef and the horror written all over his face.

This is so much worse than we all thought.

This villa is supposed to have the best security in the country.

How do two masked men sneak into my room in the middle of the night?

I have been in Italy for two days and already had the same number of murder attempts.

We all knew it would be dangerous, but I never expected it to be this bad.

Romeo paces the hallway, talking on his phone, then walks in, rage bubbling off him as he disconnects the call. “The alarm system has been short circuited, and I can’t get hold of our guards. These guys knew what they were doing. ”

“Valentine?” Onyx growls out his name as if it’s poison, and a scattering of goosebumps runs over my clammy skin. I should have killed the fucker when I had the chance.

“Or the Contis.” Romeo meets his furious expression with Onyx.

Onyx pulls away from me and stalks over to the other side of the room, Romeo in his sights. “Your brother would have had the insider knowledge of this place.” He shoves him in the chest.

I jump out of bed as fast as I can, following him. I take his hand in mine, and his angry glare shifts back to me. I glance up at him, silently begging him not to tell them what he knows. I will never get out of this place if they can’t leave Valentine in charge.

“It’s time you start to realize he’s not who you think he is,” is all he says.

I huff out a relieved breath, still clinging to Onyx’s hand.

He pulls me in close and kisses my forehead. “Stay with her while Reef and I do a sweep of the villa to make sure no one else is lurking about.”

I want to tell him I can take care of myself, the two dead men on the floor of my room is as good a proof as any, but from the expression on his face, I know now is not the time to push him.

Onyx is already blaming himself for them getting in here tonight.

I have to let him do his thing, even if all I want is for him to wrap me up in his arms and tell me everything is going to be okay.

He lets go of me and pushes me straight into Romeo’s waiting arms.

Onyx and Reef rush off, and Romeo wraps his arms tightly around me. So tightly it feels like he’s going to cut off the circulation. “You scared the shit out of us,” he whispers into my hair, kissing me on top of my head.

I shiver. Even though Romeo is warm as fuck, I’m frozen to the bone. He takes my hand and goes to lead me back to bed .

I cringe. “Can we go to your room?” I motion to the bodies, not wanting to stay in here with them.

He pulls me in closer. “Thought you would never ask.” He smirks mischievously.

“Not the time, Romeo,” I mutter under my breath as I walk down the hall with his large body wrapped around me.

“It’s aways the time when you’re around, doll face.” He shoves open his door. His sheets are all ruffled up, and I know he and Reef must have been in here together when they heard the commotion from my room.

I climb into his bed, and he wraps his arm around me. “Did our intruders interrupt more than my sleep?” I raise a cheeky brow, kind of fascinated to know how his and Reef’s dynamic works when I’m not around.

“Reef was just filling me in on what you two got up to in the shower,” he says, playful as fuck. This man is unbelievable. Two dead intruders lie just in the other room, and he’s got one thing on his mind. Sex.

“And you got all hot and bothered?” I shake my head, pulling his covers up and around my arms, trying to warm up.

“Can you blame me?” His hand moves down my side, and in one move, he tugs me on top of him. “You’re freezing, let me warm you up.”

“I’m not cold, I’m freaking the fuck out. People want me dead, Romeo, two attempts at my life in as many days.”

“We will take care of it. Get those legal papers signed and you out of here as soon as we can. Until then, I will personally stay glued to your side at all times.”

“Not necessary. I had the situation under control.”

“You shot them?” His brow shoots up in surprise .

I place a hand to his chest, trying to get some distance, our earlier conversation on the patio still drumming through my brain.

“Romeo, just so we are crystal clear, I won’t help your papa’s organization destroy lives and exploit vulnerable woman.

I will fucking fight with everything I have to stop it. ”

He tugs me back to him when I try to pull away. “You don’t trust Valentine either, do you?” His eyes are more serious now, like he’s trying to read my inner thoughts.

I glance away, not wanting his scrutiny when I’m keeping shit from him. Romeo is too fucking good at reading me; he will probably see the truth in my eyes. “I don’t know him. But any person who thinks this shit is okay will never have my respect, or anything else from me for that matter.”

He sits up, leaning his back on the headboard. He runs a hand through his hair as he stares out into space. “You think I want to continue what he was doing. Fuck no.”

I look up at him and see the truth. He’s just as disgusted by this as I am.

“Why do you think it’s so important to me and Orlando to keep some control? We need to make sure we put an end to what he was doing. What Valentine is doing.” He cups my face in his hands and stares down at me. “Let you in on a little secret, doll face.”

“What?” I ask, a small sliver of hope igniting inside of me, because for once Romeo wants to let me in.

“Valentine might be my blood, but he’s not my brother.

I have been watching him for some time. I know how deeply he’s ingrained in this organization; he was pulling the strings just as much as Emilio was.

It’s why we made the amendments to the contract he wanted us to sign.

If he doesn’t give us what we want, he gets nothing. ”