Page 8 of Don’t Break My Heart (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #3)

It wasn’t long before the police arrived, along with a news crew.

Orlando and Romeo did their thing taking care of this situation as the rest of us stayed in the car.

Myriah talked my ear off with every last bit of gossip I could possibly need to know, and it was the best distraction I could have hoped for.

It was too late to call Harley, so I sent her a text telling her I was alive and to call me when she could. I miss them all like fucking crazy.

Orlando and Romeo get in and close their doors, and I’m squished back in between their oversized bodies. Romeo kisses my cheek, taking my hand in his like he needs the connection, and I let him because I need it just as much. That scene out there would have been a nightmare for them to navigate.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Orlando growls, bringing a new wave of tension to the car.

Jagger takes off, speeding through the narrow streets of Rome.

Ancient stone blurs in a wave of chaotic energy, but it’s nothing compared to the erratic energy in the car.

The twins don’t utter a word of what happened while they were out of the car, but I can feel the unease in the way their muscles bulge in their suits, with their arms so close to me.

They are on edge. We might have all wanted their papa dead, but now new complications will arise, and we all know it.

I only wish they would confide in me about it all.

But with my brothers in the front and Onyx and Reef behind us, there is no way.

Orlando’s hand comes to rest on my thigh, and he drags his fingers up and down, his fingertips digging into my flesh even through the fabric of my pants. It’s almost a nervous tic, like he needs to touch me to get the raging anger and frustration under control.

I glance up at him, and part of me wants to ask him if he’s okay, but the other part doesn’t want to know after everything he’s put me through.

He’s not the same man I fell for on the island, even if the version of him I have witnessed this past day was all an act to placate his papa.

He still had that kind of violence and malice in him.

I guess I always knew it was there just simmering under the surface.

He was brought up to be just like his papa, cruel and unempathetic to anyone.

The only thing that is important to men like that is the power they possess.

And right now, I know I’m staring up at the new don of the Moretti family.

He looks back at me, his dark eyes shimmering in a way I never knew they could.

He looks almost evil. Even with the bruising on his face, he looks the part of don in his expensive suit, his posture strong, his chiseled jaw tight, his eyes haunted in a way that tells me he’s thinking the same as I am.

He knows who he has to become. The man he was on the island hiding from.

“Don’t ever question me again,” he says, his voice low as it breaks the silence in the car.

I know he expects me to be grateful that he killed his papa for me. That I’m safe with him. But there is so much more to this. “I will never trust you while you keep me in the dark,” I reply, trying to keep my voice stronger than it feels.

His stare runs over my features, then he moves his hand up to my face, taking my cheeks in his calloused hands. He runs the pads of his thumbs down the side of my face as if he’s trying to memorize every detail of my features.

My heart thumps in my chest, not sure what he’s about to do. He looks manic right now. Crazy even. I shuffle backwards, Romeo’s body a warm comfort at my back.

Orlando crushes his lips with mine, kissing me viciously, his tongue invading my mouth more possessively than it ever has before.

His hand moves up my body as he tries to pull me closer to him, his fingers digging into my waist. There is nowhere for me to escape to.

I’m pinned between him and his brother. I sink my teeth into his bottom lip to stop him because right now I can’t kiss him. I can’t give myself to him.

He pulls back from me, glaring at me. His hands are still gripping the side of my face as he licks the trickle of blood from his lip, a flash of something dark and unhinged in his eyes.

I think he is about to bite out at me, but he takes my hand, the one with his ring on it.

“While we are in Italy, it would be in your best interest to remember who you belong to,” he snarls, then he drops his hold on me, his gaze shifting to stare out the window as if he hadn’t just manhandled me in front of two of my brothers, Reef, Romeo, and Onyx.

What the fuck was that? I slump back in the seat, wishing I was as far away from here as possible. Romeo grips my other hand tighter; he didn’t let go. But I can’t look back at him. I’m too close to losing control and falling apart, and if I see any sympathy in his eyes, that will be it for me.

Instead, I curl my fingers tighter around his and glare out the front window, trying to get my anger under control.

I’m no one’s fucking possession. Being stuck on the island with Orlando, I might have given him the wrong idea because I was fucking trapped there, but I won’t bow down to him, don or not.

And whatever fucking show that was, well, he can shove it up his ass because all he did was distance me further from him.

As the car stays silent, I focus on the scenery, fascinated with the history of the crumbling buildings, tightly packed alleyways, and the occasional flash of a Roman ruin still standing proud between modern chaos.

Anything to distract myself from the reality of what just happened really means for me and for Orlando and Romeo.

Their papa being dead changes everything.

If I was here in Rome under different circumstances, it would be beautiful to see as a tourist, but with my body so full of tension that I feel like I’m about to snap a tooth, I can hardly enjoy it.

Eventually the traffic thins, the city slowly giving way to the picturesque countryside. “Where are we going?” I ask, mainly to fill the silence.

“The Lazio shoreline, Orlando has a villa there,” Jagger mutters from the front.

Romeo squeezes my hand. “You will love it there, Sloane, it’s so beautiful.”

I finally look at him, offering him a half smile, remembering the first night we met when he told me he would bring me to Italy one day.

At the time, I don’t think even he believed it would be this soon.

I rest my head on his shoulder, letting him pull me in closer.

I feel like he needs it just as much as I do.

I don’t miss the way Orlando’s thigh tightens at my side.

But fuck him, his brother can give me the comfort he can’t.

Because for once in his life, Romeo looks like a saint in comparison.

The winding streets become wider, the city noise fading as olive groves, cypress-lined roads, and sun-soaked villas begin to dot the landscape .

The road climbs gently, winding for what feels like forever before it falls again, revealing sweeping views of the coastline, with its crystal-blue waters.

Jagger takes another turn, and then we pull up at an iron gate.

The name Moretti is spelled out over the arched bars, flashy and swanky as all hell.

Jagger winds down his window as a guard moves out of a little box to the side of the gate and approaches the car, the gun at his front visible.

“I have Mr. Orlando Moretti, Mrs. Ava Moretti, and Mr. Romeo Moretti, along with their guards,” he explains to the guard, sounding way too formal to be my brother.

The guard motions for Orlando to wind down his window and nods when he sees it’s him inside the car. “You can go through, Mr. Moretti.” He presses a button, and the gates slide open slowly with a groan.

I don’t know why, but I suck in a deep breath, I think trying to prepare myself for what comes next.

I’m so far out of my comfort zone I have no idea how else to cope with this situation.

From behind, I feel Onyx’s hand come to my shoulder, a gentle pressure that tells me he’s here with me. And fuck, it’s everything.

The car travels down a cobblestone driveway lined with citrus trees that leads us to a stunning villa, nestled on the edge of a cliff.

It’s not what I was expecting, but it probably should have been.

It’s massive, its whitewashed stucco walls stretching far beyond what I can see.

It’s the kind of place you would expect to see in a Hollywood movie, with rose vines delicately growing up one side of the building and off to the other the view of the ocean.

The contrast of the vibrant red of the roses is beautiful, even if they make me think of Orlando’s creepy stalker gifts over the years .

“I told you you would like it, doll face. How can you not.” Romeo smiles at me, all charm, but I can see how hard he’s having to force it this time. He helps me out of the car, wrapping his arms around me, and he kisses my forehead as he holds me for a beat.

Onyx and Reef follow us out the same side, Reef watching us together as he moves around the back of the car.

Orlando hops out the other side, not paying us any attention.

The boys grab our bags before I have even had a chance to take it all in.

I move out of Romeo’s hold and slowly toward the front door of the villa, following along behind Jagger and his armful of bags.

I never thought I would see the day when he was the lackey for a Moretti; it’s almost comical.

I feel Onyx by my side and Reef flanking the other.

Even behind security gates with armed guards, they’re still on high alert.

Their overprotectiveness makes my palms sweat, not knowing if it’s overkill or they know something I don’t about this place.