Page 248 of The Enslaved Duet

His amusement softened into something far more intimate as he gently nipped my chin with his teeth. “I have the sense that will change now.”

I beamed into his face, and he clucked his tongue at me. “Infatuated, the both of us. I hope Riddick has a strong stomach because he doesn’t much like public displays of affection. Most Brits don’t.”

“Good thing you’re half Italian then.”

“Good thing.” He slapped my ass sharply, reigniting the burn from the riding crop. “Now get inside and go to your room. Some of the gifts I spoke of are waiting for you on your bed.”

I opened the door of the room that had been my haven the entire first year of my stay at Pearl Hall with more trepidation than I ever had before. A surprise from Alexander could mean anything from a horse to the piked head of a former enemy staked to the floor still dripping blood.

At first, as the ornate gold and cream painted door swung inwards, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. The pink and red carpets still overlapped in pleasing disarray, the gorgeous draperies over the bed tied open with golden ropes to reveal the deep red satin coverlet and mounds of goose down pillows. It was opulent and homey, and even though I would be spending my nights with Alexander in his room in the future, I would always consider this room my own sweet escape.

Distracted by nostalgia, I almost overlooked the small black blob on the duvet, but the floor creaked slightly under my booted feet and a little head peeked up, gold eyes the same colour as my own popping open amid the inky fur.

“Hades!” I cried as I dived onto the bed and grabbed my little demon cat into my arms.

I rolled onto my back, holding his warm, soft body on my chest with my hands under his pits so that he sat between my breasts and we could look each other in the eye. He blinked at me sleepily and yawned, exposing his little pink tongue, before finally greeting me with a croaky meow.

I hugged him tenderly to my chest and threw my head back against the duvet to smile into the canopy, my cheeks aching with the spread of joy on my face.

There was a creak in the hall that signaled the arrival of someone at my door, and I laughed without looking over to see Xan standing smugly there.

“You wonderful, sly man. Thank you so much for getting Hades here. He means everything to me.”

There was a light scoff and then the smooth, lyrical lilt of my brother Sebastian’s voice. “I’m deeply wounded,mia cara. Here I was, always thinkingIwas your favourite.”

I shot into a seated position and blinked at the sight of my brother, Giselle, Sinclair, Mama, and Salvatore in the doorway.

“Cazzo,” I cursed through the sudden onslaught of tears. “I’ve cried more today than I have in five years.”

My family laughed and filtered through the door to surround me on the bed, peppering me with kisses and enfolding me in hugs. We settled with my head on Mama’s soft chest, Giselle’s on my stomach with her legs over Sinclair, and Sebastian’s on my thigh. Salvatore sat at my feet, smiling alternatively at me and then at Mama, his big, thick hands on my ankles.

“I thought you were all dead,” I tried to explain through my incessant tears. “I thought you were all dead because of things I did, and I imagined the rest of my miserable life without you all, and I wanted to do more than die. I wanted to stop existing.”

“Ah,piccola,” Mama cooed as she stroked my hair back from my face. “Your husband and Dante got most of us out before the bomb exploded. Alexander, he followed you when you went to the back because he had a sense of danger, and when you could not be found, he pushed everyone out.”

“It was a sight to behold,” Giselle admitted, giggling softly. “These two huge men grabbing people as they went, pushing and yelling for everyone to get out of the restaurant.”

“Two killed,” Salvatore muttered darkly. “Your mama’s sous chef and one of Dante’s boys.”

“I’ll go to the funeral,” I said immediately. “Xan and I will pay for it.”

“You won’t. It’s done, and I took care of it,” my dad said, his thick brows nearly obscuring his furious eyes. “Just as I will take care of the di Carlo scum who involved themselves with Noel.”

“Tore,” Mama soothed. “Calmarsi.”

Settle down.

I was surprised by the empathy in her soft mouth and her gentle words. Mama hadn’t had a kind word to say to the love of her life in decades, and now, it seemed, she was condoning the violent thoughts and future actions Salvatore planned against a rival mafia syndicate.

“Whoa,” I breathed, making wide eyes at Sebastian who chuckled.

“Elena isn’t here because she’s keeping her promise to you,” Sinclair interjected, picking up my hand to clasp it between his own. “She and the rest of the legal team are looking after Dante.”

I closed my eyes at the sharp sting of relief and deeper pulse of agony in my chest. The vision of my gorgeous, big man Dante in an ugly orange jumpsuit caged in a drab room of concrete all day made me physically ill. He didn’t deserve to be there.

I did.

Maybe even Xan did.