Page 39

Isabetta

R enzo didn’t let go of me the entire drive home.

Havoc called a healer while we were in the car, organizing for them to meet us when we got to the house.

Now the panic of being tied up at the whim of a crazy guy was no longer coursing through my body, the pain had set in.

My wrists and my legs itched and ached where the ropes had dug in, and I was sure they had bled in a few places, but Renzo wouldn’t let me look.

My head was pounding, but every time I dozed off, Renzo woke me up.

It was annoying, but he seemed worried, so I did my best to stay awake.

Renzo carried me up to the bedroom, but I was confused when Havoc didn’t bring Milo up as well. I mustn’t have done a good job of hiding it, because Renzo cupped my cheek to soothe me. “Havoc has taken Milo to the guest room. We want to get you both checked out first, just in case.”

His words didn’t help, and I frowned. Milo and I had been separated by the men who had captured us, and I didn’t enjoy being away from him now. I tried to sit up, but Renzo pushed me gently back onto the bed.

“I want to make sure he’s okay.” With my aching head, I couldn’t put the worry I was feeling into words. But I needed to see him, and I needed more than platitudes.

Renzo sighed, tugging on his hair. “We are worried you both have concussions. Havoc wants to check Milo over and have the healer see him too. We aren’t sure what happened to him.

If he took a beating or not. What if his ribs are broken?

I don’t want you feeling guilty if you try to hug him and cause him pain. ”

The explanation didn’t make me feel any better.

The same panic I felt earlier welled up inside me, and this time, I didn’t have the knowledge Renzo was going to save me to keep it at bay.

Tears spilled over my cheeks, and before I could stop them, I was struggling for breath as sobs racked my chest. Fear clawed at my insides, leaving everything in its path shredded as it lodged in my throat, squeezing it tight until I couldn’t breathe at all.

Renzo cursed in Italian, but I didn’t pay him any attention.

I pulled a pillow close—the one that smelled most like Milo—and held it tight to my chest as the panic made my body tremble and my head throb.

Nothing Renzo did helped. He tried to pet my hair, but I couldn’t focus on him.

All I could feel was the icy grip around my throat.

With a last plea to god to save him from the tears of women, Renzo left the room.

Alone again, I curled around the pillow. It was pressed as tight to my chest as I could get it, like I was trying to absorb it into my skin. I don’t know how long I was frozen like that before I felt pressure push down on the bed beside me.

“He’s here, tesoro. Open your eyes. He’s alive, and he’s right beside you.

” Renzo sounded worried, almost panicked, which I had never heard from him before.

His hand carded my hair soothingly as the pillow was gently taken from my arms. My eyes snapped open and there was Milo.

Havoc leaned over him, the pillow I had desperately clung to, held in his hands.

He pulled it the rest of the way out and set it under Milo’s head, making his brother groan.

My hand trembled as it reached out. The hair around the wound in Milo’s head was still damp from where Havoc must have cleaned it.

I brushed it aside as gently as I could, but when he groaned again, I froze in place.

Renzo had been right. The thought that I might hurt him lanced through me and brought fresh tears to my eyes.

Milo’s hand came up, and I thought he was going to push mine away. Instead, his fingers wrapped around my wrist, and he brought my hand to his mouth, where he pressed a soft kiss against my palm. His eyes were still closed, and his voice was strained.

“Ragazza dolce, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me?” He rolled onto his side with a wince while Havoc hovered behind him, an angry look on his face.

My brow furrowed in confusion at the apology.

Milo opened his eyes, although he was having trouble focusing.

My other hand gripped his shirt gently, fresh sobs shaking my chest. “I was so worried about you.” Bringing the words into existence and letting him hear them made my emotions easier to deal with.

He pressed another kiss to the palm of my hand, his eyes drifting closed as he rolled onto his back again. “I just need to rest. But I am sorry they hurt you, ragazza dolce. I will make it up to you for the rest of my life.”

Though I was unsure why he thought this was his fault, I didn’t have the energy to argue. I was so tired, and wanted to sleep, but as my eyes drifted closed, Renzo gently shook both me and Milo. The sound of the doorbell helped stir me, and Havoc disappeared from the room.

The next hour was a bit of a blur. An older woman came in, and when she wanted to check me over first, I shook my head and tried to push her toward Milo.

She clucked her tongue at me, and Renzo took my hands in his, holding them out of the way.

Her hands glowed as she touched my face, and I winced away from the light as it hurt my eyes.

Then there was a warmth, almost like I was standing in a shower.

It ran over my body, relaxing me, and as I drifted off to sleep, I could hear her murmuring to Havoc, who responded gruffly.

It was dark when I finally woke, and I was warm.

Too warm. When I tried to move, and couldn’t, everything came flooding back.

I screamed and struggled, fighting to get free.

I couldn’t be back there. Had my rescue been a dream?

Was Milo still stuck in a room where I couldn’t see him, bleeding and hurt?

Had that man been watching me as I slept?

A light turned on, just like the lamp on the desk, and the figure who had turned it on was backlit, nothing but a silhouette.

Panic clawed at me as a set of powerful arms wrapped around me, making me feel even more trapped. I kicked and fought, lashing out, and trying to get free. There was a curse from both in front and behind me, and the blankets shifted as I struggled with the person gripping me.

Blankets? There hadn’t been blankets on the chair I had been tied to.

I hadn’t been laying down either. And the voice behind me wasn’t the man who had tied me up—it was Renzo.

He was trying to calm me down, whispering that I was safe, that I was home, and it had just been a dream.

I slumped in his arms, fighting back tears.

It felt like I had done nothing but cry since he had found me, but I couldn’t stop.

He held me as Havoc and Milo both comforted me as well.

When I finally calmed down, I gently eased myself out of Renzo’s hold, sitting up straighter, I looked at Milo.

He looked better, with some more color in his cheeks, and his eyes were focused.

The wound on his head was healed as well, and I brought my hand up to explore my hair.

There was no pain anymore. The rope marks were no longer on my arms either, and all traces of my abduction were gone.

“The healer said you will both be fine. Milo will need a few more days rest, but his injuries were worse than yours. There are things we need to keep an eye out for, tesoro, so I need you to tell me if you hurt, or don’t feel well, all right?

” Renzo was slow to reach out this time, cupping my cheek when I didn’t flinch away from him.

“We can leave the light on, if that will help you sleep?”

I nodded. My halo didn’t give off nearly enough light, and the thought of being in the dark made me shudder. I focused on Renzo—on his face—so my thoughts didn’t drag me back to that warehouse, to that chair.

Milo cleared his throat from behind me, and I turned to look at the twins.

Havoc was standing beside the bed, next to the lamp, his hands crossed over his chest. He didn’t look angry, more uncomfortable.

I reached across Milo, holding my hand out to him.

I didn’t want him feeling like he wasn’t welcome in the bed.

He looked at my hand for a long moment before squeezing it.

“Anything you need. Whatever it takes to make you feel safe. Just tell me.” His voice was rough with more than sleep, but I didn’t bring attention to it.

“I could do with some water, actually.” And I needed a shower, too.

I was wearing a t-shirt, likely one of Renzo’s, but I wasn’t sure when they had changed me.

Likely after the healer had left. While I was glad they had put me in something more comfortable to sleep in, a shower was definitely on the menu.

“Of course. Anything else I can get for the princess?” There was a smirk on Havoc’s face now, one I was glad to see.

I raised my eyebrow at him, trying to find some of my playful nature, even though I was tired and still reeling from everything that had happened. “Don’t tempt me…” It was the best I could come up with.

Luckily, he let me off the hook, giving a short laugh as he headed out of the room.

Renzo urged me to lie back down, rearranging the blankets so they weren’t as heavy across my body.

All thoughts of a shower were distant now.

Laying down had let the exhaustion back in.

Reaching out for Milo’s hand, I squeezed it as Renzo laid back down beside me.

I was safe. I was home.