“I’m sorry that I overacted,” he says, trying again. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you. If your father calls me and says he thinks you might be in danger, how can you not expect me to take that seriously?”
“I’m not going to put my life on hold every time he tells me I need to, Pietro. I told you, I’ve been through this too many times. I swear he does this just to annoy me.”
Pietro curses, then stands up, stalking over to me.
“You can’t stop me from looking out for you, Luce.” He reaches out and cups my face. “I’d do anything for you.”
“If that’s true, then respect what I want, Pietro,” I say. I take a step back, crossing my arms over my chest. I’m angry that he won’t listen to me. “Look, maybe you should leave. I’m really tired. I just want to get some sleep. Is that okay? Unless you want to check there’s nobody hiding in my closet,” I add, unable to resist stirring him. His eyes darken.
“Fine. I’ll speak to you soon,” he responds after a moment of silence. His voice is short, making it very obvious that he’s annoyed. Without another word, he storms out, slamming the door shut after him. Sighing, I walk over to the door and lock it. Then, just to be sure, I check that all the windows are locked.
I crawl into bed and lie there, unable to turn my brain off. I blame my father for all of this. Whether the threat is real or exaggerated, it doesn’t matter. If he wasn’t involved in whatever it is he’s mixed up in at the moment, there would be no issue. Why couldn’t he be normal and work at a normal job? Growing up, I never really understood much of what he was involved in, because I thought it better if I didn’t know.
Unfortunately, no matter how much I pretend that world doesn’t exist, it never seems to stop the trouble from snowballing to include me.
Chapter 23
Pietro
From down the street, I watch her as she leaves her apartment, crossing to enter the studio. It’s been two days and I haven’t heard from her. I thought giving her some space would give her a chance to come around, but apparently that isn’t happening. Reaching into my pocket, I retrieve my phone and dial her number.
She answers on the second ring.
“Are you done acting like a psychotic, obsessive boyfriend?” she asks.
“Are you done behaving like a spoiled brat?” I fire back.
She laughs. “Exactly how am I acting like a brat, Pietro? Because I don’t want your protection?”
“Because you don’t take threats to your safety seriously. You think my father and mother didn’t think the threats against them were empty, Luce? You want to end up dead like them? If not, then take this shit seriously, for God’s sake.” My tone is much harsher than I intended. I take a breath, trying to regain my composure.
She doesn’t answer, and I hope it’s because I’m finally getting through to her. Maybe I am overprotective, but with all that’s happened in my past, who could blame me?
“Sorry, but when someone I love might be in danger, I’m going to do all I can to protect them. If that makes me a bad person, then so be it.”
“Love?” she whispers. My heart pounds as I realize this is the first time I’ve told her I love her. I’ve fucked up a moment that I wanted to be perfect.
“Yes,” I reply, my voice gruff. “Surely you know by now how much I love you?”
“You’ve never said that to me before,” she mumbles.
“I haven’t? Well, I’m saying it now, Luce. I love you. I love you more than anything. Now will you listen to me?”
“Yes,” she whispers. “I’m sorry about what happened to your parents, Pietro.” Her voice is quiet. “I didn’t even think about that.”
“So, you’ll relax a little and let me pick you up after training?” I ask hopefully.
“If that makes you feel better, then yes.”
I swallow a laugh. It wasn’t her appreciating how serious this situation could be, but if it meant I could protect her, then I’d take it.
“Thank you.”
“And Pietro?” she says, her voice trembling. “I love you too.”
I close my eyes. The only thing running thro
ugh my mind is how good it feels to hear her say those words back to me.