Angelo (The Marchesi Family 2)

“Weren’t you wearing gloves?”

“I was when I was on the bike.”

“Then you lost it in the fucking house or the yard, and it’s not going to be destroyed by the fire.”

“I’ll deal with it, okay?”

Lucien turned to me. “What else didn’t you tell me?”

I almost confessed, but a hard look from Devil stopped me. “Nothing. We were careful. We can put out the word that the ring was stolen when Devil left it to be repaired. Sergio’s men hit one of our jewelry shops.”

Lucien sighed. “Fine, but I’m sick and fucking tired of the constant trouble.”

“Why don’t you go upstairs and fuck Peter so you can chill out?”

I thought Lucien was going to go for Devil, but he held himself in check. “I’ve had enough out of you.”

Devil shook his head. “Damn, this love shit makes people grouchy as fuck.”

“Speaking of this love shit…” Lucien focused on me again. “Why don’t you go upstairs and tell Cameron how you feel?”

I shook my head. “No. That’s not… I can’t…” My chest tightened, and I couldn’t take in enough air. I wasn’t ready to face what this night might have done to my chances with Cameron.

“Angelo?” Lucien’s worried look told me he was ready to launch into protective big brother mode.

I held up a hand as I forced myself to breathe slowly. Lucien wasn’t going to let this go, so I had to face it like I would any other problem. “You remember why he refused to tutor me in high school, don’t you? Because I was a fucking criminal and my family killed people. And now he’s watched me kill and knows I went out to do it again.”

“He also knows you did it to protect him, and I saw the way he looked at you, worried and confused, like he didn’t want to leave you.”

Why couldn’t Lucien just let this go? “That doesn’t mean he’ll accept it.”

“But you want him to, don’t you?” Devil asked.

I drew in another slow, deep breath. “Yeah, I do.”

Lucien studied me for a moment. “Does Cameron know that?”

Did he? “I don’t know.”

“Then go tell him.”

“Is that what you did with Peter?”

Lucien scowled but didn’t answer.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

He sighed. “Eventually, but I waited longer than I should have. If you hadn’t found me when Damian captured me, I wouldn’t have gotten the chance.”

“Cameron doesn’t want anything to do with our world.”

“Neither did Peter, but he stayed with me anyway. There are things more powerful than fear.”

I dragged myself up the stairs, intending to do what Lucien said, but when I saw Cameron, looking so soft and innocent in my bed, I couldn’t wake him. What if he rejected me? Right then, I had hope. Our enemy was dead. Cameron was safe from anything Sergio had planned, and he was here in my bed. If I woke him and confessed how I felt, he might tell me he didn’t feel the same way. He might reject me even if he did love me because I was a monster who could torment a man then burn him alive. Maybe I didn’t deserve Cameron, but right then I needed to pretend I did.

I slipped into bed with him, kissed the side of his head, and held him. Sleep wouldn’t come, though. I was too jacked up from the events of the night, so I left Cameron there, went downstairs, and got thoroughly wasted with Devil and Lucien.

26

Cameron

“No!” I jolted upright, but when I opened my eyes I was in Angelo’s room, sun streaming in through the windows. I wasn’t at the bakery. I wasn’t restrained and at the mercy of two men I knew wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. I wasn’t afraid they’d kill Angelo when he came for me. Those men were very dead.

Oh shit, the bakery. What time was it? Where was Angelo? What had happened last night? He hadn’t woken me up or… I fumbled around, reaching for my phone. It wasn’t on the nightstand. Had I fallen asleep with it next to me? I felt around and found it tangled in the covers. No messages from Angelo or the rest of his family. The only message I had was from Nick.

He had some questions for me and wanted me to give him a call. I glanced at the time. Fuck. It was nine o’clock. I never slept that late. I should’ve been at the bakery to meet Nick no later than seven, but I hadn’t set an alarm because I’d intended to stay awake until Angelo got home. I hadn’t been thinking about this morning or renovations or anything but Angelo and Devil and whether they’d be hurt… or worse going after the asshole who wanted to hurt us all.

Where was Angelo? I had a vague memory of him slipping into bed, wrapping himself around me, stroking my hair, and kissing the back of my neck. Had that been a dream? I looked around but didn’t see any sign that he’d been there. Surely, if something happened to him…