15. West
Chapter 15
West
S he laughs, but there’s no real humor in it. “There’s no plan.” She shrugs. “Unless you can get me to London. He’ll never suspect I could ever move there.”
“Does anyone else know who you really are?” I ask her, standing up and walking around the desk.
“No,” she whispers, her eyes shimmering like broken glass.
I step closer, my heart pounding. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Her expression hardens. “I have to.” She swallows, glancing at the floor like it might offer her an escape route. “Once this engagement goes public, Giovanni will find me. He might…he might kill me. He might kill you.”
I clench my fists, resisting the urge to shake some sense into her. “What makes you think I’m going to let that happen?”
She meets my gaze, and for a moment, the weight of our shared secret hangs heavy between us. “Because you don’t understand what he’s capable of.” She swallows. “I’ve ruined everything for you. I should never have agreed to this fake engagement.”
“And he doesn’t know what I’m capable of,” I challenge, anger simmering in my veins.
Her shoulders slump as if the very thought drains her energy. “Giovanni isn’t just some guy with connections; he’s a monster.” She draws a shaky breath, steadying herself before she continues. “He won’t stop until he gets what he wants.”
“You?”
She nods. “Unfortunately.”
“Then we deal with him,” I insist, taking another step toward her. “Together.”
“No!” She raises her voice, panic creeping in as she shakes her head. “This isn’t your fight! You don’t know what you’re getting into.”
“I know enough.” I reach out and grip her shoulders, searching for any flicker of trust in those bright eyes of hers. “I won’t let him touch you.”
Her breath hitches as she studies me, uncertainty flashing across her features.
“Amelia,” I say softly, hitching my pants and kneeling in closer so she can see the sincerity etched on my face. “You’re not doing this alone. I have contacts.”
She opens her mouth, but no words come out; instead, a tear slips down her cheek.
My resolve weakens at the sight of it. I pull her until her head is resting on my shoulder.
“I can’t let you be a target because of me,” she murmurs.
“I’m always a target. Being a Davenport makes me a target.” I want to tell her about my life. What happened to me when I was younger, but I’ll save that for another day. “So don’t worry about me,” I reply, refusing to back down.
She stares open-mouthed for a moment as the tension wraps around us like a noose.
“But—”
“No buts,” I cut in sharply.
“I’m sorry. I should never have agreed to this arrangement we have.”
“I’m not.” I can’t tell her how my heart beats for her like it never has before.
She sighs. “I’m not going ahead with it, West. I can’t. I’ve lived this life for three years. I’ve hidden in New York because it’s the only place in America I believed he’d never find me. But it never stopped me from being frightened every single day. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder.”
“I can look after you.”
“We’re talking about the mafia, West.”
“You lived with Felix.”
“I had nothing before him. I couch surfed when I met Felix. I used him for a safe place to live. I put up with everything he did because his home was a sanctuary for me. But the moment we go public.” Her finger flicks between us. “That’s the moment that Giovanni will find me. He always does.”
I watch as she bites her lip as frustration curls in my gut. “You think I’ll let you walk away?”
“West—”
“Don’t. Just don’t.” I run my hand through my hair, trying to contain the anger bubbling inside me.
“You’re asking me to let you walk into danger when this is fake? You’re being—”
“Someone who has the means to look after you.”
“Or I can hide again.” Her shoulders sag but her eyes widen, desperation flooding her features. “Can I stay in your apartment for a few days until I figure out where to go next?”
The question hangs in the air. My instincts scream at me to give her the safe life in London she craves before Giovanni finds her again. But then I remember how vulnerable she is, how lost.
And how I’m not ready to let her go.
“Where would you go in London if I gave you that?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I’ll figure it out,” she insists, but there’s an edge of pleading in her tone. “I can pretend to be with you for a while longer, enough time for you to find someone else before your dad marries you off.” She chuckles, but there’s little humor in her tone. And—” She swallows. “I won’t object if you go back to Club Elysium.”
“You think I’m going back to the sex club because this is complicated?” My voice rises. The thought of returning to that place makes bile rise in my throat. It feels wrong now, almost disrespectful to—
To her.
“I understand,” she says softly, and the weight of her words strikes me hard. “It was just a suggestion.”
A suggestion that implies I should retreat back into my old life while she hides in my home like some secret shame.
“I’m not letting you go.” My teeth clench as anger rushes through me again. Anger at her situation and anger at myself for wanting to protect her when she keeps trying to push me away.
She opens her mouth, likely to argue further, but then closes it again.
Silence stretches between us like a taut wire ready to snap.
Finally, I stand and whisper in her ear, “You’re not going anywhere. You’re staying with me.”
I drop Amelia off at the penthouse, my mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.
I have this need to protect her, but the logical part of my brain screams about the danger she could bring into my life.
I head straight to East’s home, desperate for a beer and some brotherly advice. He greets me with a raised eyebrow and a cold bottle.
“You look like shit,” he says, ushering me inside. “Woman trouble?”
I collapse onto his couch, taking a long pull from the beer. “I’m in deep, East.”
Then I spill Amelia’s true identity, the threat hanging over her head, but leave out a few key details.
East listens in silence, but his face grows more concerned with each revelation.
When I finish, he lets out a low whistle. “Fuck, West. You’ve really stepped in it this time.”
“Tell me about it,” I mutter.
“If dad finds out—”
“He won’t.”
“He’s asking questions, West. If I knew anything about your ‘ convenient’ relationship.” He puts the word convenient in air quotes.
I run a hand through my hair, frustration bubbling beneath the surface.
“Dad’s a fucking nightmare,” I snap. “He doesn’t get it. He thinks everything fits into his tidy little box.”
East leans back, arms crossed. “You know what he said? He can’t wrap his head around the fact that Amelia has no family to invite to this engagement party.”
I glare at him, my annoyance morphing into anger. “What’s that supposed to mean? It happens.”
“I know that, but...” East shrugs, his expression remains serious. “He thinks it’s a lie. ‘How can someone have nobody at all to invite?’ he asked me, like I’m supposed to have the answer.”
My fists clench at my sides. “I told him to mind his own business.”
“Good,” East says, nodding. “Not all families are made the same. You know that better than anyone.”
“Right?” I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and groan.
“He’s got a twisted view of the world,” East agrees. “But now he’ll dig deeper—he’ll want to know what she’s hiding.”
“She’s hiding nothing,” I shoot back, irritation sharp in my voice.
“She certainly is.” East challenges me with a raised eyebrow.
A heavy silence settles between us as my gut twists at the thought of Amelia hiding from the mafia world.
“I won’t let anything happen to her,” I vow, even as uncertainty gnaws at me.
East studies me, weighing my resolve. “Just be careful, West. You don’t know what you’re getting into. And Dad will use anything he finds against you.”
“Of course he will.” My voice drops lower. “But I’m not backing down.”
He sighs. “She was supposed to be temporary, West. You could let her go now. Give her what she needs. I can have her moved out of New York in a few days.”
“She has nothing East.” My voice is gravelly. “Where will she go?”
“We have offices all over the world. Ask her where she wants to hide, and I’ll arrange it. I can get her a new identity.”
“No.”
East glares at me. “This arrangement with Amelia was to get you out of marrying Elizabeth Jameson. Yet to me it looks like more.”
“I’m not letting her go,” I say, the words tumbling out before I can think better of it.
East leans back, crossing his arms. “She’s not someone you can save, West? Let her go before you bring danger into her world. Or her ours.”
“No.” My voice hardens. “I owe her.”
“You owe her? For what? She’s not some damsel in distress.”
“Maybe not,” I shoot back, “but when I started digging into her past, I never expected to find what I did.”
East’s brows knit together; his curiosity piqued. “What do you mean?”
“The man looking for her is not her uncle.” The words taste poisonous on my tongue. “He’s a fucking mob boss, and he wants her married to his son.”
East’s eyes widen as he processes this information. “So that’s why she ran.”
“Yeah,” I say, leaning forward. “She didn’t want any part of it, and yet here we are.” The weight of the revelation crushes me.
“Sorry West, but you need to let her go.” He stares at me with a strange look in his eyes. “How much were you paying her for being your fake fiancée?”
“One million dollars for one year, and then more if she had to stay longer.”
East runs a hand through his hair as he studies me for a long moment before pacing the floor. He gives a deep sigh and says, “Let me find her a job and place to live in another city and you’ll at least feel you’ve helped her.”
“I can’t,” I interrupt, the words escaping before I can stop them.
My brother freezes, staring at me. “What do you mean, you can’t?”
I take another swig of beer, avoiding his gaze. “I just...I can’t, okay? She’s got nobody.”
“She managed before she met you,” East argues. “She’ll figure it out again.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Then explain it to me, because I’m not seeing the upside here.”
I struggle to find the right words to make him understand the pull I feel towards Amelia. “She’s different, East. When I’m with her, I feel...I don’t know. Like I can breathe again.”
East stares at me, his shock palpable. “And what does she want? Really?”
I shake my head. “She wants...she wants to feel safe, for me to help her hide again.”
“Then give her what she wants,” he insists, his tone turning urgent. “Make her feel secure. Find her a place, a job—something solid…In another fucking city. Or better still, another country.”
“No.” Frustration boils just beneath the surface of my skin. “I can’t.”
“Why the hell not?” He paces, running a hand through his hair as if it might untangle the mess that we’re in.
I take another long drag from my bottle of beer. He’s right, of course, East always is. But—
“I don’t want to.” The words slip out before I can stop them, and they taste sweet on my tongue. She tastes sweet.
“What the hell do you mean?” East stops in front of me, his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
“She needs stability and...” My voice drops as I wrestle with the truth that gnaws at me.
“Safety, West. She needs to get away from here.” His brows knit together, confusion swirling in his eyes.
“I know!” My voice rises again as I fight against the growing frustration. “But it’s complicated! You don’t understand.”
“Try me.” East challenges me with an intensity that makes my stomach churn.
I meet East’s gaze and sigh.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling the stress settle like a lead weight in my chest. “I thought helping her would get me off my father’s radar, but now? Now it feels like I’ve tangled myself in something far worse.”
“Then you better figure out how to protect her.” East leans closer. There is so much intensity in his gaze.
“I know!” The panic rises within me like a tidal wave about to unleash and cause havoc. “She’s already lost so much.”
I take another swig as East laughs. “Oh shit. You’re falling for her,” he states as understanding dawns on him.
“I fell for her a long time ago.”
His eyes widen as he mutters, “You’re screwed.”