Chapter 8
EIGHT
Sable
Being back at Milo’s house offered me solace. But there was also a dark and dangerous downside to being involved with him. Could I navigate those complications without becoming a casualty in his cruel world?
I wanted to be with him, but men like Medina and Bello would always come with the territory. Even if Milo took care of them—and I hated thinking about how he would do that—wouldn't there always be another threat waiting in the shadows?
And then there was my brother. How could I manage to keep both of them in my life without isolating one of them? Why did everything have to be so difficult?
“Hey.” Ricardo stood in the doorway of the sitting area that led to Milo’s bedroom, holding a tray of food and bottles of water. “I heard you were back with us.”
“Hi.” I smiled because I had missed him. “What are you doing on this side of the house?”
“I wanted to check on you.”
“That’s sweet of you.”
“Can I come in?” He nodded down at the tray. “I brought snacks. I made popcorn and brought some stuff to sprinkle in. Oh, and some ice for your lip. I’m sorry Bello did that to you.”
“No more ice.” I shook my head. “My lip is numb. But I’ll take the snacks and the company.”
He came into the room and placed the tray on the coffee table. There was something comforting about a large bodyguard with pretty eyes and deadly instincts taking the time to pop fresh corn and make an ice pack for an injured face.
This place really could be home if I let it.
“I’m going to have to insist on the ice.
” He picked up the plastic bag wrapped in a towel.
“Milo’s orders.” He maneuvered the ice around with his strong hand, probably making sure it would mold against my face.
“And if you don’t want me to have to put ice on my face tonight, you’ll put the ice on your lip. ”
“Milo would hit you?” I took the ice from him. “If I don’t listen?”
“I’m kidding.” He shrugged. “Now, Marchello would definitely hit me.”
“Oh.”
“It was only one time.” He sat down next to me. “And I deserved it.”
“What did you do?” I couldn’t imagine Ricardo doing anything worthy of him getting beaten up for. He was loyal and would do anything for this family. But the Accettis did have a low tolerance for mistakes.
“I let Lissia manipulate me and got her kidnapped in the process.”
“She was kidnapped by someone other than Marchello?” These were the dark and dangerous things I thought about when my head hit the pillow at night. “That’s terrifying.”
“It’s a long story, but it all worked out.”
“This is such a complicated family.” I leaned my head against the back of the couch and plopped the ice on my face. “How do you manage?”
“They are complicated, but they are my family. They’re loyal and will do anything to keep one another safe.
” He offered me a bowl of popcorn. “I like mixing the chocolate and the nuts into mine.” He motioned to all the colored containers with various candies, nuts, and dried fruits. “Lissia likes all the gummy stuff.”
“You and Lissia are close.”
“She’s very special to me.” He sprinkled some candy into his bowl. “I can’t wait until she comes home.”
“I only met her once but I liked her.”
“She’s a little misunderstood, but she has a good heart and a generous nature.” He shook the popcorn around in the bowl. “Her father really did a number on her. Marchello has been a savior for her.”
“Fathers can be tough.” I nibbled on a piece of chocolate. “Luckily, there are men like Marchello and Milo.” I smiled. “And you.”
“That’s sweet of you to say.” He frowned when he stared at me. “Bello will pay for hurting you. Milo won’t let that go.”
“I’d be okay if he did.” I shrugged. “I don’t like all this violence and avenging things, you know?”
“Then you’re in the wrong place.”
“I’m kind of getting that vibe.” I reached for a bottle of water on the tray. “How did you end up here?”
“It’s in my DNA.” He smirked. “My father worked for Nico many years ago. After his death, Nico made sure my family was alright. He gave me a job after my football career ended.” Ricardo tapped his head. “One too many concussions.”
“Sorry to hear about your dad.”
“Thanks. It was a long time ago, but the circumstances behind his death have connected me to the Accettis. I can’t imagine working anywhere else.” He set his popcorn bowl on the table. “My father was Julia Accetti's guard. He was with her when the car blew up.”
“That’s awful.” This family had suffered too much tragedy. I had to wonder how much of it was brought on by their own actions. “That must have been devastating.”
“It helps being around this family, knowing we have that connection even if it is morbid.”
“They never figured out who was responsible for that?”
Milo didn’t offer much about the details of his mother’s death, but it haunted him. How couldn’t it?
“Not from lack of trying, but maybe it’s best because Nico isn’t as obsessed with avenging Julia’s death as he once was. Marchello has settled down now that he has Lissia to look after.” He motioned to me. “And now that you’re back, maybe Milo will find some peace.”
“He deserves some peace, but how can he get that with Medina coming after his family?” I carefully sipped the water, trying not to agitate my lip. “Especially if he’s using me to do it? I never wanted to be a liability for Milo.”
“He doesn’t see you as that.” Ricardo took the ice pack from the table and rewrapped it for me. “He’ll do whatever he has to so that you’re secure. You may not understand his methods, but if you do what he tells you to, everyone will be okay.”
Julia and your dad weren’t. “I wish none of us were in this situation.”
“It isn’t always this volatile around here, but every few years someone tries to make a grab for power or thinks that Nico should give into some demand or another. It never ends well for the other side.”
“But it escalates and then something like what happened to Julia occurs or a situation that put Lissia in the position she’s in. It’s a lot.”
Maybe it was the incident with Bello that started to sink in that had me on edge.
Or how even after I had been assaulted, I gave in and came back to Milo without weighing the pros and cons.
Truth was, I didn’t want to face all the reasons why being with a man like Milo was wrong.
There was one glaring reason why I should be here. I loved him.
“This is all new to you, and I realize it can be upsetting, but you have to trust Milo.”
“I do.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Milo stood in the doorway, appearing a little worse for wear. His jacket and tie were missing and his shirt was unbuttoned down to his abs. “Ricardo, thanks for taking care of my girl.”
“It was my pleasure.” Ricardo hurried off the couch. “Is there anything I can get for you?”
“Can you make sure the vodka is stocked in the guest room down the hall?”
The guest room?
“Sure,” Ricardo said. “Sable, it was nice chatting with you.”
“Thanks for keeping me company.” I set the ice pack on the tray. “And for the snacks.”
Ricardo nodded at Milo before exiting the room. Once he was in the hallway, Milo shut the door.
“Are you settling in?” Milo asked.
“Yes.” I got off the couch and went to him. “How did your meeting go?”
“Not as well as I had hoped.” He cupped my face in his hand, scowling when he gazed into my eyes. “Your bruises are becoming more prominent. I…” He closed his eyes and took a breath. “I’m so sorry.”
“Please don’t apologize." I kissed the corner of his mouth. “It’s not your fault.”
“It is my fault.” He let go of me and went into the bedroom area and began his routine of meticulously removing his gun, watch, wallet, and phone from his person. “If not for me, you wouldn’t have been in that position.”
“I’m the one who came to you and sought your help.” I sat on the edge of the bed. “You helped me out of a serious situation. I’ll never forget that.”
“And by doing that, I placed you in more danger.” He disappeared into his massive walk-in closet. “Now I can’t even do what needs to be done.”
“What do you mean?”
When he emerged from the closet, he had shed his designer suit and replaced it with a pair of black sweatpants and no shirt. The sight of him erased the anxiety of my day. All I wanted was to fall into his arms and never leave.
Seeing him validated my decision to come to the main house. This was where I belonged.
“Is there anything you need?” he asked. “Before you go to bed?”
“Just you.” I inched close to him until our chests were against one another. “I haven’t been sleeping well at all these past couple of weeks.”
“You’re safe now.” He kissed the top of my head. “You’ll have a quiet and comfortable night.”
“Why are you making it sound like I’ll be alone?”
“Because I’m not sleeping in here with you.” He moved away from me. “I can’t, not after everything you’ve been through today.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to understand.” He waved his hands in the air, displaying his Italian trait of using them to talk. “You just have to accept that I need a little space.”
“You’ve had two weeks of space.” This time it was me doing the stalking as I rushed toward him. “You came for me today. I chose to come here because I thought we were on the same page. Now you don’t want to sleep in the same bed as me?”
“I want to be with you, but it can’t be tonight.”
“Why not?”
The tension in his fierce expression should have been enough to back me off, but it wasn’t.
“You made me come back here,” I said.
“I’m aware.”
“Why are you acting like this?” I asked.
“This isn’t an act.” He rubbed his jaw. “We both had a stressful day. I’m happy you’re back at the main house, but I need some time to decompress. I don’t want to say or do anything I’ll regret later.”
“What happened?”
“There’s been a change of plans, and I need to come to terms with how that’s going to look.” He hurried back to the sitting room. “I need the space to do that or I might lose my shit.”
This wasn’t the Milo I had grown accustomed to. He always kept his anger in check. I could tell when things bothered him or when he was going to lose it, but he was the voice of reason in his family. He looked at a situation from every angle and found a way to fix it.
“I want to help.” I came up from behind him and touched his shoulder. “Let me.”
“If that’s true, you’ll let me sleep in the guest room tonight. I'll be two doors down the hall. That’s much closer than if you were still in the city.” His muscles tensed when I trailed my hand along his back. "That's what I need.”
“What if I can’t give you that?” I had spent two weeks sleeping alone. I wasn’t giving in. Not when I was this close. “I came back here to be with you. Whatever you’re going through, let me in so I can make it better for you.”
“You’ll make it worse.” He spun to face me, his eyes blazing with a fire that should have been reserved for his enemy. “Is that what you want?”
“How could I make this worse?” I stepped closer to him, no longer wanting to be the meek mouse who gave into his every demand when I knew I could be more for him.
“How could you make it worse?” He gripped my upper arm.
“I can’t do what has to be done, and if I have to look at your battered face one more second, I’ll lose my fucking mind and go against everything I know to defend you.
” He pulled me closer to him, dropping his gaze to my lips. “Don’t make me do that.”
His tired voice begged me to give him what he needed. His tortured eyes and stress-riddled face screamed at me to give him the space he demanded of me. But something nagged at me not to listen to him.
“Sable,” he said. “I’m sleeping in the guest room.”
When it came to our relationship there had always been uncertainty on my end. In the short time we were together, I had been afraid of him, unconfident in the fact that I could be enough for him, worried that I didn’t belong in his complicated and bloody world.
If I continued to look at us through those uncertain eyes, how could we ever have a future? How could he respect me enough to be the woman who stood by his side? No more fear. No more doubts. I couldn’t be half in. Either I was going to do this or I had to get out.
I didn’t want to leave.
“No, you're not.” I found my voice even if it wasn’t very convincing. “You’re staying with me.”
“Do you want my demons to stay too?”
“I want everything.”
“You have no idea what you’re asking for.” He stroked my hair before tangling his fingers through it and tugging my face to his. “But I’m about to give it to you.”