Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
Sable
The fear in Milo’s expression was enough to bring me to my knees. Knowing I was the source of that fear made his suffering even more difficult to accept. How could I argue with him when the ghost of his mother was in the room with us?
“Didn’t you just say you wouldn’t interfere?” Milo asked. “You’re not doing a very good job.”
“I meant when it came to you and Medina.”
“This is about Medina. I’m overly confident and too arrogant to think I can’t protect you.” He tightened his towel around his waist. “I can’t make the same mistakes my father did. I’m not as strong as he is and I wouldn’t survive losing you.”
“You’re not going to lose me.” I hugged him. “I trust that you’ll keep me safe.”
“You can’t trust in something when you have no idea what could be headed our way. If that scum gets you in his grasp, I might not be able to find you in time.”
“I trust you,” I said. “That’s all I need.”
“Well, I need more reassurance.” He let go of me. “Getting you away from here is the only way I’ll get it.”
The tight expression that plagued his face and his tense stance made me believe I had one hell of a fight standing in front of me. I would not let him send me away. I had a say in this relationship too, even if he didn’t believe that.
“Italy,” he said. “I’ll send you to visit Chance. Ax can go with you.”
“You’re not listening. Don’t I get a say in my own life?” I pointed at him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Hey,” he said, raising his voice. “I’ve had enough tonight.”
“I know.” I tightened my towel around me before sitting on the edge of the bed. “I was there.”
“Then you should know why it’s imperative for you to go away.” He went into the walk-in closet. “Medina isn’t going anywhere, not without a big fight. I don’t need you in his path.”
While he worked out his issues as he got dressed, I dried off and threw on one of his t-shirts I found in the dresser drawer. When he emerged from the closet, he had on sweatpants and a hoodie that zipped up the front.
Very casual for a man who normally wore designer suits that cost more than some people’s rent. That could be a good sign. No Armani meant he didn’t intend to leave the penthouse tonight. Which meant that I wasn’t going anywhere either.
“I don’t want to fight with you.” I sat on the bed again. “If you’re bent on sending me away, I know I can’t change your mind.”
“No, you can’t.”
“Do you really think that Medina will come after me?”
“I don’t have the luxury of guessing what he will or won’t do. I have to go with my gut and take action.”
The thought of that vile man being anywhere near me, much less having to be alone with him, shook me to my core. I knew a sinister person when I saw one, and he was the worst kind of evil. He preyed on innocent women and took their voices away. He stole their independence and made them suffer.
Milo was right to want me to leave. But as terrifying as it was to think someone like Medina could get to me, my belief in Milo was stronger. My heart wouldn’t let me down.
“I can’t underestimate him.“ Milo crossed the room and stood in front of me, taking my chin in his hand. “I have to anticipate every possible move. If I don’t see it coming, you could end up paying the price.”
“I’m with you all the time,” I reminded him. “And when we’re not together, I’m with Ax. I live in Nico Accetti’s house, which happens to be surrounded by guards all the time. I don’t see anyone breeching that security system.”
“Anything is possible.” He sat down next to me. “My father didn’t think someone would plant a bomb in my mother’s car or that she would die in front of our house with all of us in it.”
“That was a long time ago.” I wasn’t discounting his feelings. I only meant that what had happened to his mother didn’t mean that another enemy would come after me.
“Feels like yesterday.” He shrugged. “Other days, it seems like a lifetime ago. It’s getting harder to remember what her voice sounded like. I don’t ever want to forget what yours sounds like.”
I couldn’t argue with his reasons. His mother’s death validated his fears, but my heart told me we were stronger together. I needed him to believe I was an asset and not a liability. As painful as the memories of his mother were for him, I was glad he chose to share them with me.
“I don’t want you to leave.” He pulled me into his lap. “I would go insane not seeing you every day. If I could come up with another solution to keep you here, I would.”
“My bracelet.” I held out my arm determined to win this battle. “You can’t lose me if I’m wearing it.”
“No, I suppose I can’t.” He caressed my wrist. “You’re the most important thing in my life.”
“I’ve never had a home before.”
“You’ll always have a home with me.”
“Please don’t make me go.”
A few days later, Milo seemed a bit calmer. I wouldn’t fool myself, because there was always the possibility that if the situation got too tense and he sensed I was in danger, he would send me away. I figured that out when he had my passport expedited.
There was no sense worrying about it. I’d already persuaded him to let me stay, but I couldn’t keep defying his wishes.
He wouldn’t be able to stay focused if he constantly worried about me.
If he asked me to go into hiding, I would have to listen.
But in the meantime, I would keep following the rules and do everything I could to stay off Medina’s radar.
I promised myself I would make things easier for Milo if the time came for him to send me away. I prayed we wouldn’t get to that point.
I tapped on Nico’s door at the dealership and waited for him to respond. I had some new contracts that Milo wanted me to bring to him. I usually gave them to Angela, but she was running a few errands, so I had to deliver them personally.
“Come in," Nico said before mumbling something in Italian.
When I entered his office, his head was buried in a pile of files on his desk.
“Do you have the documents I asked for?” He looked up and took his glasses off. “I need them to make all of this in front of me make sense.”
“Right here.” I handed them to him. “It’s everything you asked for. I double-checked the numbers twice.”
“Thank you.” He looked down at the file. “That’s extremely helpful.”
“I’m glad I could be of assistance,” I said. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
I inched back, trying to make a quick escape.
Even though I lived in the same house and shared a few meals a week with him, he made me nervous.
It was a strange feeling. His authoritative demeanor and no-nonsense approach to most things took some getting used to, but at the same time, his strength and ability to command any situation could be comforting.
Maybe that was what it was like to have a capable head of the family who would stop at nothing to protect and provide for his family.
I wouldn’t know. My own father was such a screw up, and I never had a father-figure to rely on.
Nico took some getting used to, but he was kind to me.
He welcomed me into his home and treated me with respect.
“How are things going for you here?” he asked before I could leave. “Do you find the car business captivating?”
“Very.” There was so much to learn about the dealership, but I did find high-end cars sexy, especially when Milo took me for test rides. “You have so many gorgeous cars.”
“Most of my clients agree with you.” He set his glasses on his desk. “And how do you find living at the house? I hope you don’t feel like a guest.”
“Not at all.” I fidgeted with the belt on my dress. “You’ve all been so welcoming. Thank you.”
“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I want you to feel like you’re at home.”
“I do.” This was one of those moments when his father-figure personality came through and didn’t make me feel so anxious. “I heard from Chance last night.”
“I’m told he’s doing really well.”
“He loves Italy.”
“Who doesn’t?” he asked. “It’s a phenomenal country.”
“He said he's learning how to ride a horse too.” This is the shot Chance needed, and Nico was responsible for giving it to him. “Pretty impressive for a city kid.”
“I told my team at the vineyards to provide Chance with as many opportunities as possible to help him figure out who and what he wants to be.”
“I appreciate that.”
“The same goes for you too, Sable.” He leaned back in his chair and ran his hand along his jaw, giving me a vision of what Milo might look like in twenty years with a ruggedly handsome face that had more life experience and a few silver strands in his hair.
“You don’t have to be tied down to being Milo’s assistant.
We have many opportunities throughout the city for you to explore. ”
“I think Milo finds peace when I’m here.”
“He does, but that doesn’t mean you have to be shackled to him all the time.” He grinned. “Right now, our current business climate is navigating some rough waters.”
“That’s a creative way of looking at it.”
“My line of work requires plenty of creativity.”
“I can see why.”
“I’ve been in this position for many years,” Nico said. “I promise it won’t be this way forever. Once we deal with Medina, our lives will settle down and Milo will go back to being that fun, carefree man who keeps us all on our toes while he fixes any complications that might arise.”
“You mean he won’t worry about me all the time?”
“I can’t promise that.” He gazed at a picture frame on his desk. I couldn’t see who was in the photo. My intuition would make me bet it was his wife. “If I’ve taught him anything, it’s that he should never let his guard down when it comes to the ones he loves.”
“You’ve taught him so much more than that.”
“I appreciate the grace you’re showing my son as he figures out how to balance what he does for a living and how to keep you in his life.”
“That was part of the curse you asked me about, but I now know I can do whatever it takes to help Milo understand that whatever happens to me isn’t all on him. I’m here because this is exactly where I want to be.”
“My son is a lucky man.”
“I’m the lucky one.” When I thought about where Chance and I were a year ago, compared to today, I believed dreams could come true. That was a theory I would never have comprehended before Milo. “You and Milo made sure of that.”
“Milo deserves to be happy, and he found it with you. Knowing how much you care for my son is comforting. I don’t want him to be alone.” He leaned back in his chair. “For years, my kids thought after what happened to their mother that I wanted them to stay single.”
“You were just afraid they would know the pain you knew.”
He nodded. “You’re extremely perceptive.”
My heart ached for Nico. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him to have to live with the guilt of Julia’s death on his conscience. I would never want that kind of anguish for Milo.
An overwhelming pang of guilt slammed into me when I thought about how I had manipulated him into letting me stay. I hit him where he couldn’t resist. I used our relationship to persuade him to let me stay here. If something did happen to me, Milo would feel responsible for the rest of his life.
“It would be selfish of me to want my sons to stay single.” Nico moved the pen on the desk toward him and then rolled it away from him.
He repeated that motion a few times before he continued his thoughts.
“They needed to find the type of love I had with their mother, and I think both of them have accomplished that.”
“I do love your son.” I smiled. “And everything that comes with him.”
“Thank you.”
“Dad!” Milo burst into the room and placed his hand on the small of my back. “There’s a situation that needs your immediate attention.”
What now…