Chapter 22 Savannah #2
"Protective custody," Luca repeats the words slowly, and then he turns to look at the cops. His expression is cold and dangerous, nothing like the easy-going man I've met before. "You have a warrant? Let me see it."
One of the cops—the one who seems to be in charge—pulls out a folded document and hands it to Luca. He reads it quickly, his expression darkening with each line. Then he looks up at Thad with contempt. "This is bullshit. There's no judge's signature."
"It's real enough." Thad's voice is tight, but I can hear the uncertainty creeping in now that he's outnumbered. "Savannah is in danger. Romeo Ciresa is a criminal, and his family—"
"His family is none of your business." Luca steps forward, and the men behind him move with him, a coordinated show of force that makes the cops take a step back.
"And Savannah is an adult who can make her own choices.
So here's what's going to happen. You're going to leave.
All of you. And if you ever come back here, if you ever try to use your connections to harass her again—we're going to have a very different conversation. "
"Are you threatening me?" Thad's trying to sound outraged, but I can hear the fear underneath it now, the awareness that he's miscalculated. He thought he could use legal force to get what he wanted, but he didn't account for the fact that Romeo's family has force of their own.
"I'm promising you." Luca's voice drops lower, more dangerous. "Leave. Now."
The cops look at each other, and I can see them realize that whatever Thad is paying them isn't worth getting into a confrontation with the Ciresa family. The one in charge folds the document and puts it back in his pocket. "We're done here," he says to Thad. "This isn't worth it."
"What?" Thad turns to him, his composure finally cracking. "You can't just—"
"We can. And we are." The cop is already moving toward the door. "You want to pursue this, you do it through proper channels. We're not getting involved in whatever personal shit this is."
They leave, and Thad is left standing there alone, his face pale with rage and humiliation. He looks at me, and for a moment I think he's going to say something, going to make one last attempt to convince me to come with him.
"You're making a mistake," he says quietly. "Romeo is going to destroy you. And when he does, don't come crying to me."
"I won't." My voice is steady now, and I meet his eyes without flinching. "Goodbye, Thad."
He leaves. The door closes behind him, and the silence that follows is so complete that I can hear my own heartbeat. And then my legs give out. I end up sitting on the floor, and Giulia sits down next to me, her arm around my shoulders. I'm shaking so hard I can't stop.
"You're okay," she says, over and over. "You're safe. He's gone. You're okay."
But I'm not okay. I'm terrified and exhausted and so angry I can barely see straight.
Luca crouches down in front of me, and his expression is gentle. "Romeo's being released in a few hours. The lawyers got the charges dismissed. He'll be here soon."
The relief that floods through me is so intense it's almost painful. "He's okay?"
"He's fine. Pissed off, but fine." Luca stands up and gestures to his men. "We're going to stay until he gets here. Make sure Whitmore doesn't try anything else."
I nod, not trusting my voice, and Giulia helps me up off the floor and guides me to the couch. She makes tea that I don't drink, and she talks to Luca in a low voice about security and contingency plans. I sit there in a daze, trying to process everything that just happened.
Romeo arrives three hours later. The door to the penthouse opens so sharply it bangs into the wall behind it, and the look on his face is a tangle of relief and rage and fear all mixed together. It makes him look almost feral.
"Savannah." He crosses the room in three strides and pulls me into his arms. His grip is so tight it almost hurts, like he's trying to convince himself that I'm real and safe. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he—"
"I'm fine." Tears slide down my cheeks before I even realize I’ve started crying, and I don't know if it's relief or exhaustion or just the overwhelming intensity of having him here.
Having him hold me, like I'm the only thing in the world that matters.
"Giulia and Luca got here in time. He didn't—I'm fine. "
He pulls back just enough to look at me.
His hands come up to cup my face, and I can see the bruises on his knuckles and the exhaustion in his eyes, the barely controlled violence simmering just beneath the surface.
"I'm going to kill him," he says quietly, and it's not a threat or a promise—it's just a statement of fact, a decision he's already made.
"I'm going to fucking kill him for this. "
"Romeo—"
"No." His voice is hard, absolute. "I tried to do this the right way.
I tried to build a case, to use the legal system, to handle it strategically like my father wanted.
But Thad doesn't play by those rules. He has judges and prosecutors in his pocket.
He can fabricate charges, fake warrants, and use the system as a weapon.
So I'm done playing by rules that don't apply to him. "
I should argue. I should tell him that violence isn't the answer, that there has to be another way, that Romeo’s being the kind of man who kills his enemies is exactly what I've been afraid of.
But I can't. I'm so tired of being afraid, so tired of waiting for the next threat, so tired of trying to build a life while men like Thad and my father use their power to tear it down.
"What are you going to do?" I ask quietly.
"Whatever it takes." He kisses me then, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Giulia slip out, see Luca waving his men out as he follows, too. Romeo and I are left alone, and as the kiss deepens, I forget why I ever cared about setting boundaries between us.
I don’t need space right now. I need him, making me feel like I’m alive.
He lifts me up and carries me back to the couch, spilling me back onto it as his mouth devours mine, his hands everywhere. My clothes are gone before I can even form a thought, and Romeo yanks his shirt over his head, fumbling frantically with the opening of his jeans.
“Off,” I gasp, before he can slide inside of me, still half-clothed. “All the way off.”
He kicks his jeans and underwear away, and then we’re lying on his couch skin to skin, Romeo over me as he reaches between us and angles his cock between my thighs.
I’m already wet. My hips arch up, and I gasp as he sinks into me in a single thrust, his darkened gaze locked hungrily with mine.
“Fuck—” he groans the word aloud, and he starts to thrust.
My legs tangle with his as he fucks me. It’s hard and fast, hot and passionate, and I feel like I can’t breathe as he sinks into me again and again.
His hips roll down with every thrust, grinding against me so that his pelvis hits my clit, pushing me toward a climax.
He cups my face in his hands, his mouth devouring mine, and I feel consumed… utterly and completely his.
“Savannah.” He breathes my name against my lips, groans it again and again as he sinks himself into me with every powerful thrust. I cling to him, nails sinking into his shoulders, and I can feel that he’s holding on by a thread, waiting for me.
I cry out as I come, his name dissolving into a moan, and I feel him thrust into me once more, his entire body shuddering as he spurts inside of me.
For the first time, there’s no fear that comes along with it.
What’s done is done—him coming inside of me won’t change anything now.
And so, for the first time, I let myself enjoy it fully…
the feeling of him inside of me, filling me up, all heat and skin and the movement of his body as he loses himself in the blissful feeling of the two of us coming together.
He slumps forward, his forehead pressed to mine, his hands smoothing my hair away from my face. He’s still inside of me, and in that moment, I want him to stay that way forever.
This is toxic, and terrifying, and I don’t know what lies in front of us. I know I can’t just keep letting things happen to me.
But I also know that Romeo Ciresa is one thing I won’t regret happening to me.
Not ever.