26. Demi #3
He kisses my chin, my jawline, tiny damp caresses down to my throat and back again to my ear where he sucks on the lobe, and my body responds the way it always has, with goose bumps and shivers, and the familiar heat between my legs.
“You told me to be afraid of what you would do to me,” I whisper.
My heart rate is no longer steady, my pussy is tingling, and I’m already wet, despite the unflattering hospital gown and the tubes attached to various parts of my body.
“Did that turn you on?” his voice is thick with want.
“Yes.”
“It turned me on too,” he murmurs against my lips, “but it terrified me at the same time.”
Before I can tell him that he has nothing to be afraid of, that he’s nothing like the other clients who came to JADED, nothing like Malevsky either, the door opens, and someone walks into the room.
Enzo reluctantly pulls away from me, his hand finding mine on top of the covers.
I drag my eyes towards the figure approaching the bed, and release a sigh.
“How are you doing, Demi?” Gio asks.
He smiles, but the worry in his eyes is unmistakable. I can see the dressing on his lower arm beneath his rolled-up shirt, and he’s limping, but he still carries an air of calm collectiveness like a cool-blue aura surrounding him.
“Great.” I smile. “I could murder a coffee.”
“As long as that’s all you can murder right now, I think I can help.” His eyes drift to Enzo, and I see a mixture of relief that his brother is alive, and concern that his heart might get broken all over again if I don’t stick around.
I’ll reassure him in time. Once Enzo and I figure things out.
“Are Meggie and the children safe?” I ask.
“They’re in Sicily. Meggie wants to come back, but they’re safer there for now.”
“Why?” I don’t miss the silent warning that passes between them.
Gio remains standing as if afraid to outstay his welcome. “Sofia is with them. Leo had disappeared by the time the private jet reached Rome.”
“Is he…”
Fuck… If the Russians have gotten hold of him and are using him for revenge… my mind is already racing through all kinds of scenarios that I don’t want to think about.
“Bianca is missing too,” Gio adds. “We think she might’ve somehow reached out to Leo and arranged for him to be moved from boarding school.”
“But she was there in the house.” I don’t know how much Gio knows, how much Enzo has told him while I’ve been sedated. “Malevsky would’ve killed her too if she hadn’t escaped when she did.”
“Our sister has contacts that not even we know about,” Gio says.
Enzo inhales deeply. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she sold me out to the Russians as payback for keeping her children from her. But she came back for me when I was trapped inside the basement.”
“She must’ve had a change of heart.” Gio’s expression is neutral. “All the more reason for me to believe that she’s behind Leo’s disappearance. She doesn’t want us to come after them.”
“Will you?” I ask. “Will you go after them?”
Gio, ever the diplomat, says, “I have to be sure that Leo is safe.”
“He’ll be safe with his mom.” It hurts to swallow, as if all the emotions I’ve stored up during the past twelve months are attacking me now that I’m unfit to fight them off. The bastards.
“Demi is right,” Enzo says. “Whatever else Bianca has done, she loves her children.”
Gio studies his brother for several beats.
“Her love for them was never in doubt. It’s her scruples that scare the shit out of me.
She’ll drag Leo into whatever danger she attracts next, and one day her luck will run out.
I can’t live with her son being the one who suffers for his mother’s mistakes. ”
“Or maybe,” I say, realizing that I’m stepping into uncharted territory interfering in family politics, “Leo will be the making of her.”
Enzo squeezes my hand on top of the covers.
Gio’s mouth eventually quirks into a small smile. But before he can voice his opinion, his cell phone rings. He checks the Caller ID, and his smile fades. “I should take this.”
He steps outside, and we can hear his muffled voice through the wall as his hazy silhouette passes by the window covered by blinds for privacy.
Enzo’s eyes lock onto mine and he raises my hand to his lips. “I love you.”
I smile and sink back into the pillows. “You know I won’t remember any of this when the meds wear off.”
“I’ll remind you.”
“Only the good bits though.”
“Deal.”
Gio comes back in, sliding his phone into his pocket, and his entire demeanor has changed. His shoulders are snapped back, his expression is tight; he’s Giovanni Sabatelli, mafia family boss, the man who has a whole heap of dangerous shit to take care of.
“I have to go. Loose end to tie up.” He addresses Enzo. “Stay with Demi. Davide will be outside the room, but the Russians will be out for blood until I get this resolved.”
Enzo nods once. Maybe he understands the cryptic messages, or maybe he trusts his brother to handle it while he protects me. I’m too befuddled to dissect it.
“Demi,” Gio says, jolting me out of the sleepy cocoon threatening to take me away again, “good to see you.”
Then he’s gone.