Watching her sleep, has become one of my favorite pastimes. The first of course is being in her, listening to her scream out my name. But there was something intimate, special about lying next to her, watching her sleep. She looked so innocent, so vulnerable that I found it hard to pull myself away from her. I felt a deep desire to stay with her, to protect her.
I wanted so much to tell her what was on my mind, but how could I explain it when I was struggling to reconcile it.
I hurt my family.
I deliberately caused them pain.
Rolling onto my back, I looked at the white ceiling and sighed. So much was happening. Dangers were coming out of the shadows faster than Giuseppe could kill. And he could kill fast.
With my sister and Layla at the compound, Gio had his hands full with them and with the rest of the family. I couldn’t burden him with my troubles too. I just couldn’t.
My brother had spent a good majority of his life coming to my rescue. Now it was my turn to save them if I could.
Carefully getting out of bed, I quickly got dressed. Making sure Donatella was covered and comfortable, I left the cabin, closing the door behind me.
I walked back into the main part of the cabin to find Gideon talking with a man I’d never seen before. The man was tall, standing at least an inch taller than my six foot two. Dressed in all black, the man had an air of danger around him. When he looked up and spotted me, I could tell he wasn’t a man to fuck with.
“Lorenzo, meet Jonathon Savage.”
“Wait,” I said, letting go of the breath I didn’t know I was holding. I knew that name. Heard it many times from Giovanni. The man, Jonathon Savage was who Giovanni would call when he needed information. “You know my brother.”
“Gio and I go back a long way,” Jonathon said, walking over and shaking my hand. “It’s nice to finally meet the brother that gives Gio so much trouble.”
“It’s a gift,” I grinned.
“Lorenzo, Jonathon and I were just going over some information he recently found. I planned to take you and Donatella to my private island but since it isn’t ready yet, we are heading to Manhattan instead.”
“Will she still be safe there?”
“Yes and I think it’s best to bring my mother into this.”
“Your mom?” I laughed. “You want to bring your mom into this mess?”
Gideon smirked, “How do you think I got into this?”
Great. The whole St. James family was fucking crazy. I didn’t know if I wanted Donatella around this shit. I wanted her safe and secure, not part of it.
“Where does he fit into this?” I asked pointing to Jonathon.
“Jonathon and I met in college. We share mutual beliefs.”
“I see,” I nodded. “So, the two of you have been working on this shit for a while now?”
“Basically. There are others, people you will meet eventually but I brought Jonathon in because of his familiarity with your family.”
“So, what did he find?”
“Costa has scheduled a meet with Bianchi in New York in three days.”
“And you want to take Donatella there?”
“She will be perfectly safe.”
Chuckling, I shook my head. “You know something Gideon, I am trying really hard to understand and comprehend your reasoning. Why you do things the way you do but when it comes to my woman, your cousin…have you lost your fucking mind? I am not taking Donatella straight to those fuckers!”
“Lorenzo, listen to me,” Gideon clearly said. “My cousin will be safe. She will be guarded and protected not only by my personal security detail but also by my mothers. My mother isn’t some wilting flower. She knows the drill.”
“I’m happy you have faith in your family. If I had known you were going to use your family then I could have stayed in Chicago with mine. Like yours, my family is capable of protecting her. I only came with you because I didn’t want to burden them with more of my shit. Now you’re telling me I’m trading one family for another. Sorry but no. As soon as this plane lands, I am taking Donatella away from this mess. You are not the only one who knows how to disappear.”