“I’d like to get dressed,” she answered. “But I don’t have any clothes. Ones without bloodstains, anyway.”
“A common problem for Amauri women.” Dahlia gestured to her chic crimson outfit in a dramatic wave. “Why do you think I’m wearing all red?”
“We can get you clothes,” Marietta offered.
Paling at the idea of these women shopping for her, she rushed to suggest, “Actually, I think I just need a ride to my apartment. Could you do that?”
Dahlia wiggled her fingers like it was nothing. “Absolutely. We’ll help you pack a few things and then bring you back.”
“Ah… I think I’d actually like a little alone time,” she hedged, worried she’d offend the women.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” she replied, embarrassed by how tight her throat suddenly became. Deciding that honesty was the best policy, she straightened her spine and confessed, “You’ve both been super nice and I really, really appreciate it, but… I’m not like you two. I’m feeling really out of place in your world right now.”
Dahlia’s smile fell. She took on a thoughtful expression as a beat of silence passed. Closing a little bit of the distance between them, she said in a low voice, “Listen to me, Frankie: I’m the co-head of the Amauri Family and the only daughter of Alastair and Colin Bowan. I live in a massive mansion and have everything I could ever dream of. But I’malsoDahlia McKnight, who went hungry at school, slept on a mattress on the floor, and couldn’t pay her heating bill for six months when she was twenty-one andgot pneumonia. I was a waitress barely making ends meet when my life went tits up and I found myself here.”
Her soft hand covered Francesca’s and squeezed. “Whatever you need, we’ve got you. If that’s space, then we’ll give you space. But we’re not going to leave you to handle all this change on your own.”
Francesca swallowed around the spiky lump in her throat. “You don’t even know me.”
Marietta threw her arms around Francesca’s shoulders and rested her sweet-smelling head against hers. “Screw my cousin. If he doesn’t keep you — or you decide not to keep him, which istotallyunderstandable — then we call dibs. Anybody crazy enough to make Luis run around like a chicken with his head cut off is too valuable to lose.”
Francesca laughed. The only thing that would’ve made the moment better was if Maxine had been there, too. That would’ve given her the tiny taste of normalcy she so desperately needed.
Sniffling a little, she realized, “You know, I think what I need is a little bit of my life. I want my apartment and my clothes and to not be stuck in this sex palace all alone. He said I’m not supposed todoanything while I’m here, but that’ll drive me nuts.”
“Sex palace?” Marietta wrinkled her pert nose. “Gross but accurate. I’m pretty sure there’s been, like, six orgies here. Thisyear.”
All right, I’ll be bringing that up later,she decided, making a face.He better not have made me clean any of that up without telling me.
Dahlia patted her hand. “I completely understand and support you. How about we drop you off and whenever you want to be picked up, you give us a call.”
Recalling their conversation and his insulting offer earlier in the evening, Francesca decided, “Actually, I think I should be good. I can take the train from work.”
The women shared a look. “If you say so,” Dahlia allowed, shrugging, “but if I could give you a small word of advice, passed to me from a mutual friend, if you’re planning on running, use cash.”
TWENTY-ONE
In hindsight,he could really only blame himself.
He hadn’t told her she couldn’t leave the penthouse. He’d assumed that she’d want to rest after the chaos of the previous night, and perhaps she’d take the opportunity to blow some of his cash as a misguided way to annoy him. Luis had even deliberately forgone having new clothes delivered for her because he wanted to be extra certain she’drelax.
Gods forbid the woman take a bath or nap on the couch, apparently.
He’d just been leaving the Amauri Estate when he passed Dahlia and Marietta entering. He knew they’d gone to see her, so he was a little surprised that they’d come back so soon.
Evenmoresurprising was the news they relayed to him. Francesca hadn’t stayed home.
It was all very funny to them until they saw the look on his face. It wasn’t their fault, though he wanted to blame them. Dahlia was still new to their world, and Marietta, though fierce in her own way, had been sheltered from the worst of it. They didn’t know the catastrophic error they’d made until they watched the fear pass over his face.
Francesca was almost as valuable as Dahlia had been before she took Felix as her mate — and twice as vulnerable.
Keeping her in the penthouse wasn’t just about the raw possessive urge that pounded him every second of the night. It was about keeping hersafe,especially after the conversation he’d had with Felix.
Fear burned away his normal good humor as he tore through the streets of United Washington. It blinded him to everything else. Street lights, one-ways, and pedestrians were functionally nonexistent to him. It felt as though he barely breathed the entire ride. Until he got eyes on her again, until she was in his arms, all he could see in his mind’s eye was one of Malachi’s men dragging her away.
Luis loved his brother. He loved his parents. He even loved all of his annoying cousins.