Page 137 of Savage Don

My heart rattles at the sight. I hate seeing her like this.

“And you heard what he said,” I remind her. “What he did to your mother isn’t any of my business, but it doesn’t sound pleasant. He wanted the same fate for you. And why? Just because you disobeyed him?”

Francesca’s gaze drops as the weight of those dark memories threatens to crush her. No matter how heavy her past is, though, I will always be here to hold her up.

“… And what would you do if I disobeyed you?” Francesca whispers.

“You mean again?” I try to tease, but she’s not in the mood.

“If I gave you an heir, if I gave you all you wanted from me, and then I disobeyed you, not once, not twice, but over and over again, even just in small ways, would you rip me away from our child and send me off to some asylum to die?”

“Is that what Domenico did to your mother?” I ask, my hate for the man growing by the second.

Just because he might not have been the rat doesn’t make him any less despicable—not that I’ve ruled out the idea that he could have been working with Sonia.

“Answer my question,” Francesca insists. “Is that what you would do to me?”

“Never. You will be my queen, Francesca. We will work together, not against one another. I promise.”

But my words aren’t as comforting to her as I had hoped.

“How can I trust you?” she sighs, her shoulder sinking away from my hands.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“… What was Sonia talking about?”

Fucking hell.

That bitch has done it again. After all of these years, she’s still finding ways to wiggle back into my life. But I won’t let her ruin this. I’m so close to having Francesca’s heart that I can taste it. No one is allowed to rip her away from me.

“It’s been a long day,” I say, slipping my arm around Francesca’s shoulder. “Let’s go to bed. Before you fall asleep, I’ll tell you everything.”

Francesca doesn’t respond, but she also doesn’t pull away as I softly lead her back to the bedroom.

She wants to trust me, I can sense it.

It’s up to me not to fuck it up. No more holding back. No more waiting for the right time.

It’s all or nothing now.

And I’m all in on this girl.

My mind is so focused on regaining her trust that when I feel my phone start to vibrate in my pocket, I ignore it completely. Hell, I don’t even reach down to turn it off as I quietly lead Francesca to our bedside and unlatch the back of her black dress.

She looks beautiful in it, but she’ll always look best naked.

“Are you going to answer that?” Francesca asks, her voice still barely more than a whisper as she slides into bed and covers her naked body beneath the blanket.

“No.”

“What if it’s important?”

“Nothing is as important as this, as you.”

“Did you ever say that to Sonia?”

Fuck.