Page 131 of The Savage

And I whisper, ‘Then let’s make sure he chokes on it.’

* * *

Giada

The villa is humming with tension when they return, all carrying the metallic scent of adrenaline and blood, even if their clothes look clean.

Something inside me goes cold.

Renzo’s eyes find mine instantly. And whatever he sees on my face makes his jaw flex like a man preparing for war.

‘What happened?’ I whisper, though my body already knows. Already trembles.

Before anyone can answer, my lungs seize with a tight, climbing pressure that feels like a fist squeezing my windpipe.

Renzo is beside me in three strides. ‘Giada.’ His palms frame my face. ‘Look at me.’

But the room blurs and the world tilts and the shadows behind the brothers stretch long and monstrous. The threat Renzo warned me about… it’s here. Already here. And suddenly the villa feels too open, too bright, too full of entrances for danger to slip through.

My breath breaks on a sob.

‘Baby.’ Renzo grips my wrist, pulse thundering beneath his thumb. ‘Come with me. Now.’

He doesn’t wait for my answer. He drags me, gently but unyieldingly, down the hall and into a dark-panelled study. The door slams shut behind us.

‘I can’t – Renzo, I can’t breathe⁠—’

‘I know.’ His voice drops, molten and commanding. ‘I’ve got you.’

His mouth crashes onto mine, swallowing my panic, replacing air with heat, fear with brute certainty. I cling to him, fingers clawing his shirt, and he growls into my mouth like he’s furious at whatever terrified me.

He lifts me and my back hits the bookshelves, and his thigh slots between mine.

‘Hold on to me,’ he orders.

I do. God help me, I do.

His hand slides under my dress, between my legs, and even through the panic, my body leaps towards him, desperate, needy, frantic for something to hold on to.

‘Renzo—’

‘Yes, angel. That’s it.’ His thumb strokes my clit once, slow and devastating, and a different kind of emotion punches through me, jolting me from my waking nightmare. ‘Come back to me,’ he croons.

Another stroke. And another. Then his fingers glide lower, swirling outside my hot core before moving inside. One finger. Then two. I gasp and he pushes in and out. In and out. Making sure I feel and think of nothing else but him.

The magic he’s dragging from my dark thoughts.

‘Renzo… don’t stop.’

‘Never. Not when you feel so fucking good.’ His fingers move faster, filling the room with wet strokes and ragged breaths. ‘Come for me, angel. Do it.’

The pressure breaks like a dam snapping, my climax hitting fast and blinding, ripping a moan from my throat that he swallows with another kiss.

The panic doesn’t vanish completely… but something steadies. The world stops tilting and my breathing evens.

His forehead drops gently against mine. ‘You with me?’

‘Yes.’ Barely. But yes.