Page 137 of Thin Lines (Donati Bloodlines 2)

Father Day rested back in his chair with a nod. A nod thatsaid her words weren’t a surprise, but one that said he had been waiting forher to finally come see him.

“I met him,” Emma continued, blinking away the suddenflood of tears and emotions, “and he changed everything, Father.”

A thump woke Emma from the slumber that had finallyfound her after hours of worrying and trying to fall asleep. She had waited upfor Calisto to come back to the Donati home as he did every night since Affonsoleft, but he hadn’t showed up.

The day had been overwhelming, and sleep came late forEmma.

She pushed up from the bed, wiping at her face andrunning her hands through her hair. Another thump and low curse echoed outsideof her bedroom. Confused, she got out of bed, grabbed the silk robe hanging offthe bedpost, and wrapped it around her body. She padded over to the door,ignoring the cold hardwood chilling the soles of her feet. Opening the door,she peered out into an empty, dark hallway.

“Who’s there?” Emma called.

Silence answered her back.

She wasn’t worried that someone might have broken intothe home. They would have been dead before they even got the front door open.The enforcers watching the house were on constant guard when Calisto wasn’thome.

It had to be Calisto.

Who else would it be?

A stream of light filtered out from beneath a doordown at the end of the hallway. Emma knew for a fact that she had shut thebathroom light off before she finally climbed into bed. She quickly made herway down the hallway, and then knocked on the door.

“Cal?” Emma said loud enough for him to hear.

“Go to sleep,” she heard muttered behind the door.

Emma’s brow furrowed. “Open up.”

“Go back to bed, fuck.”

Clipped.

Angry.

Tense.

That wasn’t like Calisto at all.

Not the one she knew.

Emma jiggled the doorknob, but found it was locked.Her heart thumped in her throat as the worry compounded hard in her chest.“Calisto, open the fucking door.”

He didn’t say a word back.

Emma smacked her palm hard on the door, and she barelyfelt the sting. Even so, she instantly began to cry. All of the emotions andthe confusion that she had spent bottling up over the last day came pouring outof her in that moment, rushing out like lava from a volcano. Tears streakeddown her cheeks as she sobbed, gasping for breath.

She just wanted to talk to Calisto.

She needed to get it all out.

Why wouldn’t he open the door for her?

“Calisto, open the goddamn d—”

The door swung open, and Emma was immediately engulfedin warm, strong arms. She buried her face into Calisto’s chest, and criedharder. She felt his hand stroke her back while his other tangled into herhair.

“I’m sorry,” she heard him murmur. “Please don’t cry,Emmy. It’s been a long day, and I didn’t mean to snap at you. God, stop crying.I didn’t mean to make you cry, bella.”

Emma sniffled, wishing she wasn’t so fucking hormonaland stupid. “It’s not you, not really.”