Page 73 of Taking His Heart

“Get the fuck out of my daughter’s bedroom,” he grunts.

“You do know she’s my wife, right?” I remind him.

“I don’t care. My house, my rules,” he growls down the line.

“Okay.” I push off the bed and step out of the room, looking around everywhere for where the fuck he has cameras. Then I spot one. In the hall. I smile up at it. “You got any news on where this asshole is yet?”

“Yes. Which is why I’m calling,” he says. “He was spotted in Melbourne. My brothers are all on their way over, with their families. It’s going to be a full house. I need you to keep your eyes on her, CJ. I’m trusting you to not let anything happen to my daughter until we get this fucker.”

“I will protect her with my life,” I promise him, because I will.

“I know,” my father-in-law says. “There’s a room, in the basement, a safe room that no one knows about. Not even the family. Turn left when you get down there, head to the end of the corridor. There is a brick wall. Count ten bricks down, then five across, and push on that brick. It’ll open up. At the first sign of any trouble, I want you to get both of my daughters to that room. Understand?”

“Understood,” I tell him. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“I have to go. I’m heading home now, but until I get there, don’t let her leave that house, CJ.”

“I won’t.” I understand his worry. I get it. I’m fucking concerned. I couldn’t even imagine not being in the same house as her.

I walk over to the door next to Daniella’s. I can hear her and her sister talking in Rosie’s bedroom. I lean against the wall and wait.

Chapter Thirty

“Rosie, it’s going to be okay.” I hug my sister close to me.

“No, it’s not. Aurelio is going to kill him and it’s all my fault. Because I had a stupid crush on someone who didn’t like me back,” she cries.

“It’s not your fault and Aurelio is not going to kill someone just because you were crushing on them, Rosie.”

“Yeah, then where is he? I’ve looked. He’s not anywhere in this house. The only room I haven’t been able to get into is the basement. There are guards who won’t let me in. Which tells me Aurelio has Kevin down there.”

“Okay, tell me how this all even started? Were you involved with him, Rosie?”

“I wanted to be, but he wouldn’t touch me. Told me I wasn’t worth losing his life over. I threatened to tell Dad that he touched me anyway, so he should just do what I wanted. Because either way, he’d be dead,” she says.

“You what?”

“I’m not proud of it, and it didn’t work. He still didn’t touch me. Told me I was a child, and I wasn’t his type.” Rosie pulls away from me. “What kind of person am I, Dani? Who threatens a man to try to have sex with them?”

“You’re a good person, Rosie. One shitty decision does not make you a bad person. You are a De Bellis. Threatening bodily harm to get what we want comes with the name.”

“I really thought he liked me, you know. I just thought he was too scared to do anything about it.”

“Anyone would be a fool not to like you. You are a catch, Rosie De Bellis. Don’t you ever forget that.” I hate seeing my sister like this. “Now, tell me more about how you won all that money in Vegas and how you actually got away with it?”

“I didn’t cheat. I didn’t need to. It was easy. Those old men underestimated me. They always do.” She smirks. “And I donated all of my winnings to a women’s shelter.”

“You did? That was… nice.”

“I can do good things sometimes,” she says.

“I know you can. You’re the best sister I’ve ever had, Rosie.”

“I’m the only sister you’ve ever had.” She rolls her eyes at me. But at least she’s not crying anymore.

“You want me to go to the basement and see if this dude is down there?” I ask her.

“He shouldn’t be punished because of my bad choices,” she says.