Page 137 of Fall Before Her Throne

Her eyes watered, and her lip wobbled. She took in a shaky breath while blinking away the tears. “I’m okay.”

I cupped her cheeks and inspected her face. A black eye was forming on her right cheek. Her hair was disheveled, and there was a tear in her shirt at her right shoulder.

“We’ll get some ice on that eye.” I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in a dish towel, and handed it to her. “You need some food, too. It’ll help you calm down a little bit.”

“Lee, I promise I’m okay.”

“I know you are, honey,” I said gently. “I’m glad you are. But you’ve got a lot of cortisol leaving your body right now, and that makes things a little unpredictable. It’s okay if you’re feeling shaky. Believe me, I would know.”

She gave me a wary look. “You’ve been through this a lot, huh?”

I shrugged. My time with the Albanians crept up through my memories. Then all the emotions I felt after, and the way I tried to bury it all down and ignore it.

“Yeah,” I answered after a beat. “The last few months have been pretty intense. It’s normal to have a little freak out.”

She finally gave me a little smile. “Okay, then, yeah. Do you have any tea?”

“Definitely.” I grabbed her a mug and started boiling some water from the electric kettle. Wynn’s tea was delicious, so I snagged my favorite flavor and got everything ready. “Want to tell me about Luca?”

She shook her head. “He was nice. That’s all. Nobody has been nice to me in a while.”

My heart twisted with guilt and regret. “I’m so sorry. I promise, things will be better.”

“Not that Max was mean, because I swear, Leona, he wasn’t. He was a dick, sure, but I told you before I never felt like I wasn’t safe,” she said. “But just…even before my dad died, you know how life was for us. We were only good for marriage. My father might have given me some freedoms, but I always knew how my life would end up. Then Max left me alone, and I had so much time to myself, and at the cottage? It was nice to just have someone like Luca who was kind. Who listened. No expectations.”

“I should have insisted I get you sooner,” I said, snagging her hand.

“Leona, I wasn’t mistreated or hurt.” Her fingers curled tightly around mine. “I was just lonely sometimes. Will you make sure that Luca is okay?”

I pulled out my phone and texted Giulio to give me hourly updates. He responded immediately that he would. “Absolutely. Giulio will keep an eye on him. He’s going to be fine.”

“Thanks.” She took the tea bag out of the tea and put it on the little plate I’d given her with the mug. Then she took a careful sip. “This is good.”

“Wynn’s trying to drink more tea,” I said.

“He’s the one with the light hair?”

I smiled. “Yeah. Isn’t he so pretty? Like an angel.”

Her eyes widened as she took another drink. “Dude, all of them are gorgeous.”

I sighed blissfully. “I know.”

“Don’t fucking rub it in,” she said, pushing my shoulder. “What happens now?”

“Stay with us?” I asked. “We’ve got plenty of space, and Ciel keeps us safe here. He’s a genius, Chiara, seriously. I can’t get over how smart he is. He said we’d get guard dogs soon.”

She laughed. “I⁠—”

Cas poked his head into the room and cut her off. “Hey, girls.”

My face crinkled with delight. “Hi!” He held up a phone and wiggled it. The grimace he gave made me sigh. “Who is it?”

He crossed the kitchen and held out his phone. “It’s Enzo.”

“Enzo Rossi?” And then it clicked. My eyes snapped to Chiara. They had some kind of weird relationship, and she still hadn’t told me much about it. “Why?”

“He wants to talk.”