“Did he touch you?” Marco’s voice was gravel, and white-hot flames flickered across his dark eyes. His big hands cupped my cheeks, shockingly gentle in contrast to the fierce rage that tensed his massive body.
I wrapped my arms around him, letting him feel that I was with him, safe and sound. His powerful shoulders rippled under my touch. “I’m okay,” I promised softly.
Marco’s brows drew together, harsh slashes that shadowed his eyes. “That’s not what I asked.” His thumbs brushed my cheekbones, handling me as though I was made of glass.
“Come on, angel,” Joseph urged, his palm spanning my lower back. “Let’s all sit down, and we’ll talk.” When Marco didn’t budge, he continued, “Ashlyn isn’t hurt. But you can inspect every inch of her more comfortably in our bedroom than the front hall.”
We’d barely stepped inside our house before Marco had captured my face in his hands. Joseph locked the door and headed for the stairs that led to our bedroom. Finally, Marco allowed him to guide us away from the front door. But he wasn’t content simply holding my hand. He scooped me up in his powerful arms, cradling me against his chest as he carried me to our bed. I sighed and tucked my face into his shoulder, breathing in his masculine scent. Calm settled over me like a warm blanket, and the tension in Marco’s body drained away, too.
“Joseph?” I reached for him, knowing that he also needed this intimate contact. His hand closed around mine, holding on tight.
Despite their warmth, a block of ice formed in my stomach. Something awful had happened, and not just to me. My men were deeply shaken. Something had been wrong yesterday, too. I just hadn’t been able to put my finger on it.
No wonder I’d had a nightmare about Costa. Something terrible was going on, and they had hidden it from me. They were trying to bear the burden and shield me from whatever it was, but I couldn’t allow that. I would never be physically strong like they were, but they needed to lean on me just as much as I relied on their support.
When we stepped into the bedroom, Marco carried me directly to the bed, arranging my body on the center of our soft blue duvet. His thick fingers found the delicate zipper at the side of my dress, but I stopped him before he could remove it. Joseph had been serious about Marco inspecting every inch of me, but that could wait. If I let them get me naked, I’d lose myself in the intensity of their touch and our physical chemistry.
I gently grasped Marco’s hand and directed it away from my zipper. His jaw firmed as I sat up straight and scooted to the edge of the bed, bracing myself for a conversation rather than seduction.
“Please tell me what’s happening.” My gaze swept Joseph as well. “I need to know what’s going on. Who is Ciro?”
Saying the name was a mistake. A feral snarl rumbled from Marco’s chest, and his hand cupped my nape, gently tipping my head back so I was forced to stare up at him. His eyes burned into mine. “Jayme said he kissed you. Is that true?”
“Is it true, angel? Did he touch you?” Joseph’s voice was nearly as rough as Marco’s. The mattress dipped as his weight settled beside me, and his thumb traced my lips, as though the heat of his skin could wash away any taint that Ciro had left on my flesh.
“Just my cheek.” The admission was little more than a whisper. The ferocity of their protectiveness took my breath away. I ached to ease their worry, their pain. “He didn’t hurt me,” I promised. “Really, he barely brushed my skin. He was only leaning in so Jayme wouldn’t hear him…” I cut myself off, hoping that they would leave it there. I didn’t want to tell them about Ciro’s taunt or the awful things he’d implied.
When I see Russo and De Luca, I’ll have to show them how to keep their woman in line. Ciro’s words reminded me of Gabriel Costa, how he’d held me down while he forced me to watch Joseph dying right before my eyes…
“What did he say to you?” Marco’s voice still rumbled like a predator, but his tone was softer, coaxing rather than commanding.
“He knew our names. He told me to tell you both hello from him.”
The memory of Gabriel Costa’s taunting words echoed through my mind, layering over tonight’s nauseating events: Your son can watch me fuck his whore while he bleeds out.
I swallowed against the bile rising in my throat. I couldn’t get the image of Joseph dying out of my brain. There had been so much blood…
“Hold her, Joseph.” Marco ordered.
Instantly, Joseph’s arms closed around me, guiding me to curl up in his lap. Marco sat beside us and started tracing the line of my spine with long, slow sweeps of his palm. I hadn’t realized how ragged my breathing had become until I started to match the rhythm to Marco’s strokes. Joseph’s hand closed over mine, and I realized that my fingers were pressed tight to his scar.
“I’m fine, angel,” he promised, his aquamarine gaze filling my world. “I’m right here. We’ve got you.”
The fear fogging my brain finally cleared, and I leaned into their strength, allowing them to support me. I needed to convince them to lean on me, too.
“Ciro approached me because he wants to lure you to him. I don’t know who he is, but I won’t let him hurt you,” I swore. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.” I turned to Marco. “Either of you. Please, tell me what’s happening. Let me help. Not with fighting,” I said quickly, stopping that argument before they could turn into cavemen. I was well aware that I couldn’t come close to matching them physically.
“I mean, let me help you. Both of you. You’ve been upset since yesterday. I should’ve noticed before, but I was so stressed about my test, and I let myself get distracted from what’s really important.” I placed my hands over their hearts. “You. Us. Our family. Talk to me, please. Who is Ciro, and why does he know our names?”
Marco held my hand to his heart, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, his taut features eased, the last of his volatile emotions soothed away as though my love was a healing balm. Joseph lifted my other hand to his lips, pressing a tender kiss into my palm.
“You do help us, angel,” he murmured. “Every day.”
“I didn’t want to tell you about Ciro, about any of it.” Marco uttered the words like a confession of a grave sin. “I didn’t want you to be afraid. Joseph wanted to tell you.”
I fixed him with a steady stare, willing him to peer inside my soul and see the depth of my love for him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Marco. You were trying to make me happy. I understand. That’s why it’s important for us to talk about this now, so we can figure out how to handle stuff like this going forward.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “There will never be anything like this ever again,” he swore.
I offered him a gentle smile. “We don’t know that for sure. And that’s okay. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”
“Yes,” Joseph agreed, equally intense. “We’re in this together. Right, Marco?” He added extra weight to the last, calling Marco back to us.
“Together,” Marco vowed, pressing his forehead against mine.
“Ciro Amato is associated with the Amato crime family,” Joseph explained, finally fulfilling our promise to face our problems as a team. Over the next half hour, he and Marco told me everything, from Rafael stalking me, to Joseph’s dad sending Rafael’s name and address. Joseph went pale when he recounted how he questioned the man, but I didn’t hear him say anything that suggested violence.
“Hey.” I cupped his cheek in my hand and traced the line of his square jaw, rough stubble teasing my fingertips. “You didn’t hurt Rafael. It sounds like he was already messed up when you got there. You just scared him. Right?” I looked to Marco for confirmation.
“You barely touched him, Joseph,” Marco reassured him. “Your expression and your voice were scary enough to make him piss himself. You got Rafael to tell us what we needed to know without hurting him.”
Joseph blinked, as though seeing the scene clearly for the first time. My heart squeezed. Where had he gone in his head while he questioned his enemy?
“Thank you for talking to him,” I said quietly, soothing. “We know more about what Ciro wants now.”
Marco ran a hand through his hair. “But knowing what he wants doesn’t help. He still wants to eliminate us.”
Joseph stared off into the distance, at something I couldn’t see. “I could call my father,” he said hollowly.
“No!” Marco and I barked at the same time.
“Please don’t,” I continued, hugging him close. “There’s another way. We can figure this out.”
We were quiet for a moment, just holding each other and coming up blank. Clearly, a solution to our problems wasn’t going to appear tonight. We were all exhausted.
“Unicorn kittens,” I declared. “We all need unicorn kittens.”
“What?” Joseph shook his head slightly, as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard me correctly.
“It’s a video,” I explained. “I made a whole compilation to watch with Marco, but I think we could all use some cute unicorn kittens. And bunnies. There are red pandas, too. Where’s my tablet?”
Marco chuckled and retrieved the device from the desk. When he returned to the bed, Joseph had scooted us across the mattress, fluffing up pillows so I could lean comfortably against the headboard. My men settled on either side of me, cocooning me in their warmth and strength. I found the playlist I’d made for us and started the first video.
As I snuggled in their arms, I was certain that there was nothing in the world better than this.