Page 86 of Freed
“Stop!” The word rips out of me. “I mean it. Nobody is storming anything. Nobody is shooting anyone. Nobody is bleeding for me.”
Lorenzo’s eyes never leave my face. “For you?”
I could kill him.
Dante’s voice softens again. “I’m getting you out of there.”
“And then what?” I demand. “You bring war down on yourself? On your family? On my—” I cut myself off so hard my teeth click together.
But it’s too late. Lorenzo catches every broken piece. His gaze sharpens to a knife edge.
Dante hears it too. “Birdie?”
I force myself to breathe. “Just… please. Give me time.”
“How much time?”
Lorenzo answers before I can. “None.”
“Shut up,” I snap.
One of his brows lifts, but he says nothing.
Into the phone, I say, “Tomorrow.”
Lorenzo turns his head slowly toward me.
Dante is quiet for a long moment. “Tomorrow,” he repeats.
“Yes.”
“Birdie.” His voice is raw now. “If he hurts you?—”
“He won’t,” I say, and I hate that I sound like I’m defending him.
Lorenzo notices and smirks.
Dante lets out a long breath. “Tomorrow, then. But hear me, Conti.”
Lorenzo picks up the phone from the desk and brings it closer, his eyes still on mine. “I hear you.”
“If she isn’t free by tomorrow, I come for her.”
Lorenzo’s smile is pure menace. “Then come well-armed.”
And he ends the call. The silence afterward is deafening.
I stare at him. “What is wrong with you?”
He sets the phone down with terrifying care. “What is wrong with me?”
“Yes.” My voice cracks. “He just threatened war, and you provoke him?”
“He threatened me in my own house.” Lorenzo takes one step around the desk. “And you expect courtesy?”
“I expect you not to turn everything into a bloodbath because your ego can’t stand?—”
“My ego?” he repeats softly.
