Page 71 of Damiano De Luca (The Five Syndicates)
Damian moved, so we sat with our sides pressed against each other.
I closed my eyes and leaned into him as he stroked my hair. “I knew I had to leave. You gave me an out when you said someone else had sent me to Devils Ridge. I took it. I called you horrible things. I threatened you. And I left.”
When I opened my eyes and met his, there was no judgment in them. It made what I had to admit next harder. “But there was another part of me that knew I was making the wrong decision. That it was the wrong thing to do. My ego over being lied to, and feeling fear for someone else for the first time ever, and the house of lies we’d built around us… they wouldn’t let me find you again. I could have gone back, but I chose not to because I was scared. I didn’t know how to handle the fear other than to bury it.”
“Dad threatened you?”
I nodded. “Sort of. He threatened you, knowing I loved you. But it doesn’t excuse leaving.”
“You were eighteen, and the head of a mafia syndicate threatened you.”
“Don’t make excuses for me.” I shook my head. "I’m a Vitali. I had more power than him.”
“You were eighteen.”
I sighed, backed away from him, and laid flat on the bed. “Leaving was still wrong.”
“You know how I was mean to you when you first came to Devils Ridge?”
“Ha!” I accepted the subject change and rolled my eyes. “How could I forget?”
“It was because I caught you in my room. At the time, I was making power plays to overthrow my dad. I was so goddamned paranoid.” He hesitated. For some reason, when he looked at the ring tattooed around my finger, his features smoothed, and he continued. “There was someone behind the scenes helping me. A benefactor. I would get anonymous packages, instructions, and tips. Things like that.”
My brows furrowed. “I’ve never heard of a benefactor.”
If Papà caught wind of this, he’d blister.
“For the longest time, The Benefactor pulled my strings. Helped me when I needed it—before I even knew I needed help. I still don’t know why. But there you were, this stranger from a powerful family, searching my room.” He arched a brow. “And don’t even deny that you were snooping.”
I laughed. “I was definitely snooping. I needed a phone.”
“And you stole mine.” He let out a groan. “That just made it worse. I had messages in there from The Benefactor, and I’d spent months wondering what you knew. You never let up.”
“Because I knew nothing.”
“Well, I know that now.”
“And you have no idea who The Benefactor is?”
“I’ve been trying to track him down, but I haven’t had any luck. That night, I was talking about The Benefactor when I said your dad wasn’t the one who sent you to Devils Ridge.”
“For the record, I wasn’t mad at you for that. Was I shocked? Yes, but something about being sent to Devils Ridge felt wrong. Like it was too drastic a punishment for catching my dad cheating. Since my dad’s always been off the rails, I never questioned it. I just used the revelation as an excuse to leave you in a way you wouldn’t question.”
Damian sighed and leaned back. “Maybe you were right to leave me. I’d like to think I could take on my dad, but fuck, he killed my mom. You gave me an opportunity to battle him on my own terms rather than him taking me by surprise. But I wish that hadn’t required a fight that took ten years away from us.”
A lump jammed my throat. That fight still hurt. Bringing up Angelo’s threat was one thing. Talking about the actual fight in detail was another. One day, I would be able to talk about it more. Today was not that day.
I sat up and stared down at Damian. “You know, you promised me a date, and I’m a little miffed that we’ve never been out on a date before.”
“We had library dates.”
“But we’ve never been out on a date. Those were in your house.”
“Speaking of the house, I never sold it. I live in a townhouse close to Devils Ridge High, but I never sold the mansion. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to knock it down with a wrecking ball, but I could never bring myself to sell or destroy it.”
I remembered how much he hated the De Luca house. “Why not?”
“The library.”
