Dark Knight: A Dark Mafia Bodyguard Romance (Torrio Empire Book 4) by J.L. Beck

Author:J.L. Beck [Beck, J.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beck Romance Books LLC
Published: 2023-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

ROMERO

I don't know what pulls me out of a dark, jumbled dream. A sound. The presence of someone else nearby shifting the energy in the room. All I know, is something makes me wake up with my heart pounding, and the sight of a shadow standing over my bed only makes things worse.

I sit bolt upright before realizing who crept in here and startled the hell out of me. "What is it?" I snap once I recognize Tatum's trembling form in the faint light coming from a full moon streaming through the window behind her.

She wraps her arms around herself and whispers, "I thought I heard something downstairs."

Instinct takes over, and immediately I reach for the loaded gun on the nightstand. Keeping it there is a matter of habit, but her gasp centers me. She won't take her eyes off it.

"Alright," I mutter, loosening my grip and leaving the gun where it is. "Where downstairs?"

"Just downstairs in general, I don't know."

"Stay here. Do not move." Her head bobs up and down, eyes wide. As much as I hate leaving her alone, at least I know she's going to do as she's told. She's too afraid to do anything else.

Slowly, I creep downstairs, almost walking on tiptoe until I reach the bottom step. I'm practically holding my breath, straining my ears to pick up any sounds from around the house. So far, there's nothing, even though I search for any signs of a disturbance—a broken window, a broken lock, anything. I've reached the kitchen and have found nothing out of the ordinary by the time I flip the switch next to the back door. Light spills over the quiet, empty yard. There isn't so much as a wisp of smoke curling up from a cigarette butt to indicate an intruder, and nobody's been tampering with the garage door.

I still take a cursory look around the basement to be on the safe side, but finally give up the search with a resigned sigh. Was it another nightmare? I thought she was over those. Resentment rushes into my throat and threatens to choke me before I remind myself that a person doesn't choose what they dream about. If they did, my own dreams would be a hell of a lot easier to deal with.

When I reach the kitchen again and close the basement door, it's not the new, unscarred table I see. It's not the new counters or the clean wood floor. I see the past layered on top of the present. I see a woman on her hands and knees, scrubbing a red stain from yellowed tile while tears run down her face and drip into the mess.

"Romero?" The sound is barely a whisper floating through the air, but it pops the illusion and leaves me standing in the dark again. "Are you okay?"

"What did I tell you?" I demand as I cross the living room, then glare up the stairs. She's staring down at me from the hallway, arms wrapped around herself, rocking back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet.

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