Devil's Due [h.s.]

Chapter 70

RECAP:

Harry and Riv are in Italy still. Harry finished his job earlier in the day and came back to Riv cooking for the party that she promised she wasn't going to go to. She ended up getting mad at his reaction to seeing Matteo's son there and decided to go to the party to spite him. She spent the majority of the time there ignoring Harry once he arrived (shortly after she did and out of the blue, considering he hadn't said he was going to show up) and they got into a bit of a spat about it which resulted in them having sex in the bathroom at the house the party was being held. What occurs in 70 is directly afterward! Thanks for being patient about the wait. <3

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Chapter 70

Fleeing the party required some effort and a lot of broken Italian on my part that had my head spinning by the time Harry and I finally stepped out onto the street, our feet heading in the direction of the villa. Everyone had begged us to stay, despite barely even having noticed that we'd already been gone for the better part of an hour, secluded in the upstairs bathroom together.

"We can stay," Harry spoke first. He was a few feet away, hands dug deep in his pockets. I hadn't been able to get a read on how he was feeling since we'd left. Yes, he'd seemed in better spirits, but the majority of that had dissipated by the time we walked through the crowd of people. "If you want to stay for the party," he cleared his throat. "We can go back in."

My brows twitched together, and I glanced over at him, his face shining under the moonlight. "Do you want to go back in?"

"Not particularly," he shrugged, kicking at a stone under his foot. "But if it's what you want, I don't–"

"It's not," I answered honestly, hearing the exhaustion in my voice. "I swear, I wanna head back to the villa."

Harry was silent for a prolonged moment. The two of us had drawn to a stop. He hissed through his teeth and squinted up at the sky. Finally, he asked, "Are you still mad at me?"

"I... was never really mad to begin with," my tone was a little softer than intended. "Just annoyed. I know why you snapped earlier, and I shouldn't have been so quick to then find something to annoy you as reparation."

"I was just worried," Harry cleared his throat again. When I glanced down from where I'd been looking at the sky, he was staring at me. "I always worry about you."

"I know you do," I uncrossed my arms and reached a hand toward him. "I worry about you too."

My outstretched fingers hung loosely in the air for a few seconds, seconds in which Harry examined them almost a little nervously, before drawing his own hands out of his pockets. He grabbed my hand and looped our fingers together, his demeanor relaxing.

His thumb was trailing back and forth over my skin, our lazy pace down the street resuming, as I mumbled with a laugh, "You know, after what you just did in there, I should be demanding that you carry me back."

"You think so, hm?" Harry turned his head, my heart thumping a few extra beats in relief to see that he was smiling again. His other hand reached up to casually undo another button on his shirt, the tie that had been there just a few hours prior now tucked away in his back pocket. "You need to make sure you let me know if you're joking or not because–" his hand slipped from mine, reaching instead to cover my waist as he suddenly dipped down and swung me over his shoulder, "–that's a request I'll happily abide by."

"My ass–!" is what I found myself squealing in a hiss, working to catch my balance with one hand while the other shot back to the hem of my dress. "Harry, I'm wearing a dress! I'm gonna flash the whole neighbourhood!"