Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
“Where?”
He shook his head. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to, Violet.”
“Is Ernest dead?”
Roman frowned and paused, as if trying to decide how truthful to be. “If not, he soon will be. You will never have to fear him again. No woman will.”
“What?”
He leaned closer, keeping his voice low and steady. “We watched the camera feed. Listened to what he said to you in the parking garage. About blocking him from his hunting ground. My people did some digging, and I got some information from one of my sources at the police station. We matched up dates he was at the casino with times women were attacked close to it or when they arrived home. The police will be getting a file, and I have a feeling it will solve a lot of open cases.” He smirked. “We’ll even make sure DNA is provided.”
“How?”
This time, his grin was evil. “We’ll lend a hand, so to speak.”
He said it in the same tone of voice as one would use to say they dropped off a pie to a friend who had been grateful to receive it. Pleased and satisfied. Calm. Nothing suggesting what I knew he meant.
“Aldo isn’t hurt?”
“No. He’s fine. He’ll be pissed he wasn’t here when you woke up, but ending this was important to him. He had to be the one.”
“We had a fight.”
Roman sat back, nodding. “I know. He told me. He blames himself, and if it’s any consolation, he was coming to see you before this happened. He hated fighting with you.”
A tear slipped down my cheek. “I have to go.”
“Go where?” he asked, leaning forward. “You’re in no condition to get out of bed.”
“I have to leave Niagara Falls.”
He looked shocked. “Why?”
I had no idea why I was confiding in Roman. It had to be the meds messing with my head. “I love him, and he’ll never love me back. I can’t stay and watch him be with someone else.” I winced as a fresh wave of pain washed over me.
He leaned to the right and tapped a button on the machine that was beeping. “That will help. Probably knock you out soon too.” He hunched forward. “So, listen to me carefully. I have never seen Aldo care for someone the way he cares for you. You make him different. Better. He laughs and smiles. The same way Luca does because of Justine. He might not be able to say the words yet, but he feels them, Violet. Give him time. What happened tonight has shaken him. He was a man possessed when I got here. Terrified of losing you. You mean more than you know. More than he knows. Don’t walk away from him. I swear it will end him.”
I stared at him, the medicines doing their job and easing the pain, but clouding my train of thought. Was Roman saying Aldo was in love with me?
“Yes, he is,” he responded as if I had asked him that out loud.
Maybe I had.
I blinked, trying to fight off the exhaustion that was bearing down on me. “Thank you,” I mumbled.
He leaned even closer. “I’ll let you in on another little secret, Vi. I like you. You’re smart and funny and exactly what Aldo needs. Strong. Feisty. A fighter. He needs that. I think you’ll love him perfectly. Exactly the way he needs.”
“I like you too. You’re not so tough.”
He laughed lowly. “Not all the time. I have my moments.”
“You love him,” I said, my voice a little slurry.
“Aldo? Yes. Like a brother. Him, Luca, Nonna. They are my family. I have a feeling you will be too.” He patted my hand. “Just give him some time.”
“Okay.”
Sleep was pulling at me. “Roman?”
“Yeah, Vi?”
“Did you hit him—the asshole, I mean? Did you hit him hard?”
“Like a ton of fucking bricks.”
“Thank you.”
And I was out.
CHAPTER 15
VI
The next time I woke up fully, Aldo was there. I knew it before I opened my eyes. I felt him. His presence. I could hear him talking, the low timbre of his voice reaching my ears. I heard Roman as well and another voice—the doctor, I thought, but I wasn’t sure.
“She’ll rest better there.”
“You should leave her until the morning,” the unfamiliar voice said.
“It is morning. It’s four a.m.,” Aldo said dryly.
“Is she in danger?” Roman asked, sounding like the voice of reason.
“She needs to be watched. We’re monitoring her here.”
I recalled being woken a few times. A gentle voice asking me questions before I was allowed to fall asleep again. Each time, I was given some water to sip. I needed some of that now.
“I’ll ask again. If I take her, is she in danger?”
“I want her here.”
“Fine. Then I’m staying.”
“Aldo?” I called, although my voice sounded more like a whisper. A rough one at that.
He was beside me quickly. “Vi, baby, I’m right here.”