Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 78627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78627 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Slowly, I get up, holding an arm out to show her to wait. “I’m not going to hurt you, bella.”
With extreme caution in her eyes, she takes another step away from me.
The way she looks at me flays my heart wide open.
“Tiana,” Misha shouts as he comes toward us.
She whirls around, and seeing her brother, she runs for him. She throws herself into his arms and starts to sob her heart out.
And all I can do is stand and watch because I’ve lost the right to touch her when I threatened her life.
Chapter 39
Tiana
My chest is on fire as I cling to Misha.
I knew Armani would come after me, but I didn’t expect him to find me so quickly. When I saw him run toward me, my heart almost gave out from fright.
All I could think was to protect my baby.
“I’ve got you,” Misha says. “I’ve killed the fucker.”
What fucker?
I pull a little back and glance over my shoulders, seeing Armani is still very much alive.
Thank God.
I might be terrified of him, but I still love him.
Feeling safe with Misha by my side, I ask, “Who did you kill?”
“The guy who’s been causing all this shit between you and Armani,” he explains.
They found him?
“Where is he?” I demand, wanting to see the face of the man who’s ruined my life.
When Misha takes a step away from me, I grab hold of his left hand. He immediately wraps his arm around me and keeps me by his side as we head back in the direction of the road.
I’m overly conscious of Armani, who’s right behind us.
When I glance over my shoulder again, he says, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Misha stops dead in his tracks and scowls at me. “Why did you run from Armani?” Then he directs the dark look at Armani. “Why do you need to reassure her that you won’t hurt her?”
Shit.
I keep quiet, not knowing how Misha will react if I tell him why.
Armani steps forward. “I scared the shit out of her last night.”
Misha’s fingers flex around the handle of the gun. “What did you do?”
Keep quiet.
“I pointed a gun at her,” he admits.
Dear God.
I dart in front of Armani, holding my hands up between Misha and me. “Stay calm.”
His eyes are nothing but a violent storm as he hisses, “Don’t fucking tell me to stay calm.”
“Misha!” I shriek when he reaches over me to get to Armani. “I’m pregnant!”
My brother freezes, and his eyes snap to me. Instantly his face morphs from angry to surprised. “You’re pregnant?”
I nod quickly. “So please don’t kill the father of my child.”
Misha yanks me to his chest, hugging the ever-loving crap out of me, then he pats Armani’s shoulder as if he didn’t want to kill him a second ago.
These men will be the end of me.
“Congrats,” Misha says with a wide smile. “I’m going to be an uncle.”
Wanting to get out of the forest, I remind him, “Where’s the body?”
“This way.”
We start to walk again, and when Armani falls in beside me, I move closer to Misha.
He might not want to kill me anymore, but it doesn’t mean I’m okay with what happened.
We finally reach the body, but I don’t recognize the man.
The three of us stare down at the dead man, then Misha mutters, “Who the fuck is he?”
“I have no fucking idea.” Crouching down, Armani pats over the body and pulls a wallet out. He flips it open and checks all the cards. “Giovanni Sibilia?”
“Never heard of him,” Misha says.
Just to be clear, I mumble, “Me too.”
Armani rises to his feet, then locks eyes with me. The punch of his intense eyes makes me take a step back.
Yesterday they were filled with hatred.
“Are we going to stand here all day while the two of you stare at each other?” Misha asks. “Let’s go home.”
I look away. “Which home?”
There’s a moment’s silence before Armani murmurs, “Ours.”
I shake my head. “No.” Walking away from the men, I find my way through the trees until I reach the road. Checking for traffic, I cross over and head toward the hostel's entrance.
He didn’t trust me.
Because of his actions, we could’ve lost our baby.
He hurt me.
“Tiana,” Armani says when I walk out the back and toward the lake.
I stop when I reach the lake and sit down on the grass. Armani comes to crouch in front of me, so I turn my face away from him.
“I’m sorry, bella.”
I shake my head, all the heartache and fear I felt because of him too raw in my chest.
“Tesoro mia,” he whispers.
When he tries to reach for my face, I push his hand away from me and glare at him. “My words meant nothing last night. Yours mean nothing today.”
Armani sits down and rests his arm on his knee. He leans forward. “Please look at me.”