Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56365 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 225(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
“You’re burdened with it.”
“That’s my job,” he growls. “It’s not yours.”
“Well, I’m asking. No, fuck that. I’m demanding, okay? So you better spill before I go feral on you.” When he smiles, I snap, “What’s so funny, smart guy?”
“You, Elena. Your sass is coming back.”
A thrill dances through me, everything inside glowing and shimmering at his words. It makes me feel so special on a level I don’t quite understand, like I’m his prize, and I’m the only one who can make him smile when the world drags him down.
“I mean it,” I say.
“We found Vincenzo through a whistleblower in his organization. It turns out he’s been hiding at one of his girlfriend’s houses. The informant showed me a photo he’d taken of the girlfriend. Her face is a mess. He’s used her as a goddamn punching bag.” He grits his teeth, then leans in close to me. “Do you see why I have to be a monster? Do you see why I can’t let any softness into me, not with this crap? You’re my refuge. You’re my safe place, but I have to act when it comes to this.”
“Then you better go,” I whisper.
He hesitates
.
“What is it?” I ask.
“I don’t want you to hate or think less of me, but I must be upfront. I may do worse to Vincenzo than I did to the lowlife who tried to drag you into that cellar. Maybe it’s unfair of me to ask this, but I need you to be okay with it. When I’m out there, I can’t think of you here, judging me, hating me.”
“I want you to show me the photo.”
“What photo?”
“Of the woman, Vincenzo’s woman.”
He swallows, putting me at arm’s length and tilting his head down at me. His expression has far more affection than I ever would’ve anticipated from him before we started this romance. It was supposed to be fake, but this is the realest thing I’ve ever felt. “Are you sure?”
I almost sass him again, but he’s only asking because he wants to keep me safe. He’s only asking because he knows how fucked-up I still am, but I won’t stop fighting. “Yes. Show me.”
He grabs his phone, taps a few times, then shows me the screen. I gasp, instinct trying to make me look away, but I force myself to stare at the screen. I won’t cringe from this life. I won’t hide when he has to face it.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper.
“It’s not even a closeup,” Dario growls. “Do you see why I have to do this?”
“Yes,” I say. “They would’ve done that to me.”
“Or worse, and sure, I got carried away. I let my savage side win, but it was either the savage in me or the savage in them.”
I sink against him, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and standing on my tiptoes to kiss him. He moans and pulls me even closer, and then he stops the kiss, shuddering. “I have to leave.”
“Are you going to be safe?”
“I’m going to do my best,” he grunts, “but I won’t lie. Every time we roll out like this, even if we have the advantage, there’s a chance I won’t return.”
“Dario,” I say, my voice quivering. How could I have been so selfish? I’ve been so worried about what he’ll do to his enemies. I never stopped to think about what they might do to him. “Promise you’ll come back to me. Promise you won’t leave me.”
“I can’t promise that,” he snaps. “I wish I could. I wish this were easy, but I’m rolling out to kill an armed, dangerous bastard. He still has men loyal to him. It doesn’t matter how tough a man is. A bullet’s a bullet.”
“Then send your men,” I whisper.
Pride swells in me when his expression turns to disgust. “Send my men but stay behind myself? No. Damn. Way. I won’t risk them while sitting pretty in a safe house with the woman I love. It’s not fair.”
“The woman you …”
When his cell phone rings again, he surges against me for one final kiss. It’s our most passionate yet, somehow healing all the rifts between us, all the pain. Then he turns away and answers his phone. His tone and demeanor instantly change to Mafia boss. “Speak,” he growls into his cell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DARIO
Allessio, Paolo, and I sit in the car across the street from Vincenzo’s hideout. He moved from his girlfriend’s place to a bar on the outskirts of the city, most likely to plan his counterattack on the Family. As I sit here, my gun in my hand, I try not to think about my woman in the safe house. I try not to think about the softness growing in my heart, this warm feeling flowing through me. I try not to think that it could all end here.