Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
I’d done nothing to deserve her loyalty, but I was greedy for it, nonetheless.
I touched her with careful reverence as I trailed my fingertips along each of her ribs, checking to make sure none were broken. The hollows around her lower ribs were beginning to fill in, and the sight filled me with regret and jealousy.
Dante had been the one to see that she was harming herself. He’d been the one to ensure she got healthy.
I gritted my teeth and shoved the thought away. I’d neglected Nora in the beginning, but never again. In these dark days, she’d become my lifeline. She mattered more to me than anything else in the world.
The revelation stunned me, and I paused my inspection of her body to simply stare into her stunning eyes. Dark green striations played through rich brown, a hypnotic pattern that I could study for hours.
She caressed my stubble-roughened jaw. “Are you alright?”
My heart ached. She’d been attacked, and she was worried about me.
I straightened my shoulders, resolving to be stronger for her. Turning my face, I pressed a kiss to her palm before continuing to check her chest for injuries.
An angry red welt had formed where the seatbelt had saved her life. It would probably develop into a bruise, and she would be sore for a few days, but otherwise, she appeared unharmed.
She touched my face again, capturing my attention. “I’m okay,” she promised.
I responded with a reluctant nod. I’d prefer to have a doctor check her over, even though she didn’t show any signs of serious injury.
But her eyes still shone with unshed tears, and a tremor raced over her body.
“Tell me what happened after the crash,” I prompted, sliding my fingers through her hair in the way she liked to be stroked.
She leaned into my hand with a shuddering sigh, some of the tension unwinding from her muscles.
“There was a firefight with the Russians who’d ambushed us,” she said, voice hitching slightly with residual fear. “Dante shielded me and got me to one of the other SUVs. They brought me back here. I don’t know what happened after that.”
“They can’t get to you here.” The promise was sour on my tongue. Because I couldn’t tell her that she was safe here; she’d never be safe in Dante’s home. But at the very least, the Bratva wouldn’t breach the estate’s defenses. They would’ve launched a full-scale assault rather than an ambush if they had the power to take him on in a direct attack.
She wrapped her arms around me in another fierce embrace. “I was so scared,” she whispered, a strained admission. “I thought they’d kill me like they killed my mother. They raped her before they murdered her. All to send a message to my father, who was pushing into their territory at the time. They brutalized her to get to him. They’ll do the same thing to me if they capture me.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I vowed.
She shook her head, and fresh tears streamed down her cheeks. “I know what happens to women like me, women who are married to powerful, possessive men. We’re used as pawns, as punishments to retaliate against our husbands. It’s already happening to me.”
A coppery tang coated my tongue. I’d done this to her. I’d made her into a pawn in the power play between Dante and me.
“I’ll kill him,” I growled, craving our tormentor’s death with every fiber of my being. “Dante is a dead man, and I’ll protect you from the Bratva too. I’ll make this right, Nora. I swear I’ll get you out of here.”
She bit her lip, and her eyes shifted away from mine. “He saved my life,” she said quietly. “He took a bullet for me. If he survived the firefight, I owe him a debt.”
“You don’t owe him anything,” I seethed. “And I’ll be the one to kill the bastard, not you. So, you don’t have to worry about having his blood on your hands.”
She peeked up at me, her eyes dark with doubt. “But he—”
I cupped her nape and pulled her toward me, pressing my face hard against the bars so that I could capture her in a fierce kiss. There wouldn’t be any talk about sparing Dante. Nothing could absolve him for his sins against us. This would end with his black heart in my hands. I would make sure he screamed before he died. The way my soul had been screaming ever since he’d trapped me in a cage of his will and used my innocent wife to torment me.
My kiss was savage, my lips almost bruising hers. The icy bars dug into my cheeks, but I pressed impossibly closer to her, claiming everything she offered me and demanding more.
Nora was mine.
No matter what that bastard did—no matter how many times he claimed to be her master—Nora was my wife, and she belonged to me. We belonged together.