Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
"I'm right here, cara. I've got you." I run my hands over her, trying to convince myself that she's real. She's safe. In this moment, nothing else exists—not the gunfire, not my betrayal. All that matters is shielding her from the darkness and keeping her close to me.
Her gaze tangles with mine, emotion blazing like twin suns in the gray depths—fear, gratitude, and something more profound, something so fragile I nearly destroyed it entirely—trust.
Seeing it there now gives me hope. We aren't broken. I can still fix this. I'll spend the rest of my life trying if that's what it takes.
I keep one arm locked around her as I lead her out of her prison. My gun is in my other hand, prepared to protect her. She trembles against my side but doesn't falter as we make our way, one careful step at a time, back to the main part of the warehouse.
Halfway there, she grabs my arm. "The guns are here," she whispers. "I heard them talking about them."
I nod, not particularly surprised Alamilla has them here. "We'll handle it, cara."
They'll leave this place with Domani. I trust them in our hands far more than I do in Chicago PDs. At least we won't release them in the streets, turning Chicago into a killing field. I can't say the same for Chicago's Finest. Not any longer.
My answer satisfies Karina. She settles against my side, confident in the knowledge that I'll handle this problem. I relish the fact that she doesn't ask how or demand answers. She simply trusts that I'll do as promised.
I missed that almost as much as I missed her these last hours—her trust. The knowledge that, no matter what I've done or how much blood is on my hands, this fiery angel still sees something in me worthy of faith.
Not having her trust is intolerable. I'll never jeopardize it again. Not when I need it so fucking badly. It's become a cornerstone of my life, a building block of this new Coda—the one who belongs to her and not the dark.
We emerge into the main cavern of the warehouse. Her gaze immediately falls on the bodies we left in our wake.
"Coda," she whispers.
"They never should have taken you, Karina," I say, anger seething just below the surface. I'm still pissed they dared. "I don't regret it. I'm not sorry. This is what waits for anyone who touches you."
She doesn't say anything. I don't think she knows what to say.
"This is who I am, angioletta. You wanted me to let you in. You wanted to know my secrets. This is me," I murmur. "I have blood on my hands and murder in my heart. I kill without mercy. Until you, that's all I was. It's all I knew." I touch her cheek. "You changed everything."
She shivers, looking up at me, her gray eyes wide and bottomless.
"You make me better. Loving you makes me better."
Her gaze flits across my face, vulnerable and searching. Afraid to hope, but desperate to believe. Even now, she loves me. Even now, she wants to trust that I'm a man worthy of her. I'm not. I never have been. But I'll spend every waking moment fighting to become one, just like I have since I met her.
That's a war I'll gladly fight. When you've spent a lifetime in the trenches, what's one more battle? I'll be a man at war for stolen moments of peace with her. It's not even a decision that requires thought. Anything that ends with her in my arms, I'll do.
"Coda, I…"
Domani and Miles slip out of the hallway across the warehouse, distracting her. Her brows furrow, shock filtering through her eyes as she looks from them back to me.
"Yeah," I murmur, answering the question brimming there. "We came together, cara. He's responsible for a good number of the men at your feet."
"He came for me," she whispers. Her tone breaks my heart for her. The fact that she doubted he would. The fact that she's happy he did. To me, he's always been the enemy…but to her, he's always been her father. Family never stops being family, even when they break your fucking heart. I think I forgot that somewhere along the way.
"He loves you. Everything he's done lately, he did to protect you," I say, setting them both free. "You don't have to believe him or forgive him, but you should know that I believe him."
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, and then she nods.
Domani and her father reach us.
"Alamilla's dead," Domani says without preamble.
"The guns are here. They leave with you."
He jerks his chin in a nod. "We found them. Mattia and Diego are already on the way to help load them up." His gaze drifts to Karina at my side. "You should get out of here."