As lovely as she is fearless.
Annie’s dog instantly started barking from the other side of the front door when Bruno arrived home three hours later. De Luca was fresh from a kill, and somehow the dog sensed that. Bruno poised his hand on the cool knob, forming his fingers around the brass. Looking up, he peered at the light from his bedroom window and caught sight of the silhouette of his woman inside. His anchor. Bruno immediately unlocked the heavy double door.
Inside, his woman would be as angry as her dog sounded. Not to mention heartbroken. The festivities had jumped off by this hour. The noise from the party was gone. He should have come straight home, but he hadn’t… Needing to be alone.
Sealing the bubbling emotions that were boiling in his system behind stoic eyes, he tucked his gun into the waist of his trousers and headed inside, the smell of champagne dancing in the air hit his nostrils.
Inclining his face to the mongrel clawing at his feet, he arrested the dog’s bark with his eyes. He set his duffle bag on the white marble floor and slipped off his shoes. “Sorry I took so long, sweetheart,” he called out to the upper stairs.
He set his phone and keys down on the hallway cabinet and took off his shoes.
Annie appeared over the upstairs banister, a shimmering night gown and bare feet where her heels had been. She sighed, moving out of sight. “It’s okay. It’s the world you and I live in I suppose. I just gotta live with that.”
Slowly, Bruno made his way upstairs. Peering through the open bedroom door, his woman came into view. Gleaming brunette hair curling down her back, and a tiny waist. His hard features softened as he slowly glanced down along her body. The way her night-dress clung to her smooth curves, and tea-cupped sized breasts she usually disguised in bulky sweaters and loose-fitting jackets. Always before, with one look at her, he’d feel his cock go rock-hard. Not tonight.
Walking towards her, Bruno placed a hand on her shoulder—his silent way of apologizing. “Annie, baby?”
“Well you made it home. I suppose I should be thankful for that,” she voiced fatalistically. Annie threw her arms around his neck.
The way her sapphire eyes sparkled like twin gemstones in the light, totally captured him. Her pale skin as pure as fresh milk, her quick smile so naïve with a childlike innocence that warmed his big black heart. Bruno returned her hug, wrapping his forearms around her lower back.
She buried her head in his chest.
Unfortunately, something about Bruno’s guilty face had caught her eye. Pulling away slightly, she paused in front of him, unsure. She stood for a moment and then saw blood on his shirt.
Alarmed, she stared deep into his eyes. At that moment, he was sure that intuition told her something wasn’t right. Sometimes, Bruno hated those keen eyes of hers. They were intense and all knowing. The bond they shared was beyond words, beyond measure. He could hide nothing from this woman.
“Who?” she whispered softly, tears pooling in her eyes. “Tell me who you killed this time.”
Bruno held her tight, squeezing her arms with the tips of his fingers like he never wanted to let her go. “It doesn’t matter. You are all that matters to me.”
“I wasn’t asking Bruno. I’m telling you. I want to know.”
Bruno shrugged her off, and when she tried to grasp her husband’s arm, Bruno pushed her away, gently but firmly. De Luca didn’t let his walls down in front of anybody, not even in the arms of his woman.
Annie frowned. Other than Castillo, she was the only other person in this world who could hold his heated steely gaze. Everyone else would avoid it, quickly averting their eyes. Not her. Annie… his sweet. None of that sassy bullshit.
She’s my sweet Annie, as lovely as she is fearless.
Bruno sighed. “Alright. Alright. You’re not gonna like it.” In a low tone, he told his woman that his best friend was now dead.
Annie gasped. A streak of fear struck through her as real as a lightning bolt. “He-he’s dead?” she echoed. She shook her head frantically. “And they want you to believe it’s your fault?” She shook her head again. “You’re just doing your job. B-Bruno. You’re not safe with those men. The damned mob is a ticking time bomb on your life. We need to get out. We have to leave.”
Bless her, she knew what he did, but Bruno was always an innocent in her eyes. This was something he loved about her. He angled his body so he could hug her from the side, then wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders. Threading his fingers through her hair, he shushed his woman. “I know it’s hard. Even if I wanted to leave, which I do not. We cannot just leave, fade into the woodwork. It doesn’t work like that,” he honestly admitted.
She turned her head and looked at him, her eyes matted with unshed tears. “You’re a big shot now, De Luca, but I can see that you’ve forgotten where you come from. Who your real friends were. You remember how it used to be for us? Eating cold food from a can—”
“Spam and fruit,” Bruno interrupted with a nod. “I haven’t forgotten, Annie.” He held her close and planted a kiss on her forehead. “We will never go back to that, but I’ll never forget who I am and where I come from. Never. I swear. But I’ll kill to protect my family and my honor.
She locked onto his gaze and whispered softly, “And if I can’t live with that?” Her voice trembled, sounding scared and broken.
Bruno caught her eyes with his. “You’ll always be by my side.”
Annie’s eyes filled with tears. “You don’t know that.”
Bruno shook his head. “Yes, I do. I’ve seen the proof…..I’m a dangerous man, Annie. In all my life I’ve never met a match I couldn’t handle. Not until I felt your flame. You burn through every part of me.”
A wisp of a smile crossed her lips.
