“Fuck!” Knox booms, dropping the gun to tend to the fire on the stove. I’m right behind him, taking back my gun so I can wedge it to the underside of his ribs. He gets the flames out and braces his hands on the side. “Just get out of my house, Elena.”
“Let’s just talk, hm?” I suggest.
For a man of his size, he sure moves quick. My back hits the table with a thud, pain flaring through me as my ribs jolt and my thigh throbs. He forces my legs apart as he wedges himself between them, hand around my throat, the gun somewhere on the floor.
His hips press me down, the bite of his belt buckle pressing against the most sensitive part of me. “For a little thing, you sure as fuck have balls.”
“I just want to talk,” I swallow against his hand, the size of it engulfing my entire throat. He could crush my windpipe in a second. It should not turn me on the way it is. “I can help you.”
“A De Luca?” He laughs. “You’re the reason I’m in this fucking mess.”
“No, my father is, and he’s dead.”
“So what?” His fingers flex on my neck. “You’re in charge? How’s that working out for you, darlin’?”
I glare up at him. “I just need time.”
He huffs a humorless laugh and pushes off me, putting distance between us, but I will not pretend I don’t see the obvious bulge in his pants though he hides it well. “We all need that, but it waits for no one.”
“My uncle,” I sit up, pressing my palm to my ribs to apply pressure in hopes it’ll stop the ache, “He turned on me. Took me out into a field and shot me. I ran.”
“I never doubted your will to live,” He grunts, “Doesn’t mean I want something to do with it.”
“But you had something to do with it,” I point out. “And now we’re here.”
“Reluctantly.”
“I just need time,” I repeat, “To get my strength back, heal and gather my resources. I can then take it back from him. He probably thinks I’m dead out in those woods somewhere and when I take it back, I can restore all of this. I can end Rossi, give back the farms.”
“You want to stay here?” His dark brows lift beneath the rim of his hat.
“Yes.”
“I don’t do company.”
“You’ll just let it go under?” I shake my head, disappointed. “Stubborn fool.”
He points his finger at me. “Your family put me here!”
“And I can make it right!” I snap back.
“For a price.”
“I never implied to be good, Knox, or a hero.”
He sighs and hangs his head, his mouth moving, but I don’t hear a word.
“I’ll give you two months,” He offers. “You can take the guest room,butyou live here, you pull your weight.”
“You want me to work!?” I gasp incredulously.
He smirks. “Welcome to the ranch, darlin’.”
CHAPTER 6
There comes a time in your life where you question every choice you’ve made. Allowing the De Luca princess to stay in my house is one of those choices.
I doubt her word, not necessarily about whether she’ll keep it, but more if she has the power to. She’s been overthrown, ran out of the city, and almost murdered by the very people she wants to win back.
