In minutes, we were in a safer neighborhood—myneighborhood.
The bike dove into the underground garage of my building, dipping as the entrance sloped. I pulled into a spot, cut the engine, and lifted Amanda into my arms.
She rested her head against my shoulder and sighed. “You didn’t pay for the food.”
A rough laugh caught in my throat. Leave it to her…. “I’ll have Guglielmo take care of it.”
Amanda angled her head to look up at me. “One of your goons?”
“Yeah, but you knew that.”
“Did I?” She snuggled closer.
Dio mio, she felt good right here. And the unfortunate interruption to our date was going to prove to be the exact thing I needed to convince her to move in with me. Which was what I set out to do tonight in the first place.
Still…I wished with every fiber of my being it had gone differently.
Chapter 35 –Amanda
The suffocating vise of the panic attack dulled the events of the drive-by shooting. I was numb in the aftermath of the gunfight. It wasn’t until the harsh overhead lights made me bury my head into the living wall of darkness that I began to calm down.
Vincenzo lifted me with ease. It felt nice being putty for a change.
Just a minute more.
As he moved, I muttered something about not paying for the food. It made him laugh. The sound relaxed me further. By the time I risked peeking my head up, I realized we were exiting an elevator. The walls were covered in plaster, painted a creamy shade. Dim lights glowed over the space, and three cherry wood doors were situated at intervals. Of course, Vincenzo walked to the biggest.
He tapped the digital panel. The lock clicked, and then we were moving into the shadowed space. I pulled myself up, trying to gauge my surroundings.
“Ssshhh….” Vincenzo brushed a hand down my hair.
Some wild animal yowled in the distance, but it didn’t approach.
“Where are we?” My throat was dry, and the words stuck.
“You’re staying here.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at the bossy command. But I was too tired to reason with him.
Vincenzo plucked my shoes off, dropping them as he walked. I was horizontal a moment later when he laid me on an impossibly soft surface. Warmth thrummed through my belly, and my core squeezed with want, but he pulled a blanket over my shoulders.
Not tonight, then.
“You’re safe here,” he murmured, running his fingers through my hair. The pressure felt nice. “Stay put, okay?”
I nodded sleepily. “Just going to take a nap.”
His fingers flexed against my scalp. “Amanda, that shooting could have been an assassination attempt.”
Dread hit my veins like a spike of caffeine. I went to sit up, but he pushed me down gently.
“I’ll find out,” he promised. “But until we know that your ex-fiancé isn’t coming after you, you need to promise me you’ll stay here.”
“Nnooo—” I wheezed.
He wouldn’t. Steven…wouldn’t. Right? But then again…. I almost married a man I didn’t know. A man who’d tried to buy me from my father and force me to move to England with him.
I closed my eyes and shuddered. Vincenzo ran his fingers through my hair once more.
