“Fuck,” I breathe. “You’re going to kill me, doe.”
Ignoring the agony in my midsection, I pull her to me for a kiss, tasting myself on her lips, salt and musk on her tongue. It tastes intimate. Possessive. She’s marked by me now, inside and out.
“It was okay?” she asks me, tension in her eyes. “I’ve never done that before.”
“Okay? You were incredible. When I’m back on my feet, I’m going to eat your pussy front, back, and goddamn sideways, doe,” I promise. “I’m going to find your G-spot and make you scream my fucking name.”
I’m rewarded with a smile, and she snuggles against me, putting her head down on my shoulder. She fits perfectly with her head tucked beneath my chin, her body warm and soft against my side, her heartbeat steady against my ribs.
I wrap my arm around her, holding her as tightly as my broken body allows. For a long moment we just breathe together. Her weight against me. My arm around her. The steady rhythm of our hearts beating in tandem.
“Stay with me,” I whisper. “Tonight. Every night. Just stay.”
Adora sighs heavily. “I wish I could.”
The contentment drains out of me. “What do you mean?”
She sits up carefully, reaching for her bra and discarded shirt. “I have to go home. My father’s expecting me.” She puts her bra on and pulls the shirt over her head, and I already miss the sight of her bare skin. “He thinks I’m with Lucy Barone, but I can’t stay away much longer without him getting suspicious.”
“Suspicious of what?”
“Of me falling for you. He has to believe I’m still on his side, or we’re both dead. But there’s another reason.” She turns to face me, her expression grave. “Vincenzo, I need to tell you about the deal I made with Dashamir. How I got you out.”
My warm glow vanishes. I’d forgotten that she must have promised my torturer something in exchange for my freedom. “What was the deal?”
“The phones you stole. Matteo read all the messages while you were missing, and he found some from Dashamir about a woman named Lira Dervishi.”
“Who’s that?”
“Dashamir’s cousin. She died about a year ago. Murdered.” Adora’s voice is steady but I can see the tension in her face. “My father was courting her, trying to arrange a marriage. She refused him. A few weeks later, she was found dead in her apartment. Strangled.”
Christ. “And the Dervishis think—”
“They believe my father did it. The messages make that clear, but they don’t have proof. Dashamir dearly wants proof.”
I’m starting to understand. “So that’s what you offered Dashamir.”
“Yes.” She meets my eyes. “I promised him I’d get a confession from my father. Recorded. In his own words, admitting he killed Lira Dervishi. I got you back, and the guns come later, after I deliver the confession.”
The full weight of what she’s done crashes over me. She walked into that compound and bargained with the man who’d been torturing me. Offered him the one thing he wants more than my death.
“And if you don’t deliver?”
Her face pales. “He said he’d introduce us both to his chainsaws.”
Admiration and fear war inside me. She made a promise she might not be able to keep. All to save me.
“It was the only way.” Her voice is firm. “Dashamir wasn’t going to just let you go. And I couldn’t—” Her voice breaks. “I couldn’t let him kill you.”
I pull her down to me, ignoring the protest from my ribs, and kiss her hard. When I pull back, her eyes are wet.
“You’re incredible,” I tell her. “Terrifying and incredible.”
“I’m terrified, that’s for sure,” she admits. “I have no idea how to get a confession from my father. He’s never admitted to anything in his life. I need to convince him I’m still planning to kill you. That I’m his loyal daughter. That’s the only way he’ll lethis guard down. That, and maybe a boatload of liquor. The sort of hard drinking you might do to celebrate your only daughter’s impending wedding.”
“This is dangerous. If he suspects for even a second that you’ve turned against him, he’ll kill you.”
“I know.” Her voice is steady despite the fear in her eyes. “But it’s the only way forward. Dashamir will kill us both if I don’t deliver. And your family will never be avenged if my father stays alive.”
