“Enzo?” Her voice was raspy from screaming.
“You’re here with me. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I promised her.
Her eyes skittered around the room and then came back to me. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was dreaming I was back there and…” She didn’t finish what she was about to say, but she didn’t have to.
“I know.”
“Can I have some water?”
Her question took me off guard. “Yes. I’ll get you some.” It was only when I removed my hands from her shoulders and saw the white fingermarks on her skin that I realized how tightly I’d been holding her. A sharp pang of guilt shot through me. The last thing she needed was to be manhandled right now. “I’ll be right back.” Quickly, I slid off the bed and walked out to the living area and got her a bottle of water from the small refrigerator.
“Thank you,” she said when I gave it to her.
I watched her take a long drink, then I sat down on the side of the bed. “Better?”
She stared down at the bottle in her hands. “No,” she told me. “Are you?”
“Me?”
She nodded.
“I’m fine. I’m just concerned about you.”
“Why?”
“Why?” I couldn’t keep the incredulousness out of my tone.
“Yeah.” She paused for a moment, and then the rest of the words came out in a rush. “Why, Enzo? Why are so concerned about a girl you barely know? Why did you risk your life to help me?”
Her eyes bore into mine, searching for the truth. And I gave it to her. “Because we made a deal, and I always uphold my end of a deal.”And because, deal or no deal, you’re mine.The truth of it slammed into me so hard it nearly sent me reeling backward on the bed. And in its wake, a flood of anxiety followed. But I fought it back. She wasn’t my wife. She wasn’t Alessandra. I could keep her safe. From the family. From her father.
From me.
“What if I want out of our agreement?”
Although the question was asked with an innocent curiosity, pain flared in the center of my chest. “Is that true?”
She hesitated, lowering her eyes as she frowned down at her lap, and the pain was replaced by hope. “Honestly, I don’t know anything right now.”
I wanted to touch her. To erase the memories of the other men. Men who’d taken what was mine. But I was afraid if I did, she would freak out on me again. I could see the tension in her body. The way she held herself so rigidly, so straight and tall. And yet I felt like the touch of a feather would shatter her into a million pieces.
My anger returned, unreasonable and violent, rushing through my veins. “We have an agreement, you and I. And I expect you to live up to your end of it.” I stopped, closed my eyes, and took a breath before opening them again. “Not right now. Not tonight. But soon. We made a deal, Sera,” I repeated. Even as I heard the words leave my mouth, I felt like the biggestmezzo di merda—piece of shit—in the world. But I couldn’t stop myself from making these demands of her. I couldn’t let her leave my life. Not now. Not yet.
She stared at me through tear-filled eyes and didn’t say a word.
“Do you want to go back to your father? Because I can make that happen. I can pick up the phone right fucking now, and his men will be here to haul your ass back to Dallas in a matter of hours. Is that what you want?” I pressed.
“No,” she whispered.
God, I was a fucking monster. Because the only thing I wanted to do right now was to push her back on the bed and shove my cock so far inside of her that there would be nothing and no one but me for her. No memories. No threat of her father. No mafia. Nothing. Just me and her until she gave in to me. “Sera.”
Raw need colored my voice when I said her name. Hearing it, she inhaled sharply, and her eyes shot to mine. I wanted to tell her how I’d died inside when I found out she went missing. How the only thing that kept me from going completely mad was the fact that we had the video and knew who’d taken her. I wished I’d kept his heart, so I could present it to her now as a bloody offering to prove my loyalty.
But I didn’t say any of that. I couldn’t. The words stuck in my throat. Yet whatever she saw in my eyes, the pain and anguish and madness, it drew her to me like I was a white-hot flame. She leaned toward me until I reached up and cupped her face in my hand. “Sera,” I whispered.
The touch of her lips on mine was something I never thought I would feel again as I’d waited for the call from Rene, telling me that he couldn’t find her. Or that if hehadfound something, it was her dead body. The fear that I refused to let myself feel then rose inside of me now, making me desperate to feel her, warm and alive, beneath me. To smell her scent. To hear her voice call my name. To feel the pain of her nails digging into my skin, and the wet heat of her cunt wrapped around my cock.
“Sera.” I moaned her name against her lips. A plea to let me bring her pleasure. Not pain. Not again. Never again. “I want to touch you.” Softly, I bit her lower lip.
