. “No need to shoot me.” I face Mack, who slowly lowers his weapon.
“What are you doing here?” Valentina asks, not even looking at me.
“I should ask you the same thing. You should have been in New York with me.”
She exhales. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”
I lean forward in the middle to get her attention. “Is there a reason for that?”
She flinches as she shifts in her seat. Is she hurt? “I needed to take care of something.”
I look at Mack; his jaw is clenched. “And that is?”
“Something that doesn’t concern you.”
Concern me. This woman. If only she knew how thrilled I was to see her, how much I wanted her by my side tonight. When she didn’t show up, it hit me like a punch to the gut. What’s worse was that I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. No matter how many times I told myself it didn’t matter, my mind kept dragging me here… to her.
I laugh. “Everything about you concerns me.” I tilt my head to the side. “Valentina, look at me.” She shakes her head. “I said, look at me.”
Slowly, she complies, and I see it. Her bruised face.
She lowers her head, avoiding my eyes. I grab her cap and take it off her head, revealing cuts and bruises on her face.
My breath quickens, and my heartbeat increases. I close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself, but all I see is red.
Opening my eyes, I lean forward between the two front seats. I cup her face with my hand and inspect her injuries. “Who did this to you?”
“It doesn’t matter. They’re going to pay.” The determination in her eyes doesn’t give me any doubts about her plans. Still, I need to know who hurt her.
“Who was it?” I grit out.
Mack catches her attention, shifting in his seat. "I'm going for a walk," he says in a tight voice.
He opens the door and exits the car, leaving me with Valentina, who is trying hard not to look at me.
“I’m trying to stay calm right now, Valentina, but if you don’t start talking, I don’t know what will happen next.”
“It’s personal. And it has nothing to do with you.” Her voice comes out tight, edged with anger, but there is a pain beneath every word.
I huff. “If it’s personal to you, it’s personal to me.”
She swallows. “It was a present from Mario, my ex-fiancé. I guess making sure he stays in prison isn't enough to keep him away from me.” Her strangled voice shakes at the end of the sentence.
That son of a bitch. I exit the car and move to the seat Mack occupied. I still don’t know the extent of her engagement to Mario, and from the look of it, it seems I need to know.
“Start talking,” I order.
And she does. I listen carefully as she tells me the short version of her engagement and how she’s made sure he stays in prison for the foreseeable future.
“I was going to meet Mack in the gym late that night. Ever since the engagement, I’ve been busy, and I needed to kick something. I was training when four men showed up. I tried to fight them, but they were stronger than me. They had a message from Mario for me. And now I’m sending the message back.”
“So, you’re hunting the men who assaulted you? Do you even know who they are?” I look at the restaurant she’s looking at, where she's sure the men are in the company of Gianni Savoini.
“Yes. They are all going to pay.” She looks at me. “Now you know, you can leave. This is my thing to take care of.”
I laugh and trace the bruises on her face with the back of my hand. “They touched what’s mine.” I place a finger on her lips, stopping her from arguing. “I know you want to take care of this by yourself, but I can’t let you do that, though I’m more than happy to do whatever you need me to. I’ll give you the match, and we can watch them all burn down. No one touches what’s mine and gets away with it.”
ten
