Kian
She’s in shock.There’s no doubt this is the first person my girl has ever killed. This is going to stay with her for a long time. The relief she’s going to feel, though, is going to be healing for her.
“Bedroom?”
Luciano leads us to an enormous bedroom on the first floor with an ensuite bathroom.
“I’m going to give her a bath. Will you make her something to eat? Something with protein,” I ask absently as I move around the bathroom to get everything I need. “She needs clothes.”
My chest burns at the thought of her wearing Luciano’s clothes, but I swallow it down.
Fuck, I really don’t like that.
“Something you haven’t worn,” I snap as he turns around to leave.
Instead of saying anything, Luciano just chuckles and closes the bathroom door behind him.
Asshole.
Ace watches me, though her eyes are glazed over, and she’s shivering. Going to her, I grab her wrists and pull her into my chest. “Breathe for me, angel.”
Keeping a constant touch on her with one hand, I undress her, while she stares blankly at the buttons on my shirt.
“I hate her,” she whispers.
“I know,” I answer quietly. “She deserved what she got, angel.”
When I reach out and pull her dark purple curls free from her hair tie, she tilts her head back and looks up at me sadly. “I wish my dad could have met you. I think he would have liked you.”
“Yeah? Even though I’m not Italian?” I ask lightly, trying to gauge how present she is.
The corners of her lips twitch just slightly, and it eases something inside me.
“He’d be disappointed that you couldn’t join the family business, but he wouldn’t care.” She laughs quietly.
I pull her toward the bathtub and shut off the taps, then hold her hands while she steps over the side. When Ace lowers herself to the foamy water, I finally release her and kneel beside the edge, so I’m eye-level with her.
“How’s your head feeling?” I ask, studying her.
“My migraine is gone. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
After letting out a slow breath, I capture her chin with my left hand. “You just don’t fucking get it, angel.”
Her eyes flash with surprise at the hardness of my tone. I’ve never spoken to her so sternly. But I need her to understand one fucking thing right now.
“You. Are. Mine,” I tell her slowly. “I’ve been worrying about you since the second I heard your name, angel. I plan on doing so for the rest of our lives, if you’ll have me that long. I’m going to hover, I’m going to control, and I’m going to worry. It’s what I do. Especially when it comes to the people I love, and I love you more than you can even fucking imagine, angel.”
Ace stills, her eyes sparkling with tears. “I’m a terrible person.”
My heart breaks as I stare at her uncertainty, hating that it’s there. How can anyone as sweet and special as Ace ever doubt herself? One day, she’s going to learn how to be loved the correct way.
“You’re the best person I’ve ever met,” I whisper. “I’m in awe of you, angel. You went through hell. You had to fight tooth and fucking nail to survive, yet you still didn’t let that harden you. Tough, but so fucking soft.”
She reaches for me, water sloshing over the side of the tub, but neither of us cares as she kisses me desperately, her wet breasts pressed to my chest.
Her hands move desperately to my buttons. Between the two of us, my clothes come off, my dick rock-hard before I’m even in the bath with her.
“I need you, Daddy,” she pleads, and I don’t make her ask this time.
