“Stay still.”With a careful, exploratory touch, he examines the cut.“This needs tending.”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Don’t try me, Valentina.That’s the only warning you’re going to get.”
He eases my foot back down but doesn’t release it entirely.
Instead, he brushes his thumb lightly over my ankle—a soothing gesture that contradicts every other thing he’s done to me.
An unwanted sensation ripples up my leg as my body betrays me by responding to the care in his touch.
Our gazes collide.
The spark of humanity in his eyes catches me off guard—a glimpse beneath the enforcer’s mask, perhaps regret or simple concern.It humanizes him, makes him less monster and more man, which terrifies me more than his threats.I don’t want to see layers.I want him as the enemy, black-and-white.
He eases my foot back down, and I exhale with relief.
Then he stands and grabs his cell phone.
Gaze still on me, he barks his orders.“Send up a first-aid kit.And glass needs to be cleaned from the floor.”
“I can handle this myself.”
“And?”
His kindness, his compassion, after the brutality confuses me.
“You’re mine to protect.”His words are simple and blunt.
A moment later, there’s a knock on the door.
“Don’t even think about trying to escape.Or I’ll tie you to the bed.”
I blink.
His jaw is set.
The man means exactly what he says.
“You’re a damn brute.”
“Oh, Valentina.”He leans in close, his lips inches from mine, close enough that his presence sizzles the atmosphere.“You have no idea.”
Again with his purposeful movements, he opens it to admit a woman I haven’t seen before.
She’s a soldier, no doubt.Professional to the core.“Would you like me to handle this, Mr.Moretti?”
He shakes his head.
While he takes the box, she cleans up the glass.
Moments later, the door clicks shut, leaving us alone.
He returns to me, kneeling again.
His proximity overwhelms me—the heat from his body, the faint scent of blood and sweat from our fight mingling with his cologne.
He opens the kit and selects tweezers with practiced efficiency.After sterilizing them, he issues a warning.“This might hurt.”
