She was undoubtedly a gorgeous woman.
I had to duck my head to stand here because I was a tall man, and this place wasn’t great in that respect. She was just a tiny little thing, and fit perfectly inside, but I didn’t like the way she looked here. She deserved luxury and leather. Marble. Silks. Diamonds.
The thoughts raced through my head as I continued to stare at her. All the things I could give her. All the pain I’d take away, or die trying to…
“It’s… cute,” she said, nodding.
“Yeah?” I smiled at her words, proud of myself for making this place to her standards. I almost told her I’d picked out the tiles in the bathroom and the color of the room, but she spoke again.
“There isn’t a lot of space for my music stuff, but then again, I don’t really think I’ll be using it anyway.”
“The space or the music stuff?” I asked.
“Music stuff. I was thinking about donating to the music center for students who can’t afford the equipment.” A look of sadness swept over her face.
“You are quitting music?” I frowned at this information, not liking it. In fact, it angered me.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I’m not even in school anymore.”
I blinked in surprise at that information. She was on a very prestigious music scholarship at Mayfair. They weren’t handed out lightly.
“What are your plans? Waitressing?” I frowned deeper at that. There was no way I’d let her waste her talent working in a dirty spoon.
She shrugged, the sadness still on her face. I didn’t like it.
“It’s OK. I don’t know. I have an interview at a bookstore tomorrow. Part-time. It’s hard to find full-time. But together, I can probably make enough. This is within my budget, so it could work for me. I-I have a cat. Is that going to be a problem?”
Before I could answer her, gunshots rang out from the hallway. Rosalie’s face paled, and her lips parted. Her body shook with fear. She’d survived the attack at her engagement party only months ago. The party where Evan was taken from her. The party that caused this entire mess in her life.
The party where she was shot, and when I’d heard the news, I had drunk myself to sleep, praying she’d be OK and had even driven to the hospital to sit outside in the parking lot, like there was anything I could fucking do. So I’d left and started killing any Russian prick I could find.
Many men died that night.
Matteo had joined me. Alessio did many hours later.
“Do not move!” I shouted at Rosalie as I drew my piece and closed her into the room.
I rushed from the apartment and found two Russian pricks in the hallway, shooting at Renaldo, who was hiding behind the corner.
This area was shit, and I was a target whenever I came here. I was used to it, though. The fact that these Russian dirtbags hadn’t learned their lesson yet astounded me, but killing them helped me deal with my anger issues.
There were screams in the distance, tenants scared of the gunfire, but this was a monthly occurrence lately. I’d think they’d be used to it by now.
I dropped both men dead in the hallway and did a quick search of the area to see it was clear before rushing back to Rosalie.
I found her curled into a tight ball on the floor of the bedroom, her red curls tangled around her, and her body violently shaking as she tried to keep her head covered.
It broke my heart.
A soul like Rosalie’s should never have had to deal with this shit. Had John and Cali told me I’d someday have these confusing feelings for their daughter, I’d have laughed in their faces.
But here I was, rushing to hold her, to calm her, to promise her everything would be OK.
I went in and scooped her tiny, trembling body into my arms and held her against my chest. She dug her nails into my exposed skin at my chest and throat, making me wince, but I only held her tighter as she sobbed.
“It’s OK,” I murmured as I carried her from the room. She buried her face in my neck, her fingers twisting into my black shirt as I walked us down the stairs and outside to Frank.
I couldn’t lie. I liked the way it felt to be needed. To matter. I felt like I was her hero when I knew I damn well wasn’t. In this instance, I’d play the part, though, because I wanted whatever tiny moment I could have with her.
