Just another reason the man irritated me.
The banter allowed Alex to regroup and fire off a punch. The direct hit to Donatello’s jaw brought a frown to my face. In addition to weapons training that I could swear the Italian had received from the military, he was also a martial arts expert. Which meant before I could blink three times in rapid succession, Alex had been hit, kicked, and knocked to the ground.
Donatello didn’t hesitate, ripping out his weapon, crouching down and holding it in both hands in front of him. And in front of Alex’s face.
“Would you stop that,” I insisted.
Donatello barely gave me a look before turning his full attention to my date. Not my date. The man who’d pretended as if I belonged to him.
“Now, I don’t ordinarily provide anyone with love or life advice, but I’ll make an exception this time,” Donatello began. “If you dare lay one finger on that woman.” He held up his index finger. “I mean a single finger, including your pinky, I will know about it and I will return and cut off your hand. You’re a surgeon, right?”
“He’s the attorney,” I gritted out, folding my arms and pacing back and forth.
“Ah, okay. There were so many, you can understand why I got them mixed up. Still, most attorneys need both hands, although you might find a way of getting around it. Entirely up to you.” He stood, keeping the weapon out but buttoning his jacket. “Are you ready to go, Emme?”
He over enunciated my name on purpose. Knowing him, it was just to get under my skin.
Seeing his eyebrows arched, I could tell he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Poor Alex was still down for the count, but he’d heard the warning loud and clear.
I walked past both, heading toward my car, doing everything I could to ignore being followed.
When Donatello fell into step with me, I resisted giving him a single look. I’d gone an entire block before blasting him. “How dare you do that.”
“Do what? Protect you?”
“From an attorney? Come on. So, he was a little handsy. You know better than most men know I can take care of myself.”
“And you should know better than anyone that some men aren’t who they say they are.”
Huffing, I rounded a corner, taking very long strides. I hadn’t been this infuriated in a very long time. “Do you honestly think one of our enemies scoured Bourbon Street on the off chance of finding a vulnerable Prince family member?”
“It’s possible.”
“Jesus.” The single look I gave him as we were walking had me even angrier than before. He was enjoying tormenting me, his grin as wide as I’d ever seen it.
Thankfully, I was close to my car, now grabbing my keys from my pocketbook.
“He was a little prickish, but I was handling him and it’s my right to do so.”
“He was manhandling you and that’s not allowed and won’t happen on my watch. Ever.”
“One last time, Donatello. It’s not your job to watch me. I’m a big girl and I can do that on my own.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” His entire tone had changed, becoming almost despondent.
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning it is my job. I follow orders and they were to do everything in my power to protect you. Including with my life.”
The heaviness of his admittance hit me harder than almost anything had in a long time. I knew what he’d just said he meant. He’d lay his life down for me. That was the story ofmy very existence, one that was both amazing and completely debilitating. The same one that was suffocating me.
I don’t know why his answer caused me to spin around to face him. Perhaps his tone. Perhaps the huskiness in his voice that brought a wave of electricity tickling all the way down my spine.
Or perhaps because we’d tormented each other on several occasions over the years. But when I did, my heel caught on the sidewalk and in a classic rom-com moment, I was pitched into his arms.
He caught me, his massive six-foot four-inch body not moving a single inch even with the centrifugal force.
With one arm low around my back, the other sliding under my long hair, he involuntarily pulled me against him. Excessive heat splintered between us, fracturing the moment and the discourse from before.
