Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Pure unfiltered rage fills Giovanni’s eyes as he struggles to maintain his cool. I’ve seen him angry before, but this is different. This level of anger is dangerous. He looks like he could tear the pub apart with his bare hands and it would disperse only a fraction of his fury.
“Giovanni…” My reply falls silent when I realize he isn’t looking at me anymore. His slit eyes are locked on someone over my shoulder.
I know who it is before I even glance over my shoulder. Matteo’s presence is as suffocating as Giovanni’s, but since it has a playful edge, such as driving across town to witness his brother working a “regular job,” it doesn’t demand the attention of the entire room. You just know he’s there, watching.
Giovanni wets his throat as if he’s swallowing fire, and then his words come out low and lethal. “Take her home,” he says to Matteo. “Now.”
Matteo doesn’t hesitate. He straightens up fast enough to dislodge the woman he’s been sucking face with for the past two hours, nods, and heads my way.
The weight of Giovanni’s fury presses against my spine even as Matteo moves closer, and it surges my desperation. “Vanni…”
I must have tossed out my line without any bait, because Giovanni doesn’t even nibble at it. His focus is resolute, and he’s already far from here.
I want to tell him that I’m not fragile. I have and will continue to handle this on my own, but my mouth refuses to relinquish my words. Both my head and my heart know what this is really about. It isn’t control. It’s protection. And right now, Giovanni’s belief that he failed to protect me is burning him alive.
27
GIOVANNI
Matteo moves for Valentina before I do. One second, she’s throwing out sexual innuendos like they’ll pull me back from the edge. The next, Matteo’s arm bands around her waist, and she’s off the floor and slung over his shoulder as if she weighs nothing.
She screams Matteo’s name first, then mine.
When neither slackens Matteo’s strides, she shouts a heap of angry, desperate pleas. Since none of them are what I want to hear—like why the fuck she’s marked—I don’t pay them any attention.
The fury charging through my veins eventually drowns out Valentina’s pleas. All I can see are the nail-size indents carved into her skin like some sort of fucking signature, and the bruises formed around them.
Whoever grabbed her must have been holding something sharp but small. Otherwise, how else can you explain that odd pattern?
Unless…
My jaw cracks as a memory hits. Valeria’s long and lacquered nails had those ridiculous fertility charms dangling off them. The pattern on the silver trinket that clinked when she raked her hand over my chest is a similar pattern to a bruise accompanying the nail indentations.
That’s all the proof I need to know Valeria didn’t just grab Valentina. She dug her nails in deep enough for Valentina to feel her warning for days.
The fire inside me rages out of control until it’s all I can taste. I told Valentina she’d be protected in my realm and that nothing bad would ever happen to her or her family.
Valeria turned that truth into a lie, and for what? An opportunity to stake a claim to something she will never own.
My hands ball so fast my nails bite into my palms. I want to rip those charms off Valeria’s nails one by one and make her choke on them. But more than anything, I want her to understand the consequences when you touch what’s mine.
When the pub door swings shut behind Valentina and Matteo, I push off the bar. My steps are timed and deliberate, because if I’m not cautious, I’ll break something and I won’t stop until I level this entire fucking town.
The bartender who started his shift an hour ago looks up, drinks in my fury, and then wisely looks away. Good. I don’t need comfort or meaningless words.
I need revenge.
I pull out my phone, which feels as heavy as a weapon, and then scroll to the name I swore I’d never use again. My thumb hovers for not even a second before it presses the call button.
The voice that answers is smooth and amused. “Thought our arrangement was over?”
“It is… after this.”
A beat passes before a knowing laugh cracks out of my phone’s speaker. “Who?”
“Valeria.” The mere mention of her name fills me with a venomous rage that suffocates all my objections. “I want eyes on her. Tonight.”
There should be a pause or an uneasy swallow. Anything that tells me he’s uncomfortable with my plan. I get nothing but an agreement. “Understood.”
I end our call to avoid questions since I’m not obligated to answer to anyone but Valentina. I owe her more than answers.
I owe her blood.
The frigid night air outside feels like ice, yet it fails to extinguish the fire consuming me. Nothing will douse the flames until Valeria learns what happens when you wedge yourself between a man and his obsession.