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So much hurt could have been avoided.
“I shot him first.”
Zoe spins around and kneels between my legs, throwing her arms around me.
The scent of her perfume wraps around me, soothing away the panic currently constricting my chest.
I take a deep breath, hugging her back.
“I’m sorry that you had to do that.” She toys with the hair at the nape of my neck. Her mouth presses against my throat in a soft kiss. “I’m so sorry that you had to do that.”
“A lot of people were upset after that. Most of them left. I thought Demarco died years ago. I was at his funeral.”
I’m still having trouble believing that the man I mourned, cried over, was the one trying to kill me.
“People who used to follow my father started trying to kill me shortly after his death. I moved the cartel to Colombia for a long time to protect us. When I came back, the assassination attempts started again.”
“Do you think Demarco was behind it all?” Zoe pulls back to look at me, warmth in those bright green eyes.
I could spend the rest of the night sitting here like this and counting the freckles on her face.
“I know he was. The other men wouldn’t have been organized or motivated enough to do it on their own. Not once they got news that I was killing the people after me.”
“You think that they’re done coming after you now?”
I comb my fingers through her soft hair to cup the back of her head. “I hope so. What happened tonight will serve as a warning for the few men that are left. But if they do, I’ll take care of it. I don’t want you to have to kill anyone ever again.”
Zoe gives me a sad smile and runs her fingers along my jawline. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to avoid that. You’re the leader of the cartel. You’re also my husband, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to protect you.”
My chest constricts as I look at her, and my stomach ties itself into knots. “Zoe, I didn’t think that this was going to happen when I forced you into this marriage. I had made up my mind to never love anybody because love hurts. What my dad did to me…”
I can’t think about how much that cut into my soul. This moment isn’t about that.
I take a deep breath. “I saw what losing my father did to my mother. I saw how much it hurt her, and I didn’t ever want to feel that.”
My eyes find hers for a second.
Her smile warms me up inside.
I smile back. “Then I married you and started spending more time with you and everything changed. I fell for you. I didn’t even know what was happening until one morning I woke up and knew that you were it for me.”
She turns those beautiful eyes I call home to me, and I can’t help kissing her. Just a caress of lips.
“I love you, Zoe, and I’m going to do everything I can to protect you. Even if that means you want to leave me to go live a life outside of the cartel.”
Zoe’s eyes water as she cups my face with her hands.
Her thumbs drift across my cheekbones as she shakes her head.
My heart pounds against my ribs. I gave her freedom back to her.
She is the most important person in my life, along with my sister. I can’t hold her against her will anymore.
I wait for her to tell me that she’s leaving. That she never wanted this life either, and now that I’ve offered her an out, she’s going to take it.
“I couldn’t live life without you.” Her voice wavers as the corner of her mouth turns upward.
Her eyes are looking so deep inside me. I’d be surprised if she isn’t looking right into my soul.
