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“I don’t – I don’t want your interest,” I say, scrambling to get my balance again and move back, away from him – but he’s already towering over me, legs trapping mine against the side of the bed. “Leave me alone!”
“Oh, I’ll leave you when I’m done with you,” John says, and his hands begin reaching toward me, everything happening like it’s in slow motion.Chapter NineTommyI’m in good spirits as I return to Carina’s room, to make sure that she has everything I arranged for her. Of course, I could just trust that my men have taken care of it, but Carina demands more than that. The personal touch.
And, of course, it’s a great excuse to see her.
I’m in the corridor when I hesitate, hearing voices.
“What are you talking about?” That’s Carina and she sounds nervous. Something in my pulse pounds forward, lurching into a rapid response.
“I know I’m not quite as smooth as the boss, but come on, I’m a red-blooded man,” John says, easily audible through the open door. “I’ll give you a good time. Let’s get a look at you, go on.”
“I’m not interested,” Carina says, making my heart jump into my throat again. Good.
“What is it, you only like a pretty face?” I hear noises, the sound of the bedsprings bouncing, and spring forward, as silently as I can. “Is that it, you fat bitch? Beggars can’t be choosers. You should be thanking me for the interest.”
I see John Twice hovering over Carina, her trying to get away from him – and I see red.
I don’t even hear the rest of their conversation as I surge forward, grab John by the shoulder even as he reaches for her, and throw a punch without pausing. There’s no way I would let him touch her, not even innocently. John Twice sways slightly with a dazed look, but he stays upright, with barely a thought, I hit him again, square on the nose this time. He falls to the floor, hitting it with a thud, his eyes closed and his mouth open stupidly.
The second he’s out of my way I move to my most important priority, Carina. She looks shaken and pale, still backing up over the covers of the bed. “Carina?” I ask her, urgently. “Did he touch you?”
“N-no,” she says, unable, it seems, to drag her eyes away from where he lays on the ground.
“One moment,” I tell her. I step back over him and rush to the door, leaning out. I yell for Ricky and Enzo, then return to her side, reaching for her. “Come on, I’ll take you out of here.”
“Boss?” Enzo looks in from the doorway, his eyes just about bug out of his head as he sees John Twice on the floor.
“Get rid of him,” I snarl. “And make sure everyone knows it. The next man who touches Carina Bianco gets more than a broken nose.”
Even as the two men start to lift John up, I pull Carina around him, hurrying her out of the room. I slip my arm around her shoulders to guide her away. I won’t have her stay in a room where that brute is, his blood spilled on the floor, she doesn’t need to see that. I guide her down the hall to another room I know is empty and take her inside.
As we move towards it, something miraculous happens. First, she clings to me, one hand coming up to grasp a clump of my shirt, holding on for support. Even so, she’s tense and scared and cranes her neck to look over her shoulder as we leave her tormentor behind. When we’re far enough away, and alone, it happens, she relaxes into me.
Reaching safety, closing the door behind us, I draw her to the center of the room and then stand there, unwilling to let go. If she’s beginning to trust me, then there is a possibility that I might actually be able to make this happen. I might be able to show her within this week that she doesn’t need to leave, not even when she has her freedom.
I hold her tightly against me for a moment, slipping a soothing hand over her hair, hoping that she takes my comfort and knows from it that I could offer her so much more.Chapter TenCarina“Are you sure?” he asks me.
I look up into Tommy’s face and take a shaking breath before I nod. “What difference does it make? It’s not my room, and this isn’t my room, and they’re all inside your home. I might as well be somewhere a little familiar.”
Tommy shrugs as if it’s all the same to him. “Alright. I’ll take you back.”
He comforted me here in this empty room for what felt like hours. His hand stroking over my hair soothed my fears, until I was no longer shaking, no longer feeling like my heart would burst out of my chest with how fast it was pounding.
