The cabin is silent around us. Her arms wrap around her belly like she's holding herself together.
Like hell I’m giving her up to another man. To another future. To a life that doesn’t include me.
I’m keeping her.
Only I told her that in the worst possible way.
I swallow at how her pain slashes through my flesh and bone, as if it were my own. Worse than the bullet that shattered my hip and left me broken, both in heart and body.
“Princess, I?—”
The loud chirp of the satellite phone shatters the silence, startling us both.
I stare at the instrument, willing it to quiet, begging silently to not steal this moment from me. It continues ringing. Pulling a rough breath, I pick it up and switch it on.
“Elias? Is Iris Moretti there?”
“Yes,” I say, feeling no relief at hearing my friend Aiden’s voice. If anything, I feel the opposite. A leaden weight in my stomach.
“Can’t talk for too long, buddy. I’ll explain everything later, yeah? You did good, Elias, like I knew you would.” It’s high praise from my friend, who like me, mostly communicates in grunts. “Her brother wants to talk to her.”
Devastation moves through me like a wrecking ball. Then there is relief for her that her brother’s alive and well.
I stare at the phone for a second before handing the device to her. “Your brother’s on the line.”
Iris stares at me for a few more interminable moments before what I say sinks through. Shock and joy chase each other. Her fingers tremble as she takes it from me. She turns around, as if she’s shielding herself from me.
I move away from her but can’t go far. It’s like she’s tied a string to my heart, my very soul, and holds the leash to it in her hand. I hope she’ll be gentle with it once she realizes that power she has over me.
Anxiety is a tight knot in my chest as I hear her single-word responses before she breaks down into sobs. My feet carry me to her on the floor as she slides to the ground, tears running down her plump cheeks. I put a hand over her shoulder, just to let her know that I’m here but she flinches from my touch.
It’s a lash against my skin.
“But Marco, I can’t…” she hiccups and wipes at her cheek. “I can’t see you ever again? That’s… that’s not how I wanted it.”
Fresh tears swim down as she sniffles and listens to him. “I love you, Marco. I…” she nods. “Yes, right. Aiden’s Elias’s boss and his wife’s Rosa? Any chance you’ll come see me there? Please.”
She swallows, a slow resolve dawns in her eyes as they lift and meet mine. “Of course, I’m going to make you proud. You want to talk to him?” She nods, tells him she loves him once more and hands me the phone. “My brother wants to talk to you.”
I take the handset from her and press End on it. The last thing I want right now is to discuss Iris with her big brother and then be given orders. She was his sister only until I extracted her from the bullet hail at the church.
She’s mine now and no mafia asshole is going to tell me what to do with her. This way, Aiden can make an excuse for how I never got the orders to return her.
“You cut the call?” Iris says, wiping her cheeks again with the back of her hand. There’s a volatile energy to her as she pushes herself to her feet. “My brother wanted to thank you, you grumpy oaf.”
“We both know that you’ve gone above and beyond in thanking me,” I say, covering the distance between us.
Predictably, her cheeks pinken, and a fire dances in her eyes. She’s blazing angry and Jesus, she’s beautiful. The front of her tee is damp with tears, teasing me with shadows of those dusky nipples and heaving tits.
I make a vow to myself right there. That’s the last time she’ll ever cry.
“That wasn’t me thanking you, you know that.”
I take another step, caging her against another post. A new energy fills my veins, my muscles, my mind spinning scenarios of our future together. “What was it then?”
“You know what it was,” she says, pushing my chest with her hands.
I don’t budge an inch. Cup her lush hips with my hands. This requires a serious conversation but it’s impossible for me to hold off from touching her. “Clarify for me, one more time.”
