“Why don’t you get in here, and I’ll prove it to you?”
Dante didn’t move from the window, but everything about him sharpened, eyes cataloging every detail of my current, very willing position.
More boots thundered past the door, “…if Giovanni comes by water, we’ll be ready for him,” someone said, followed by an unintelligible response as they passed by.
Dante blew out a breath. “As tempted as I am,tesoro, and trust me, I am sorely tempted right now, I need to stay alert.”
“Marcello?”
“You should still be sleeping, Emberline,” he scolded gently, then dragged the chair closer to the edge of the bed. “I don’t like seeing you this tired.” When I just stared, he laid his big, warm hand over mine. “Any hour now, they say. The aunts are weeping like it’s the end of the fucking world. I left Gabriel to deal with them; he has more patience than I do, even on his worst day.”
“The aunts are a pain in the ass,” I agreed, running my fingers over his knuckles, counting every scar. “I’ll gladly stay here in the dark with you.”
So, the poison had done its work. I’d half-hoped the old bastard might pull through, but my uncle had won this round, defeating his enemy not by might, but by stealth, and I couldn’t help feeling he’d do the same to us.
“Any sign of Giovanni?” I asked quietly.
Dante shook his head, and the silence stretched longer and longer, both of us content to sit together in the quiet dark, hands laced together, waiting for the inevitable. Don Marcello would die, and his ring would go to Gabriel, and then… then the real fight would begin.
At least as Don, Gabriel could muster political support. Use the Draconi Brotherhood to force my uncle into submission.
And now we had the Basin, the fulcrum on which Gio’s entire plan depended.
Hidden away where my uncle would never find it.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed, and the floor instantly tilted beneath me as I stood. Dante was there immediately, arms bracing me up, body heat enveloping me like my favorite blanket.
“Got you.” He pressed his lips to my cheek. “Take it slow. It’s been too long since you’ve fed, and you’re running on fumes.” His lips thinned out, and I wondered if he was thinking about me feeding Gabriel.Yet another thing we’d have to address.
“I’m fine,” I told him.
“Of course you are,” he replied, his arms closing around me.
I swallowed, my mouth and throat dry in a way that sent me into a coughing fit.
Dante scanned the room, brow crunched together. “Damn. I’ll go to the kitchen and get you some water. Stay put.”
“Like I have anywhere to go.” I couldn’t stop smiling at having him back. At how normal this felt, like in our old house. “I’m glad to have my bossy husband back. I’ve missed you.”
He was already moving, throwing me a fierce grin before he disappeared through the door, and I flopped back onto the bed, wearing a matching, ear-splitting smile.
Sure, we had issues, but what married couple didn’t?
I wouldn’t trade my fire-breathing, stubborn, murdery husband for anyone in the entire world.
I closed my eyes, still smiling, still basking in the glow of this ridiculous romantic feeling, when the door opened. “Well, that was fast,” I said, “I thought you went to the…”
A wet, smothering cloth crushed down over my nose and mouth, and strong hands pinned me in place.
I held my breath, tears streaming from my eyes from the chemical fumes. I thrashed, but another set of hands held my feet together, a deep voice counting… numbers… The sound grew distant, distorted, as though I were hearing it from somewhere far away.
I was dizzy, I needed air, I had to… I sucked in a lungful of something sharp, searing my already sore throat. My strength vanished, cut away so cleanly, my body went limp. My vision blurred at the edges, dark creeping inward as the room spun and spun until I wanted to throw up.
Rough hands dragged me from the bed, then there was a thump and a dull pain as I hit the floor—but even that felt distant, as though I was held together by a gossamer thread.
Damn it. I knew there was someone inside the house.That was my last thought before I slipped into the gray twilight.
This time,I woke on a concrete floor; the air was freezing and tasted like limestone.
