“Francesca!”
The sound of his voice so close somehow made me lose mine. I gripped the desk to try to bring myself to my feet, but once the adrenaline had passed, my body suddenlyturned weak. My legs were so tired I felt like I’d lifted a car. “I’m—I’m here.”
“Don’t you fucking run from me!”
I stilled against the desk, and then I saw a fucking grizzly bear run past the doors across the hall.
I heard a man plead for his life. “No, no, no—ahhhhhhh!” I heard other noises too, like the crack of bones and a weird gurgle. I didn’t want to imagine what that was. Footsteps sounded again and became louder as they approached the door.
Then I saw him, his demeanor so furious I almost didn’t recognize him, all the veins in his body popping like they were about to snap free of the skin. Even when he looked at me, that rage didn’t diminish, but when he saw me covered in blood, he rushed to me. “Baby.”
My cries turned to sobs. “I—I’m not hurt.”
He immediately kneeled down and pressed his hands all over me, checking for wounds. “You’re covered in blood.”
“It’s—it’s not mine…”
His eyes found mine again, and they stared there, his entire body still like he wasn’t even breathing, just staring at me in awe and disbelief and wonder. Then he looked at the bloody knife on the floor and the pile ofmen in the office before he looked at me again. “You killed all these guys by yourself?”
I couldn’t bring myself to speak, so I nodded instead.
He stared at me again, long and hard, and he slightly shook his head. Both of his hands cupped my face, and he kissed me, kissed me hard, kissed me like I wasn’t covered in the blood of my enemies.
It was the only thing that calmed me down. The only thing that stopped the tears.
He pulled away and looked at me again, his hands still on my cheeks. “My baby is a tough fucking bitch.”
“I—I was so scared?—”
“Tough. Fucking. Bitch.”
“I knew you were coming.”
“You were made for me, Francesca Mancini,” he said with his hands still on my cheeks. “You’re the only woman I want for?—”
“Francesca?” My father’s voice came from down the hallway.
Wolfe’s gaze had been locked on mine with affection and awe, but it quickly turned furious at the interruption. He looked like he wanted to curse before he pulled his hands away from my face. He stood up, pulled out hisgun, and shot one of the guys on the floor five times in the face before he threw the gun across the room in his rage.
I got to my feet and held on to the desk, afraid of Wolfe, when I was the last person in the world who should be scared of him.
My father rounded the corner, and his eyes locked on mine. “Cristo?—”
“She’s not hurt,” Wolfe said quickly. “She killed all these motherfuckers by herself, Don. You raised her right.”
My dad came to me and immediately wiped the blood from my face with his clean palm. “Sweetheart, you’re alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah…I’m okay.”
My brother appeared, and his eyes flashed when he looked at me.
“How many more are there?” Wolfe asked.
“The last of them are near the warehouse. The shootout’s still going.”
Wolfe stepped into the hallway. “Let me clean house. Round up any survivors, and I’ll eat them for fucking dessert.”
Leo looked around at the sea of dead bodies as he slowly approached Dad and me.
