1
FRANCESCA
They rushed me in the office, spraying me with bullets from their automatic rifles. I screamed for the only man who could help me. “Wolfe!” I felt my body jerk as the bullets pelted my bulletproof vest.
“Baby, baby, baby, I’m right here.”
I screamed again and then felt my eyes snap open, seeing the dark ceiling over my bed.
“Nightmare.”
I jerked upright and saw Wolfe beside me, propped on one elbow while his palm rested against my stomach underneath the big t-shirt I wore. He was hard to see in the dark, my eyes unable to adjust as quickly as my adrenaline needed them to. I heaved with breaths, blinking quickly to dismiss the images of the nightmare.
“It’s not real,” he said gently as he started to rub me with his fingers. “I’m right here.”
I finally gave a nod then lay back down, but my breaths were still haywire.
He remained over me, gliding his fingers down my hip and then my thigh, caressing me with his callused fingertips. His dark eyes stared at me with a softness I never saw him wear in front of anyone else. “You can tell me.”
“I—I was in the office, and they were coming for me.” I wasn’t sure how long this memory would haunt me. A couple weeks…a couple months…or maybe all my life.
He gave a slight nod. “Well, they wouldn’t have lasted much longer because you would have blasted them all to hell.”
My breathing still didn’t return to normal. It continued to feel labored.
“Never underestimate yourself, Francesca,” he said quietly. “Just when I thought you couldn’t turn me on more…” He pulled the sheets back then lifted up my shirt to expose my panties. He rose up over me as he gripped the fabric and started to tug them down my ass and hips, his face directly above mine as he stared at my lips, watching me pant with my mouth closed.
Then he moved over me completely, made himself at home between my legs, and sank inside me like he had so many times. But now his entrance felt like relief more than pleasure, a comfort as real as a bulletproof vest.
Having his heavy body on top of mine, his dark eyes locked on mine with possessiveness, being completely swallowed by his magnetic presence, made me feel safer than anything else in the world.
He snaked his hand into my hair as he bent one of my knees back, rocking into me rather than thrusting, savoring the union between our bodies and the kiss between our souls. In the dead of night, the rest of the island asleep except for the two of us, hemade me whole again. Made the nightmares run to the shadows where they belonged, terrified of his snarl.
He looked at me without needing to blink, always so present with me, I felt like he was within me, his soul inside my chest right next to mine. “Such a tough fucking bitch.” He fisted my hair harder and started to rock into me faster. “My tough fucking bitch.”
The vineyard was a mess. Fire had destroyed part of the main house, and the other buildings were damaged. Bullet holes were visible everywhere. The front doors to the warehouse needed repairs. The main gate was completely destroyed and would need to be replaced—this time with something stronger.
We’d lost a lot of good men, and nothing would ever bring them back.
My father was beside himself, quiet and unapproachable, spending most of his time alone, like he didn’t know where to go from here. I walked into his office and saw him sitting behind his desk, so lost in thought that he didn’t notice me standing there.
I knocked on the open door to get his attention.
His eyes flicked to me, but the rest of his body remained still.
I crossed the room and approached his desk. “Doing okay?”
“Yeah.” His elbow was propped on the armrest with his fingers curled under his jawline.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
“You don’t look okay.”
He dropped his hand from his jawline. “What do you expect, Frankie? My daughter was almost captured, I lost men I’ve known for a decade, the house that’s been in my family for generations has to be rebuilt and restored…” His fist returned underneath his jawline. “I know we have to move forward with business as usual, but I’m just not in that place right now.”
I continued to stand in front of his desk as I searched for comforting words to impart, but I didn’t have any.
