Page 73 of Humility

My small victory was only that, as robot voice backhanded me across the face so hard that my ears rang. Rough hands groped at my chest as mine were forced over my head. The yoga pants I wore were no match for the knife that robot man pulled out, and with a quick slice, the material snapped apart, leaving me exposed. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

“Spread your legs,” robot man snarled as he grabbed my chin and squeezed.

“Fuck you,” I said, seething and crossing my feet at my ankles.

“This was fun, and I was going to make this pleasurable for you, but now you’re just pissing me off,” he said.

“Good. Go to hell,” I said, and my cheek stung as he smacked me again. Tears continued to flow from my eyes, but I refused to give in. If they thought I would roll over and be a compliant little female, they had another thing coming.

He grabbed my underwear, and I prepared for him to rip them off my body, but he never got that far. The front door banged, the wood making a cracking sound. Bang. It slammed open like a battering ram hit it, splintering and falling off its hinges. I couldn’t see who it was, but robot man jumped up and yelled to run.

Everything happened so fast. It was like my fantasy dream and living nightmare clashed together as Dario ran past me and tackled one of the men to the ground. Angelo stepped through the door, his gun drawn, and I rolled over and covered my head as shots flew in all directions. Glass shattered, and debris fluttered to the floor as the bullets lodged into the drywall.

“Fuck,” Dario snarled, and I looked to see the man he’d been fighting running toward the greenhouse doors. He had left a knife stuck in Dario’s shoulder.

I didn’t know if this was happening or if my brain was trapped in some crazy dreamscape, but I crawled across the floor to where he’d propped himself up.

“Stupid knife. I should’ve seen that,” Dario said as he glared at the blade like it insulted him.

Hand shaking, I touched his face, and his eyes shifted to mine and warmed. “Oh my god, you’re really here,” I said, and he smiled.

“Amorina,” he said softly, his hand cupping my cheek.

“Oh, my god,” was all I could come up with to say. “What do I do? Do I pull it out?”

“Enzo, make sure they are off the property,” Angelo ordered, then squatted beside me. I watched Enzo jog past, gun in hand, and looked at Angelo as all the little pieces of the last few weeks fell into place.

I stared at him with my mouth open. “It was really you, wasn’t it?”

He looked at me and then at Dario’s shoulder. “We need to talk, but let’s wait until we’re out of here.”

“That wasn’t a no.” He smirked. “Oh my god,” I said again, my brain reviewing everything since I arrived at this house.

“I’m fine.” Dario waved off Angelo’s help. “I’ll drive myself to St. Prince’s Hospital. Doctor Morales still owes me a favor.”

“You’re not driving yourself,” I said.

“You were the one attacked and telling me what to do?” He lifted a brow, and I remembered that I was practically naked. Pulling the sides of my torn top together, I glared at him.

“Yes, I am.”

“Jasmine is right. You can’t drive yourself. I’ll get Enzo to drop Jasmine and me off, then take you to get stitched up.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said. Even though I knew I couldn’t stay here, the thought of being alone with Angelo anywhere pissed me off. My emotions were slowly catching up, and the shock was quickly replaced with anger.

“They’re gone,” Enzo said, his boots crunching as he walked through my destroyed greenhouse doors.

“You were in on this? You knew all this time who I was,” I said, and he swallowed hard and looked away from my eyes. “I don’t believe this.”

“We can argue about it later. We should go just in case there are more,” Angelo said.

“More what? They were robbers, looking to take advantage of a woman alone.”

It had been so long since I’d seen Angelo’s arrogant eyebrow lift, and I still wanted to smack it off his face. “That was no robbery. They were here for you and you alone. Now let’s go.”

He had to be kidding. The thought of going anywhere with him had the same appeal as an STD. Angelo grabbed my arm, and I went to yank it away, but I screamed when he stood, picking me up as he went and tossed me over his shoulder.

“You asshole. What is it with men?” I tried to ignore his muscles under my hands and his ass flexing in a sexy pair of jeans within grabbing distance. How he could still make me think of him like that after two men attacked me made me hate him even more.