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“Yes.”
“How?”
“Max helped me dispose of them. We dropped them in Lake Garda.”
“You’ve been awake for a long time, then.”
“I never went to sleep.” His hand moved under the fall of my hair, and he rested his chin on my forehead.
“Do we have to worry about the rest of his men?”
“Unlikely. All they’ll care about is who will replace him, not who will avenge him. Besides, they’ll be afraid of me now.”
“Do you feel better…now that he’s gone?”
He stepped back so he could look into my face. “I do.” He rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “Because of you.”
We sat across from each other at the kitchen table, our plates empty because we’d finished our dinner. Bones didn’t eat much and spent most of his time drinking his scotch. I sipped my wine, not in the mood for a big dinner either.
Bones stared at me across the table, his fingers resting on the rim of his glass. Sometimes he spun his fingers around the edge, his callused tips rubbing across the surface. He’d already had two glasses, so now he seemed to be pacing himself by purposely slowing down.
I stared at the beautiful man across from me, knowing he deliberately wasn’t speaking. We both knew I could have turned my cheek and let him be executed in his entryway. I could have hidden away and waited until his murder was finished. If I hadn’t picked up that shotgun, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.
That meant the relationship had changed.
But how much did it change?
Bones downed the rest of his glass before he set it down. He licked his lips then rested his forearms on the table, the corded veins protruding from his tight skin. His muscles were thick and veined, and he was a beefy man who seemed too heavy to sit in his chair. “You could have let me die.” He finally started the conversation, got the ball rolling.
“I know.”
“You could have hidden until they left.”
“I know…”
“But you didn’t. And I don’t understand why.” He didn’t look down once, holding my gaze with his ice-blue expression. He showed his affection all night and morning, but now we couldn’t pretend there hadn’t been a major shift underneath our feet. Like an earthquake had struck, the ground was cracked and broken, and now the foundation had been completely destroyed.
What was left?
“Why?” he repeated.
I didn’t have a concrete answer, and there hadn’t been much thinking that went on. It was all instinct. I only had seconds to make up my mind and intervene. If I’d sat there and tried to decide what I should do, he would have been killed. “I couldn’t let you die. It’s that simple.”
“But my death would have fixed all your problems.”
“I’m aware…” I could be back in my apartment right now, the shackles free from my ankles and wrists. My family would be safe. Bones was my tormentor, and he kept me as his prisoner for two months. All I had to do was nothing. “But I just…” I looked away, unable to meet his gaze.
“Look at me.”
I refused.
“Baby.” His tone was hard and soft at the same time.
I breathed a sigh before I shifted my gaze back to him.
“Just what?” he whispered.
“You’ve done horrible things to me. You aren’t a good man. You’ve threatened to kill my family multiple times…but you’re such a big part of my life now. You’re the man I’m sleeping with, the man I get jealous over, and the man who makes me feel safe at night. There’s two different versions of you. There’s the one I hate…and there’s the other one. If I let you die, both of you die.”
He remained absolutely still, motionless like a statue.
“You’re right, I could have let you die. No one would have judged me for it. But it’s because of me that you were able to get revenge for your mother. You were able to put that vendetta to rest so you can move on with your life. Now you owe me.” I swallowed the emotion in my voice and found my strength to remain strong. “You owe me for saving your life. And you owe me for giving Joe to you.”
“They’re one and the same,” he whispered.
“What does it matter?”
“Because I owe you for one thing, not two.” He rested his fingers over his empty glass. “And you’re right. I do owe you. I’m an honest man who honors my debts. You saved me when you didn’t have to, and I—”
“Spare my family.” I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted my family to be safe from his wrath. I wanted them to continue their peaceful lives. They were so happy and had so much to be thankful for. If Bones threatened them, all the peace they worked for would be destroyed. “That’s what I want. Nothing else.”
