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I’d been so damned selfish, so blind, and it almost cost me Cedric.
Daniello had told me the truth all along. There was no future, no fix. We could never flip and fit into each other’s world.
“I . . . Cedric, I—”
“I love you too. Get some sleep. I’m going to follow Laz’s trail. I promise you no one will come looking for either of you. I’ll call you later.”
Cedric ended the call as I let the anger consume me.
“You son of a bitch!”
Amber spoke up. “I’m just going to take him home.” I looked over at my sister and her terrified son with apologetic eyes, cursing my stupidity. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She turned to Daniello as I handed her my keys. “Is it safe to go there?” Daniello gave her a solemn nod as he brushed Joseph’s cheek with his finger. “You are safe. Your guard is waiting at the elevator.”
Amber disappeared behind the door with her son in tow as I glared at Daniello. My insides deteriorated as I let the phone and my gun slip out of my hand and made my way forward in a cloud of rage.
Daniello braced himself as I delivered one punishing slap after another. He took exactly two, then gripped my arms, bringing his face an inch away from mine, demanding answers. “Tell me right now, Phoenix, did he hurt you? Was he inside you?” I continued to fight as he growled and shook me in his arms. “Tell me!”
“NO!”
I felt the air leave him as he gripped me to his chest like a lifeline.
I pushed at him as he kept me locked within his arms. “Get the fuck away from me! You don’t get to have that kind of power in my life. You don’t get to decide who lives or dies! You aren’t GOD!”
Daniello jerked me back to him. “I am your God! If there is a fucking man out there who wants to hurt you, I am the fucking man they answer to! Do you understand me, Taylor?”
“He was my friend. I told you that!”
“That was for me to decide,” Daniello snapped as he gripped my arms and challenged me. “I am your lover. I am your protector. I am all of these things!”
“How could you do that to me?!” My voice was gravel.
“Do you think that is the worst I could do, Taylor? Ridding your life of a man like that?”
“No.” I swallowed. “Just leave.”
Daniello’s anger and apparent hurt bled between us as I broke apart. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t have you around them. It’s too dangerous. They are my life now.”
A loud knock at the door interrupted our argument, and in seconds Rocco was in the kitchen speaking rapid Arabic. Daniello stood stunned and turned to study the silent television in the kitchen. On screen, twenty or more agents were unloading cargo from one of the shipping containers at the Port of Charleston.
The details began to scatter on screen. Biggest Firearms Seize In South Carolina History ran across the CNN banner. Daniello turned back to me.
I looked at him incredulously. “You’re an arms dealer?”
Rocco barked out a laugh and turned to me with pure hatred. “Stupida cagna!” Stupid bitch!
“Phoenix.” Daniello drew my attention back to him, and his words disintegrated me. “I will not return.”
Rocco spoke rapidly, as Daniello and I remained motionless, studying one another. I nodded slowly, as I shattered piece by piece. Rocco moved toward the door and called Daniello’s name. He remained still, memorizing me. So much unsaid, so much that would never be said. Our situation was impossible, our lives even more so. Seconds ticked by as Rocco’s voice turned more frantic.
As if a flip switched, Daniello’s eyes hardened, and he turned and walked out the door.
I fought every urge to go after him. I gripped my hair as tears escaped and I sobbed out his name.
I loved him, and I would never see him again. I loved him though I shouldn’t. I loved him against all reason. Against everything I was taught, everything I taught myself.
He was a threat to all I had built. A fatal blow to the reputation I had carefully crafted. He would tear my castle apart and ruin my kingdom if I let him.
