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My eyes got wide.
“What? No, of course not!” I knew my clan had a reputation for being ruthless, but my family would never hurt me. “That would never ever happen. My family loves me and treats me like gold. I’m their princess.”
The anger flashing in his eyes and the tension in his expression triggered a thunderbolt of heat through my body. He stared at me for a long moment, as if debating something. Finally, he must have decided to trust my word. I let out a sigh of relief. If he was protective enough to comfort me in my sleep, I didn’t want to consider what he would do if he hadn’t believed me. He looked like he was about to tear down the walls of the house. As scary as he appeared in that moment, I felt a well of pride at how defensive he was on my behalf. I’d never been on the receiving end of that kind of sentiment from anyone other than my father, Cristo, and Simu. I wasn’t a member of his clan, yet he was already protective of me. That left me light-headed and giddy.
“So, what was it? Did someone hurt you at school?” His fingers curled into fists. “I’ll go up there myself and tear the fucker limb from limb.”
“No, no, nothing like that,” I insisted, twitching my nose in nervousness. Oh, God, I was going to have to tell him so he didn’t think something god-awful happened to me. I mean, it did, but not directly to me.
Inhaling deeply, I peeked at his solemn face.
“It was an accident,” I started with that caveat to lessen the impact of my confession. “I witnessed my father choke a man.”
Fury lined his face. I flinched at his expression and quickly lifted my hands, palms out, in a pleading gesture. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was no one’s fault. It just happened, but it…rattled me, and I’ve had nightmares ever since. Well, not at school. For some reason, I don’t have them at school. Maybe because I know that I’m far away from all of this.”
“You slept well last night,” he said, his voice dropping. His finger reached out and caressed my kneecap in small comforting circles that made me want to keel over in a swoon. “Once I pulled you close to me, you calmed down immediately.”
“Right,” I said, heat creeping up my neck and flagging my cheeks. Shifting my leg away from his touch, I checked my phone charging on the night table. “It’s after six. My bunica is up by now. I have no idea how you’re going to get out of here without getting caught.”
He sat up. Scratching his abdomen, his fingers raised his shirt up, exposing those ripples of firm muscles that made me gulp. My own fingers itched to touch, to explore. I pulled in a harsh breath. Restrain yourself. Yeah, I had to get him out of here before I did something irresponsible. Something more irresponsible than what I had done yesterday.
He caught my eye. Grabbing my fidgeting hand, he held it tightly as if to comfort me and assured me, “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’ll get out of here and no one will be the wiser.”
I cocked my head, listening for sounds. I heard nothing, but that could change in an instant, and then how would I hide this huge male specimen in this room. There weren’t any closets, only an old-style wardrobe that he’d never fit in. I leaned over and checked beneath my bed. Not enough room for him to hide underneath. Why did he have to be so enormous? I would’ve definitely fit under the bed. This was a disaster.
“Even if you get out of here without anyone spotting you, no one can ever find out that you were with me alone. Promise me, Luca.”
His sober eyes bored into mine. “I promise. I’m not trying to fuck up your life,” he swore as he released my hand and hopped out of bed. Striding to my window, he peeked out from behind the curtain. I couldn’t help admiring the broadness of his shoulders or how his back tapered down into a narrow waist.
With his back to me, he said, “The guards are on duty circle every fifteen minutes. I’ll wait until I see one and then go over the balcony and make my way down to the bottom.”
“That’s like a lot of distance down there. You’ll fall.”
His head swerved in my direction and he gave me a devastatingly boyish grin. “I won’t fall. I was a gymnast in my teens.”
Of course, he was. God, could he be any more perfect? Really, it was sickening. Nothing was more catnippy to a Romanian girl than a gymnast. My eyes slid down his tall frame, pausing on the definition of his triceps, and I didn’t doubt his skills for a second. The man was built. I shook off the lust, firmly reprimanding myself. I couldn’t have him, and I needed to keep that in mind.
How was I going to manage once I was married to Nicu and we were forced to be in the same room? It was sure to happen. Both their penthouses were on the same floor. The very penthouse where I would be living, day in, day out. Oh, God, what if we were stuck in the elevator together? His huge body crowding me up against a wall, hoisting me into his arms and spreading me wide. Me, writhing against his hard cock, legs dangling over his firm ass. I mentally smacked myself. Get a grip, Cat, and focus. First things first. I had to get out of this situation or there would be no marriage, no living next to him. And when I did live near him, I’d have to avoid him like the plague because I wasn’t a cheater.
He popped the French doors open and focused on what was going on outside. I slipped out of bed and stood beside him. Although I couldn’t see much past his wide shoulders, I did get off on his spicy scent and the warmth emanating from his body.
Five minutes later, he whispered, “Okay, the guard just passed.”
Pushing the door wide enough for him to exit, he swung his leg over the little metal balcony, and expertly scaled down the stone wall of his house with ease and jumped down without a hitch. I watched the whole thing, stunned. Once on solid ground, he glanced up and winked at me before jogging off. I followed his progress until he rounded the corner and was gone.
I pressed my back against the wooden frame of the door.
Holy fuck.
What in the world just happened?
