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Something crosses his eyes.
He reaches for the glass, and my hand lingers on his fingers when he takes it. I see the struggle in his eyes.Does he feel the same way I do?
My eyes flick up at him. “That’s a nice thing to say,” I tell him. “But no one can be there twenty-four-seven.”
“You underestimate us.”
“After tonight, it’s me that’s not so sure. There were dead bodies all around….”
He presses a finger to my lips and cuts me off. “Shhh, don’t think about that.”
I visibly swallow at the way he devours me with his eyes. The throb between my legs starts to ache again, and my nipples pucker.I need his touch.
“Everyone thinks I’m this fragile little bird after everything I went through in those weeks being captured,” I whisper my thoughts from earlier. “Do you think that, Dante?”
His eyebrows raise in surprise. “I don’t think that at all. But, you’ve been through a lot, and it’s a Medici trait to be a little overprotective about those they care about. You’re a strong little bird.”
I smile. “I like that.”
“What?Little bird?”
I nod.
His lips purse together. I wish I knew what he was thinking.
“You’re a fucking strong, fierce little bird,” he tells me as my heart thumps in my chest. “You will break free of all of this.”
It’s like he really can see right into my soul, to the heart of me, leaving me speechless at just how receptive he is.
But there is something I have to get off my chest. “Angelo does what he does because of Rayne. Nothing more. It’s not because he cares about me,” I say. I don’t want a pity party, but it’s the truth of it.
“Not just because of that,” he says. “You’re important too, because you’re important to her. That’s how it works. We protect everyone in the familia, anyone Rayne deems important to her…”
“What about you, Dante?” I cut him off. “Am I just important to my sister? Is that it?”
I see the resolve in his eyes. “Mia,” he whispers. “You know we can’t go there.”
Relief floods through me.He does feel it.
My eyes flick to his as I watch him take a sip from the glass, his eyes never leaving mine. “What if I want to?”
His brow furrows even more. “You’re too pure for this world,little bird.”
“You mean too pure for you?”
He shrugs, his mouth lifting up at the corner. “Maybe that too.”
“Then why don’t I believe you?” Maybe I am braver than I thought. Maybe it’s the bourbon talking.
“I think about that night a lot. The night we found you.”
“I do too.”
“I don’t want you to relive it. It’s done now…”
“You were kind to me when I needed it most.” I feel a tear start to form. I can’t help it.
“You didn’t deserve that situation or what happened tonight. I’m sorry that it frightened you. That this ugly world we live in has tainted everything in your eyes.”
