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I continued to wash her hair as she closed her eyes again and relaxed. “You have such beautiful red hair, my angel.”
“Why do you call me that?”
“Kaily told me how you protected them and when I saw you brought my cold heart back to life. You’re as beautiful as an angel inside and out.” Her eyes were still closed as tears escaped. Placing a soft kiss on her temple I whispered, “Amore, I know you don’t think you’re worth saving. What Kaily told me is true. You above everyone deserve to be saved and to be loved. Even if you don’t believe that, I’ll believe it for you.”
Willow opened her eyes and searched in mine for something she would never see. Instead, she saw the truth in my words. Caressing my cheek, she placed the softest kiss on my lips and closed her eyes again so I could finish her hair.
Once I was done, I left so she could get out in privacy. Looking at the clothes, I pulled out an old soft sweatshirt of mine and leggings from Hazel. The rest I folded up and placed on the dresser.
I turned at the sound of the bathroom door opening. “Sit on the bed, amore. I’ll dry your hair for you.” I walked into the bathroom and grabbed a dry towel and the spare brush in the drawer. I came back into the room and I saw her standing, chewing her lip nervously.
I sat in the middle of the bed and patted the mattress between my knees. She gave me a small smile before joining me on the bed. “What is bothering you, my angel?” I asked as I started to dry her hair.
“I overheard one of the men on the train talking about the bosses in Mexico. Were those men part of a gang?”
“They were part of the Dominguez Cartel. We’ve worked hard to remove them from our city.”
She turned her head and looked at me confused. “Are you cops?”
“No, amore. I am part of the Zima Family. My cousin, Leo, is the Don. We control the underworld of this city and others. You will always be safe here for as long as you wish to stay.”
Willow blinked at me, her mind processing everything I told her. “A-Are you mafia?”
With a sigh, I started to brush her hair. “I will never lie to you, angel. You deserve the truth. Yes, we are mafia. I’m not a good man, amore.”
Willow was quiet for a long time, her eyes closed as brushed her hair. When I finished I slowly wrapped my arms around her. “Do you wish to leave, amore? I will make sure you’re safe and have all that you need, no matter where you are.”
She opened her eyes and turned around in my arms, looking me in the eyes. “Will you ever hurt me?”
“Never.”
“Will you ever sell me?”
“NEVER!” I looked at her horrified.
“Will you ever force me to do something I don’t want to do?”
“Never.”
“Then you aren’t an evil man. In this world, even the good men aren’t as they appear. I was taken as I was leaving work. What I haven’t told anyone is that the man that kidnapped me was a man I thought was sweet who had asked to take me out to dinner. I was so excited I let my guard down.”
“Amore…” I began but paused when she placed a finger on my lips.
“In this world, there are only shades of gray. The hidden evil is what scares me. I’m a broken soul and I don’t know that I’ll ever be who I was. I don’t think I can be or in truth, want to be. All I know is that you refuse to let me give up. The good I feel, it’s because of you. I don’t know if I can ever…”
“Enough, angel. None of that matters. All that matters is you getting better. Once your body heals, I’ll show you how you can protect yourself. I’ll show you how to be strong, for yourself. I’ll hope you want to stay here with me but I will never force you. If one day you want to leave, then I will help you.”
“And you say you aren’t a good man,” she whispered as she climbed into my lap and hugged me close.
Chapter 5
Dante
I blinked awake at the soft sound of a knock. Looking around I realized Willow and I had fallen asleep on her bed. She was curled up to my side, one hand holding tightly onto my shirt and the other holding my hand. I looked at her peaceful beautiful face and knew she was it for me and always would be.
Another knock on the door reminded me of what woke me up. As gently as possible I pulled free from Willow. The frown on my angel’s face made me smile. Quickly going to the door, I opened it to a smiling and very pregnant Hazel. “Hazel, what are you doing here?”
“I escaped Leo while he was working out. How is she?”
