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“I wasn’t expecting quite so much drama,” he murmurs, his finger curling around the trigger. “Or such a show of force, I’ll admit. I was unaware you had such—friends. I can’t kill her, of course—I need her. But you—”
If it was only me and my men, even Luca’s, that might have been the end of me. But Drakos’ men have no loyalty towards me—no loyalty except to Drakos himself, and at that moment, he’s on the other side of the door, bleeding through his fingers from a gunshot wound. Whether Enzo manages to shoot me or not before he drops, it doesn’t matter to them—only that they do what they were told.
The gunfire goes off in a burst, tearing through Enzo in a series of holes that rip through fabric and flesh, spattering Gianna with blood. She shrieks, lurching backward, and Enzo’s finger spasms on the trigger, a bullet going wide and burying itself in the wood with a splinteringcracksix inches from her head. She shrieks again, jerking at the chain holding her to the bed in a panic, but I’m already moving towards her.
“Gianna.” I reach for her, pulling her into my arms. “Gianna, I’m here. You’re safe. Gianna—” I murmur her name over and over, stroking her hair as one of the other men starts to search Enzo’s body, looking for a key.
The moment Gianna’s hand is freed, she throws her arms around me, clinging to me. “Alessio—” she sobs my name, still shaking, and I pick her up off of the bed, cradling her against my chest as I carry her towards the door.
“We’ll talk when we get back to the villa,” I murmur. “You’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
She looks at me with wide, terrified blue eyes, her mouth opening to speak—and then she slumps in my arms in a faint.
Gianna
The relief I feel when I wake up in Alessio’s arms is so overwhelming that, for a moment, I forget how much of this was my fault. The second it comes crashing back, I burst into tears, burying my face in his shirt, heedless of the bloodstains splashed across it.
“Where are we?” I whisper against his shirt, swallowing hard. I feel on the verge of panic again, and I don’t entirely understand why he doesn’t seem furious with me—why he’s holding me, stroking my hair and my back, and soothing me. “What—”
“We’re at the home of a man called Adrian Drakos,” Alessio says. “One of Luca’s contacts. He helped us track you down.”
“Where is he?” I look up, wiping at my eyes. The living room is mostly empty except for some security, and the house is quiet.
“He was injured. It’s fairly severe, though he’ll live. He’s upstairs being tended to.” Alessio smooths my hair away from my face, looking down at me. “We’re going to stay here for a little while, Gianna, until we can be sure that everyone working with Enzo in Chicago is dealt with. Once we’re sure it’s safe, we’ll go back. I want to be home with you—but we can’t rush it.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper through tears. “I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. I thought you were overreacting, and I wanted everything to be perfect, and I’m so—I’m so sorry.” The tears keep streaming down my face, the words coming out in choked sobs. “I know you’re going to punish me. I deserve it. You were almost killed because of me, I—”
“Gianna.” Gently, Alessio detaches me from him, holding me there with his hands on my arms. “Yes, it was foolish. But you’re safe now. We’re both safe. You made a mistake, but I’m not going to punish you for it.”
I blink up at him through tears, wondering if I’ve heard him correctly, wondering if that’s what I want—for him to punish me, or not. “You’re not?” I whisper, and he shakes his head.
“No, sweetheart. I love you, and I’m going to show you that in every way that I can.” He strokes my hair back away from my face, his thumb brushing over my cheekbone. “This isn’t about punishment. We’re both alive, and we’re together, and Enzo Leone can never hurt either of us again. That’s all that matters.”
“But—” I bite my lip, fresh worry washing over me. “I don’t want things to change. Ilikeour dynamic, Alessio. I like how things are between us—”
“I know.” He smooths his hand over my hair again, leading me towards the stairs and away from Adrian Drakos’ expansive living room. “But right now, all I want is you.”
The room upstairs is almost as nice as our honeymoon suite. Adrian has a gorgeous villa on the water, and our room overlooks it, with that same floral and salt breeze wafting in from the balcony. It’s one huge, open-air room, with a clawfoot tub on one side of the room near the window. “Let’s get cleaned up,” Alessio says as he closes the door behind us, his fingers already tugging at my zipper. “Someone will go and get our things from the hotel.”
I have no complaints about being stripped out of the filthy dress. The moment it falls away from me, I feel as if a weight is lifted off of my shoulders. I help Alessio out of his bloodstained clothes, my hands sliding over his bare skin as if I’m not entirely sure that he’s real.
“Let’s get you in the bath,” Alessio says gently, leading me towards the tub. He turns on the hot water, letting it run until it’s steaming, and as the tub fills up, he turns me towards him, kissing me again. “I’m not angry,” he murmurs again, his lips soft against mine, “butplease,Gianna, if anything like this ever happens again,pleaselisten to me. I can’t come so close to losing you again. I was terrified.”
“I’m sorry.” I lean my forehead against his, feeling my eyes prickle with tears all over again. “I won’t ever do something like that again.”
“I hope we never have to worry about it.” Alessio helps me into the tub, and I moan with pleasure as the hot water sinks over my skin, washing away the dirt and specks of blood and soothing every tight, sore muscle in my body. When he slides in behind me, I curl against him, pressing my face to his chest.
“I just want to go home with you,” I whisper, and he rests his chin atop my head, his hands still soothing me.
“Soon,” he promises. “And when we go back, we’ll be sure that there’s nothing to fear. I want you to feel safe, Gianna. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“It was my fault—” I bite my lip, feeling the wave of guilt all over again, and Alessio shakes his head. Gently, he reaches for me, turning me so that I’m straddling his lap in the huge tub, facing him.
“It was a mistake to go out alone,” he says firmly. “And I hope you learn from it, and never do anything like that again. But Enzo was determined to get to you. He might have found a way no matter what. We might have been on more even ground then, or it might have been worse. There’s no way to know. Butnow—now it’s over. You’re safe.” Alessio draws me in, his hands on my face as he kisses me. “I love you, Gianna,” he whispers. “I wish I’d started a life with you from the moment it was offered to me, but I’m glad that my stubbornness didn’t rob me of you—and of so much happiness—in the end.”
“I love you too,” I whisper, the words slipping from my mouth for the first time, and I know it’s true. It’s been true for a long time, I think—but it feels right to say it for the first time here, now, like this.
Alessio presses his forehead to mine, a low groan filling the air between us as his hands tighten on my hips, and I feel his cock nudging between my thighs. “If it’s too soon—” His hips shift beneath me, and I can feel his muscles tightening, trying to resist the urge to thrust up into me. “I can wait. Butgod, Gianna, I want—”
