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The bathroom….
I dart past the bed and swing the door open. Empty.
My ribs constrict, undiluted fear squeezing the air from my lungs.
“Rosa!” I shout. She can’t be gone. I just talked to Aldo downstairs a second ago. He swore he never left his post, not for an instant.
I force in a breath of air to keep from passing out as darkness encroaches on my vision. The beach … perhaps she went for a walk and Aldo was too stupid to notice. That fuckhead is fired. If Rose was able to get the slip on him, he’s useless.
I barrel down the stairs and search the lower floor before whipping open the sliding door. Racing onto the deck, I scan the horizon to the east then the west. The white-sand beach stretches for miles, but with the bitter chill in the air, not a soul dots the tranquil landscape.
“Merda!” I snarl. Digging through my pocket for my phone, I jab my finger at the screen. “Come on, Rose, answer. Come on, damn it.” Paralyzing fear blossoms, but I shove it back, allowing the darkness to consume it. Fuck the fear. Fear is weakness, anger is strength.
The dial tone taunts me, ringing and ringing.
Nothing.
Dio, if something happened to her, if someone took her … I’ll raze the entire island until I find my Rose.
I march back inside and head straight for the front door again. I’m going to fucking ring Aldo’s neck. My hand strangles the knob, and I’m about to jerk it open when soft footfalls over my head whip my attention to the staircase.
Rose stands at the landing with earbuds dangling from her ears and a towel wrapped around her bare form.
My heart staggers, then halts, before kicking up again. “Rosa….” I murmur, heat pricking at the back of my eyes.
“Hey, I thought I heard something—”
I charge up the stairs and pull her into my arms, crushing her against my chest. A gasp escapes her lips, and it’s only then I realize I’m literally crushing her. I loosen my hold around her torso, and her curious eyes lift to mine.
“You okay, D?”
“No,” I growl. “I’m not okay at all. Fuck, Rosa. I’m in love with you.”
CHAPTER40
DO YOU LOVE THIS?
Rose
My head falls back, jaw unhinging as I stare up at Dante. I must have inhaled some funky bath salts or something because I could have sworn I just heard the savage mob boss tell me he loves me. I must be hallucinating.
“Wh—what?” I rasp out.
“Where the fuck were you, Rose? I’ve been searching this house like apazzo… I thought someone took you.”
Yup, someone’s definitely gone crazy, I’m just not sure if it’s him or me.
“Rose, answer me!” He shakes me, snapping my jumbled thoughts back to the present.
“I was in the bathtub.” I point over my shoulder to the guest wing. “I couldn’t get the water in the master to heat up, so I went in there instead.”
“Dio, Rosa, you scared themerdaout of me.” He tugs me close again, and I breathe him in, the mad pounding of his heart pressed against the shell of my ear.
“I’m okay, Dante. I’m right here.” Now, back to that I love you stuff … I wait a few more seconds, until his breaths come out more evenly, but the longer I wait, the faster my pulse becomes. Had he meant what he said? Was it just a slip of the tongue like the baby thing? Something we’d just ignore again? “So…,” I start, but his mouth captures mine, cutting me off.
He bends down and wraps his arm beneath my thighs, cradling me against his chest. “Where are we going?” I whisper against his lips.
“Back to the tub.”
