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Elena grabbed her phone and tucked it into the pocket of the oversized sweats she had on over her leotard. My sweet angel was having the worst few days of her young life while I was having my best.
“I’ll be right back,” she muttered and leaned on the crutch I’d had in the car for her from Giacomo.
I nodded, watching as she limped her way through the restaurant. Eyes followed her. It wasn’t because she was dressed rather oddly for the upmarket place, nor that she was stunning in a way seldom found in real, filter-free life. It was because I didn’t bring women out for casual dinner dates, and I certainly didn’t stare at them as if my life depended on it.
My father would hear about this, I knew. I had already decided not to care. Elena was a new fixture in my life. A permanent one. A sun around which my orbit had shifted. Mauro should know sooner rather than later, so he could call off the hunt for an arranged bride. The hunt was over. I would marry Elena Morova or no one.
I pulled a phone from my pocket and tapped in the passcode. The screen was cracked from when I had taken it from Hugh, but not too badly. I directed myself to the messages, and Elena’s name called to me. The last messages Hugh had sent Elena were from the morning before I’d waited for him in his car and relieved him of his phone and balls. It was clear from the last few messages that Hugh had decided to blame Elena for rejecting his advances and for me beating him up in the dressing room.
Hugh was a worthless piece of human garbage, but he could be useful.
I started to type. I pushed down the voice inside me that warned me that this was a bad idea. Manipulation at best and terrorizing at worst. I couldn’t listen to that voice of reason. It never did me any good. When I listened to it, I didn’t get what I needed, and right now, I needed Elena to agree to spend time with me.
Nothing else mattered.
Not the truth. Not the moral of the action, or lack of.
I didn’t know any other way of being.
I hit send and tucked the phone away, taking a deep breath and waiting for her to reappear.
She came back slowly, weaving through the tables with a subdued expression. I felt a pang of guilt over being the cause but dismissed it quickly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her quickly.
She shook her head, her determined chin raising like I knew it would. My girl was strong.
“Elena, you can tell me,” I said in my most reassuring tone.
Her slender shoulders were up near her ears and her cheeks were bloodless. She bit a fingernail as her eyes went around the restaurant, searching.
“It’s nothing. It’s just Hugh. He’s mad at me,” she said, downplaying the whole thing entirely.
Luckily, I didn’t give up that easily. I didn’t know how.“Mad, how?”
“Mad like threats of revenge, blood, and mayhem,” she said, her mouth twisting in a bitter smile. “As if I’m not damaged enough.”
“You’re not damaged. You’re injured. There’s a difference. Hugh might talk a good game, but he could hardly find you, right?” I asked, leading her where I needed her to go.
“He knows my address,” she whispered.
I widened my eyes, concern oozing from every pore. She was so close to falling into my net now. I could taste it.“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I guess I need to move,” she said with a cynical laugh as though the idea was insane. It probably was. Rent in this city was sky-high, and Elena didn’t have health insurance so she probably had little disposable income.
“You need to stay somewhere safe. Somewhere people can watch over you until I can speak to him.”
Her eyes flickered to mine.“And I guess you have somewhere in mind,” she said softly, knowingly.
“You’d be safe there, with me.”
“Why are you helping me?” she asked, tracing a finger over the bread crumbs on the table and collecting them into patterns.
“You told you why,” I said, holding her gaze. “I want to see you dance again. It’s my fault that Hugh was hurt last night. My fault he’s looking for revenge, partly, anyway. It’s my duty to keep you safe.”
“Duty? You’re not my father or guardian,” she said with a sigh.
“No, I’m not. I might be a criminal, a son of a kingpin, but I’m still a person. I don’t want to stand by and see a story on the news about you. Not when I might have stopped it.” I sat forward, and she followed my every move, spellbound. “You’re tough, and I respect that, but sometimes that includes letting other people help you. Let me take care of you, angel, until your ankle heals.”
I made sure to be quiet and calm. I kept the possessive beast inside my chest, snarling silently so that it didn’t spook her. Only when we were alone, and she wanted me as badly as I wanted her could she know how far gone I already was.
She was watching me like she might be able to determine the value of my soul with a look. I waited patiently for her inspection. Finally, she nodded, making up her mind.
“Fine. I’ll come home with you—for now,” she whispered.
There was a defeated air to her that rankled, but I would get to the bottom of it. The important thing was having Elena where I needed her.
By my side, in my bed, safe and sound at home.
