“Who was that?” I ask stupidly.
“That was a friend. Don’t worry, you’re with me now.”
Luca’s arm wraps around me tightly and pulls me close. God, he’s so big and warm, and he smells good, even covered in blood. I think I’m a total messed-up lunatic, but he’s gorgeous like this—drenched in gore and looking like slaughter.
He helps me into a truck, and I’m too numb to stop this as he drives away.
Chapter 9
Luca
Fiorella sits on the edge of my tub. It’s filled with warm, sudsy water. I use an old washcloth to gently clear the blood from her face. She winces and pulls away. “I can do that. I think you should focus on yourself.”
“I’m more worried about you.”
She waves me off. Some of her fire and strength are coming back. “You look like a horror movie victim.”
“Pretty sure I’m not the victim here, darling.”
“Even worse then. You’re the killer.”
“Exactly.” I dab at her lip softly, but she takes the cloth from my hand. “I’m going to have my family’s doctor take a look at you.”
“I’m fine. Honestly, I really am.” She wrings out the cloth. The water turns slightly pink as she dips it into the tub and cleans herself more. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Your throat’s bruised. I’m going to make sure you’re not seriously injured.” She gives me a look as I stand and stare back. “No arguments.”
Her eyes narrow. “Are you used to giving orders?”
“I’m used to doing the right thing.”
“And I’m used to having control over my own body. I said no doctor. I meant it.”
I turn away so she doesn’t see my smile. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“There’s nothing to discuss!”
“Go ahead and take a bath. I’ll bring you clean clothes.”
“Wait a second!” I walk to the door and pause before leaving. “You said you were watching me. What was that supposed to mean?”
“I’ll explain everything later. Just get yourself washed up, alright?”
She doesn’t look happy as I slip out of the guest bath and close the door behind me.
When I walked into that garage and found her down on the floor under some goon, I lost my fucking mind. I’ve never seen red before in my life. I pride myself on keeping control.
But I lost my goddamn mind.
He had his hands on her. He was straddling her and choking her. My Fiorella. My future fucking wife. The woman I keep dreaming about. The woman I’ve been watching for the last two weeks.
The woman I’ve been obsessed with since the moment we met.
My only regret is that I couldn’t beat that fucking prick to death a second time.
She was so shocked and broken in those first moments after I saved her. It broke my fucking heart seeing her like that. Fiorella’s normally filled with fire and brimstone. I’ve gotten to know her pretty well from afar over the last two weeks of watching her, and I feel like I understand her better than I ever dreamed I could.
That girl carries around a lot of hurt. I don’t know why or what happened, but it’s all over her. There’s a lot of anger deep inside, but she keeps it under control. Her emotions are locked down inside a steel box. Everyone’s kept at a distance. She uses sarcasm and anger to hide her real emotions. I can relate to that on a visceral level. But seeing her on the floor, beaten and raw, terrified for her life, nearly killed me.
