“No!” I shout, stretching my arm out to reach for her, to shield her with my body, but it’s too late.
That one stray bullet pierced through the stained glass window of an archangel, creating a spider-like web around his wings. The thing about old churches and their stained glass windows is that they are extremely fragile. The glass keeps cracking, spreading until the whole thing shatters into a million little pieces.
It’s at this moment that my heart stops beating. Iris is glancing up at the stained painting of the angel Gabriel, her eyeswide as the glass begins to break apart and rain down over the cross… the cross she’s still tied to.
Her cries of pain will forever haunt me. I will forever carry this guilt in my heart. Maybe if I had been just a few seconds faster, I could have saved her. I promised to protect her; she’d be safe with me. Instead, I can only watch as the glass shreds her skin, falls into her open eyes, and causes a trail of blood to flow down her cheeks while she screams.
This is my fault. All my fault.
I don’t remember moving. I can hardly think straight, but the next moment she’s cradled in my arms as I rock us back and forth, repeating the same two words over and over.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I palm the side of her head, trying to gently wipe away the specks of glass shining on her face, but all the worst of the bleeding is coming from her eyes.
My palm grazes the silk of a ribbon in her hair. I unravel it from behind her head and slowly move it over the corner of her eyes to try to stop the bleeding. But it doesn’t stop.
Green eyes that are filled with blood and deep, thin lines of cuts around the corners are gazing up at me blindly.
What have I done?
CHAPTER 16
IRIS
It’s the sound of seagulls and the crash of waves against the rocks that wakes me up. I blink my eyes open a couple of times and sit up in bed, feeling a cool breeze over my naked breasts. I skim my fingers over my exposed skin and realize it was all real; every moment from last night wasn’t a dream. I let Romeo take my virginity; I practically begged him to. My cheeks heat as I pull the cover over my chest and glance down at the right side of the bed, feeling around with my fingers because that part of the bedroom is still dark.
“Rome?” I mutter his nickname aloud while listening, but I don’t hear any sound of his breathing.
He’s not here.
Feeling confused, I slide off the enormous bed, with the sheet tucked under my arms, and walk over to the two doors that are side by side on the opposite side of the room. When I open one of the doors, I find a deep closet full of clothes—specifically, all of my clothes.
Fucking psycho.
I roll my eyes as I grab the nearest sundress off a hanger and shut the door to process all that later. Opening the next door,I suck in a surprised breath. I’m probably going to be spending a lot of my time in here. The huge, oval bathtub right in front of the French doors that lead to another balcony is calling my name. I’m tempted to fill it with bath salts and soak for hours, but I want to talk to Romeo first.
I want to yell at him for not being here themorning after.I’m supposed to wake up with him cuddling me into his strong body, telling me how amazing last night was for him, but no. Instead, I wake up in an empty bed.
I’m done running around in circles with him. It’s time we talked about everything. Especially that night. The night I lost most of my sight.
With a sigh, I drop the sheet and turn toward the sink surrounded by all my beauty products. At least I don’t have to guess which toothbrush is mine. Grabbing it, I spread toothpaste over the bristles. I stand there in a daze as I clean my teeth, wondering if I look like I rolled around in the sheets with him all night. My thighs are covered in his cum and sore from his fingerprints. I know if I showed him the marks he left on me, he’d probably… no, definitely take me again. He’s a freaking beast. I feel like I’ve been fucked within an inch of my life; my lips spread into a grin as I rinse my mouth and splash my face with cold water.
I slip the sundress over my head and decide to go find him myself while walking out of the bathroom. I whistle lowly, tilting my head to listen until I hear the soft click of Sofia’s nails on the white tiled floor.
“Come on, baby. Let’s go find Romeo and give him hell.” She rubs up against my thigh, her tail wagging wildly at the mention of his name.
The traitor. I still can’t believe he trained and bought Sofia for me. Does that make him her adopted dad? Oh my god. He’s fucking crazy, and now I’m peeved he’s taken the loyalty of mydog too. Something else to yell at him about. Which reminds me… are there cameras in here, too? I’ll have to ask, and he better tell me the truth, or I swear to God… I glance around warily but don’t feel like I’m being watched. That hasn’t stopped him before
I pat Sofia’s head and let her take the lead out of the bedroom. I have a feeling she’ll lead me right to herdaddy.It’s kind of sweet, but I’m determined to hold on to some anger. It’s hard when he’s being so considerate, one step ahead of me if I need something, and yet so very protective, it’s almost unhealthy. I know he cares for me, might even love me, but the bastard is way too obsessed.
I am, too, though. I couldn’t stop thinking about him for almost three years, and I let him fuck me the second I saw the effort he made into putting that gallery together for me. I just can’t with him. I don’t know what to do or how to handle my feelings. I’ll just have to take it one step at a time for now.
Lost in my thoughts as I roam the huge estate, I finally hear the low sound of multiple voices. I thought he said no one was here? Walking on my tiptoes, I glide my hand along the wall to make sure I don’t bump into anything as I get closer to the voices. I can make out Romeo’s deep, rough Italian accent, but the other woman’s voice surprises me. I find a door half cracked open and plaster my back next to it to listen in on the conversation. The woman’s tone sounds serious, while Romeo’s is cutting and sharp.
“I don’t like this, Gemma. I want his heart on a silver platter. So get it done,” Romeo says with a growl that reminds me of last night, and I can’t stop my tender thighs from clenching together.
“I will, Don. This isn’t the first time I’ve taken a man’s heart, and it won’t be the last. I’ll be heading out from here to Russia on the family jet.” I can hear the graveness of the situation in her tone until it shifts into something more teasing with her nextwords. “So how is life treating you, Boss? Finally get all you ever wanted? Did you seduce her panties off her yet? I can give you some advice since you're a little rusty with the women. It’s been three years for you, right?”
“Gemma.” Romeo's teeth grinding is almost audible. I can picture his lips twisting in annoyance.
