Chapter 27 #2
“Does she look like she wanted it?!” I ask with a barely steady voice. “Answer me!”
I turn his face sharply toward her with the side of the knife, almost slicing his cheek.
“Look at her!”
Chiara eyes him with a deadly glare, drops of blood still spilling from her busted lip.
“All right, I fu-fucked up.” I hear the fear. “Won’t happen again. You have my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me. Not anymore.” I spin his head back to face me. “Do you have no shame? No honor? Taking a woman against her will? I should’ve killed you as soon as I heard the rumors.”
He laughs, finding an ounce of courage. “Where the fuck will you get your supply then? I’m all you’ve got.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“You can’t kill me.” The full pound of fear is back.
“Apologize. To her.”
He coughs with a chuckle. “I’m not apologizing to no bitch.”
He’s making his inevitable death that much easier on me.
Kicking him on his jaw, I stomp on his face with my shoe as he collapses, and something cracks.
“My nose!” Blood sputters from it.
I should try again until he can’t speak at all.
“You’re going to wish I’d killed you quickly.” I flip the knife in my hand, once, twice until I plunge it into the top of his hand.
“Ahhh!” His screams echo through the room.
“If I had more time…” I remove the knife and slam it into his other hand as he wails in agony, begging for mercy. “I’d make you suffer even more. But I have a woman I care for who needs me.”
Retrieving the gun from my waist, I aim it at his chest.
“They’ll never find your body.”
Bang.
The sound of a bullet punctures through the air, hitting him right in the temple.
Chiara gasps.
“Call the cleanup crew,” I tell Miles as I drop the gun next to the body and go to Chiara, who can’t stop staring at the dead body on the floor.
“No problem, sir,” he responds.
I’ve never needed my cleaners at the house before, but there’s a first time for everything. They’re the best out there, and know how to dispose of a body and all the evidence.
My clothes are covered with his blood. I need them off so they can get rid of them too, along with hers. They’re usually quick to show up, especially for the amount I pay.
“Come on, baby. Let’s get cleaned up.” I pick her up off the bed and carry her out.
She remains silent, her head on my shoulder, my jacket still around her.
“Don’t be scared of me,” I say. “I’d never hurt you.”
My heart thunders in my chest at the thought of her fearing me like she did the bastard who dared to put his hands on her.
“I’m…I’m not scared.”
She gazes up at me with eyes drowning in sorrow, and I want to dry her ocean of tears.
“I just need a shower and…”
Her trembling hand lands over her mouth as I kick the door of my room open.
“I don’t know.” Her voice cracks a little, and her brows knit tightly with waves of emotion.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now. I'll always protect you.”
She nods, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.
“I didn’t think you’d get there in time. I thought he’d…” She sucks in a harsh breath as the tears continue to fall.
My own damn heart cracks right along with hers.
How could I have let this happen?!
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to begin with, baby.” I hold her tighter. “I should’ve never sent you up here alone. I swear to you, no man will ever hurt you again. You hear me?”
“It’s not your fault.” A battered breath leaves her as she looks up at me.
Of course it is.
If she hadn’t been in my home to begin with, this wouldn’t have happened. But I had no choice. She had to be here.
I slowly place her feet down on the floor. “Let’s get you showered, okay?”
She nods as her trembling hands slip my jacket off her body. Grabbing it, I try hard not to stare at her breasts, making sure I look at her face instead.
But then I see her bruised lip and I rage again, clenching a fist against my thigh.
How could you let this happen under your damn watch?! What good are all these men and these fucking cameras when you can’t keep the woman you care about safe?
“Brian? Did you hear me?” she asks, her soft hand slipping into mine.
“What?” I pause, finding her eyes full of worry. “I didn’t. I’m sorry.”
“I was asking if you could help me with the zipper. I think it broke when he tried to…” She doesn’t finish the sentence, swallowing away the words.
I cage the fury racing through me. I need to control it. She needs me to take care of her right now, even when she isn’t asking for it.
Years may have passed, but I still know who she is at the core. Chiara has always been strong, but if you know her well enough, you’ll see little glimpses of the scared little girl she’s always been good at hiding.
But I’m not blind. I saw her then, and I’ll see her always.
She turns, giving me her back. My fingers move to her hair, swiping it past her shoulder before shifting back to her dress.
I yank the zipper with a little force as it resists, but finally it moves down slowly.
When it’s free, I reach down and pull the dress up.
She lifts her arms, giving me the permission I need to take it off.
My dick instantly hardens at the sight of her in a black lace thong and thigh-high stockings held up by a garter belt. I wouldn’t be able control my reaction even if I tried.
She faces me, and I suck in a breath, the muscles of my neck tightening from the protectiveness and want surging through me.
“Promise you’ll stay in the room?”
I caress her chin in between two fingers. “I’d never leave you.”
A small smile crosses her face before she slips out of her beige heels and heads inside the bathroom, shutting the door.
I release a long exhale, finding a seat on one of the armchairs. Slipping my cell out of my pocket, I text my brothers about what happened.
Dante
Why the fuck didn’t you call us? I would’ve at least cut off some of his important parts before you shot him.
Enzo
I would’ve enjoyed getting my suit bloody. I never liked his ass.
Dante
No one did.
Dominic
It happened fast.
Dante
Is she okay?
Dominic
She will be.
Dante
Tell us what you need.
Dominic
I need you both to look into finding a new gun supplier out of state. Our current stash is still good, but we’ll need more soon.
Enzo
On it.
Dominic
I have to go.
I end the conversation, sliding my phone back when I hear a bang, like something fell. I jump to my feet. The sudden throb of my pulse in my neck knocks through me.
“Ow, shit!” she yelps.
“Chiara?”
I rush into the bathroom, steam greeting me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask through the glass door of the stand-up shower. I can’t see much inside.
“Can you help? I think I twisted my ankle.”
I immediately open the door, finding her palms flat against the white tile to my right, her long black hair soaked, draping down to her ass. Her right foot is slightly raised as she eyes me, pain etched in her gaze.
“I was getting the shampoo,” she explains. “And somehow, I managed to turn my foot the wrong way.”
“I’ll help you get out.”
“I still have shampoo in my hair and I didn’t even wash my body.” She grimaces. “Do you think you can help?”
The pulse beats savagely in my ears, my chest heavy. How the fuck am I supposed to do that and not get rock hard? I’m not built for this. I want to fuck her like an animal, even in the state she’s in. How can I be in there with those tight curves and not do anything about it?
I hate myself for even thinking about that after what happened to her.
“Please? It’ll be too difficult for me to do it on one foot.”
“Okay.” Before I change my mind, I remove my shoes and socks and step under the warm spray of water.
She lifts a hand off the tiles and turns her face to the side, looking puzzled. “Aren’t you going to take off your clothes?”
“No, that’s not necessary,” I say with my front to her back.
“But you're soaked.”
“It's okay.” I pick up a bar of soap, my clothes sticking to my skin.
Before I have a chance to wash her, she uses the wall to turn all the way around. Her fingers are on the buttons of my shirt. She undoes one, avoiding my gaze, then moves to another.
“Chiara.” My hand lands on hers, stopping the movement. “Don’t.” The word comes out strained, like I don’t mean it.
She finally looks up at me. “You need to get clean too.”
I drop my hand, letting her do what she wants. If she’s comfortable with this, then I’ll have to be too.
“You have blood on your neck,” she points out as she undoes the last button.
I slip it off, rolling it up and tossing in on the other side of the shower floor.
She unbuttons my pants next, then lowers the zipper before I pull them down with my boxers, and my cock jumps out.
“I can’t do much about that,” I groan with shame.
“It’s okay.” She takes a glimpse of my hard-on before her eyes climb back up to my face. “I’d be a little offended if you weren’t.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry. For everything.”
“You should be.” She tries to smile, but winches from the pain in her lip.
“Shit.” I gently rub her swollen mouth.
“Mmm.” She closes her eyes, relaxing a bit. “Can you massage my head?”
“Sure, baby.” My fingers land in her wet hair, bending them as I work the shampoo in.
“Thanks.” She drives herself further into my touch.
After a few minutes, I finally begin cleansing her body, using the soap as a barrier between my hands and her skin. I keep it as mechanical as possible, even when I slip the soap in between her legs. My balls contract from the throbbing in my cock.
I should have kept my clothes on.