Chapter 6
DANTE
Turning the lock doesn’t take long. I’d say being an FBI agent helps, but really, it’s the criminal background that taught me.
The sound of her sobs fill me with dread as I open the door.
Leigh is half-naked and that fucking son-of-a-bitch is on top of her, trying to work his cock toward her entrance.
The saying I blacked out doesn’t happen here. I know exactly what I’m doing when I’m tearing him off of her by his hair, and throwing his bitch-ass into the dresser beside the bed.
I glance at her first to make sure she’s still breathing.
My eyes instantly move to her chest, to the faint rise and fall beneath trembling breaths.
She’s alive, but completely out of it. I’m not even sure if she’s awake or asleep at this point.
Her breathing is the only thing that keeps me from losing it completely.
But any reasoning with him went out the door when I found him on top of her body.
I’m suddenly over him.
My fist slams into his face, breaking the skin on my knuckles and his cheekbone.
Each impact makes a wet, sickening sound.
Blood is flying in all directions.
His or mine? I don’t know.
I’m not registering any pain as I beat the shit out of him. I grab his head, fingers digging into his hair, and drive his skull into the hardwood. “Motherfucker.”
I do it again, but harder this time.
The floor cracks from the force.
He lets out a broken whine, coughing up blood and what might be pieces of his own teeth.
I grab a fistful of his shirt, hauling him upright, then pull my arm back and drive my fist straight into his nose with everything I have.
His nose breaks with a sickening crunch, blood bursting everywhere.
With each word, I slam my fist into him harder.
“Don’t.”
My knuckles collide with bone.
“Ever.”
Another brutal hit.
“Touch.”
Blood sprays across my skin.
“Her.”
His face is swelling fast and doesn’t even look human anymore when I strike him for the last time.
“Again.”
My hands curl, itching to push my thumbs into his eyes, to finish it.
It takes every shred of control I have left to stop myself.
This only ends one way if I don’t walk away.
I gather every fucking ounce of self-control I have, push up from the floor, and sink one more hard kick into his ribs for good measure.
He’s still writhing on the floor in pain when my eyes drift to Leigh, bare from the waist down.
Seeing her this way.
This exposed and fragile, feels like a knife in the gut.
I tear my gaze away before I can overthink it anymore.
My hands shake as I grab the throw blanket from the end of the bed and drop it over her, covering what I can.
I slide my arms beneath her and lift her carefully, cradling her against my chest.
She makes a small noise and then melts into me, as if what had just happened hadn’t processed through her head yet.
It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She’s clearly still drugged and can’t even process a thought right now.
The onlookers blur into the background as I exit into the hallway and head down the hall and towards the front door.
I catch Mira’s eye just long enough to tilt my head toward the exit, and unsurprisingly she follows without hesitation, leaving Jensen standing there confused as hell.
“What happened?” she asks in a hushed tone.
“Car first,” I respond, continuing to my vehicle outside. “Then we’ll talk.”
She doesn’t say another word as I buckle Leigh into the passenger seat. Mira circles around to the driver’s side, opens the door, leans in to push the seat forward, then slips into the back.
Once I’m done with Leigh, I shut the door and circle around, sliding into the driver’s seat. I twist the key, shift into reverse, and back out of the driveway before pulling onto the road, heading straight for the city.
I catch Mira’s reflection in the rearview mirror. She’s practically vibrating with impatience, teeth chewing at her bottom lip, doing her best to hold it together.
I shake my head. “Scott’s going to be a problem.”
Her face flashes red. “What do you mean?”
I let out a slow breath, dragging a hand down my face. “Let’s just say the motherfucker’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”
She goes quiet after that, like she already knows. There’s only one situation that would push me that far.
If Leigh got hurt.
She groans, dropping her face into her hands. “I shouldn’t have let her go back there with him. I knew he was bad news after what I heard.”
My jaw tightens. “What the fuck do you mean by that?”
I keep my eyes on the road, easing off the gas slightly as we approach a small bridge.
She exhales hard. “I told Everleigh about something that happened at his last big party. There was a rumor that he.. that he raped someone.”
My fingers clamp around the steering wheel, tendons standing out beneath my skin. “So why the fuck did you let her go back there with him, if you thought that was even a possibility? You’re trained better than that, Mira.”
“You know how she is,” Mira snaps back. “She said she could handle it.”
A dry hollow laugh slips out of me, “She’s stubborn. That’s not news.” My eyes stay focused on the road. “That’s exactly why you should’ve told me.”
I pause, thinking of the worse case scenario.
“If I’d gotten there five minutes later, we’d be having a different conversation.”
Mira exhales. “Rivera, I’m new to this. Cut me some slack.”
My eyes instinctively roll, “You don’t get slack on this case, Newman.”
“I literally graduated the academy just over a year ago and they already dropped me into something this big. Do you know how insane it is pretending to be the best friend of a mob boss’s daughter? Oh, and getting her to trust me? That was the fucking icing on the cake.”
Leigh lets out a faint sound, shifting in her seat before going still again.
A quiet breath slips from me as I adjust the rearview mirror.
“You think this has been easy for me?” My voice stays calm.
“I’m with these fucking people full time.
Meanwhile, you go home to your own bed.” I shake my head.
“Gabriel’s always on me about something, and Leigh..
” I glance forward, jaw tightening slightly as I watch the road. “She’s a constant pain in my ass.”
Mira lets out a soft, knowing laugh. “She can be a lot when she wants to be.”
I force my tone to become serious. “This is the job, Mira. If you can’t handle it, I’ll find someone who can.”
“No!” She abruptly sits up. “I can handle it. I just.. I’m sorry. I didn’t think he’d actually be capable of something like that.”
I groan before responding, “Everyone’s capable of something.” My grip tightens slightly on the wheel. “No one gets a pass for being young or looking harmless.” I glance at her in the mirror. “Take you, for example. You pass for a spoiled high school kid. Are you?”
She doesn’t respond for a long pause.
“Mira.” My voice drops, tone sharper now. “Are you?”
I glance at the road and then back at the mirror again.
Her hands curl into her sleeves. “No.”
“Then say it.”
Another long pause.
“I’m..” She swallows hard. “I’m a trained recruit for the New York Bureau.”
“Louder.”
Her voice breaks, but she forces it out anyway. “I’m a trained recruit for the New York Bureau.”
I look forward again, expression hardened.
“Then act like it.”
She doesn’t say anything for the rest of the drive.
The car settles into a heavy silence, nothing but the hum of the engine and the tires eating up every damn pot hole in the road.
My mind keeps dragging me back to earlier. If I hadn’t pulled myself off that kid, I would’ve fucking killed him. It wasn’t a question of if I would’ve done it.
I would’ve.
I know better than that.
I was trained better than that.
I’m supposed to think first, act second.
I’m supposed to stay in control even if I feel like I’m losing it. But in that moment, I didn’t know a damn thing. All I felt was the need to fucking end him for even touching her.
My jaw tightens as I stare ahead, fingers flexing around the wheel before I force them to ease.
This shit can’t happen again.
I don’t get to take any of this personally.
I can’t feel for her.
I can’t react like that again.
All I’m here to do is watch and report.
But this has become so much more than that.
I’m not sure I can stop.
After dropping Mira off at her place, I head to Gabriel’s penthouse to take Leigh back.
She’s still completely slack in my arms as I carry her inside, moving through the entrance and into the foyer. The thought of taking my shoes off crosses my mind, but I ignore it and keep going, cutting straight through the living space toward her room.
I don’t stop until I reach her bed, lowering her onto it carefully.
She stirs as I pull one of her sherpa blankets over her, shifting beneath it like she’s trying to settle, but can’t quite get comfortable.
For a second, I stand there, watching to make sure she’s actually okay.
I wasn’t sure what “okay” even meant for her right now, but she was safe.
For the moment, at least.
I turn to leave after finishing the thought.
I barely make it a step away before her fingers clasp around my hand. It isn’t a tight grip, but is firm enough to stop me.
“Can you stay with me?”
I glance back at her. She still looks drowsy, but her eyes are open now. They’re locked onto mine like she’s afraid I’ll disappear the second I move.
I hesitate.
I want to stay.. But what if Viktor walks in? Or Gabriel.
My jaw tightens slightly.
Worst case would be if Marco showed up.
That guy is unpredictable and half out of his mind on whatever he’s been using lately. If he found me in here like this-
I push the thought aside. He’s barely ever around, so that doesn’t really matter.
But the risk doesn’t settle right in my head.
She blinks slowly, like she’s fighting to stay awake while she waits for my answer.
“I can’t-”
Her grip doesn’t loosen.
“Why not?”
My teeth clench.
She knows why I can’t be here. Hell, I don’t even understand why she’s okay with me being alone in here with her after what almost happened tonight.
Right as I start to answer, she cuts me off.
“For once, can you just sit here with me and act like a normal human being?”
Normal.
The word almost makes me scoff.
There’s nothing normal about this.
Not her. Not me. Not any of it.
She’s the daughter of a crime boss who has half the city under his thumb, and I’m the one building the case that could take it all down.
Every second I spend in this place is a fucking deathtrap.
And yet here I am, standing in her bedroom like any of that shit doesn’t exist.
Like the lies aren’t stacked between us.
Like tonight didn’t just happen.
My jaw tightens as I look at her.
I shouldn’t be here.
I definitely shouldn’t stay.
If anyone walks in, this turns into a problem I can’t talk my way out of.
But the thought of pulling my hand away.. The idea of leaving her alone.
It feels wrong.
Wrong enough that I decide to go against my better judgement.
A quiet breath leaves me as I give in, shaking my head once like it’ll somehow make the stupid choice I’m making disappear.
“Okay.”