She tries to pull her shirt off. I catch her hands in mine, "Let me, Gigi, please."
She tips up her chin, searching my features. What is she looking for?
Her green eyes darken and her lips part. Her fingers tremble in mine. I move in closer. She parts her legs and I step into the space between them. "Gigi," my voice comes out harsh.
"I love it when you call me that."
I allow my lips to curl, "Thought you hated my nickname for you."
"I lied," she whispers.
"I know," I lower my head, until our eyelashes tangle.
"I’m sorry," her lips tremble and a tear slides down her cheek. I bend down and lick it up. A sob catches in her throat.
I place my forehead against hers, "Don’t cry, Gigi." I swallow down the lump that blocks my throat. Fuck, what is it about this woman that guts me so completely?
"Didn’t mean to," her chin wobbles.
"I’d fucking slay anything that causes you misery. I’ll drown out the entire fucking world, set fire to the monsters that lurk in the dark around you. I… I’ll rip open my chest and show you what it means to be near you."
"Would you accept this child as yours?"
My eyes fly open. "I’ll never shirk my responsibilities when it came to the two of you."
"That’s not what I asked."
I step back, reach above her to pull out the antiseptic and cotton wads. "It’s all I can give you right now."
"It won’t be enough."
"Can we take this one day at a time? I am trying Victoria, I promise I am." I place the medicines on the counter next to her, then reach for her shirt. This time she allows me to undo the buttons, help her out of the shirt.
I take in the mark on her shoulder. A growl rips out of me, "Fuck." I reach out to touch the fading scar. She flinches.
"Does it hurt?"
"Not anymore."
"Fuck, this was my fault."
"Stop trying to take responsibility for everything." She squares her shoulders. "I am the one who played ball with the Mafia… Things were bound to get a little crazy. I mean, it’s not like they’d have let me walk away without paying a price."
I grit my teeth so hard, my jaw hurts. "I’ll ensure they never get to you again."
"I know." She smiles a little, "I always knew you would be my knight in shining armor."
"More like the villain."
"I have a thing for bad guys."
"I noticed." I chuckle, "So long as it’s me you’re talking about and not that bastard..."
"You really don’t have to worry about Antonio."
"How can you be so confident?"
"Nina, the woman in the video?"
I nod.
"He…has a thing for her. It’s the only reason I agreed to take on this entire mission, knowing he’d never let anything happen to her. It’s why he’ll take the evidence I gave him to the Mafia and ensure that they stick to their word."
"I hate it," I growl. "No way, am I going to put your future in the hands of that motherfucker, I am going to track him down and when I do—"
"What?" A new voice rings out. "What will you do?"
I swivel around, ensuring my body is between her and whoever’s walked in.
"What the fuck are you doing here?"
49
Victoria
"Antonio," I try to scramble off the counter, only Saint steps back, imprisoning me.
"What game are you trying to play, Victoria?" Antonio’s hard voice fills the space.
I shove against Saint; he doesn’t move. He may as well have turned into a concrete wall. "I need to talk to him," I mutter, keeping my voice to a whisper.
Saint’s shoulders bunch.
"You can talk from where you are."
Right. I glance down at myself, then do up my buttons. I give his back another shove; he still doesn’t move. I huff, then peek around him, "What are you doing here?" I scowl at Antonio. "I thought you'd be on your way back to Sicily by now?"
"Sicily?" Saint exclaims.
"Shit." I clap my palm over my mouth.
"The hell?" Antonio looks between us, then folds his arms over his chest. "You bugged the USB drive?" He glowers at me, "You thought I wouldn’t find out?"
"Bugged?" I blink, "I didn’t."
"That was me," Saint says.
"What?" I exclaim.
Antonio swears under his breath, "I should have trusted my instincts and left when I had a chance."
"That, you should have," says another voice.
Antonio swings around.
Weston stands there, arm in a sling.
Antonio reaches for his gun, but Sinclair steps inside the bathroom door, gun aimed at Antonio, "Don’t even think about it."
Antonio freezes.
Sinclair jerks his chin and Antonio walks forward. Weston steps aside, allowing Antonio to walk through.
Sinclair follows.
Weston glances at Saint, "You guys okay?"
Saint nods, "Thanks, man. I owe you."
A look passes between them, then Weston retreats, "We’ll be in the living room. Don’t take too long; we need to figure out what to do with this mofo."
The door closes.
Saint swings around to face me. "You okay?" he grips my shoulders.
A trembling grips me as adrenaline drains from my blood. "You…you knew that I was going to hand over the evidence to him?"
"You didn't mention that he had connections to Sicily?" He retorts.
"He's part of the Mafia... of course they're connected to Sicily." I mutter, then throw my hands up. "I didn't think it was important okay? I peer up at him, "Guess we still have secrets from each other?"
He peruses my futures, then exhales a breath. "Why the hell can't we trust each other?"
"I'm trying." I mutter.
"Yeah." He rubs the back of his neck. "So am I." His lips quirk, "and to answer your question, I suspected that you might do so."
Oh.
I raise my fingers to my lips, he grabs my wrist. "No biting your fingernails." He admonishes me.
O-k-a-y. I peer up into his face, "So, all this time, when you pretended you wanted nothing to do with me, you—"
He nods. "I had my men follow you. I tracked
