“Women like her don’t go for men like me,” he groaned, clutching his thigh in agony. “We don’t all have a buffet of pussy waiting for us if we so much as glance at it.” His bitter sneer transformed his face as the reality of what he faced overcame him.
Without another glance for approval, I withdrew my gun again and pressed it against his forehead. With the sharp crack of the shot reverberating through the space, his body collapsed to the floor. “Anybody else feel like putting my woman at risk with their own stupidity?” I asked the quiet room.
The chorus of responses around the room didn’t come as a surprise. Turning my attention to Ryker, I saw him look down at the body thoughtfully. “I’ll get rid of it. The other one has already been delivered,” he said, referring to the present he’d chosen to leave strung up in Tiernan’s home.
“Find the fucking bitch,” I growled. When he nodded, I turned on my heel and strode out the front doors. Phone in hand, I called Seb to have him send me a copy of the security footage.
They’d better hope I didn’t find the cunt before they did. I’d never killed a woman before.
But there was a first time for everything.
28 Sadie
I drowned in the length of Ivory’s clothes, the sole pair of pajama pants she owned rolled up around my ankles as we walked in from the garage at Enzo’s house. I’d very much appreciated the shower at the Bellandi estate, and the comfort of my friend by my side to bring me back from the shock I’d suffered in the strip club.
Even though the tiles in their guest bath looked nothing like the white ones on the floor of the bathroom at Tease, I’d had a moment where I saw blood spreading across them.
Ivory was quick to remind me it was normal. That it was okay to not be okay.
I’d just never thought it would happen to me.
The familiar comforts of Enzo and Rebel at my side grounded me and enveloped me in the order I recognized as mine. I didn't know what that meant for my apartment or our future. With the shock of the day finally abating, I needed to not make any major decisions.
To be in a place where tomorrow didn't exist, and I could just enjoy the one moment I had with Enzo. It had almost been stripped away from me. If I'd been less capable of protecting myself, if Rebel hadn't sensed something coming and come to the bathroom with me, who knows where I might have ended my day.
Or if I'd even be alive to see the sun set over Enzo's backyard and the pool illuminated with the reds and oranges mingling and reflecting off the pavers.
Enzo grabbed a steak from the fridge, cubing it frantically as Rebel salivated from the sidelines.
"When do you go grocery shopping? Do you sneak out while I'm sleeping or something?" I asked, sidling up to his side in the kitchen. I was determined to lose myself in the normalcy of being home, even if it did all come crashing down on me sooner or later. Scooping all the meat onto a plate, he set it on the floor and Rebel wasted no time digging in. "Isn't raw meat bad for dogs?"
"Some people give their dogs an entire diet of raw meat. I think she'll survive one steak. She ate plenty of raw meat today anyway," Enzo grunted, scratching the top of her butt while she ate. "Who's a good girl? Who protected her Mommy?" he asked, shifting his voice to that distinct tone people used for animals.
I laughed, watching as he washed his knife, cutting board, and hands and carefully lined them up in the dish strainer so they were straight. My heart swelled, the feelings oddly similar to what I would have guessed to be love.
But I couldn't go there today. When I finally said the words to a man, Enzo or not, it wouldn't be because I was coming down from the adrenaline spike of an attack. It would be because I knew without a doubt that even when sober and not in shock, I loved that man with everything I was.
All of him. From his head to his toes, from his soul to his smile.
I couldn't name a single thing about Enzo that I didn't love, aside from perhaps his possessive and jealous interests in controlling me. But as we came to understand one another, and as I grew more possessive of the man I thought of as mine, I found that we weren't so far apart. I didn't oppose his rule that no man could touch me, so long as it went both ways.
I didn't oppose his interests in keeping me safe while I did whatever I needed to do to stay sane, because he only tried to redirect me to a path that would be less risky. I couldn't fault him for that, even though I wished the courtesy could apply to me too. The thought of Enzo rushing into danger, rather than running away from it, terrified me.
“I’ve never seen her like that,” I murmured. “She’s always so gentle.”
“She protected you,” Enzo said, shrugging. “Like you said, she’s never shown any signs of aggression until you were threatened. I’ll sleep easier knowing she’s looking out for you.” Once he dried his hands, I stepped into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist. He sighed, the sound both relieved and pained as he dropped his head to rest his mouth against my hair and murmur into it. "I'm sorry, Baby Girl."
"Why are you sorry?" I asked, tilting my head up to look into the hazel eyes so filled with regret that my heart hurt.
"I'm supposed to be protecting you. My job is to shield you
