Page 26 of Bound in Promise
He gives me a light shove to the mattress, and I fall back against the comforter and watch him as he begins removing his shirt.
“Take your clothes off. And then let’s hear you defend him while I’m deep inside you, princess.”
That sounds…unnecessary.
“Dante, I’m not trying to upset you. I just?—”
“I am upset,” he admits. “I’m irate. The amount of rage I’m trying to control is beyond belief.”
“I’m safe?—”
“If you hadn’t gotten that cell phone, I’d have never found you. Do you understand that? I could’ve lost you.”
My heart clenches at his vulnerability and it kills me that he’s so unsettled and distressed. “I would’ve made it back home to you. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, Dante.”
“I don’t doubt you, princess. But it never should have gotten this far. He never should have even considered taking you.”
I swallow. Liam didn’t see any other options beyond finding a way to take me and control my money. I’m not agreeing with what he did at all. I’m not even asking my husband to try to understand his nephew. All I want is for us to cool down on the taking him out portion of the conversation.
“I could have done things differently,” I counter. “Maybe if I had refused to drive?—”
“Was a gun to your head?”
“Yes, but?—”
“Then you did the right thing.” I open my mouth, determined to assuage his worry, but he continues, “I won’t let this fly, Victoria. You are my number one priority. I can’t have you in danger anymore.”
“I understand that, but you’ll be in danger of a murder charge if you keep thinking this way.”
“I’ve buried men without a trace before. This won’t be any different.”
It should be revolting—terrifying—that Dante has not only dug graves, but filled them with people he killed, but all I can process is the man falling apart in front of me.
“Focus on me,” I tell him. “I’m here.”
His eyes soften slightly and I’m relieved, to say the least. “You are. And you’ll never leave my side again.”
“Good.”
“But there will be consequences for Liam, necessary ones, so I can keep you safe?—”
“Please stop talking about him,” I plead. “And come here.”
“I don’t want to lie to you, Victoria.”
“Then don’t. Just leave him be.”
His body tenses and a muscle ticks in his jaw. Here we go again. Clearly, my husband has a one-track mind when it comes to death and murder. “Let’s get one thing straight, princess. I don’t forgive. I don’t let shit go, either. You weren’t supposed to—” He snaps his mouth shut, his words screeching to a halt.
“I wasn’t supposed to what?” I press, more than curious about what the end of that sentence might be. I’m not sure what I could’ve done differently beyond aiming for Liam’s head when I had the chance, but even if I’d known how to shoot properly, I know I wouldn’t have put his life in the crosshairs.
“Nothing,” Dante replies flatly. “You did everything you should’ve done and more.”
I push myself up on my elbows. “Apparently not. Spill.”
“Victoria—”
“No,” I snarl, my own anger bubbling up and finding a target at last. “Don’t Victoria me. I’m not built for this. I don’t drive across the country while I’m held at gunpoint. I don’t stay in grungy hotels with hourly rates. If you think I should have killed Liam in his sleep, I’m sorry to disappoint you. The asshole chained me up to keep me from running off last night.”
