Page 75 of Under His Watch

I could take hours and hours, carving out pieces of him, but I doubted I had the stamina to last that long. This brutal wave of intense malice would burn out, and I would be left weaker and spent.

Until that moment, I doled out my fury on this soldier. Looking at him bleeding out and begging for mercy, I saw the rapists in him. My mind flashed back to the vision of his hand on Tessa’s arm. Trapping her. Holding her against her will. Intending to drag her off and do something she didn’t want.

I had yet to learn what happened in the parking lot. Carlos and the other soldier in the car would tell us more. Tess could too.

I didn’twantto know what this fuck planned to do with my woman. The very notion of him trying to exert power over her and hurt her in any fashion was a crime enough.

“Just kill me,” the Giovanni begged. “You sadistic freak. Just fucking kill me.”

I stalked back away from him, not rising to the bait. Killing him too soon would cheapen this effect. Ending his life would be surrendering and giving in too easily.

“You deserve every second of pain.”

The man groaned as I punched his bloody face.

“You earned each moment of agony.”

He fell to his busted kneecap that I sliced at then hit with a hammer.

The man was a bloody pulp, but he was still alive. How he hadn’t passed out yet was behind my understanding, but I didn’t care one way or another.

He closed his eyes, dragging in labored breaths. Tears streaked down his cheeks, and I relished the triumph of reducing this man to a shred of who he once was.

He wasn’t strong and powerful. He wasn’t complete and fit to hurt Tessa ever again. He was losing valuable parts of his body that would render him a sack of flesh and bones—not a man.

And only with that knowledge did I feel ready to kill him.

A swift stab of my knife into his heart ended him. My soul felt lighter and his life ended, but inside my mind, a turmoil of anger lingered.

Without a look back, I trudged away from the macabre mess. The men stationed here would handle it. I couldn’t look at any one of them, still locked in this wild energy that killing him had unleashed.

I’d tortured him. Killed him. And yet, I was on edge. That was how fierce my fury was, how hot my anger coursed through me.

“Let me drive,” a man said outside the warehouse.

“No.” Another shook his head at me. “Change first, Romeo.”

These men were under my orders. They didn’t tell me what to do. But this was a brotherhood, too. All I could do, numb under this pressure to inflict pain, was nod and follow along.

The second man guided me to the all-steel room where I stripped and cleaned the blood off me. After, still as numb and on autopilot with this madness gathering in me, I dressed and got into the car.

They didn’t ask where to go. No one would be stupid enough to inquire how I was feeling and what I might need. My head wasn’t on right. My soul felt freer for killing that man, but in my heart, I knew I needed to see Tess, to feel her goodness and know that she was pure and right. A shining beacon of positive energy. To be the Yin to my Yang and let me get back to a balance.

My phone rang and buzzed on the drive, but nothing could make me answer. A nonchalant glance at the screen showed texts and calls from my father. From Franco. Even from Nina. But the only one that I locked in on was the text from Tessa.

I’m here for you.

She would be. And I could bank on that. I could depend on that soothing message and count on her presence to calm me down.

I didn’t rush inside the penthouse, but I allowed no detours or distractions as I rode the elevator straight to our floor.

Ourfloor. Into this place that we were trying to fit into asourhouse.

Tessa and I belonged together, as a unit. Partners. And I prayed that she would be willing to accept me at my darkest.

In our room, she waited for me. In nothing but a robe, her hair still damp from a shower, she lay on the bed. She might have been close to dozing off, but she jumped up as soon as I opened the door.

“Romeo.” She stood, cautious about rushing toward me, and she was wise to stall.

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