Page 22 of Brutal Vows

I slip her license back into her wallet and drop it into her purse.

Her phone requires a pin. No notifications display on the lock screen. I unzip my empty pocket and drop it inside before searching her clothes and duffel. When I find nothing else of interest, I fold her clothes and place them in the bag before adding her purse and closing it. After loosening the strap all the way and fitting it over my shoulder like a cross body bag, I erase all signs of my presence and lock the building behind me.

The cop nods when I toss the keys onto his passenger seat through his open window as I saunter past.

As soon as I settle behind the wheel of my car, I pull my phone out of the glove box and check on my captive.

She somehow bunched the blanket between her head and the backrest while keeping it wrapped around her front. A flash of worry stutters through my heart until she opens her eyes, glances around, and leans her head back against her makeshift pillow again. Even with the grainy image, her shivering is obvious.

I sigh and head straight back to the apartment complex but drive a quick loop around the building to ensure I don’t have someone tailing me before parking. After dropping her duffel on the bed in the second room, I stalk down the hallway on silent feet and bang open the bedroom door.

She jerks upright and blinks hazy eyes at me. I flip on the overhead lights and stride into the room as she grimaces at the sudden brightness. Her irises shrink as she glares up at me. I grab the back of the chair and lean over her. She squints and clenches her teeth together without leaning away despite my closeness. Excitement thrums through me as she challenges me instead of cowering.

Even with exhaustion lining her brow, nightmares haunting her eyes, and her lips pale from the cold, she’s stunning.

Unable to resist, I bury my hand in her hair and pull her head back. Her glare intensifies as I ghost my knuckle down herexposed throat. I pull the blanket off her and toss it onto the floor a few feet away before running my hand down her arm and weaving my fingers into hers. My cock stiffens as she growls and tries to tug her hands away despite the cuffs holding her to the chair, but Itskand shake my head in mock disapproval.

“Don’t be so skittish,gattina. I can’t have you hiding anything in your fists, now can I?”

A blush steals over her cheeks. I smirk and run my fingers over her palm as goosebumps rise on her arm before opening the fingers of her other hand and weaving my digits within. The inherent intimacy of the act nearly shreds my control, but I fortify my defenses with memories of my don and his queen fighting for their lives in the warehouse eight months ago.

Loretta shivers as I smooth my fingertips over her sensitive palm.

Her wet clothes cling to her curves, and I know I’ll take it too far if I put my hands anywhere near her body, so I stand and loom over her as I unzip my pocket.

Her beautiful eyes widen at the tent in my pants, but when she looks away, I grab her jaw and force her face back toward me as I sink my hand into my pocket.

She grits her teeth, swallows, and hardens her expression as though she might hide her emotions from me.

I pull her phone out of my pocket and hold it up in front of her.

She rattles off her pin before I open my mouth to ask. I rub my thumb along her jawline and purr.

“There’s my good littlegattina.”

Her eyes glaze over and nostrils flare, but she gives a sharp inhale through her nose and lowers her lashes for a few seconds before lifting them and revealing green orbs with renewed anger. I smirk and glance down at her hard nipples poking through her wet shirt.

Needing a moment to calm down, I turn away and sense her glare on my back as I unlock her phone and remove the security measures in the settings.

I turn and lean back against the wall underneath the camera and cross my arm over my chest as I check her notifications.

She has half a dozen emails pertaining to the medical field and a handful of athletic companies trying to sell her gear and supplements. I pause with my thumb over the screen as I realize she only has two text messages. One from a group chat labeled gym and the other from Livia.

I click on Livia’s and stare at the message for a moment, uncertain what to make of it.

Samantha called me. I told her you came home a wreck. Don’t go to work tomorrow.

I scroll through the message thread with growing discomfort. The cold, impersonal tone in each of Livia’s responses condenses into a rock in my stomach, and I can’t help the suspicion forming in my mind.

Between the scars on Loretta’s stomach, her willingness to pretend to be Julieta despite my fury, and her sister’s lack of concern over her disappearance, Loretta seems more of a pawn than a player.

An overwhelming urge to protect her rises in me. I blink and mentally shove the reaction away, but I scowl in annoyance when my heart does a one-eighty and lumps her in with my family.

It’s too soon. She hasn’t earned my trust. There are still a million ways she could try to hurt the people I love.

But her throaty moans and visceral reactions when I touched her replay in my mind and echo in my soul.

Loretta Giordano is dangerous. I must reveal her secrets as quickly as possible.

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