Page 51 of His Prize

“Ash!”

“Bonnie, just listen to me!”

I heard my bodyguard charge into the room. “Yes, Miss Moretti?”

My laughter stopped abruptly, and I glared at Gio. “Get this man the fuck out of my hotel suite.”

Ash nodded. “Of course, ma’am.”

Gio growled. “This offer isn’t going to stick around for long. Either sign the marriage contract and let me merge our families, or Israel is going to rot. And all because of you!”

I shook my head. “I guess old dogs really can’t learn new tricks, can they?”

“I can get someone else to take the fall for that man’s murder. We can merge our families and become the most powerful force in this damn city, Bonnie. Just listen to me!”

Ash gripped Gio’s arm. “Come with me.”

I watched Gio struggle against the woman as my head fell off to the side.

“Bonnie, have some sense. You have a chance to save the man you love! I heard you admit it. I heard him tell you. Do what’s right for him, for once! Show him you love him!”

I nodded. “I am, Gio. That’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Ash dragged the pathetic excuse for a man into the elevator while I listened to him curse and scream and rant. If that man thought I’d really marry him under some fake guise of saving Israel, he had another thing coming. I stared at him as he threw down with Ash. The second they got into the elevator, he tried to throw a punch. And I watched how quickly my bodyguard put him down. She grabbed his fist and turned, taking the man to his knees. Then, with a pop, her knee connected with his nose.

And blood flowed everywhere.

“Ah, shit! You stupid bitch!” Gio roared.

Ash looked over at me, and I smiled. “Just toss him to the curb. Then, alert the lobby that this man isn’t allowed back up here. Ever.”

My bodyguard nodded. “Anything else?”

Gio grunted. “I’ll throw you out of this suite. I still own this suite for another two weeks! I’ll have you thrown out onto the street!”

I blinked. “Make sure the front desk changes the reservation from Gio’s name to mine. I’ll pay whatever is necessary to make the change.”

Ash nodded. “Of course, ma’am.”

When the elevator doors finally closed on them, I turned back toward the windows. I walked over and gazed out upon Chicago, wondering where Israel was right now. Was he still in the back of that cop car? Was he currently being processed? Would he be intercepted by someone and taken somewhere else?

He’s in this mess because of me.

Had it not been for me, Israel would’ve never gone down this path. Had it not been for my lack of a backbone, he would’ve never found himself in such a disgusting point in his life. Had it not been for me and my unlucky presence, Israel might have gone on to live a perfectly wonderful life with someone else that didn't bring him such heartache and craziness.

He wouldn't have done any of these things if he didn’t want to.

I drew in a deep breath and let the thought calm my mind. It was true. I didn’t make Israel do anything. No one made Israel do anything. He did what he did because he wanted to, and nothing else. He was the commander of his life, and he answered to no one but himself. The past few months had taught me that. So, logically, my brain understood that to blame myself was nothing but a fruitless venture.

It didn’t stop me from trying, though.

I clasped my hands behind my back and stared out toward the horizon. And while I stood there, I thought about the past few months. When I had first laid eyes on Israel. How nervous I was when he had first laid eyes on me. How much I questioned the idea of killing him when we finally got back to his place on our wedding night. I remembered back to the bodyguards who broke in. The three that almost killed us. I thought about that interrogation room and how Israel figured out my first name. And how, despite everything that had been taught to him, he spared my life.

He made those choices, Bonnie. You didn’t make them for him.

Still, had I not come into his life in the first place, he would’ve never found himself in handcuffs.

“Quite a leap,” I murmured.

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