Page 206 of Saving Her

“I bet you don’t.” I tangle my hands in his shirt.

What I want is more of this. The clear-headedness that only comes when we’re body to body. Chest to chest. Everything else fades when he’s close. The guilt. The pain. The sorrow. He wouldn’t have a clue of my desperation for more.

He chuckles. “Believe me. I know exactly what you want, and it’s fucking hard to walk away.”

He deepens the kiss, the vibrating rumble in his chest sinking into me.

I cling to him. His fingers. His shirt.

When we’re like this the rest of the world doesn’t matter.

There’s no looming threat. No potential danger.

There’s only me and him. Only protection and safety.

“We’ll finish this another day.” He diverts his mouth to my jaw. My neck.

I whimper as his lips brush the sensitive column of my throat. So soft. So sweet.

Then all too soon, he steps back.

That expression of pain still wrinkles his forehead. The swelling on his cheek has darkened.

I sweep my fingers along the damage and hold his gaze to gauge his reaction. “Does your head hurt as much as it did in Greece?”

“It’s just a headache. I’ll get over it.”

“Would you tell me if it was more?”

He smirks. “Would you overreact and panic?”

Probably.

Definitely.

He scoffs out another chuckle. “I promise I’ll tell you if there’s something to worry about.”

I nod, inching in to steal one last kiss. One last taste of clarity. I don’t want to let him go. I need a few more strengthening seconds.

“It’s okay, shorty. I’m not going far. You call and I’ll come running.”

“I’ll call and you’ll come stumbling.”

“Either way, I’ll still be there.” He sweeps his mouth over mine. Once. Twice. “I’ll find Robert and figure out what happened with Abi.”

The reminder siphons my warmth. “And what if your brother—”

“Forget my brother.” This time there’s a warning in his tone. “Nothing is going to come between us. Not while I’m still breathing.”

He makes for the door, each step of distance filling me with isolation. The loneliness only increases when he walks from view. There’s the rattle of a pill bottle, muttered conversation in the distance, then the click of a closing door from another room.

I’m left an outsider, forced to follow on silent footsteps to stop outside the now closed office as the meeting continues without me.

I rest against the wall and listen to my brother bark threats at Luca. One argument follows the next, strategy seeming to come in second place to the aggression born from my existence.

Luca fights for me. For my sisters. He makes demands about their protection, offers to pay for their security, and finally convinces Cole to contact Benji after the meeting to obtain Nina and Lilly’s whereabouts.

It doesn’t seem enough though.

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