Page 29 of Saving Her

I hold in a scoff as I remain against her, so close I can hear the gentle rasp of her breath.

She’s a contradiction—her body soft yet ready to strike, her dark eyes gentle even though trepidation lingers beneath.

“Please, Luca, it was a mistake.” She grasps the top of the device, her fragile hand clasped over mine. “He’ll kill me if he finds out. He’ll probably kill me when he realizes it’s missing from his stash. Let me take it so I can put it back.”

I grin, the curve of my lips far from friendly. “But you’re a gift, remember? There’s no going back.”

She should be fully aware there’s no returning to Luther unless something else is at play.

“Tell me what’s going on.” I shove the device in my back pocket, not allowing her an inch of freedom. “Now, Penny.”

A ragged exhale shudders from her lips. “You don’t understand.” She implores me with her frantic tone. “He’ll kill me.”

“He’s not going to touch you.”

“Yes, he will. And he’ll hurt my friends, too. My sisters. You can’t save me.”

“Bullshit.” I get in her face, eye to eye, almost nose to nose, making sure she’s got a front row view to my sincerity. “Iwillsave you.”

There’s no doubt in my mind. She won’t leave this island a slave. Not while there’s still air in my lungs.

Her gaze hardens, the deep brown turning punishingly dark. “And what about the little fox you’ve beaten? Will you save her, too?”

She tilts her chin, showing defiance.Spite.

She thinks she knows me, thinks she’s got me all figured out.

“The beaten little fox isn’t a prisoner.” I back off, giving her animosity room to breathe. “She’s on our side.Yourside.”

“Is that why you beat her?”

“I didn’t,” I grate. “Robert is responsible for hurting her, but he paid for that mistake with his life.”

Her eyes flare.

For a second, the slightest glimmer of hope brightens her features, increasing her beauty, before it’s quickly suffocated by suspicion.

“I don’t believe you.” She shuffles out from between me and the door. “Robert isn’t dead.”

“I think the bullet that took his life would disagree.”

She blinks and blinks, her disbelief lingering. “She killed him?”

“No, Luther did.”

“I don’t understand.” She screws up her nose. “Luther would never—”

“He had no choice. That asshole’s death is the only reason Cole is still civil with his father. It’s the price he had to pay for what his goon did to Anissa.”

“Anissa?”

Fucking hell, I don’t have the patience or the time for this. “The little fox,” I snap. “Nobody hurts one of ours and gets away with it.”

“Oh.” Her mouth forms a pouty circle. “I…”

“What?”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know… I… I want to trust you. Really, I do.” She raises her focus to mine. “I’m just not sure how.”

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