Page 96 of Salvatore

She stares at me, seeming unconvinced.

I fucking hate her vulnerability. It claws at my chest, the growing ache maddening.

Fuck it.

“Here.” I reach for the back of my waistband and grab my gun. “Take this.” I hold the weapon out to her.

Her face slackens as she stares at it.

“Have you used a gun before?”

She keeps staring. Barely blinking. “Yes.” Finally, her gaze returns to mine. Without her heels, she’s more than a few inches shorter than me and has to look upward to meet my eyes, those lush lips poised in my direction. “But only at a shooting range. Never out of necessity.”

I flick a finger over the catch at the top of the weapon. “Safety on.” Then do it again. “Safety off.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t?—”

I grab her wrist and shove the gun into her palm. “You won’t need to use it. It’s only to help you sleep at night.”

“But what if Idouse it?” She curls cautious fingers around the hilt. “What if I get trigger happy and go on a rampage because I can’t figure out who to trust?”

Then Lorenzo will have my head and my brothers will throw down celebratory shots as my casket is lowered into the ground. “I’ll clean up the mess. Just try not to get Catarina killed. She makes the best cannoli.” I step back, raking my gaze over her one final time, committing her injuries to memory, and her curves, too. “I’ll return when I can.”

“Wait.” She dumps the gun on the bed, then rushes after me. “What sort of timeline am I looking at? How long will I stay here? What’s the plan?”

I continue into the hall. “You’ll stay until I come back. That’s all I know for now.”

“Which is how long?” she raises her voice.

I shrug.

“Come on, Sally. You’ve gotta give me more than that.”

I pause, battling a smirk. “I’m sure I’ve told you that taunting me doesn’t achieve the result you want.”

Her padded footsteps carry forward. “You don’t like being called Sally?” She maneuvers around me and meets my gaze.

She’s stalling, and I get it. She doesn’t want to be left here, and I’m equally opposed to leaving her. But fucking Lorenzo over after we made a deal is a line I won’t cross.

Not yet, at least.

“You can call me Sally all you like.” I lean close, making her stiffen with my proximity. “Just know that every time you do, all I’ll be thinking about is how much I want to fuck that insulting taunt from your vocabulary.”

21

IVY

Shock—andmaybe a little unwanted lust—renders me speechless.

Given what I’ve recently endured I didn’t expect giddy butterflies to be in my future anytime soon, yet here I stand, my stomach filled with flapping wings and nervous energy as I struggle to respond.

But all too soon he’s stepping away. “You should get some rest.”

My whirling gut is now accompanied by a panicked pulse.

“Text me once Catarina gets you a cell. She has my number.” He opens the front door without a backward glance and leaves.

I remain motionless, caught up in the urge to run after him and the self-preserving need to reclaim even a shred of my independence.

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