Page 141 of Ruined By Blood
"I will." I press my lips to her forehead. "Lock the door behind me. Call Damiano if anything feels wrong."
She nods, then tilts her head up to meet my eyes. "I mean it, Enzo. Be careful. I just found what home feels like. I'm not ready to lose it."
Home. After everything she's been through, she's found home with me. Me—a man with blood-stained hands and a soul scarred by violence.
"Piccola," I whisper, wrapping my arms around her, pulling her against my chest. "Before you, I was just surviving. Going through motions, doing my duty. You gave me something to live for."
I feel her breath catch, her fingers curling into my shirt.
"I failed to protect my sister once," I continue, voice rough with emotion I once would have considered weakness. "I thought keeping you safe was about redemption. Itwasn't. It was about finding the missing piece of myself I didn't know was gone."
Her eyes shine with unshed tears as she looks up at me. "I love you, Enzo Feretti," she says, the words fierce and certain. "Not because you saved me. Because you showed me I was strong enough to save myself."
I take her face in my hands, memorizing every detail—the slight flush on her cheeks, the determined set of her jaw, the trust in her eyes that I've done nothing to deserve and everything to earn.
"Ti amo, Sienna," I tell her, the Italian flowing naturally when emotion overwhelms me. "With everything I am. With everything I have. With everything I'll ever be."
The kiss that follows burns through me like wildfire, consuming every doubt, every fear. Her mouth opens under mine, hungry and demanding. I pour everything I can't say into that kiss—my promise to return, my vow to protect what we've built, my certainty that she is the only thing in this world that matters.
When we finally break apart, both breathing heavily, I rest my forehead against hers.
"I'll be back soon," I promise.
"You better be," she says, a hint of steel beneath the softness. "I'll be waiting. On our bed."
I grin at the promise in her words. "On our bed, huh? Making it hard for a man to leave."
"That's the idea," she says, fingers trailing down my chest. "Give you something to hurry back for."
My body tightens with want, and I grab her wrist, pressing my lips to her pulse point. "Keep looking at me like that, and Noah's problems will have to wait."
She pushes at my chest playfully. "Go. Handle whatevermess Noah's created. The faster you go, the faster you return."
With one last lingering look, I force myself to turn and walk out. I wait in the hallway until I hear the deadbolt slide into place, then head for the elevator.
By the time I reach the garage, my mind has shifted fully to the problem at hand. Noah doesn't make mistakes. He doesn't break protocol. And he sure as fuck doesn't bring random women to his apartment, no matter how much danger they might be in.
What new hell have we stumbled into now?
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46.NOAH
Iwatch from the shadows across the street as Evelyn pulls into her building's parking garage. My bike's engine ticks as it cools beside me, the night air carrying the scent of imminent rain. This is my routine.
Follow her home, make sure she gets inside safely, then leave. Simple. Necessary.
Her building sits like a gleaming fortress against the Manhattan skyline, all glass and steel with security that's decent but not impenetrable. My feet carry me to my usual observation point automatically.
The lobby comes into view through the large windows facing the street. Something cold slithers down my spine.
George isn't at his post.
George, the night doorman, who sits at the security desk from 8 p.m to 4 a.m every night except Sundays, who sneaks cigarette breaks at 11:30 and 2:15 he's gone.
My hand instinctively moves to the gun holstered at my back as I pull deeper into the shadows.
