CHAPTER XIX

Dante’s POV

She slipped past me before I could close the door. I cursed as she ran to the trees like someone’s after her. Caleb and the other guards moved to intercept her but I signaled to them to back off. This is between me and my wife.

“Caterina!”

She was fast but I was much faster and in seconds I closed the distance between us. The scent of her coconut shampoo entered my nostrils and the familiar stirring I get whenever I was near her awoken. She sensed this and made a wild turn. She almost tripped over a large root but she was able to brace herself against a tree trunk. Her eyes were wild. Unfocused.

“You killed her!”

A muscle in my jaw twitched but I maintained a blank expression. I didn’t want to spook her more than she was now. I was used to having those words thrown at my face but I never killed a woman in my life. Unless that woman got in my way, it didn’t matter if they had a pussy or a dick between their legs. I would put a bullet through their heads.

“Who?” I asked her calmly.

“My mother! You killed my mother.”

“I didn’t kill your mother. What makes you think that?”

“I saw it. You were there!”

This was what I was afraid of happening. The first night I brought her here, I knew there was something wrong with her. Doctor Abagnale had warned me and I tried my damndest to keep her out of danger and the killing but when I saw that piece of sh*t had his hands on her, I only saw red. I never wanted to kill anyone more than that Costa f*cker. I didn’t stop to think and the moment the fog of my rage lifted, she was already covered with his vile blood. It’s been killing me that she’s having nightmares about that guy. He didn’t deserve a single thought from Caterina.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Come on, let’s get back inside the house before you freeze to death.”

“Why did you really bring me here, Dante?”

Her voice broke and the sound clawed away at my insides. I ignored it as I had countless times before whenever guilt tried to creep into my defenses. All I could think about now was how beautiful she looked despite the manic in her eyes. Wearing only a nightgown, she appeared like an angel under the moonlight. I couldn’t help but gaze at her up and down. My eyebrows scrunched up together as I focused on the cuts covering her thighs, an ugly souvenir she got from the mad dash she did through the rough tree branches. Her small body began to tremble. I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around her and protect her from everything.

“Don’t come any closer, I swear to God.” She backed away and went around the tree. “You killed her.”

Her baseless accusations were starting to piss me off.

“Let’s go back inside and we’ll talk.”

“Like hell! I’m getting out of here.”

She made the mistake of taking her eyes off of me. Once she glanced away to look for an exit, I took a quick grab of her arm and pulled her to my chest.

“Let me go, you killer! Let me go!”

She squirmed in my arms, scratching weakly at anything she could get her hands on. I tried restraining her, at the same time making sure I wasn’t squishing her. But she was like a wild cat possessed. At this rate, she could end up hurting herself more.

“Stop.”

She flinched at the tone of my voice.

F*ck. This is just what I needed. For her to be more scared of me.

I loosened my hold on her just a little and as best as I could, softened my voice. “Why don’t you tell me what you saw?”

When she realized all her efforts were futile, she went limp, her chest heaving as her frantic breathing filled the silence of the forest.

“You were behind her and then she dropped to the floor. I knew she was dead because— because she had the same eyes as James—” My forehead knotted in confusion then it came to me that she was talking about that f*cker. My arms tightened around her. Her next words came out in a hushed whisper.

“—and then you told me that’s what I get for running away.”

“Where was this?”

“Back at the house. I—”

A sudden realization flashed in her eyes followed by uncertainty. She tilted her head up to me, turmoil twisting her small face.

“Dante, what’s happening to me?”

A tear rolled down her cheek and I began to question why I was doing this again.

I shook my head. This is for her own good. The time would come when she would show up. I’d just have to be patient.

“Shhh, I’ll take care of it.”

I carried her back to the house. She laid still in my arms, staring into nothingness. She was back in that state again. I could see the questions forming in Caleb’s young eyes but he didn’t dare ask. He knew better than to get involved in my business with Caterina.

I placed her gently on the bed. Fortunately, she had already fallen asleep. I took out the first aid kit and tended to the cuts and bites peppered along the smooth skin of her legs. The urge to run my hand up the length of her exposed skin and rain down kisses all over it boiled my skin hot but then, I remembered how she cried on our wedding night and the impulse shrunk back down. No matter how irresistible she looked right now, I wanted her to be willing and conscious when I first touched her.

I wanted to see the look on her face when I brought her to the brink of pleasure.

My grip tightened on the sheets. Taking a deep breath to filter out my thoughts, I tucked her in under the comforter. I studied her face for a while. She looked serene but then her face twitched and contorted as though she was being tortured in her sleep. My hands formed into fists and that wave of rage deep inside me started to take over again.

We didn’t get anything from the Russian bastard. Before I could get into the enjoyable part of torturing the living f*ck out of him, he swallowed a pill from under his tongue and convulsed seconds after. He chose to die tied on a f*cking plastic chair than divulge his boss’ name. I knew for damn sure that he couldn’t be part of Sokolov’s men. He didn’t tolerate those kinds of behavior plus, he didn’t want to get in the middle of a war. What was concerning was that it was both Italian and Russian that attacked her. I had never heard of the two working together.

I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing that the reason Caterina got in that shi*tty club in the first place was walking free without a care in the world.

There’s one thing I knew for sure.

I will be paid with blood.