I can’t breathe. Can’t think.
And the harder I try to get to the exit, the less I’m able to move.
Before I can make it, my muscles cave, and I collapse underneath my own weight somewhere in the hallway.
Too soon … it’s too soon to die.
Suddenly, two hands whisk me up by my shoulders and drag me out into the open air. My lungs open again, and I gulp in that sweet, clean air as my eyes flutter open.
Everything hurts, but I need to know who’s there, so I lean up on my elbows.
If it’s my mom or my dad … or the people who came to take me away.
But in front of me, facing the house, stands a man I don’t recognize.
A man with a two-part tattoo of an angel and a demon on his muscular back.
A man who I will always remember …
Marcello.
His voice calls my name. “Harper!”
Harper
“Harper!”
The husky, commanding voice pulls me back from the nether and into the now. My lungs try to open, but water is in the way. I cough and heave until all of it is expelled. My eyes burst open to the sound of his voice. His glassy, tearstained eyes bore into mine as I lie underneath him, his arms wrapped around my body.
“You’re alive …”
He pulls me close into his warm embrace, my head resting against his muscular chest. His heart beats faster and faster, the sound a huge relief. I never thought I’d see him again … let alone hear his voice again.
My body is icy cold from the water, and I shiver against him. But I am here … I am breathing … I made it. Thanks to Marcello.
“You saved me,” I murmur.
“I would give my life if it meant you’d survive,” he replies, and he grabs my chin and presses his lips onto mine. His kiss is deep and all-consuming, overpowering any sense of reason. And at the moment, it feels as though time itself ceases to exist.
When our lips unlock, I know I made the right decision by defying Frank. Even if it meant I had to do something no girl should ever have to do. Something unsettling churns in my stomach, but I push it away.
I look up into Marcello’s concerned eyes that say more than words ever could. “I thought I’d lost you,” he says.
I shake my head as I sniff. “I had no choice.”
He shushes me and pulls me even closer. “I know, kitten, I know. You don’t have to explain yourself.”
“I couldn’t let him do that to me,” I say. “To us. To … Igor.” I swallow hard, knowing my real father is now dead thanks to the father who stole me away from him to replace his own dead daughter. What kind of cruel man would do that to another?
Frank deserved what he had coming for him. That man never was nor ever will be a real father to me. But I still need to know what happened to him … if he’s dead.
“What happened to …?”
“Frank?” he fills in, and he looks away. “When I saw the car disappear into the water, I immediately jumped in after. I only managed to pull you out, luckily. But … I wasn’t able to find him in the wreckage.”
“So he’s … dead?”
What if I lost not just one dad but two in a single day?
Could I forgive myself for being the one who caused his death?
“I do not know. My men are on it,” Marcello explains. “It isn’t something you should concern yourself with.” He caresses my cheek and tucks my wet hair behind my ear even though I’m still completely soaked. I appreciate the sweet gesture. “You’re far too cold and wet. And you’ve been through so much. What were you even thinking following me here?”
My lips part, but I don’t know what to tell him. A part of me wants to lie, but another can’t bear to do that to him. So I say, “I don’t know.”
“We’ll talk about this later,” he says, lowering his eyes at me. It’s the same look he gave me every time he felt the need to punish me with a firm hand, and the thought alone makes me purr with delight.
A very gentle smile follows. “But first, let’s get you to safety.”
We don’t go to his home. Instead, we go to a safe house somewhere below the city. It’s not a luxurious palace like his house, but the rooms are still big and filled with expensive furniture. It looks like he was planning on spending a lot of time here, and I’m starting to wonder if that time is now.
Claudio and Mario are nowhere to be seen, and I wonder if they stayed behind to clean up that bloody massacre or if they’ve gone back to Marcello’s home to secure the place. Not that I care. I’m more worried about the fact I’m all alone in this safe house with Marcello.