“Don’t you ever say anything like that again. Diamond is beautiful. She’s more than beautiful; she’s a fucking goddess. I was trying to be polite, Don Calabrezi. I truly was. But now that’s over. Now you will never see your daughter again unless and until she says she wants to see you.” I step toward him, and he reaches for his piece. I grip his wrist and squeeze. He’s shaking under my grip. Good. “And if you hurt her with so much as a dirty look, an errant word, a single ounce of disapproval, I’ll gut you. I don’t care if you’re her father. I wouldn’t care if you were king of the fucking world. No one talks about my woman like that.” I shove him against the wall again.
I have half a mind to bash his brains in, splatter them all over the goddamn marble floor. I don’t. Malone already has his gun trained on the old don.
I take a deep, calming breath. “Leave. You’re not welcome here. If you try to take her from me, I’ll burn you down. No mercy. No survivors.” I jerk my chin at the soldier on the door. He looks like he just shit himself, but he yanks the door open.
“Great visit.” Malone smirks and waves his gun toward the door.
Don Calabrezi is spitting mad, his hand on his swelling jaw and the other still flirting with the gun under his jacket. “This won’t stand.”
“Neither will you if you don’t get the fuck out of here.” I step toward him.
He bolts to the door, then hurries outside.
Malone slams the door behind him, then turns to look at me with a shaky grin. “Well, fuck a duck.”
“Indeed.” I strip off my coat and head to the stairs. I may have just started a war, but Diamond is priceless to me. I’ll do what I must to keep her. And right now, I need to make her mine. All of her. After tonight, there’ll be no question about who she belongs to.
Mine, all fucking mine.
16
Diamond
“Diamond!” Devlin calls. I can already hear him coming down the hallway like a freight train. I open the door, the lock popping on its own. I rush to him and jump into his arms. He catches me easily. He doesn’t seem hurt or to even have a scratch on him. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life. The thought of losing him was more terrifying than the night I’d made my escape from my father’s house.
“You’re okay.” I pepper kisses on his face, needing to reassure myself as I cling to him.
“I hate that you doubted me.” He carries me back into the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him.
“I’m sorry.” Guilt fills me. I shouldn’t doubt him. He’s never lied to me or hurt me in any way. The only thing he’s done is care for me. For all of my life my father was the be all, end all. What he said always went. I never questioned him. To go against him meant punishment or death.
“Don’t be sorry. It will take some time to wash away the lies your father has filled your beautiful head with.” He sets me down on the bed. I know he’s right. The world is so much bigger than I realized. It felt so small when I was trapped behind the walls of his estate. “I’ll prove it to you.”
“Devlin.” I grab his shirt and tug, wanting him on the bed with me. He comes willingly. His mouth meets mine as I lie back. I pull at his shirt, needing it off of him. I don’t want anything between us. I have no clue what tomorrow might bring, but I do know I want Devlin more than my next breath. I need to feel him inside of me. To be connected to him in every way.
“Diamond.” He groans against my mouth as he pulls back from me.
“What?” I sit up. “You don’t want to…” I lick my lips. It’s silly that I’m getting flustered talking about sex after all that we’ve done, but it’s still new to me. To actually talk about it with someone feels awkward. No one ever had the birds and the bees talk with me. I guess my dad thought there was no need based on the way I look. Whatever I’ve learned about sex is from books and watching TV.
“I always want you, but first we need to handle a few things.” He pulls out his phone. I watch him as he clicks away at it. I worry what ‘handle a few things might mean.
“What happened? He said you could keep me?” Could it be that easy? That doesn’t sound like my father at all. I tried to listen to what was going on, sure that I would hear gunfire. But I hadn't heard anything until Devlin was coming back up the stairs to me.