Page 120 of When She Loves
I walk over to where the man is lying on the ground. The guy’s pulse is still there, but weak. He’s bleeding out.
Nero kneels beside me. “Rafe, what were the Ferraros doing here?”
“I called them. Asked them to help.”
“Why would you do that? I had enough men.”
I open my mouth and then shut it. There’s no good answer. I panicked and made a mistake. A big one. If Michael dies, there will be a war.
I stand up and take a step backward. Everything is falling apart. How is it possible that in less than an hour, I’ve lost control over everything? We didn’t even need Ferraro’s men. Nero had it covered. Why did I think it was a good idea to involve them in this?
No, I wasn’t thinking at all. I was desperate to save Cleo.
I didn’t even consider the potential consequences of my rash decision. I let my emotions take control of me.
Bile rises up my throat. Nero was right after all. She did manage to get under my skin.
She is my living, breathing weakness.
Tires screeching outside. Everyone pulls out their guns, but it’s just Doc. He runs through the entrance of the warehouse, his medical bag in hand.
“Over here,” Nero shouts.
While the doc’s checking Michael out, I walk back to Cleo. She’s still on the ground, watching everything with wide tear-stained eyes, but she’s visibly calmer. I offer her a hand to help her up, but there’s this angry buzz beneath my skin.
“Tell me what happened. Start at the beginning.”
She wraps her arms around herself. “I got a text from Vale saying Gemma was hurt and that she’d pick me up from work.”
Giorgio clears his throat. “I took a look at her phone. Garzolo used Valentina’s old US phone.”
I want to laugh. So fucking obvious. Garzolo didn’t have to try very hard at all. He’d waited for the best opportunity, and it presented itself when Cleo’s sisters came to town.
How could she have fallen for it?
My gaze narrows on her. Fury throbs through my body, heating me from the inside out. “I told you to never go anywhere without your guards.”
She winces. “I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you ask Sandro about it?”
“I didn’t think—”
My fists clench. “That’s right, you never fucking think.”
She jerks like she’d been slapped. God, I want to slap her. I want to shake her for being so goddamn reckless. She bridges the distance between us, tries to reach for me, but I turn away.
Hurt flashes across her face. “Rafe?”
The heartbreak in her voice pierces through me. This can’t go on. I am a don first and foremost, and I cannot be with a woman like her.
A hurricane.
I was a fool to think I could tame a hurricane. A fool to let myself get attached to her. This is why there was never supposed to be anything but lust between us. There’s too much at stake.
“Get her out of here,” I say to Giorgio. “Take her to her sisters.”
Giorgio nods, but Cleo shakes her head. “No. I want to go home with you,” she pleads.
