Page 61 of Her Cruel Bodyguard

If I had my doubts before, it was because he hadn’t said anything. Fabio is not the kind of person to make a promise and falter or go back on it. I know he is here, and he is mine, as I have always wanted, for the rest of my life.

I look at him, and he gives me a small, reassuring smile.

He is so handsome in his charcoal suit, and every time I see him makes my heartbeat falter. I will never get used to knowing he is mine. I will never get used to being able to hold him like this in public without him pulling away. I will never get used to how fiercely he loves and adores me.

Seeking his affection felt like digging up a well of water in the desert. For the longest time, I was almost dying of thirst, and every droplet was difficult and far apart. But then, just when I had surrendered, the first water sprang.

It is a river now.

It overflows.

He is overflowing with affection and endearment, and sometimes, I find myself confused as if the past years of rejection and him ignoring me never happened. It’s like we jumped from the kiss on my eighteenth birthday to now.

I place my hand on his cheek, the one with my engagement ring on it, and as natural as it feels, it distracts me briefly before I snap out of it and lean forward to kiss him. I try to stand on my tip toes because the heels I have been forced to wear by Vittoria don’t seem to lift me enough to kiss him as easily as I want to.

Fabio twists the hand interlocked with his to my back and pulls me against his body, deepening the kiss. He makes a throaty sound, and I feel the shift of his erection on my stomach.

I like how easily aroused he gets for me.

“We are here, too,” Nina gruffs behind us, and I chuckle into the kiss, slowing it down.

“Right,” I feel my cheeks heat up as I tilt to her and Lev’s daunting eyes.

Fabio clears his throat, andI turn tohim,pullingmyself till my head is on his chest and my arms are around his waist. I will suck him dry of all the attention he never gave me all those years. He has no idea what he has gotten himself into, but he is starting to get it andis managing it quitewell.

“They are here,” Nina announces as the metal door opens. Four wardens in two shades of blue uniforms file in before Salvatore, in his orange prison uniform, comes in with his hands and feet shackled together.

I step away from Fabio’s embrace to stare at my brother. My big brother and first best friend. He meets my eyes with a glower that tells me if given the opportunity, he would pounce on me and rip me apart.

Salvatore looks every bit like the hardened criminal that he is. But seeing him here and like this breaks me. Fabio might have noticed because he slips his arm around my waist and hugs me to his side as they nudge Salvatore to sit on the small chair that is behind a large square table.

Salvatore shifts his eyes from me to Nina, and he grits.

The wardens step to the walls, spread out, and pretend to be invisible so we can have our conversation.

I don’t know why Nina is here, but the reason I decided to come was to see if there’s something, anything, left in his eyes. Something that is evidently absent. Maybe some kind of remorse. Instead, he is filled with anger and the need for revenge, as if it was anyone’s fault but his own that he got locked up.

“Whores,” he grinds his teeth, and I drop my eyes to stare at my shoes. “I will kill you both,” he declares and leans back in his seat, a little too confident for someone who is in prison.

“Salvatore, we didn’t come here for that,” I take a step closer. “And you deserve this,” I say, and I wonder why I want him to feel remorse and accept that the punishment fits the crime. It’s like his acceptance will make me feel less guilty.

“Why would I care what brought you here?” He slits his eyes at Nina. “Feeling untouchable, whore?” He leans on the table and slams his shackled hands on it, making me jump. “Keep living your lives until the day I take them from you both,” he flips his gaze from Nina back to me. “I hate you,” he hisses at me, his face possessed by hatred. “I can still pull my weight from in here.”

I nod and smoothen my hands on the dress I’m wearing, then straighten my shoulders. There is no need to search for remorse in his eyes. There is no need for me to feel guilty about what he has done. If he had succeeded in his endeavors, my father would have been dead. Vittoria would have been dead, and I would be married off to some lunatic for his powerplay.

He thinks of no one but himself.

“Eat what they give you, and drink as much water as you get to stay healthy,” I take a step back. “I will write to you if you want,” I ignore how everyone is staring at me like I have lost my mind. I am not them. I can’t go from loving him to wanting him dead. I have never wanted anyone dead in my entire life.

“I don’t give a fuck about anything you could write me about. You are dead meat to me. Don’t think I can’t kill you while inside this place,” Salvatore slams the table again, but this time, I don’t give him the satisfaction of flinching. “And you, whore, you are only alive because you are carrying my baby,” he smirks. “Once that is out, consider yourself dead.”

“Stupid, naive Salvatore,” Nina snorts, reaching for Lev’s hand and placing it on her baby bump. Lev stiffens as she smiles at him. “Bold of you to think that this baby belongs to you,” she turns her eyes back on Salvatore and tuts, not a single flicker of care in the world that she is openly declaring that she cheated on him.

Salvatore growls, slamming the table repeatedly. He stands and charges toward us, but the wardens are quick to step in, one giving him a solid punch in the stomach that throws him back on the chair.

“I will kill you, Russian whore,” Salvatore keeps fighting as best as he can to get the wardens off him.

“Salvatore, stop it,” I shriek. “Stop!” I can’t say how I close the distance or why I slap him, but my hand lands hard across his face, and he goes cold still. I break, but I don’t move away as he stares at me in shock, his dark eyes swelling with tears. “Please, stop,” I try to reach out to stroke his cheeks, but he flips his face away from me.

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