Page 29 of Claiming His Mafia Princess

I holster my gun.

“Were there more of them?” I ask her as I slowly make my way down the slope.

“Dalila, were there more men?”

She looks up at me, her lips tinged blue from the cold and her hands shaking as they grip against the branches of a small tree. She shakes her head.

She looks terrified, bewildered, like a small animal trapped in a hunter’s snare.

I reach her and pull her into my arms, digging my heels into the dirt to grip.

I hold her against my chest and kiss her face.

“It’s ok, baby girl. It’s ok, I’ll get you home.” I whisper against her cheek, my warm breath heating her skin. She is ice cold. Shivering and wet.

We move slowly and carefully as I help her back up the slope.

A small cry falls from her lips when she sees the body of the man at the top. “Don’t look.” I say, pulling her face against my chest. “Come on, the car isn’t far.”

I know Malone is waiting for his men to return. He will find out what happened.

It’s only a matter of time before he comes again, this time with more men and more anger.

In the car I pump the heating even though it is a short drive.

I am holding her against my side as we drive along the quiet road towards home.

She hasn’t spoken, and I haven’t pushed her.

She needs to feel safe first. Then I will ask her what is going on. Why she left and what happened with those men?

For now, I just want to hold her, let her know I’m here for her.

Chapter Fifteen

DALILA

Sitting in the car with the heater blasting over my legs, my mind recovers from the survival panic it has been clinging to for the past hour.

The relief I felt when I saw Nevio looking over that slope, down towards me, I can’t even describe it.

I wanted to cry out to him, call his name, but my lips wouldn’t move.

Fear and cold had sunken too deep into my skin at that point.

And only now - on the way home - is it releasing its grip from me.

Nevio has his arm wrapped around my shoulder. I am almost lying on his lap while we drive. I close my eyes and count to ten, soothing my heart, easing away the fear.

I hear the familiar sound of the house gate opening and the crunch of gravel beneath the tire that tells me we are home.

I sit up, looking out of the window and my heart pulls tight when I feel this strange sense of relief and safety — thinking — I’m home.

My mind is happy to think of Nevio’s place as home.

My door opens and Nevio is standing there with his hand outreached. He pulls me out of the car and lifts me into his arms to cradle me against his chest.

I lean my face against his warm jersey, not wanting to meet the eyes of the security guards all staring in wonder at me.

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