Page 11 of Protecting Charity

“Can you blame me?”

His remark was but a whisper in my ear as he bound his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. I sighed as his lips dusted the shell of my ear, then chased down my neck to the new bruise forming. What was with these men and marking me for all to see?

I slipped my fingers in his hair and tugged him away from my neck. “Where is your sense of priorities now?” Feeding him his words was all too gratifying. He angled his face just right so I could see his bruise from the mighty punch I landed on his cheek. “I’m sorry I hit you. I shouldn’t have done that.” It made me sick that I laid hands on him in that way. I’ve never hit anyone that I cared about before.

He ran his finger down my jaw and tipped my head up by my chin. “It’s all good,bella.” He stepped away, allowing me to get dressed as if I didn’t just apologize for my harm against him.

I dipped my hand into the dresser drawer and pulled out a mismatched pair of panties and bra. It was the best I could do as Max had me diverting my thoughts to us going for seconds. As much as I’d like to absorb all of his attention and have him put his tongue in places few men have been, I needed to address the serious security breach in my home.

Slipping my clothes on to bury his distraction, I put my gun in its safe place at my back. Max gave up in a huff and pulled his shirt over his head. I didn’t notice it before, but his clothes had stains consisting of dirt, and… is that blood? “Did you…” I asked, pointing to the smudge of blood on his pants, “without me?”

He rubbed the red-colored rose tattoo on his neck and smiled stiffly. “Luca didn’t want you involved yet.”

“Wow.” I rolled my lips and bobbed my head. “Yeah. Sure. I get it.” He followed me to the living room, where I turned on the TV and pushed the button that switched over to the cameras surrounding my home. A small resurgence of anger dashed through my nerves at the thought that Luca benched me.

“Don’t be like that.” He sat next to me and rubbed my back in an effort to take away the bitterness I was suddenly feeling.

“Like what? Like, I’m a kid who doesn’t get to play with the big boys anymore?”

“You can play with this big boy anytime.”

“Ha-ha,” I said with a smirk pulling at my lips, then slapped his shoulder. “That’s not what I mean.”

“I got you to smile, though.” He laughed while holding his arm, feigning injury. “It’s only temporary. I mean, you did just get released from your tower today.”

“My tower? What am I, fucking Rapunzel? I don’t want to be a goddamn princess. They never get to have any fun.” I should have known Luca would do this to me. What else did I expect, him to let me carry on as if I didn’t just break a cardinal rule? Sometimes, I felt like a child. And just when I would feel comfortable, he would make me remember that I was owned by a master that loved rules and heavy chains. I wasn’t anyone special in this game, at least not to him, anyway. “It’ll be okay. We’ll fix it.”

I smiled weakly and leaned my head on his shoulder. “It’s my fight. I’ll make it right,” I mumbled as the alert of an intrusion flashed on the screen. I hit a button and played the video.

A man dressed in all black with a ski mask covering his face stood in my living room, staring into the kitchen. Cannoli rubbed against his legs, begging for food or attention. At this point, I didn’t care… he was a fucking traitor.

It looks like him, without a doubt. I gawked at the image of the same shadow man that watched me outside Jose’s home. He just stood there, standing absolutely still, staring into my kitchen with Cannoli getting off on his leg, then left.

“That’s bizarre,” Max said.

I drew my brows together with bewilderment. “I’ll say.”

Standing in the same place the man did, I tried to put myself in his shoes to help me figure out what he was doing. I have nothing of value. But that didn’t seem to be his interest. He touched nothing. Just broke in and didn’t move as if he was contemplating something. Everything in my home was just as it had been, nothing was on my counters in the kitchen other than appliances, and my table was clear of clutter—I had cleaned that off before Luca bolted the door on my freedom and forgot about me. Maybe he had been casing my home and noticed no one going in and out for a few days and broke in? He must have been severely disappointed to the point of paralyzing shock when he saw nothing worth taking.

“You can’t stay here.”

I saw this coming. “Not happening, big guy.”

“Charity!”

“Nope, I’m staying right here. I’m a fucking enforcer, for crying out loud. I don’t need protection; Iamthe protection.” I tossed the remote on the lounge and got down on my hands and knees to look under the couch.

“At some point, everyone needs protecting, Charity.”

I stood and looked behind the couch, throwing pillows as I went. “Not this bitch.”

“Okay, what about the carnival? You needed our protection then.”

I threw the last pillow across the room, then hit the hall bathroom with quick, long strides while he followed behind me. “I protected myself. I needed your help, so I didn’t bleed to death.”

“I think you are splitting hairs here. What are you looking for?”

I threw my hands up, not finding the little shit anywhere. “Cannoli.”

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