Page 22 of Desire and Revenge

A scream is ripped from the man’s mouth, and I see red start to spread over his shoulder. I stagger backward and almost lose my footing on the uneven floor, but I fall back into a hard wall of muscle, and I know who it is even before he speaks.

“You alright, Princess?”

My lashes flutter at the sound of that deep, raspy voice. “Nero.”

He shifts away from me and heads for the groaning man trying to slip away while clutching his bleeding shoulder. I watch in a mixture of fascination and horror as Nero’s long strides eat up the distance between them, and then he grabs the man by his hurt shoulder and yanks him backward.

Another scream tears through the empty street, and then Nero raises his large fists. I follow the trajectory of that fist till it comes down on the man’s face. I stagger back at the sound of bones crunching.

Oh God.

The man falls to the ground, and Nero stares down at him for one moment, where my breath catches in my throat. When his boot comes down on the screaming man’s kneecap, I cover my mouth with my hands. I want to look away, but at the same time, I can’t. He’s raw power and beauty, but he’s also a monster.

The beautiful monster raises his knee again.

“Please, please! I wasn’t going to harm the lady. I’m not a bad man, I’m just?—”

I never get to hear the rest of what he has to say, because Nero’s boot comes down on his head. And then again and again and again. There’s so much blood and—oh God.

Dark eyes meet mine. “You shouldn’t be walking around unprotected, Sofia.”

I like how he says my name.

I shake my head to clear that inappropriate thought. I shouldn’t be thinking that with a dead body lying between us.

“Wha—what? Should that even be the issue, right now? Did you follow me here?”

He cocks his head and then digs out a cigarette. “Is that the thank you I get for saving your life?”

“You followed me here.” It’s not a question this time. “Why? Why have you been avoiding me?”

“Watch your step, Princess.” I don’t realize I’ve been stepping closer to him and I’m now barely an inch from the smashed-up body till he speaks.

The smell of copper fills my nose, and I turn away, fighting the urge to retch.

“Let’s just go home.” His large hand lands on my shoulder and begins to urge me in the direction of the house. We walk the rest of the way home like that, with me two steps in front of him and him smoking his cigarettes and stalking me back to the house like a menacing shadow.

CHAPTER 7

Nero

Iwatch her disappear towards the stairs, and I’m tempted to sneak after her to find out if she’s going to Sebastian’s room or hers, but I take a drag of my cigarette and suffocate that feeling.

Turning away, I head in the direction of the home gym at the extreme wing of the house. I was doing so well with my plan to avoid Sofia, and then I ruined it in one fell swoop.

I don’t regret saving her tonight, but instead of running in like her knight in shining armor, I should have had one of the guards get her back or prevent her from leaving the gates in the first place. What was that idiot thinking, letting her leave without protection? Anything could have happened to her out there.

Why do you care?A small, vicious voice asks.Isn’t she supposed to be your enemy?

Biting out an irritated curse, I dig out my phone and click one of the numbers on my speed dial.

“Boss?”

“There’s a mess a short distance from the Lucchese house, in the direction of the park. Clean it up.”

“Discreetly?” Davide asks.

I let smoke curl up from my mouth. “Scrape his remains off the road and toss him in the nearest ditch you can find.”

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