Page 17 of Hers to Control

I let my knife fly. It lands in the bathroom door frame with a thud, embedding itself in the wood, just like anger is cutting its way through me.

Gianna huffs. “Look, I don’t like that she took off either, but can you really blame her? She’s never wanted anything to do with the shit show of a life her father forced on her when she was a kid, and now she’s been dragged into it again.”

“I’m not dragging her into anything. I came here to help her, and I called you to make sure she goes along with it. She hardly knows me, but you’re her friend. I figured you’d be able to talk some sense into her.”

Instead, Gianna did the exact opposite, letting Mia run rather than keeping her safe for me. Which begs the question of why? Maybe she thinks Mia is safer if she stays away from me. After all, I’m head of security for the Bruno syndicate, and I let the fucking don get killed. Letmy uncleget killed. What a bodyguard I am.

Unaware of my train of thought, Gianna grins at me. “Is that why you wanted me to talk to her? So I’d do your job for you and convince her to let you play protector? Sorry to tell you,Daddy, but that’s not really going to work for a woman like Mia.”

I don’t know what the fuck is so amusing, so I decide to ignore Gianna’s chuckle. My sanity is hanging on a fine thread as it is.

“I’m going after her.”

Gianna nods. “All right.”

I wait for her to add something, but she doesn’t. “All right? For fuck’s sake. You just let her walk away and now you’re agreeing I should go after her? I’ll have to figure out where the hell she took off to this time.” My irritation is rising again, and I walk across the room to pull my knife out of the doorframe.

I’m irritated at Gianna, irritated at Mia, and even more irritated at myself. I shouldn’t have left her out of my sight. Once again, I was off doing something else when I should have been with the person I was supposed to protect.

“It’s up to you to show her you’re up for this,” Gianna says calmly, and I hear the hidden meaning behind her words. I still have to earn back her confidence. She doesn’t truly think I’m up for protecting anyone.

Why would she tell Mia to stick with me now, when I’ve been failing over and over to protect the people I’m supposed to keep safe? First Uncle Leonardo, when I wasn’t there to keep him from being murdered a month ago, and then Mia, when I brought her to a safe house where the Russians found her within a couple of weeks without me ever checking in. And then, of course, I’d failed in yet another area. I’d knocked her up.

No point in arguing.

“I’ll let you know when I have her.” I might be pissed at Gianna right now, but she’s still my boss and the one person left I would lie my life down for.

Except that isn’t true anymore. Because now there are Mia and our baby, and I’ll protect them with my life if I have to.

Fucking hell.This isn’t a complication I had ever planned for.

On the street, I head toward the city center where Mia is more likely to have headed. Public transport and more people to blend in with. She’s smart enough to have considered it. She’s also fit and only has a backpack, so even though she’s unlikely to be jogging, I don’t doubt that she has a solid head-start.

I take out my cell and pull up the app that allows me to track the little chip I put into her burner phone, hoping she hasn’t discarded it.

She hasn’t. A small dot moves on the map.

Thank fuck.

Mia hasn’t gotten as far ahead as I expected, but, unfortunately, instead of moving along one of the busy main streets, she’s taken to side roads.

This isn’t the best part of town. In fact, I’ve killed men in places a lot busier and nicer than these damn side streets. I lengthen my strides, suppressing the urge to play with my knife. That would draw unwanted attention.

Splitting my attention between the tracker app and my surroundings, I hasten to catch up with Mia, when suddenly the dot on the map stops moving. At first I think she must have stopped to decide where to go next, but then I realize she isn’t anywhere near an intersection. For a few more strides, I wait for the dot to move again, but it doesn’t.

I run.

Mia

I’m halfway down a side road street when a car parks a few meters ahead of me. Two large guys exit, and neither one of them gives me kindergarten-teacher vibes. Large, burley, and at least one of them had his nose badly broken at some point. My hackle is already up, so it doesn’t take much to make me suspicious.

As it is, they aren’t going for subtlety.

The guy with a big beard and smashed nose makes a grab for me. Luckily, I was already sidestepping before he even moved. Intuition or practice reading body language, it hardly matters.His fat fingers brush my arm, and I leap out of his reach. Unfortunately, the other guy is ready for it, and is on me in a second.

I let him grab me. Really, I have little choice, but I twist before his arms wrap around me. The irony is thick. I’m a fucking martial arts teacher. Krav Maga is my bread and butter and the one time I actually get attacked on the street, I’m caught at my very worst.

I blame Eric.

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