Page 22 of Wild Card

Giovanni

Catriona sleeps soundly next to me, her soft, sweet body pressed against mine. I’ve had a Goddamn erection for half the night, but there’s nothing I can do about it.

What the fuck am I going to do next?

As much as I hate her family, I don’t want her to die, and she looked like hell this morning. Yesterday morning? It’s well past midnight now.

I hadn’t been the only one who’d noticed. Her brothers had texted a series of colorful threats to the burner phone. I’d finally texted back.

Tell your repugnant father to pay the ransom.

No one responded to that.

I haven’t exactly lived a life free from bad decisions, free from crime. I’ve wanted nothing more than to avenge my parents and restore their memory my whole life and getting there has meant making difficult choices. Running numbers for my grandfather. Doing chores for his mobster friends. Bringing stolen goods to his favorite fence.

But I’ve never done something that endangered another person’s life to this degree. I never worked for Freddie and his lot.

I don’t know how to reconcile my part in all this. What’s right here? What’s just?

What do I do about this beautiful woman sleeping next to me?

And what the fuck is wrong with her father?

I manage to get a little sleep and wake up to the patter of rain on the window. Thank God. Normally March is a cool and rainy month, but it’s been brutally hot these past few days. That attic had gotten hot and stagnant—there’s no circulation up there.

No wonder Catriona had gotten so ill.

She stirs in my arms, and slowly blinks her eyes open. She looks better than yesterday by far. She peers up at me from under blonde lashes.

Does she remember asking me to sleep next to her?

I’ll never forget it. How could I?

“How are you feeling?”

Her green eyes are brighter.

“Okay. A little weak, but okay.”

Her soft, sleepy eyes make me want to build her a fucking castle where nothing bad can ever happen to her. And her fire makes me want to climb any walls I build to get to her myself.

This is so fucking insane. I don’t know how to act. This isn’t some lover of mine spending the night. She’s a woman my uncle kidnapped and nearly killed, and I’ve been complicit in holding her hostage even if it’s just to keep her safe. To keep my family safe.

I can’t think of Lorenzo’s attempt to sexually assault her either, or I’ll murder him. I just will.

I hope for his sake, and mine, that he believed me when I told him that.

Catriona nestles against me, seemingly not in a hurry to escape my touch.

I like how she feels in my arms. Like I can keep her safe from anything.

Even though I know that’s not true.

We lie there for a while, and she dozes off again. I finally decide to get up, and she wraps a slender hand around my forearm. I look like a beast in comparison.

“Where are you going?” she asks.

“Bathroom. Then breakfast. Are you up for some food?”

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