Page 64 of Her Dark Salvation

Her jaw dropped as if she’d been struck by my voice, and her hand flew to her necklace. She sat back in her chair, looked out the window, and chewed the inside of her cheek.

Cazzo. I’d forgotten a shy, sensitive woman lived beneath the fiery armor of Anna’s temper. And what a loud, demanding asshole I could be.

I swiped a hand down my face. “This isn’t about your abilities,” I said softly.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes, and hers glistened in the candlelight.

“Hey. Anna. Mia bellissima Anna. Look at me.”

She ran her fingers up and down the length of her necklace and turned to face me, but she continued to chew the inside of her cheek like she was fighting tears. That I caused. Fuck. Me.

“This isn’t about your abilities, it’s about your safety. This city is dangerous. You’ve been lucky nothing’s happened to you all these years. A professional, single woman, travelling alone? You might as well have a fucking bullseye painted on your back.”

She let out a shuddering huff and rolled her eyes. “You sound like Jeff.”

“Jeff’s a smart man.” Jeff also knew how dangerous this city could be. Firsthand.

“Hey.” I laid my hand palm up on the table. She stared at it with suspicion but placed her clammy fingers in mine. “Humor me, okay? Let me take you home tonight. I’ll have my driver take you to Amherst tomorrow. I care about you. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“You don’t have to be such a—a tyrant about it,” she mumbled.

“Yes, I do. It’s part of my charm,” I said and offered an apologetic smile.

She let out a nervous chuckle, and her shoulders relaxed. The waiter came to take our plates, and she pulled her hand away. I fought the urge to snatch it back.

“Dessert?” the waiter asked.

“No,” I said. “Give my regards to Chef. Excellent meal.”

“Of course, sir.”

I pulled out my phone.

Bring the car around.

“Shall we?” I asked.

Anna nodded, a tired smile on her face, no doubt because I was a dick.

Regret pinched my chest. She didn’t deserve to be barked at like a member of my crew. But I’d lost control, the overwhelming need to protect her making me crazy with an animalistic possessiveness. She may have needed more from her career, but I needed more from her. My feelings for this woman were evolving way past lust, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t want them to stop.

ChapterSeventeen

Anna

Asea of headlights and streetlamps crept past the tinted backseat window of the Range Rover. I chewed the side of my nail, a nervous habit I thought I’d rid myself of years ago but reared its ugly head anytime I lost myself in thought.

He hadn’t meant to upset me. I knew that. Fear for my safety had manifested as anger, and his anger was just another form of his passion. Loud voices rattled me, but more than that, his reaction to my taking the bus made me realize his flirting and advances weren’t just a lark. Things had turned serious, and the gravity of my situation with Marco had caught me off guard.

He wrapped his big, warm hand around mine, and interlaced our fingers. My lips parted in surprise, and I looked up. Guilt softened the hard lines of his handsome face, and the corner of his mouth tipped up as he brought our combined hands to his lips and gently kissed the backs of my fingers.

The safety and comfort I’d known in his presence returned, and my body relaxed. I smiled, accepting his silent apology, and he rested our joined hands on the center console, running his thumb along the back of mine while we made our way across the river to Cambridge.

He helped me out of the Range Rover, and we walked through the courtyard of my condo complex to my front door.

Standing on the porch, I was as nervous as when I’d gone on my first date in high school, and my palms unleashed their sweaty fury, refusing to be outdone by the butterflies attacking my stomach.

He leaned against the front door, still holding my hand. “Thank you,” he said. “For agreeing to be my date next weekend.”

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