Page 129 of Dangerous Intent

“We have to take this one step at a time.” I glanced around the room. “I have to let Lorenzo back in so he can deal with this mess.”

“We have to call the police.” She wiggled out of my hold. “This was self-defense. No jury would convict me, would they?”

“It’s never going to get that far.”

She was my wife. Any eager prosecutor would love to take that case.

“Your last name could get you convicted,” I said. “You’re mafia royalty. Your father-in-law is one of the biggest crime lords on the east coast. I’m his fucking heir. I’m not risking your freedom.”

If the media caught wind of this, she would suffer the consequences. Not to mention what Diego would do once he realized we were on to him.

“What are we going to do?”

“Clean it up.” I pulled her back to me. “No one is going to mourn him. He attacked you, and you took care of business.”

“I wasn’t going to let him violate me.”

“You were very thorough.”

I hated to think about the trauma this incident was going to cause her once she realized what she had done. Taking a life, no matter how justified you thought you were, never came consequence free. She was going to live with those demons for the rest of her life.

“I didn’t want you to have to live with the guilt of what he did to me.” She rested her head on my chest and sobbed. “If he took me away from you, I would have died, because I couldn’t live with the pain of knowing you… I wouldn’t want you to know what he had done to me.”

“No.” I lifted her into my lap and tucked her hair behind her ear. “You fought, and you won. You didn’t let him rape you, and you didn’t let him take you from me. You’re strong and courageous. You did what you had to do, and I will be forever grateful.”

She continued to cry in my arms, her sobs growing louder and breaking a piece of my heart. Her anguish ripped through me, creating more rage than I had ever felt before. But now wasn’t the time for me to plot my revenge. That wasn’t my purpose. I had to comfort her and shield her, not only from our enemies but from this crime, no matter how justified she was.

My priority would always be her.

“We need to get you into the shower.” I hugged her. “Do you think you can do that?”

We needed to scrub this place, and that meant every trace of her too. Lorenzo had people for this, and once we left, it would be as if we were never in this villa.

“I want to get out of here.” She glanced at Danny’s rotten corpse. “I don’t want to see him anymore.”

“We’re going to do that.” I scooted her off my lap and stood before crouching down and scooping her into my arms. “But we can’t go anywhere with you soaked in his blood.”

“I got it on you too.” She touched my shirt.

“That’s okay. We’re going to make it like nothing ever happened.”

“But it did happen,” she said as I carried her to the bathroom. “I did it.”

“The next few days are going to be incredibly difficult for you, but I will be with you every step of the way.” I set her down once we reached the shower stall and turned on the water. “Right now, we have to focus. I need you to get cleaned up while I talk to Milo.”

She didn’t argue.

“I won’t be long.” I lifted her chin and gently kissed her. “And then you won’t be able to get rid of me.”

“You’re going to fix this?” She gazed into my eyes, revealing the vulnerability in hers.

“You already did most of the work.” I ran my lips along her jaw. “Let me do the rest.”

“I’m really tired.”

“Hang on a little longer, then you can rest for as long as you need to.”

I helped her out of her stained underwear and guided her into the shower. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at me as she immersed herself under the faucet. Even in such a traumatic state, she was still the most alluring woman I had ever seen.

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