Page 93 of Massimo

I don't dare let myself hope about what IthinkI see in his expression.

"He's coming for me," I choke, sitting up. The weight of my fear and the paralysis I've been feeling for hours finally abates and lets me move. "My father—"

"Is never getting his hands on you." Massimo lifts me like I'm a doll. He cradles me to his chest before he lays back down with me, with us on our sides facing each other and me pulled flush against him. "You're safe, Nova. You'remyprincess, not his." One big hand cups the back of my head, holding it to his chest, while the other rubs along the length of my back. "He'll never take you from me.Never."

The word shudders through me. It sounds like a vow.

But how can it be? With who and what I am, and who and what Massimois?

Exhaustion presses in like a tidal wave. Now that Massimo is here, holding me, whispering reassuring words that I desperately want to believe, my fear and panic have eased enough to allow me to fall asleep.

"Please don't break me." My whispered plea escapes my lips.

His arms tighten around me, pulling me deeper into that net of safety. His answer is a seismic rumble through me. "Never. You have my word or my life."

It's his vow that allows sleep to pull me completely under.

It's dark when I wake. I stiffen as the blackness presses in, and panic spikes my heart rate. It's not as dark as the pitch-black room my father would lock me in, but I'm spiraling back there in an instant.

Of all the psychological tortures he brutalized me with, this—along with what he did to my mother—is the worst one. It's like the darkness is a tangible, living being. One that presses down on me, holding me under, sucking the air from my lungs, and snapping away the essence of my soul.

"I'm here, Nova." A big, solid body presses against my back. "Just breathe, princess. The darkness can't harm you, but I'm here to protect you."

Tears leak out of my eyes. I'm so broken and damaged.

A dim light flickers in the darkness, and then my body is gently rolled over until I'm lying on my back. Massimo's hair is mussed, his eyes are heavy with sleep. I realize the light is coming from the flashlight on his phone.

I scan the room, searching for the nightlight Massimo had set up for me before leaving on his trip.

Yes, a grown woman, needing a nightlight is pathetic, but there is it.

However, the nightlight that usually turns on automatically when it's dark isn't glowing.

"The power is out," Massimo explains. "That's why the nightlight isn't on."

Massimo's presence had been calming me, but my panic snaps back in an instant.

He sees it. "Gabe says a storm has taken out the power. It's not the work of your father."

Almost to emphasize that point, there's a loud crack of thunder and lightning briefly illuminates the bedroom.

"Will your security system still work without power?" I worry the inside of my lip.

"Yes, we have backup sources." He feathers a kiss on my forehead. "And generators for those back up sources. No one is getting in here."

I'm almost melting into him as I stare up at him, still struggling to understand how someone so big and powerful can be so gentle. But right on the heels of that thought is my doubt and hesitation, the lingering question of whether I can truly trust him, and the uncertainty of his motives.

But I want to believe him and what he's showing me. Desperately.

"It's night," I state the obvious. "And you're home."

His lips curl into a smile. "Home. I like that word coming out of your mouth." His eyes drop lower. "That delectable little mouth."

I wet my suddenly parched lips, and his eyes track that movement with a predator gaze. I'm suddenly very much aware of him pressed against me, of the hardness pressed against my hip.

When he returned from his trip, we were supposed to pick up where we had left off. I had pleasured myself numerous times while he was gone at the promise.

And with the threat of my father growing ever closer, I urgently need to remove that chess piece off the board—my virginity—so when my father got me back, at least I'll have taken some kind of shot at him.

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