Page 89 of Covert Temptation

Dante rolled out from behind the bin and flung the flash-bang dead center.

The explosion of white light and sound stunned Dante as well, but he’d already turned away, using muscle memory to surge forward. He tackled the man low, knocking his gun flying.

The asshole recovered fast. Too fast.

They went down in a flurry of limbs, Dante’s strength fueled by sheer rage and the knowledge that Kennedy was watching. He could feel her sobs echoing through the air.

The man slammed a fist into Dante’s injured side. Pain flared, and he nearly blacked out.

But he didn’t stop.

He roared and wrapped both hands around the guy’s throat, squeezing.

“You. Will. Never. Touch. Her. Again.”

The man’s eyes bulged, his hands flailing for something—anything.

Dante shifted, rolled them, and grabbed the pistol from the ground. He aimed it squarely at the man’s head.

“I should kill you,” he growled.

“Do it,” the man rasped. “You’re already too late.”

Dante pressed the barrel harder into his skull.

But then he looked up and saw Kennedy, huddled and shaking. Her eyes locked on his.

He couldn’t do it. Not like this.

He slammed the butt of the pistol into the guy’s temple. Once. Twice. The man slumped to the floor, unconscious and bleeding.

Only then did Dante rise, panting and swaying. He holstered the gun with a shaking hand and stumbled toward her.

“Kennedy.”

She didn’t move at first.

He fell to his knees beside her and gently reached for her hand. “It’s me. You’re safe now.”

A sob cracked out of her throat. She lunged into his arms, burying her face against his chest.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” she whispered.

He wrapped her tight against him, despite the hot pain tearing through his side and the scent of his own blood in the air. “I swear to you, Kennedy. I’m never letting you go.”

Her fingers gripped his shirt like a lifeline.

And as they sat on that cold floor in the echo of violence, the only thing Dante could feel was the raw, blistering truth pounding through his veins.

He loved her.

And he would raze the world to the ground to keep her safe.

* * * * *

Dante’s body seemed to go slack in Kennedy’s arms.

“Dante!”

---