Page 17 of Ruthless Vengeance
A few minutes later, he is back with her. She is hanging on to him, and when she sees me, she squeals and reaches for me.
I run to them and take her in my arms. “I missed you, baby girl.”
Marco lies for a bit in bed and watches us until his phone rings.
“I’m sorry. I have to take this.” He kisses my head and leaves the room.
It’s been great being with my baby, but Marco disappeared into Andre’s office what feels like hours ago, and I have a feeling he’s looking into Ben.
I cradle Zoe against my chest, breathing in the soft scent of her hair as she sleeps peacefully in my arms.
I thought I would never get the chance to hold my daughter again, so I should be feeling overwhelming joy right now. Instead, a lead weight has settled in my stomach.
In the short time I’ve known Marco, her life has been threatened twice, and I have a sinking feeling now that Ben is back that it will happen again.
Zoe dozes in my arms after I feed her.
I keep her close to me, not wanting to break contact with her, though I could do with going back to sleep myself.
My stomach twists with guilt for not telling Marco the truth about Ben, and now I fear it might be too late to come clean.
I had the perfect opportunity to, and yet I didn’t, and I have no idea why.
It’s not like I owe Ben anything. I cut him out of my life for a reason, and I shouldn’t feel guilty for the selfish choices he made, even more so now that I know he has been working with Tommaso all along.
It’s likely if it came down to my life or his, Ben would have walked away without giving me a second thought, so why should I feel guilty for doing the same?
I know I should feel indifferent to the idea of Marco hunting him down and putting a bullet between my brother’s eyes, but instead it makes my throat burn with bile.
Maybe our shared blood means more to me than I care to admit.
I shift Zoe slightly in my arms, pressing my lips to her forehead as I try to push the thoughts away.
Whatever the reason for lying to Marco, it doesn’t matter now. Even if he isn’t already dead, Ben is likely long gone, and I doubt I’ll ever see him again…
“Hey.” Marco’s deep voice pulls me from my thoughts.
I look up to find him leaning against the doorframe, studying me with a quiet intensity. His black shirt is wrinkled from sleeping in it, and he’s rolled the sleeves to his elbows. The stubble on his chin is slowly turning to the beginnings of a beard and strands of his dark hair are falling in his eyes. He’s far from his usual polished self, but I don’t think he’s ever looked sexier.
“Hey to you too.” I force a small smile, hoping he can’t read the guilt on my face.
His dark eyes linger on me for a moment, but then they flick down to Zoe, and the hard lines of his face soften.
“How is she doing?”
I rub slow circles on her back. “She’s good. She’s pretty much been asleep the whole time since you left.”
Marco nods, and then his gaze flicks to mine, and there is a silent question in his eyes.
“I’m still… processing everything, but I’m okay.”
Marco pushes off the doorframe and walks over to the bed to perch beside me. When he reaches out to brush a strand of hair behind my ear, and his fingers linger against my cheek, I’m so overcome with emotion that I choke back a sob.
I can’t believe how close I came to losing him.
He cups my cheek. “I’m right here, love.”
“I know.” I lean into his touch.
