Page 118 of Tempt Me (Dark Odyssey 4)

Her weirdness at least became noticeable when Dmitri wanted to take her hand.

She gripped on to me in such a way that I just knew she didn’t want him to touch her. It was the strangest thing, but I knew it for truth. What I told him was truth too. In Sicily, if a woman belongs to a man, you don’t touch her, not even for a fucking handshake, unless you have permission to do so.

I gave the excuse off the top of my head and in the same breath called her mine.

Confirmation to guys that are soon to become my enemies. I don’t think we’ll be anything close to friends when I deliver my answer in a few days.

I’m just waiting for Gibbs to get back to me.

As for last night’s fiasco, I think I just made some new friends with the feds when I got my guys to send over the details of the boat. I may be a fucking gangster, but I’m not evil. I’m not about to turn a blind eye on a boat carrying a hundred young women—girls— to fuck knows where in chains.

Now I seem to have Ava to worry about.

She knew them. I can tell she knew them. Both of them. Dmitri and Yuri.

They didn’t act like they knew her though. Not in the least, so that lends to the idea that she recognized them.

Where from though?

What the fuck is it all about?

I give her an hour to herself and call Salvatore to let him know I’ve left and to keep an eye out.

I decide to go back up to my room and see Ava’s fallen asleep in her dress. All around the area where her head touches, the sheets are soaked with tears. Her eyes puffy and red.

I sit in the chair by the bed and watch her.

It’s the first time she looks troubled.

In my experience, there’s only a handful of reasons when women behave the way she did tonight, and I don’t want to think it could be any of those reasons. I don’t even want to entertain the thought.

Not for my girl.

My girl…

Jesus… what the fuck… I’m thinking of her as my girl now?

Mine for how long? Eight more days?

As I watch her, though, she feels like mine. The way Sorcha felt like she belonged to me. It’s a massive deal for me to accept that. It’s a massive thing for me to acknowledge that.

I knew Sorcha was mine the minute I saw her. We grew up together. Our families were always close. We met when we were ten, and I looked at her and knew she was mine. No matter what I did to avoid the good girl because of the badass I was, I kept coming back to the same conclusion.

I’ve known Ava for a day over three weeks, and I feel that same knowing in my heart that she belongs to me.

This woman feels like she belongs to me, and I can’t bear the thoughts that come into my head.

Mark saying she had a rough life, the cigarette burn behind her ear, her reaction tonight.

It’s all so vague. Too wide apart, but it’s all there and feels like the same pain.

It’s like I could reach for each piece and bring them together to complete the picture this puzzle is trying to show me.

I don’t sleep. I watch over her the whole night. Maybe it would have been better if I slept because as I watch her, I see more revealed to me. There are moments when she’s shaking her head and mumbling, then she settles back into her slumber. Then there are moments when she covers her head and cowers like she’s trying to shield herself from something.

I don’t know what she says when she’s talking. It’s a mumble, like her lips are sewn together.

She only seems to settle down when morning comes.

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