Page 13 of Deadly Intentions

I couldn’t speak. The words falling dead on my tongue.

"Look." His irritation lacing his tone. "I know someone's there… I can hear you breathing."

I drew in a stuttered gasp and swallowed. This was the moment everything would change. The past would collide with my future, blurring the lines I'd meticulously drawn out for myself. Lines that were being blown to smithereens with three words.

"I'm in trouble."

eight

CATARINA

I don’t knowhow long I sat there staring at the corpse of the man who'd tried to kidnap me. It felt like hours— reality was, it probably had been. The unknown assailant was beginning to change color, his skin becoming an ashen blue. Even though his grotesque stare seemed to mock me from his position on the floor, I couldn’t move.

This is what I'd been trying to avoid. The death and carnage that seemed to follow my family was like a disease for which there was no cure. It didn’t matter if I wanted a normal life. Being an Anastasi meant normal was crime and murder. Lost in the morbid vision I was trapped in I didn’t hear the door.

Strong hands gripped my face, turning my head from the dead body.

"Cat." His voice washed over me, snapping me from the dark thoughts. "Are you hurt?"

Unable to move or even force the answer out, I blinked. He looked just as I remembered, only his face held an expression I couldn’t discern.

"You're in shock." The feel of him sweeping me into his arms was something I hadn’t realized I'd been longing for. "I'm going to get you cleaned off."

He didn’t ask who the dead man was. He didn’t ask why I'd killed him. The only thing he did was tend to my state of despair. He set me down on the toilet while he turned on the shower. The look in his eyes as he kneeled before me spoke of love.

"I'm going to undress you." Tugging the dress over my head, he sucked in a breath. "Cuore Mio."My heart.His palms brushed across the bruises covering my body and neck. "He do this?" He eased my bra off, leaving me in only my panties, and helped me stand.

I nodded, my eyes squeezing shut to stave off the tears finally threatening to fall. I'd come close to death. The thought made me shudder.

"Are you ok for a minute?"

I nodded absently and watched as he stepped back and disrobed. Stunned, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. This man had dropped everything to be here. Even though I'd run away without so much as a goodbye.

"Donny." My voice wavered, the tears burning a trail down my skin.

He wrapped my body in his arms and held me against his naked flesh. "I'm here, Catarina. I'll fix this for you. I promise."

"I don't deserve your help," I hiccupped through the sob that finally bubbled to the surface.

"You deserve the world." He lifted me and stepped our entwined bodies into the glass enclosure. The heat enveloped my senses as he held me beneath the spray and set me on my feet. "Let's get you cleaned off."

With delicate hands, he soaped the loofa and ran it over my skin. My eyes watched as the water ran crimson, washing the evidence of what I'd done down the drain. The touch of his hands snapped me from the trance the swirling symbol of death had me under. I glanced over my shoulder at him, finally realizing he was naked behind me.

“Do my brothers know?” My voice cracked with uncertainty.

“No. But I am going to need to make some phone calls to get the dead body out of your kitchen. Can you tell me what happened?” He caressed my shoulders.

“I overheard something at the hospital between one of the doctors and a man. I found out tonight while at dinner, the man I saw him with is being investigated for drugs or something.”

“Who told you that?” Donny cut off the water and stepped out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and then held one open for me.

“A friend.” He wrapped the cotton towel around my body.

“Elaborate. What kind of friend, Catarina?” Donny folded his arms across his chest and pinned me with a knowing glare.

“Look, Donny.” I turned and walked into the bedroom. “I came here to start over. So, yes. I was on a date. A date that ended in my killing a man in my kitchen, so it’s safe to say a second date won’t be happening.”

I grabbed a pair of leggings and tank top. Donny watched as I slipped the material over my naked body.

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