I push away from the wall and rub my hand down my face. Why am I fucking doing this? The last thing I should be doing is confessing how I feel to Gianna. Not when she’s just a job to me. Or at least, she should just be a job to me.
I head to the door when Gianna begs me to stop. “You’re my prisoner, Gianna. I have to go. You have to remain in here until Marco comes to get you.”
“You didn’t kill that woman.” Her soft voice washes over me. “You could have and yet, you didn’t. Because she was innocent like you said. So let me go. I’m innocent. You know this. Why can’t you let me go?”
Because there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to. If I were to let Gianna go, I’d never see her again.
Fuck.
“You mean nothing to me,” I say in a hard voice. “Coming in here was a mistake. Talking to you was a mistake.”
“Will.” The way she whispers my name – with so much hurt in her voice – makes me close my eyes as another round of guilt hits me.
I leave without another word and lock Gianna back into her room. Where she belongs even though we both know it’s not where she belongs.
Nico
“I had her,” I tell Enzo after he lets me into his house. “I had Gianna. But then some fucker punched me in the face and knocked me out. He took Gianna back with him.”
Enzo frowns. “What fucker?”
“The one from the church. The one working with Marco. That hitman he hired to kidnap Gianna in the first place.”
“He got Gianna back? Fuck. You were supposed to get her back. I was supposed to get her back. You didn’t do your job, Nico.”
“I was close,” I growl. How dare Enzo judge me? He was across town from where Gianna was. He wasn’t able to save her either. “And we’ll get her back and then you’ll marry her to me and we’ll kill both Marco and that fucking hitman he hired.”
“Find out his name,” Enzo instructs. “We need to know exactly who Marco is working with. I haven’t been able to find Marco since he disappeared again. I will not let him marry my sister.”
“She is mine.”
Enzo hesitates. “Gianna is her own person.”
“You gave her to me in marriage. She is mine.”
“But you haven’t married her yet. Not until we get her back.”
“I can’t stand the idea of another fucker touching what’s mine.”
Enzo frowns. “She is not yours yet, Nico. Remember that. I’m the one in charge. Not you.”
We’ll see about that. I will make Gianna mine one way or another. Even if I have to kill everyone in my path to get her. Even if I have to kill her own brother.
Will
I let Gianna out to use the restroom and eat breakfast. Neither one of us says a word over the table. It’s better this way. Better to not get attached. I have no fucking clue what got into me last night and I can’t let it happen again.
But every time I look at Gianna’s pretty face, all I want is to sink into her. Fuck.
“Will…”
Her voice startles me. “What?” My tone is hard and uninviting.
“Please reconsider.”
“You know I can’t. Stop asking me.”
She nods, looking defeated and it’s the most heartbreaking thing I think I’ve ever seen.