I should be overseeing the security team. I should be at Dante’s house ensuring the system I set up is working flawlessly. I should be on the phone with Dante, schmoozing him, and making sure he thinks everything I’m doing is to make him more secure.

Instead, I’m standing at the edge of the woods, while the most entrancing woman I’ve ever met tells me she will come with me.

I shouldn’t be here.

I shouldn’t steal Gia.

It could ruin everything.

Gia isn’t the type of woman who is barely noticed. She blazes in, knocking down walls, and setting fire to everything in her path. Some people survive and are made stronger because she was in their life, but most dissolve into ashes.

Gia takes one step and her leg trembles. I’ve studied her body for the last three minutes, and I know her leg is broken. She can walk on it, but only because there is so much adrenaline pulsing through her veins. Adrenaline is the only thing keeping her moving. And it is almost gone. She won’t be standing much longer.

I rush to her side, my arms finally able to wrap around her body again. I grab onto her waist, and her hands grip my forearms.

Gia is filthy. Covered in layers of dirt and mud. Her face is swollen, and about ten different shades of black and blue. The only thing left of the Gia I saw that day outside the coffee shop is her eyes. Her eyes still blaze with life.

Her hair, once straight and shiny, is now tangled and matted. I don’t know if she will ever be able to get the knots out, except by cutting her hair. I can’t even let my eyes travel over the rest of her body. My anger rages too fast in my chest at the number of cuts, bruises, and broken bones.

I can’t think about what Dante did to her. It will destroy me.

I don’t let Gia see my rage, instead, I still in strong solitude.

“I can walk,” Gia says, her voice so fucking determined.

I chuckle. This is not the time for chuckling. If Dante changes his plans and decides to search these woods, he’ll find us. And I won’t have a choice, but to turn her back over to him.

“No, you can’t.”

I don’t give her a choice. I scoop her up in my arms and start jogging back to my car, hidden under a large oak tree on the edge of the street.

Gia stops fighting once she’s in my arms. She doesn’t have a choice. I try to do anything to keep from looking at her. In just a few minutes, she’ll be mine. Dante will have no chance to get her back. I can look at her all I want then. Do more than look at her.

Having Gia in my arms makes it impossible for me to focus though. All I can do is breathe in her scent. Before she smelt like roses. It still lingers in her hair, but now she reeks of Dante. Musky, sweaty, and manly.

I need to change that.

I bite my bottom lip to keep from growling as my legs move faster to get her away from this devil.

Gia doesn’t move in my arms. She lays her head on my chest, and I know her eyes are open because I can feel them burning into a spot on my chin. Don’t look at her.

I make it to my Fiat, and though I know she would be more comfortable in a backseat where she could lie down on the journey ahead, I’m glad my car doesn’t have a backseat. I need her near me. I need to be able to touch her and keep my eyes on her as we drive. Otherwise, I’ll lose my damn mind.

So that’s where I put her, before hopping in the driver’s seat. My heart pounds half from stress and half from anger. It’s been a long time since I cared so much about a mission working out like this one. It takes everything inside of me not to call Dante and drive straight to him before pulling out my gun and shooting him dead.

How could he ever think it was okay to maim such a beautiful spirit?

“You going to drive or do I need to?” Gia says. She’s slouched in the chair, not even able to hold her head up. There is no way she can drive. Her sly smile and rosy cheeks warm my heart.

He didn’t damage her spirit. It’s very much alive.

I speed out of our spot, slinging Gia against the window as I do.

“Much better,” she says, as she slowly pushes herself off the window into an upright position.

I should drive her straight to the hospital. Her body is beaten so much; she no doubt needs countless surgeries to fix her broken bones.

It won’t be safe.

The hospital would be one of the first places Dante looks. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway. The truth is I’m a selfish bastard who wants Gia all to myself.

“Where are we going?” Gia asks, her voice weaker than before. Everything she does drains another quarter of her energy. She should conserve it. Another sentence or two and she’ll pass out from exhaustion.

“Shh, you should rest. You don’t need to worry about anything. You’re mine, now.”

I expect her to listen. I know she feels safer than she did with Dante. And for the time being at least, she’s right.

She doesn’t listen.

“I’m not anyone’s. I belong to me.”

Focus on the road. There is no reason to argue semantics with her right now. She’s mine, even if she won’t say it.

But I see her damn lips curl up. She knows her not saying she’s mine fucks with me.

I try to figure out what gave me away. Usually, only my sister can read me. My grip is loose on the steering wheel. I’m driving fast, but not excessive. My body is relaxed, sunk into my seat. And my facial expressions are blank.

Gia looks at me dreamily.

“What?” I snap a little too loudly.

This earns me a full smile. Damn it. She likes getting under my skin.

“Gia, I don’t like being disobeyed. You will learn that soon. So when I ask you a question or give you a command, I expect you to follow it. Understand?”

She giggles. “Yes, sir.”

I glare at her, unable to hold in my rage at her little mistake.

“Why are you giggling? You think me risking my life to take you is funny?”

She takes a deep breath, calming her giggles. “No.”

I hesitate before asking my next question, but it’s the one I want answered the most. “Are you afraid of me?”

She pauses. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you call me Gia.”

I shake my head. “That won’t stop me from raping you when I get the chance. It won’t stop my temper from beating you when you disobey me. It won’t stop me from breaking you.”

She nods. “Maybe not. But you call me Gia instead of whore. You see me as a human instead of property. That’s a start. You can’t be worse than him.”

I shake my head. She has no idea.

My phone buzzes, right on cue. My car has the ability to answer calls hands-free, but I don’t want Gia to hear; nor do I want Dante to have a chance at hearing Gia next to me.

So I retrieve my phone from my pocket and answer the call privately on my phone.

“Hello, Dante. What can I do for you?” I answer, loving how much it pisses him off to use Dante instead of Mr. Russo. It will never get old.

“You can get your fucking team to my office ASAP. My whore is missing. Stolen, no doubt. Your fucking fancy security system and team did nothing to stop it!”

I grin. I can’t help myself at hearing his panic on the other end of the line. Even if I didn’t want Gia for myself, I should have stolen her to listen to his panic.

“My team wasn’t responsible for you or your whore’s security this afternoon. I told you, you shouldn’t have left the house until the team was set up to escort you.”

“You don’t get to fucking lecture me, Caspian. Not today! Fucking fix it, or your whole team is fired.”

“I will have my team meet you at your office. We will find her. If she’s still in Italy, we will find her.”

“And if she’s not?” Dante’s voice trembles as he speaks.

“Then, we will find you a new whore while we track down her kidnapper and kill him.”

I end the call. Pocketing my phone.

Her eyes are huge as she stares at me. Her smile has vanished. And she’s now as far as she can get from me in her chair.

She’s afraid of me. I don’t have to ask her to understand that.

“You’re going to return me to him…” Her lip quivers and tears threaten in her big green eyes, clouding the sparkle there before.

“No.”

“I don’t believe you. You turned me over to him before. You want to wait a few days. Get your fill of me, and then pretend you found me when it’s most convenient to get back on Dante’s good side.”

“N—”

“I’ll tell Dante. I’ll tell him everything if you give me back to him.”

I pull the car over abruptly to the side of the road. I need to focus on her if I’m going to win this fight with her.

I grab her shoulders and pull her, so she is staring straight at me. I tell myself it’s so I have her full attention, and she can see into my eyes that I’m telling the truth, but it’s because I need to have my hands on her.

“If you believe one thing about me, believe this. I will never give you back to Dante. Even to save my own skin. You will never see Dante Russo again. He will never touch you again. Never beat you. Never rape you. Once I claim something as mine, it’s mine. I don’t share. I don’t change my mind. I will never let Dante have you again.”

“Dante won’t stop looking for me. Ever. You can’t assure that.”

I cock my head to the side and give her a wicked smirk I’m sure reaches my eyes. “I’m Dante’s security now. He wiped out his old team. He trusts me. Dante will never find you unless I want him to find you. I control Dante now. And I’m the best damn security in the country. You are free of Dante.”

My eyes scan hers, trying to decide if she believes me. I don’t know why it matters to me that she believes me. It’s frustrating me that I can’t read her.

“Do you believe me?”

Nothing. No answer on her face or from her lips.

“Gia?” I ask, with a warning to my voice.

“I don’t know.”

I sigh.

“Why? Why would you never turn me over to Dante? I don’t understand.”

So many heartbreaking images fill my head, and I almost forget where I am.

I shake my head, pushing the memories away.

“It doesn’t matter why. Just believe me when I say Dante will never own you again.”

I release her, and her body falls back into the chair, unable to hold herself up. I start driving again while we both sit in silence.

I do everything I can to not think about the gorgeous, feisty woman sitting next to me. When my mind starts counting her breaths, I change to counting the road signs we pass. When my eyes cut to the glow of her filthy skin, I punish them by playing images of Dante. When my nose takes deeper breaths, trying to get a whiff of her sweet smell, I roll down my window as we pass a cow pasture.

It takes us forty-five minutes to reach the small turnoff for my house. Gia fell asleep shortly after driving again. Her breathing has been slow and steady since.

I reached over around minute ten to tuck her hair behind her ear so I could see her pretty face better. She didn’t stir. I punished myself by digging my nails into my skin. I’m going to need a better way to keep Gia out of my thoughts when I’m on the job. This won’t work.

Now that we are almost to my house, it doesn’t matter if I think about her. I can act on my needs. Fuck her if I want.

No. I will not fuck a woman who was so recently touched by another man. He probably fucked her in his office before she ran.

I slow my speed as the car sways over the gravel path leading to my house. There is no sign for this road. There is barely even an opening among the trees. It’s how I like it. No one knows my house even exists back here.

Slowly, my black roof starts peaking out over the trees. The small cabin-like feel of the siding comes into view.

“Your house is tiny.”

My head jerks to Gia. I thought she was asleep, but the bouncing of the car must have woken her.

I raise an eyebrow. “I can return you to your previous owner. Just say the word, and you’ll be back in his giant mansion.”

She stills. “I’ll give your tiny house a try first.”

I narrow my eyes. “I forgot. You’re a Carini. You care about things like houses and cars and money.”

She looks out the window, suddenly more solemn. I said something wrong.

“I’m not sure if such things matter or not, but I miss them.” The way she speaks with regret stirs my deep feelings. It’s clear she doesn’t want to miss mansions, money, and expensive cars.

I shrug. “I don’t think it matters if you prefer giant mansions or not. I prefer my excluded house in the woods.”

“Our house was excluded. Hidden. But it had enough rooms we could all live under one roof. My entire family. We could have extravagant parties and lush rooms. Why wouldn’t you want that?”

I shake my head. “You may think the Carini mansion was hidden and private. It wasn’t. Trust me. I’ve been doing security for a long time. I’ve seen hundreds of houses. My house is private. Yours wasn’t.”

“I doubt you have been doing this for a long time.” She rakes her eyes over my body as she takes in my appearance and age.

“Security is all I’ve ever done. Even when I was a kid. Don’t start judging me because I don’t come from a long line of Conti’s who work in security. I made my money on my own.”

Her face brightens at my admission. Damn it. How do I keep revealing so much about myself to her so easily?

She nods. “I wasn’t judging you for not inheriting money. I admire that. It seems like a simpler life, where nothing is expected of you, and you can choose your own path. I envy you for that.”

“Don’t. My life is no more perfect than yours is.”

She raises an eyebrow. “You can’t be serious. Your life is a lot better than mine. You’ve never had your life threatened. Your ownership of your body, taken. Never been violated by another person.”

“Don’t speak unless you know the words you are saying are truthful. You know nothing about my life. In some ways, my hell is much worse than yours.”

Her eyes cross in confusion and her luscious red lips open to speak again. I climb out of the car before she starts firing off her questions. This is one area she won’t be getting any answers to her questions. I’ve endured more pain than she can ever imagine. I would easily trade paths with her to get rid of my own omnipresent pain.

I walk to her side, but her door is already open, and her feet are swung to the side as she prepares to step out.

Not fucking happening.

I scoop her up roughly.

“Put me down. I can walk! There is no threat at the moment. Dante isn’t lurking behind one of the trees. Let me walk. It doesn’t matter how long it takes me.”

“It does too matter how long. I have work to do. I can’t just sit around waiting for hours as you stumble into my house.”

She pouts. “What did you mean back there about your hell being worse?”

I refuse to answer her or even acknowledge her words. I enter my code on the front door and wait for the door to unlock after it has scanned my face and recognized me as the owner. It opens, and I carry her in. The door shuts and locks automatically behind me.

“Caspian, it’s good to have you home. Can I get you anything, sir?” Michi, my assistant, and the owner of the house on paper, asks. He oversees everything that has to do with the house when I’m not here.

“We would love some food. Something light, please Michi.”

Gia looks from me to Michi curiously. I expect her to open her mouth, but she doesn’t.

“Yes, sir. I’ll make some soup and grilled cheese.”

“Thank you.”

Michi heads to the kitchen.

“Wow, I’m surprised you can fit a third person into this shack,” Gia says, with a hint of teasing in her voice. I don’t know what it is that allows her to feel comfortable teasing me, but I like it.

“Watch it, or you’ll be sleeping outside.”

I carry her to my bedroom. The house is small, with only two bedrooms; one for me and one for Michi. The living room couch folds out into a bed when my sister stays over. But that isn’t often anymore. I didn’t think about it much when I was planning on taking Gia, just that I wanted her here.

I’ll figure out the rest later. I place her on my bed before I realize my mistake. My cock comes to life straining hard in my pants at the sight of her on my bed.

The T-shirt she is wearing doesn’t hide her glorious tits. Her nipples are hard against the thin material. And the boxers she is wearing cling to her far too skinny legs. Legs that were not this skinny before, but after a month of hardly eating, I’m sure she has lost a lot of weight.

I frown. I need the clothes off of her, but I don’t want this to be a fight. She’s exhausted, and my temper is tired of being tested. I’m not used to anyone disobeying my commands. She will learn to follow my demands, but it will take time.

Today, I want her clean, in new clothes, and fed. Then I will busy myself in work or spend my night jerking off while I try to be patient and not claim her pussy tonight.

I leave her on my bed, knowing full well she will try to get up and make a run for it. My bathroom is good sized. Not huge, but it has a large clawfoot tub I never use. Now I’m glad I never got rid of it to make more space in the bathroom.

I turn on the faucet in the tub and stick my hand under the water until it is warm, but not hot. I don’t think her skin can handle hot. I take my time returning to the bedroom. I lean against the door frame watching her as it takes everything in her to scoot herself to the edge of the bed.

“What is your plan once you are standing?”

Her body jumps at the sound of my voice. She looks up with a frown.

I smile. “What’s your plan? I know you don’t have a weapon. You haven’t figured out where I keep my guns yet. You can barely walk. If you run, I’d get you back in five minutes. What’s your plan?”

“Dante didn’t find me in five minutes when I ran.”

I nod. “True, but then you weren’t the one that planned your escape. I did.”

Her frown deepens, and the determination in her eyes grows stronger. “You did not plan my escape, I did.”

I smirk. “I had my team call, Dante, to distract him so you could escape. I made sure no one was in that building or parking lot. I made sure he didn’t find you.”

“I escaped on my own.”

“Fine. You made it down an elevator, through a parking lot, and into the woods. If it weren’t for me, you would have died in those woods or Dante would’ve found you.”

She folds her arms across her chest, hiding her view of her breasts from me.

My lips thin, but I don’t frown. I don’t want her to see my disappointment at her hiding her body from me.

“What’s your plan? You aren’t escaping. You aren’t strong enough. So I would recommend you let me help you clean up, you eat some food, and you rest. And then, when you’ve healed, you can try an escape again. Okay, sweetheart?”

Her jaw twitches when I say ‘sweetheart.’ She clearly doesn’t like nicknames. But she doesn’t say anything.

“I’m going to remove your clothes and help you into the tub so we can clean the filth off you.”

I walk to her not giving her a choice in the matter as I grab the hem of her T-shirt. She keeps her arms crossed and I give her a stern look.

“Do you want to waste energy fighting me on this? You want to be clean. And I can’t leave you alone in the bathtub. You’d drown. So let me help you.”

Slowly, she lifts her arms and lets me remove her shirt. She doesn’t shudder or hide when my eyes rake over her body. She’s used to being naked in front of men.

My cock grows, but it stills every time a new bruise or injury is revealed. I don’t think there is one area of her skin that hasn’t been touched by that monster.

I kneel down in front of her as I grab the waistband of his boxers. She lifts her hips the tiniest bit as I pull them off her. My eyes go to her beautiful cunt. Needing to see it. It’s glorious. But then my eyes see the large bruise on the inside of her thigh. I see the red cuts around her ankles and wrists where she’s been tied up too tightly. I see the way her knee bends at an awkward angle, clearly not set correctly.

Fuck.

Her body is more damaged than I ever imagined possible. I don’t know how her body hasn’t already shut down from the pain.

I hoped to see the naked body of the beautiful woman who fell into my lap and begged for my help. Now that body is so scarred, there are only remnants left. She needs to heal.

My cock stiffens at the sight of her nipples hardening in the brisk air.

Damn, cock.

I can’t fuck her. Not here. Not now. I’m better than this.

Our gazes meet, exchanging too many feelings. I hate feelings. I don’t do feelings. Not anymore. I’ve spent the last few years shut off from the world. The only emotion I ever felt was anger and revenge.

Now, looking at Gia as I stand over her, she stirs a feeling I haven’t felt in years. I can’t quite place it. I don’t know what the feeling is called. I hate it. I want it to go away. But I need to wash away any sign of Dante from her body. Or at least, what I can wash away. I know I can’t remove the bruises or scars. Or the mental images from her mind.

I see the same emotion in Gia’s eyes. Revenge is what she runs on. It’s what has kept her alive, but there is something different now.

“Thank you,” she says quietly.

I still. She shouldn’t thank me. Not until she understands what I require of her. Not until she knows who I am. But I recognize it as the feeling in her eyes. She’s thankful. Her eyes say she’s scared to say the words, but she says them because it releases her from any guilt over what comes next.

I feel the reflection of emotion in myself. I’m grateful I have her. That I could save her, whatever that means.

I will accept that I did save her. Dante was set on killing her. Doing everything he could to get to that point and push her over the edge to darkness until her body stopped working, her mind shut down, and she vanished into nothing. If I hadn’t saved her, I’m not sure she would have survived another week. Definitely not another month.

“You’re welcome,” I say, finally admitting what I’ve done.

Gia moves to get off the bed but then stops herself. She looks up at me with her dopey sad eyes. Her eyes say sad, but her long curling eyelashes say beautiful. I could get lost in the length of her lashes.

She exhales deeply, but it comes out more of a huff of frustration.

“Caspian, will you please help me to the bath?”

I catch my breath in my throat. Of all the things I expected her to say, I never expected her to ask for my help. I don’t know what I did to earn her trust, but at this moment, she’s giving it to me.

I don’t say a word. I put one hand under her frail legs and the other under her arms. I lift her, feeling every bone in her body pressing into my chest as I carry her.

I’ve fantasized about carrying her naked since I first saw her. But this is the opposite of what I wanted. This is me taking care of her. This will hurt her worse than any physical thing I could do for her. She can’t feel anything when it comes to me. She can’t like me, or be grateful for me, or love me.

I place her into the warm water of the bath, carefully lowering her as her hands grasp onto the side of the tub to keep herself upright. I turn the faucet off as the water covers her breasts.

I kneel next to the tub. I can’t leave her alone because she could drown, I tell myself. No matter how weak Gia’s body is now, she would never let herself drown. She’s too strong for that. Her spirit won’t allow it.

Gia closes her eyes and lays her head against the back of the tub, letting the warm water go to work on her body and soul. The water immediately turns a light brown color as the caked on dirt washes off her skin.

I hold out a bar of soap and wait until she opens her eyes to take it from my hand. She begins moving the bar over her arms and chest, shakily rubbing her skin with the soap. She winces with every tiny movement, either from the energy it takes to move her arm or the pain the bar of soap causes as it moves over her skin.

I can’t keep watching.

My hand reaches out to grab the soap from her, gripping her hand over the soap resting against her chest.

Her eyes meet mine, and I think she’s going to fight me. Tell me she can wash herself. But she slowly relinquishes the bar of soap to me.

My teeth clench together, and my cock is hard as a rock as I move the soap over her chest to wash off the dirt. She watches me a moment. Staring into my eyes like she will find the greatest treasure if she keeps looking. Luckily, my waist is hidden from her view by the side of the tub. She can’t see how hard I am for her and how desperate I am to become Dante. To rip her from the tub and fuck her. If Dante hadn’t already hurt her so much, I would probably be doing just that.

Slowly, Gia closes her eyes and rests her head back while I move as slowly as I can to wash her. Applying just enough pressure to clean away the dirt, while careful not to press too hard and cause her more pain.

Every once in a while she bites her lip, winces, or lets out a low moan when I press too hard. But for the most part, I feel like I’m in more pain than she is.

“I need you to sit up so I can wash your back.”

She opens her eyes slowly, as if even doing something that simple hurts. I’ve never been in that much physical pain before, so it’s hard for me to understand. I do understand emotional distress, however.

She grabs onto the side of the tub again and starts pulling while I put my hand on the smoothness of her back and push her into a sitting position. Her entire body trembles as I wash her back. I move quickly so she can relax again.

I put the soap away and grab the nearby bottle of shampoo. It’s not a feminine scent. It’s the kind I use. Fresh and manly. She will smell like me if I use it, and I can’t resist.

She notices the shampoo and dunks her head under the water to soak her long tresses. I squeeze a couple of drops of the shampoo into my hand and then massage it into her hair, hoping it will work on the tangles as well as the dirt.

Gia moans loudly.

“Am I hurting you?” I ask, stopping, afraid she has an injury covered by her hair.

She smiles up at me sweetly. “No, sorry. You massaging my head like that feels incredible.”

My jaw falls open a little when I massage the shampoo into her head again, and the same sound escapes her lips. It sounds like I’m doing much more to her body than just shampooing her hair. It sounds like I’m rubbing an area much further south. I can only imagine the sounds she makes when she comes.

I sigh. I need to wait days, weeks, months until I try to hear those types of sounds from her. And even then, I don’t think she will find sex with me enjoyable enough to gasp and moan at my touch. She will probably fight me off, instead.

I finish shampooing and help her dunk her hair back, rinsing the suds from her hair.

She runs her hands through her hair, working to untangle the strands.

“Give it time,” I say when I see the disappointment at her hair not untangling.

She nods.

We both need to give ourselves time.

I grab a towel from the cabinet while we wait for the water to drain out of the tub. When the tub is empty of water, I wrap the towel around her and carry her back to my bed. I sit her on the edge of the bed and help her dry her body and hair before I head to my drawers and pull out one of my T-shirts and boxer shorts. It feels strange to be giving her the same thing to wear Dante gave her.

But when I hold out the clothes for her, she takes them with a warm smile.

I help her put the clothes on and climb into the bed.

Her eyes fall closed the second her head hits the pillow.

“I’ll have Michi bring you food soon.”

“Mmm.”

I crack a tiny grin. I don’t know why you are in my life, Gia Carini, but you have turned all my plans upside down. I’m not even sure what I want with you, beautiful. My cock knows what he wants. But what do I want? Why did I take you? Why did I save you? And what happens next?

I sit in my favorite chair in the living room with a scotch in my hand. It’s late. Almost three in the morning, but I prefer the night. I like the darkness. It hides my emotions well. No one can discover any of my secrets if they are buried beneath the dark blanket of night.

I stare at my bedroom door I closed hours ago. Gia slept for two hours before I woke her to eat the soup and grilled cheese sandwich Michi cooked. She’s been asleep since after she finished her dinner. I considered sleeping in the bed next to her, but I stopped myself. I didn’t care if she was comfortable or not, but I knew if I slept in the same bed with her I wouldn’t be able to control myself. Fucking her will be so much better when she’s healed.

Instead, I sit in my chair drinking my scotch. It’s not an expensive brand. I don’t drink it for the taste. I drink it because it dulls my emotions. So why bother buying an expensive bottle?

I have a theory about Gia Carini. I think I know her better than she realizes. I’ve barely spent any time with her, but I know enough. My job is about reading people, and I can read her like an open book. The signs are all there. I don’t have to read the file I had Adela do on her to know who Gia Carini is. She may have thanked me for helping her escape this evening, but that was then. I don’t expect any more thank yous. From now on, the real Gia will come out. The one that will do whatever it takes to save herself.

I don’t have a TV, and even if I did, I wouldn’t turn it on to help the minutes pass. I don’t open a book or play music either. All that I have to pass the time with is my scotch and the ticking of the clock in my living room. It’s enough. Just thinking about Gia is enough.

I hear the familiar crick of the door.

I don’t react. I don’t smile or frown. I don’t gasp or growl. This was what I was expecting.

The door cracks open further until I can see the shadow of Gia standing in the doorway holding onto the doorway like it’s a lifeline.

Anger and annoyance roll through me. Gia may be brave, but she’s also stubborn and relentless, both will eventually get her killed.

I nurse my drink while I watch Gia in the darkness gather her strength. She holds onto the wall as she takes careful steps, trying to quiet her feet on my old battered floors. It’s an impossible task for the talent of a ballerina floating across the floor, let alone someone who is injured. Gia can’t control her legs. She’s off balance, and every step sounds like an elephant tromping through my house.

She falls. I hear the thunderous sound vibrate through the entire house, her body hitting the ground.

I wince and curse under my breath. My instinct is to run to her and help her up. I’m desperate to help her.

That’s what I’m doing, I remind myself. By staying, I’m helping her.

So I wait and force more of the cheap scotch down my throat. She gets back to her feet, but it takes time. I’ve already finished my drink, poured myself a second, and finished all but a drop of that before she manages to stand again.

I close my eyes. I feel her heavy breathing. I hear her bones aching with each movement. My floor bends and cracks with each shift of her weight.

I grip the armrests, trying to restrain myself. Stay. Wait.

I glance up at the clock above my fireplace mantel. It’s after four in the morning. She’s been at this almost an hour now. Enough.

I spring off of my chair and walk silently into the hallway.

“Fifty-five minutes and thirty-four seconds, that must be a world record for the slowest attempt at escaping my house,” I snarl. I can’t keep my anger and frustration out of my voice, though I know it will provoke her temper.

Gia glares at me, her anger reaching the deepest parts of her frown.

“If you’ve been listening to me this entire time, you could have at least helped me back to bed or told me there was no point.”

I laugh in a twisted way. “Would you have listened or would you have just postponed your attempt until tomorrow?”

She crosses her arms across her chest as her mouth prepares to tell me off, but the movement knocks her off balance.

I grab her before she falls again. I sigh. “Stop trying to escape. Stop trying to save yourself. It won’t work. You’re too weak.”

She chuckles in defeat. “Would you stop fighting? How can I stop when it’s all I have? I have my freedom, my honor, my name. That’s all I am. I’m Gia Carini. Wealthy, powerful, and beautiful. If I lose it, then what?

“I have nothing left. I have to fight. I can’t spend tonight giving into you when tomorrow you could be beating me half to death. If that happens, I need to know I did everything I could to try and escape tonight. Understand?”

“More than you know.”

“So don’t lecture me about trying to escape.”

I shake my head. “You need to stop trying to escape. No matter what happens next, you are still Gia Carini, the most powerful, intelligent, beautiful woman in all of Italy. Nothing I do will change that. But you have to stop trying to escape. You’ll never heal.”

“Why would I want to heal when you will just break me again? I see it in your eyes. I know you are just as bad as Dante, even if you can control yourself better than him. Why wait for you to lose control?”

“Because like you said, I can control my monster. I won’t hurt you. For one month.”

Her eyes widen, and her mouth falls open. And all I can think about is what it would feel like to shove my cock into her glorious mouth. Her long pink tongue massaging me, bringing me to the brink.

“Caspian?”

She must have said something.

“Yes?”

She shakes her head. “I thanked you for saving me, or whatever it was when you took me from Dante. But that doesn’t make you a saint.”

“I never said it did.”

“Then let me go. You have no use for me. You are a good-looking man. I’m sure you can get plenty of women. You have enough money you can pay a nice woman to live out your fantasies. You don’t need me. Call my brothers. Tell them I’m safe and for them to rescue me. You don’t need the hassle. If Dante finds out you have me, your business will be ruined, and you will probably end up dead.”

I don’t disagree with her. She’s right. But again I think too much with my cock, and all I can think about is she called me good-looking. I think back to the day we first met. The look of lust in her eyes I thought I imagined. Was that real?

“No.”

It’s a simple word that answers her unspoken question.

She doesn’t react to my word. She knew it would be my answer. It’s why she never asked the question. It’s why she tried to sneak out in the middle of the night.

“I can promise you this, Gia. I won’t touch you. I won’t hurt you. Nothing. For one month.

“For one month you can move about this house as if you aren’t enslaved. For one month you can have as much freedom as you like within these four walls. Come and go in any room as you please. Ask Michi to make you any food you want. Ask me to do anything within reason for you in this house. Heal. Stop trying to sneak out.

“Then, after the month is up, you are free to try and run as much as you want. But when the month is up, attempting to run will be as useless as it is now. Your body can’t handle running now, but even if you were healed, I have the best security system installed in my house. Better than ones I install in any of my clients’ homes. You will never escape without my permission.”

“Why?”

I shake my head. I just told her she was safe for an entire month, and she asks me why. She’s too curious for her own good. She should accept my offer and work for the next month to figure out my weaknesses, instead of using all her strength to stand in this dark hallway and talk to me.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes,” she says without hesitation.

“I don’t play with broken toys, even partially broken.”

She narrows her eyes into thin slits. Her eyes are the only thing I can see in the dark of the night, and now they are barely visible.

“I’m entirely broken.”

“No!” My voice is louder than I wanted when I opened my mouth, and her body jumps. I slow and calm my voice. “You are not broken. Just injured. You can heal.”

She shivers under my gaze. “When the month is up, will you hurt me?”

Yes. No. I don’t know. I can’t tell her any of those things. I don’t even know what I want myself. But the answer is most likely yes.

“I have a track record of hurting women. I’ve never failed.”

“Neither has Dante. Dante always ends the lives of the women he captures within a month. He failed.”

She’s hoping I’ll admit I, too, will fail. But hurting her isn’t my mission, unlike Dante. I will wound her whether I want to or not. Her being in my life will mean she will end up fatally injured, forever.

“Dante never played with your heart.”

She gasps. I got the reaction I wanted, now time to close.

“He fought to get it, but he never had it. You can’t take a heart by force. It has to be given, willingly. I don’t just want your body Gia. I want all of you. Your heart most of all. And I’m the type of man who won’t give up until I have it.”

“And if you claimed my heart?”

“I would never give it back. I don’t think you’ve ever lived without your heart. It’s like living in the dark shadows, never being able to step into the light. It’s not a particularly enjoyable way to live.”

She silently nods like she understands. She doesn’t. I’ve seen women lose their minds by the time I’m done with them. They leave me more broken than the woman leaving Dante’s side. Death is the only answer for someone who has lost the will to live.

“Hold onto your heart, Gia. Don’t give it to me. And don’t let me steal it. If you want to live after you leave here, then keep yourself guarded. And when the month is up, find a way to escape.”