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My gaze flicked back to her fragile form, and my steps toward him halted. Her slender fingers were wrapped tightly around his forearm where it was braced at her waist, clinging to him in her sleep. A thick white bandage encircled her wrist, healing the wounds that’d been inflicted by her kidnappers’ cruel restraints.
Despite my remembered rage, indecision immobilized me.
Even if I killed George quickly, I wouldn’t be able to prevent his blood from marring her porcelain skin. She would wake up screaming, horrified at the violent death of the man who shared her bed.
My eyes narrowed on her hand where she clutched at him. She must love this two-faced monster. She held on to him for protection in her sleep, cuddling close to the man she’d pledged to marry. Her small diamond ring glittered through the darkened space, seeming to flash bright enough to sting my eyes.
She was innocent, but she loved this bastard. His murder would haunt her forever.
My own memories of brutal violence flickered through my mind in an unwelcome, macabre film reel. I’d lost my innocence on the day my parents had been butchered in front of me. I’d been too young to save them, too weak. And the last thing my mother had seen was my enemy’s blood on my hands. The horror in her eyes before the light had left them was seared into my soul.
I took a jerky step back from the sleeping couple.
No, I couldn’t do that to Evelyn. She’d suffered enough when Duarte’s men had beaten her. I wouldn’t add to the nightmares she’d carry for the rest of her life.
As though she sensed the danger lurking in the darkness, she stirred, tensing in Crawford’s arms. My breath caught at her soft, fearful whimper, all my muscles locking up tight. If her nightmare roused him now, I’d have no choice but to act. He surely had a weapon stashed near his bed, and a moment of hesitation could cost my life.
But the selfish bastard didn’t so much as stir at her distress.
Her shaky breath huffed through the silent bedroom, but she kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut. In the dim light, a single tear glittered on her luminous cheek as it slipped through her thick lashes.
Fuck.
She was awake, but she was hiding her residual fear from Crawford. She was likely reliving her trauma, and he slept peacefully beside her.
A reckless urge to wrap my arms around her and drag her away from him clawed at my mind, but I ruthlessly forced it down. I had to get the fuck out of here in case he did wake up.
Her next breath was a muffled sob.
I held my own breath and backed away, slipping into the shadows of the living room and out their apartment door before melting into the night.
I tasted copper on my tongue and realized I’d cut my cheek on my clenched teeth. That’d been too close. I never put myself at risk like that. In any other circumstance, I would’ve ended Crawford without a second thought. I’d survived this long because I was decisive and followed my most violent instincts without hesitation.
I shook my head sharply, as though I could toss the memory of her moonlight skin and glittering tear from my mind. Evelyn would be better off once her fiancé was dead.
I would just have to find a way to kill him so that she wouldn’t be the one to find his dead body.
Chapter 6
Massimo
Ihadn’t seen Evelyn in a week. It would’ve made me edgy if it weren’t for the glimpses of her silhouette through the drawn curtains when I stalked George back to his apartment at night.
I’d seen plenty of that slippery bastard over the last several days, but he was always surrounded by his fellow DEA agents. He must’ve gotten spooked by Evelyn’s abduction, and he never went anywhere alone.
Not that he seemed to give a damn about her wellbeing. Three nights this week, he’d gone to the bar with his coworkers and left her isolated at home. Was she scared to leave the safety of their apartment? Did she still have nightmares and cry silently in his arms?
I remembered her moonlight glow, the starlight glimmer of the tear that had trailed down her cheek. She’d been stunning even in the darkness, even in her distress.
She’d cried because of him. He didn’t care if his corrupt actions endangered her.
I forced my jaw to unclench and refocused my wayward thoughts. Evelyn was a beautiful distraction I couldn’t afford. I’d promised Duarte that I’d handle the threat to his organization, and I couldn’t wait forever before eliminating the DEA agent.
Enzo and Gian had almost sealed our deal with Duarte and his Colombian partner, Adrián Rodríguez. Soon, they would return to Italy to set up the cocaine trafficking route on our end. I would remain here as Duarte’s guest.
But in reality, I’d stay behind as leverage to ensure that my friends upheld their end of the bargain. The cartel bosses wouldn’t ship their product to Europe without getting paid, so I would remain here until the transaction was complete. Once the infrastructure was in place, I could return to Naples, and my friends and I would be richer than we’d ever dreamed.
I just had to navigate the next few weeks with Duarte, and if I left George breathing for much longer, that wouldn’t help solidify our new friendship. I had to follow through on my promise, or it would be my life on the line. My friends wouldn’t be in Mexico to watch my back, and there would be little I could do against Duarte’s small army of men. Over the last two decades, I’d learned to survive through honing my violent instincts, but I was only one man against many. Leaving George Crawford alive and well was bad for my health.
