No one dares come near me when I get home. I carry Rose’s unconscious body up to my bedroom and tuck her, naked, into my bed, exactly where she belongs.
I want to bathe her, but something tells me she needs to do that herself.
This time.
Normally, I wouldn’t give a fuck, but this isn’t normal, and I let this go a little too far. I should have found another way to get Sylvie, just like I’m going to have to find another way to get Derek.
I look at her, and something deep in me shifts. It’s uncomfortable, like a bone sticking into me, or a knife. I have to deal with it. Cope. Ignore it.
She’s so young and vulnerable, dark circles smudged beneath her eyes, thick lashes brushing her cheek. Reaching out, I smooth a gentle hand over her, then brush her hair from her face. Slowly, I pull the sheets back and take her in from where I stand.
Marks on her upper arm, both from a needle and a hand. There’s a bruise blooming on her stomach. Bruises have formed from fingers on her upper thighs. I know I should call a doctor to check her out, but not when she’s passed out. She’s been violated, perhaps not sexually, other than that nasty fuck trying to finger her, but violated all the same. I don’t want to add to that.
I’m more than aware that everything I’ve done might be seen as violation, but Rose responded and begged each time, even when her head told her not to. She belongs here with me.
There’s a knock on my door, and I sigh, covering her. Tony is there, Mia hovering, and I shoot them both irritated looks. I point to his wife. “No.”
She looks for a moment like she’s going to defy me, but for all her hardass fire, she knows my limits and what I can do, so she only sends me a dark glare and goes downstairs. Tony doesn’t say a word or react. I fold my arms and lean against the door where I’ve left it open a crack. “News?”
This time, he reacts. “None. Vitale has gone underground.”
“I’m not worried about that fat fucker. He’ll pop up and when he does, he’s mine.” I wait a beat. “Finnegan?”
“Didn’t even go to the wedding. He didn’t return to the compound.” A flare of hope sets off in me, but Tony’s eyes crush that hope. “All hands were on deck and we don’t know where he is.”
For a moment, I think about ordering the execution of Roland, who watched the compound, but he followed protocol. We thought Finnegan had left with the wedding party.
“Fucking coward,” I mutter. “He’ll appear, too.”
I know what he’s thinking: he’s gone to his secret compound. The fact that I have Rose back and she isn’t in the hands of Vitale, which makes their deal null, means he’ll show up, and when he does…
Of course, there’s a possibility he’ll lay low for months. Unfortunately for him, I’m good at waiting, except perhaps where Rose is concerned. I’ll get him. Besides, now that I’ve seen what he did to her, what sick fuck he handed her to, I’m ready to pull out all the fucking stops. My contacts are extensive, more than anyone knows.
There’s a soft sound, the rustle of sheets from my room.
“Bring me Vitale, and don’t go near Finnegan. That plan is still a go.”
He nods at my door. “Boss?”
“I’ll get him, and when I do, when I have everything, I will rip him limb from fucking limb.”
With that, I go back into my room, shutting the door with a click. Rose is sitting there, still a little out of it, but awake. I cross to her, but she skitters away in the bed, shrinking down. There’s mistrust and the kind of defeat in those pretty blues that I haven’t seen before.
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t fucking look at me like that, Rose.”
“Why not?” Her voice is still slurred at the edges, but her anger, that’s beyond clear. “I don’t belong to you.”
“Oh, you think so, do you?”
“Y-Yes.” She rips the sheets from her, exposing all that lush and bruised, naked flesh, and heat moves through me. “You can use me, but you won’t ever be able to keep me. I don’t belong to anyone.”
I come to stand over her and laugh. This? This I can do. “That’s where you’re wrong, Rose.”
“Fuck you.”
“Soon enough, when you’re not drugged the fuck out of your gourd.” I slide my hand around her neck and she hisses in a breath as color blooms high in her cheeks and her eyes flutter. She’s almost mewling for me, her head moving to my hand, pressing into me, and I don’t even think she realizes it.
I gently pull her up so she’s on her knees. “Let’s get something straight, Rose. You belong to me. No one else, just me, and you know it.”
“No-”
“Oh, you do, and I’ll be proving it to you all over again if I have to.” I slide my other hand down to pinch her nipple. She gasps, moans, and I move to the next. I keep going until they form stiff peaks, and she blushes everywhere with anger, with arousal, with need.
“See, Rose? You’re all turned on and wanting me. You can’t deny that.
If I put my hand between your thighs, I’m betting you’re all wet.”
She moans and pulls away a little. I remember what she said in the car and anger pulses in me.
I lean into her and feather my mouth over hers, kissing her slow and sweet, a gentle kiss, full of unhurried seduction. She moans again, her breath hitching as she sways into me, fingers at my shirt. Her lips open, and that is pure fucking Rose, the heat and softness and wetness, the taste that’s both innocence and wanton, dark and light. It’s what I’ve dreamt of, fantasized about.
Pure and unadulterated Rose. She’s naked. I’m dressed and I want-
I lift my head, breaking the kiss, her little sounds of protest music in the air. “Did they hurt you, Rose?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
She’s lying and she won’t look at me. I think she knows I know. I reassure her anyway. “They won’t hurt you ever again, I promise. I’m going to kill your fuck of a father, not just for my own revenge, but for you. I can see the bruises.”
“No.” Her voice is fierce, and I ease her head up to look at me. “I want to kill-kill him myself.”
I smile slow. I like this part of her, the unleashed aggression. It’s been in her, the hard core, the promise of violence and the need to avenge. I kiss her again, not hard, no matter how much I want to pillage her mouth, bury myself in her.
“That, my Rose, maybe be something I can arrange.” I release her and gently push her down to lay on the bed again.
“Nikolai…”
“Sleep, Rose,” I murmur. “We’ll talk later, after you rest.”
Because I don’t actually trust myself, I head out, leaving the door cracked open.