Page 55 of Vicious Union

“I can’t,” he says, advancing on Dante.

I look down at Caterina, who’s shaking in my arms. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. You saved me.” She says it like she can’t believe it, which hurts me right to the core.

Rocco stalks forward, still firing off round after round in the hopes of killing Dante. And then Dante jumps out from behind the cars and fires his own weapon, landing a solid hit to Rocco’s.

My brother stumbles back, giving Dante the chance to run away.

We sprint over to Rocco, who’s clutching his shoulder.

“You could’ve been killed,” Massimo says.

“But I wasn’t. And now, Dante is gone. Damn it.”

“All because you chose to shoot at him,” I say. “Caterina could have gotten killed, Rocco. We’re supposed to be a family. We can’t let Dante divide us.”

He glances over at Caterina. “Are you all right?”

“I will be,” she says.

“I’m going home,” he mutters, walking away from us.

Massimo and I share a concerned look before he walks away, leaving Caterina and me behind.

“I …” There’s so much I need to say to her, but I can’t find the words.

“I just want to go home,” she says.

So, that’s what I do. I take her home.

CHAPTER 18

Caterina

Emilio and I are silent as we walk through our front door. I was just held captive by Dante and then returned all within the span of a day. I’m grateful Dante didn’t try anything with me. He was a surprisingly good captor. But I’m still rattled. I thought I would die at that junk yard. When Rocco opened fire on Dante, I thought it was for me.

But then Emilio took me in his arms, and I felt instantly safe.

Despite all our problems, I feel safe with him.

We turn to each other the moment the door closes behind us.

Without saying anything, we grab we each other and kiss.

“I thought you were going to die,” he says, kissing down my neck. I clutch his shoulders and drop my head back.

“I thought I might die, too. But I’m alive. I’m here. Now, shut up and kiss me.” I pull his face back up to mine, and we kiss passionately.

We don’t stop kissing, even as we head upstairs to our room. I bring Emilio with me as we lie down on the bed. His hands roam over my body as mine roam over his body.

Within moments, we both have our clothes off. We’re a tangle of limbs, and I’m not sure where one of us ends and the other begins. I just need to feel safe in his arms after the day I had.

I need to know he cares for me even a little bit.

Emilio brings his hand between my legs and pleasures my clit. I moan and open my legs wider.

“Were you scared when I was gone?” I ask.