Page 5 of Savage Heart

CHAPTER THREE

Alaric

“I’ve waited all this time to see you again,” I say in her ear. “I’m sorry I waited so long.”

Her anger melts away as tears fill her beautiful eyes I’ve missed looking at me. “I love my gift. Thank you. And I love that you kept my old cross all this time.”

“I never forgot you or how you made me feel for those few days. I just thought you’d be better off without me since you were here at Yale and living your dream.”

Sienna shakes her head. “I wish you didn’t stay away. I may not be right for your world, but you would have been great here for me because I have no one other than a few friends.”

“And your boyfriend,” I say, each word drenched in jealousy.

She hears it come through loud and clear and sighs. “You leave me alone for two years, and you think you should be upset about me having a boyfriend? Do they make sure hitmen have balls the size of Texas before they let you do the job, or are you just naturally like this?”

I wrap my hand around her neck and gently squeeze my fingers into her soft skin. “Possessive? I’m just naturally that way.”

Her eyes flutter closed, and she winces, but it’s not from pain. She’s missed my touch as much as I’ve missed hers, and that boyfriend be damned.

“You have no idea how much I wished you would come to me and say that during all those months alone, Alaric,” she whispers softly.

“I never left you, Sienna. Not really.”

Lifting her hand to my chest, I press her palm over my heart. “You were always right here with me.”

When she opens her eyes, I see they’re glassy from tears. I never dreamed she’d miss me as much as I missed her. She had an entire life to create here at Yale, so I assumed she’d find new friends and make her way. The idea of her finding someone else was never something I spent much time on, but not because I didn’t think she would.

I knew she’d move on. She had every right to, and even to these Ivy League assholes, she stands out because of her beauty and brains. I knew one of them would convince her to forget about me.

So I pushed that out of my head and went on with my life. But now that I’m here with her and she’s so close, I can’t ignore how much I hate the mere thought of some guy touching her.

“Tell me the truth, Alaric. My father’s death. Was that you who did it?” she asks, and I sense a hint of sadness under her words.

I nod, honest with her as I’ve been from nearly the moment I met her. “It was me.”

“Why?”

My two hands slide up her neck to cradle her face. “Because he tried to hurt someone I care about. That’s why.”

“You knew me for less than three days, Alaric.”

I shrug and answer with the only thing I know to be true about how I feel. “Feelings aren’t ruled by time.”

“I understand that. I fell in love with you in that short time we spent together. You did more to care for me in just a few hours than my family had done my entire life.”

“And I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.”

That makes her smile. “I’ve missed the way you can be so certain about everything. I never feel that way. Every part of my life is full of second guesses and wondering if I should have done things differently.”

With a smile, I nod again. She has no idea what I’d do to keep her safe and how much I’ve cared about her all this time. “I’m certain about you, Sienna. And I’m certain that I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Worry makes her frown as she says, “You must know that my brother Matteo has taken over the family. I’m scared all the time that he’s going to send one of his goons after me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. My family and I have watched over you to make sure he can’t get to you.”

A curious look fills her eyes as she stares up at me now. “So you’ve known about Trent the whole time I’ve been with him?”

That name makes rage course through me, so I step back away from her as my hands instinctively ball into tight fists. “Yeah, and to be honest, on top of him being out of his league with you, he seems suspect to me.”