Free Revenge by Dana Delamar

“You could stay with me for a
while. I could help you get out of the country.” A thrill ran
through him, and his heart sped up. This was it. The declaration
of war. This was madness, suicide. But he couldn’t turn his
back on Kate, not when he was the only person who could help
her.
    She held his gaze for a moment, then shook
her head. “I can’t do that.” Her eyes left his. “I barely know
you.”
    “You can trust me. I can keep you safe.”
    “With a price on your head? No thanks. I’d be
safer on my own.”
    “Do you actually think a man like Vincenzo
Andretti would let you walk away from him?” He looked at her cheek,
then into her eyes. “That bruise is but a hint of his true
nature.”
    “You could be as much a bully as he is.”
    “I would never hit a woman.” He paused,
watching her closely. “Please trust me.”
    Kate laughed, but it was bitter. “‘Trust me’
is what men always say right before they fuck you over.”
    The balls on this woman ! He almost
laughed.
    She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Please
forgive my language. I’m not myself right now.”
    “If ever an occasion called for cursing, this
is it.” He waited for her to respond, then he said, “Let me help
you.”
    Despair settled over her features. “I
can’t.”
    Pushing her wouldn’t work. Perhaps if she had
time to reconsider. “As you wish.” He reached inside his jacket,
retrieved a business card, and wrote on the back. “This is my
private mobile number. Call me if you need help.” He set the card
on her desk, then walked out.
    Merda ! That didn’t go well. That
didn’t go well at all. He couldn’t leave her here, but he
couldn’t force her to go with him either.
    How the hell was he going to fix this?
    He walked down the hall. Antonio and Ruggero
should have been waiting for him outside her office. Why were they
out front? He stopped. Dio mio. Two lapses from Ruggero in one
day ? Unheard of. Damn it all to hell. Now he had to
replace Ruggero as well. Would this day never improve ?
Having to replace Ruggero was at least an improvement over getting
a death threat. A smile crossed his face; the day was looking up
after all.
    He stalked out front and found his guards
standing in a loose group, talking and smoking on the front stairs.
He confronted Ruggero. “Why are you still out here?”
    Ruggero gave him a bland look, then motioned
Enrico a few steps away from the others. “I thought you wanted
privacy.”
    “Why?”
    “The woman. You want her. She said she didn’t
want us around. I thought….” He let a shrug speak for him.
    It was that obvious. Had her husband seen it
too? “You thought wrong.”
    “If you say so.” Ruggero shrugged again, his
hands clasped behind his back.
    Now Ruggero was openly disagreeing with him?
“I do say so.”
    A slight smile appeared on Ruggero’s lips.
“You’re a man without a woman. She’s beautiful. I can’t help but
think that like the Lady Macbeth, you protest too much.”
    Enrico stared at him open-mouthed. Ruggero
read Shakespeare? He was full of surprises today. “When you’re
right, you’re right.” He paused. “However, that is no excuse for
laxness. When I want privacy, I will let you know.”
    Ruggero bowed his head. “I beg your
forgiveness, signore. ”
    Cristo . He’d just taken out his
frustration on the wrong person. “I need to think. I’ll be over
there.” He pointed to a bench under a large tree.
    He took a seat in the shade. How could he
convince her to let him help? He ran through and discarded several
ideas. Damn it, there was nothing he hadn’t already said. Maybe he
just needed to say it again. Rising, he headed for the front
stairs.

    Walking back to his car, Kate’s overnight bag
in hand, Vince shook his head, cursing. He’d been feeling bad for
nothing. He had been right to hit her. She was cheating on
him, just not with his uncle. Fucking Lucchesi. There was no doubt
about the way Lucchesi had looked at her, the lust in