Chapter 16 - BLOOD ON THE LINENS
The banquet ended within ten minutes of the altercation. The terrified capos offered hasty bows and cleared the estate before midnight, knowing better than to linger when the Don’s blood was boiling.
Upstairs in the master suite, the doors clicked shut, locking the chaos of the mansion out.
Elena stood by the vanity, her hands shaking slightly from the adrenaline that still coursed through her veins. She turned around to see Luca leaning heavily against the bathroom doorframe, his suit jacket discarded on the floor, his white dress shirt soaked through with dark, spreading crimson at the shoulder.
The violent struggle on the table had torn his stitches completely open.
"Luca!" she cried out softly, dropping all pretense of distance as she rushed toward him.
"It's nothing," he grunted, but his face was pale, beads of cold sweat gathering at his brow.
"Stop acting like you're invincible!" she scolded, her voice cracking with fear and anger as she guided him to sit on the marble bench beside the vanity. "You threw a grown man onto a table with an unhealed bullet wound! You're bleeding through your clothes!"
She quickly unbuttoned his bloodstained shirt, peeling the fabric gently away from the raw wound. As she exposed the torn flesh, tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She grabbed clean gauze and pressed down firmly on the wound to stem the bleeding.
Luca winced, his large hand coming up to grip her wrist. His fingers were hot against her skin. "Why are you crying, Elena?"
"Because you almost killed someone tonight for a stupid comment!" she said, looking straight into his fierce, tortured eyes. "You put yourself in danger for me."
Luca pulled her closer, forcing her to lean over him until their faces were barely inches apart. "I would burn the entire city to ash before I let an animal like Moretti touch you, Elena. Don't you realize that yet?"
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Her breath hitched. The memory of the kiss on his cheek four days ago rushed back, overwhelming them both with an electric, undeniable desire.
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