Page 18 of Righteous Enforcer
But she’s protecting the child from me. ME!
The one who just saved them.
“If I wanted you dead, I’d have let those Russian goons do it.” I’m flabbergasted that she’s afraid of me. “Do you really think I want to hurt you?”
She looks torn. “I can’t trust anyone. Not anymore.”
Her words make me wonder how long she’s been on the run.
When everything in the world is a potential danger, trust is the enemy.
Something in me shifts.
The Eva I knew smiled easily and trusted me without question.
But that’s not the woman in front me.
This woman before me runs on a survival instinct.
Her eyes dart around, looking for escape routes even as she faces me.
I take a deep breath, forcing my fury down. I need answers more than I need to indulge my rage right now.
"We need to get off the street," I say, holstering my weapon. "More will come. I've got a car and can get you to safety."
Eva's eyes narrow with suspicion. Her lack of trust stings, but I ignore it.
"We should go. Now." I gesture toward the dead Bratva. "Unless you want to explain three bodies to the police."
Eva picks up the child who clings to her. "Thank you for helping us. I appreciate what you did, but we need to go our own way now."
She moves to step around me, and something inside me shatters.
Four years of grief, of emptiness, of believing the only woman I ever loved was rotting in the ground, and she thinks she can walk away with a simple thank you?
"No."
Eva freezes, her body tensing. "Adriano?—"
"Four fucking years I thought you were dead. And now I find you alive. You don't get to thank me and walk away. Not this time."
“I can’t?—”
“Can’t or won’t? You owe it to me to explain, Eva. What the hell happened that made you fake your own death and disappear like that?"
"Look around you, Adriano." Eva gestures to the bodies I just killed to save her. "This is your answer. This violence, this death that follows you everywhere—I couldn't live in that shadow anymore."
I laugh, but there's no humor in it. “Seriously? How's that working for you? Running from me only to end up in this alley with your daughter, surrounded by killers who are after you?"
She doesn’t respond.
"You didn't escape the violence by leaving me. You just faced it without protection." I step closer. "The difference is I would've killed for you before they ever got close enough to make you bleed." I have an urge to touch her that’s almost impossible to resist.
“I’m in danger because of you, Adriano.”
I go still, every muscle in my body locking tight. The rage I've been fighting suddenly sharpens. "Me? You think I put you in this position? You’ve been dead to me for four years." I can’t understand her thinking.
“Yes.” Eva shifts the child higher on her hip, her eyes never leaving mine.
