Page 58 of Righteous Enforcer
"I should check on Mirabella?—"
"She's fine. This can't wait." I nod down the hallway. "My room. Just for a few minutes."
She follows me reluctantly. I close the door behind us, leaning against it.
I study Eva as she stands in the middle of my bedroom, looking like she might shatter at the slightest touch.
All the rage I felt downstairs has drained away, leaving only exhaustion.
"I'm sorry about Alessandro. He shouldn't have come at you like that."
Eva's shoulders drop slightly. "He has every reason not to trust me."
"Yes." I push off from the door and move closer, careful to keep my movements slow. Non-threatening. "But that doesn't excuse how he spoke to you."
She doesn’t respond.
She stares at me, utterly defeated, and yet, I see a spark of something in her eyes.
Defiance?
Is she still planning on running again?
"We had something real once. Before my father threatened you. Before you ran."
Her lips part, but no words come.
"You trusted me then." I close the distance between us. "Enough to share my bed. Enough to make a child with me."
Her eyes flicker with pain. "It wasn't about trust."
"Then what was it about?" I'm close enough now to catch the faint scent of her. "Because I'm struggling here."
“That was just two young people who were attracted to each other.”
She could stab me in the heart and it wouldn’t hurt as much as those words. “I see.” I laugh derisively as I turn away. “My brother’s right. I am a pussy. Because I was sure I loved you. But I was just someone to fuck, apparently.”
Her eyes flash with pain. “I didn’t say that.”
“Didn’t you? ‘… just two young people who were attracted to each other.’ How else am I supposed to take that?”
She looks down. “I didn’t want to leave, Adriano. I told you the truth. Your father?—”
“Was he right about you?” It takes a great deal of effort to keep my irritation in check. “Were you sent here to seduce the youngest Dante?—”
“No!” I see the fire in her ignite again. “I wasn’t using you.” After a moment's hesitation, the fire dies, and she sinks down onto the mattress.
"I don't understand why you won't let me help you now," I say, kneeling in front of her so we're eye to eye. "Whatever hold the Bratva has on you, whatever you've done, we can fix it."
She shakes her head. "You can't."
"Try me." I dare to reach for her hand, half expecting her to pull away. She doesn't. "I'm not the same man I was four years ago, Eva. I'm harder. Stronger." I squeeze her fingers. "Let me protect you and Mirabella."
Her lips tremble. "You'll hate me."
"I thought I hated you already," I admit. "When I found out you were alive. That you'd kept our daughter from me."
Her eyes drop to our joined hands.
