Page 97 of The Viper's Wife

I scrub over my head.Hands and knees, remember?

“Salvatore,” I say in a low voice. I don’t even know where I’m going with this, but he waits as I gather my thoughts. “I’ll do whatever you say, but I can’t leave her alone. Can yousend some men to watch her? I need to know she’s safe… please.”

My stomach sinks in the silence that follows.

He has me by the balls. I have no real power outside of my birth status, and I’ve made sure to put that far at the back of his mind while I’ve taken every opportunity to fuck with him for months.

He has every incentive to tell me no.

What other options do I have?

“Dom will keep an eye on her.”

My shoulders slump. I blow out a stream of air, not caring if Salvatore hears my audible relief. Dom, his massive underboss, sent to watch Valeria? He’s the best man that could be put on the job. Distantly, I’m aware of the generosity of what Salvatore’s done, and what it suggests—he wants to be allies.

“Thank you, Salvatore.”

“DonSalvatore.”

I almost laugh. He thinks I give a shit about titles and pride?

“Don Salvatore,” I say easily.

He hangs up, and for a long moment, I stand alone in the kitchen. Valeria, sleeping peacefully behind one closed door. Joey, waiting for me behind the second.

My brother, determined to prove his mastery over me.

None of it matters. I’ll call Salvatore whatever he wants. I’ll jump through all his hoops like a perfectly trained circus seal.

What I won’t do is go through what I did yesterday—clutching Valeria’s body under mine as glass rained down on us, my heart hammering so hard in my chest that I thought she would feel it while I desperately prayed to an estranged God that she would be all right.

I swallow my annoyance and call my father.

Several rings later, he doesn’t pick up. Asshole.

With one last, lingering glance at my bedroom door, I walk to the front door and open it for Joey.

His pitch-black motorcycle helmet greets me in the hallway.

We stare at each other for several seconds.

“Do you want coffee?” I finally ask.

“Yes, please.”

While Joey sips from a mug in the kitchen, I bring a second cup to the bedroom.

With the door shut, it’s cool and dark inside.

Valeria has shifted, tucking herself completely under the white sheet, only the side of her face sticking out, exposing one perfectly shaped ear.

I smile to myself as I set her coffee cup down on the nightstand. Admiring a woman’s ear is a first.

“Are you watching me?” Valeria asks groggily. She peeks her head out and squints one eye open.

“Yes.”

“That’s weird.”