CHAPTER NINE: MAXIMO
IknewImade a mistake the second I saw her face.
Winter Chastine is too damn dumb for her own good.
I’ve always known it, but when she’d been half out of it and looking at me as if I was some sort of savior…
I can’t let that stand.
I’m no one’s fucking savior, especially not Winter. Because now that I know my brother’s long game, I intend on cutting it short.
My back aches as I get to my feet. Having my brother slam me into a fucking porcelain sink isn’t at the top of my list of things I’d like to do again. I’ve been feeling the pain for the last couple of days now. I know, from how Enzo had nearly freaked out when I’d taken my shirt off, that there’d been a deep bruise.
But it didn’t matter, considering Giovanni had made sure to send me to the basement as soon as all the smoke cleared and Winter was back home.
What’s one bruise in a group of many?
I rub my jaw, pushing down the anger that wants to rise again. I know why my brother was mad. I was reckless with the mouse, but frankly, keeping her safe isn’t my job, something they both need to understand.
Those pretty brown eyes flash through my mind again.
She’d looked so damn beautiful after I’d released her from my arms, beautiful and ripe for the picking. A normal man wouldn’t have been turned on by a hot mess of a crying woman with a fucked up shoulder, a split lip, and a bloody nose.
But it’d fucking done it for me.
Winter was like my own personal red riding hood and I’d wanted to eat her.
But instead, I’d taken care of her and that’d been a big fucking mistake.
I hadn’t done it because my stomach had dropped when I’d seen how distraught she was. Or because it looked like she was seconds from falling completely apart.
No, I’d helped Winter because I wasn’t thinking straight.
I’d grabbed her on instinct when I saw the way she was panicking. Choking her hadn’t done the job and I’ve been around enough of Enzo’s episodes to know that contact and pressure helps with panic attacks.
Like Enzo, she’d felt nice in my arms. Her body soft, shaking… Her chest had bumped against mine with every deep breath she’d taken.
It’d fucked with my mind, but the moment it was all over, I knew I needed to correct my mistake.
Winter is nothing but a broken toy for me.
And now, I need to make sure she understands me helping her meant absolutely nothing.