Page 130 of Dangerous Intent

Leaving her to shower alone wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I had to put plans in place and get her out of Florida without another catastrophic incident.

I went back into the kitchen and stopped once I got to Danny’s body. Glaring down at him, I prayed that his soul went straight to hell for the torment he put Lissia through. I hoped he paid for what he intended to do to her.

An eternity in hell wasn’t long enough. I only wished I could make him suffer more.

“Fuck you!” I kicked him in the ribs. “I should have been the one to send you to hell.”

“If it’s any consolation,” Milo said as he joined me, “I’ll make sure no one ever finds him.”

“It’s a start.” I glanced down at Danny. “This is on me.”

I should have been the one to do it. I should have been there, standing between her and the monster who dared to touch her. Instead, I’d left her to fight my battle, and now the blood on her hands would stain her soul.

“No.” Milo pointed at the dead body. “It’s on him.”

“I left her alone to defend herself.” I clenched my fists. “She had to kill him. That’s something that will never leave her. That’s on me too.”

“She wasn’t alone,” he said. “We had guards on her.”

“Guards that were compromised.” I clutched the sides of my head, trying to contain the scream that wanted to break free. “Fuck.”

“Mistakes were made.” Milo gripped my shoulder. “This is why I vet all of our security. I know Lorenzo was trying to help, but now we know never to allow anyone who doesn’t pass the check to be anywhere near us.”

“We have to get this mess cleaned up.” I surveyed the room. “Get rid of his gun, the knife, everything. There can’t be anything that connects this to her.”

As I barked orders to Milo, my voice was steady, but inside, I was unraveling. Every drop of blood we wiped away would be like a piece of her innocence disappearing with it. I’d brought her into this world, and now I had to live with what it had done to her.

“I’m going to oversee it all myself.” Milo waved his hand over the knife. “She hit him in the right spot. She didn’t fuck around.”

“He was about to rape her.”

“Christ.” He spit on Danny’s body. “Thank God she outsmarted him.”

“That’s my girl, right?” I slammed my hand against the wall. “She wanted so badly to prove herself to me.”

“I think she succeeded.” Milo patted my back.

“I made her a killer.”

“I see a woman who did what had to be done.”

“She shouldn’t have had to do it.”

“She’s resilient. Once she comes to terms with what she had to do to save herself, she’s going to be fine. She’s one of us.”

“She is.” I took a deep breath and composed myself. If I lost my shit, I would be useless to her. “We have a lot to do.”

“Your priority is your wife.” He stared at my shirt. “You’re going to have to shower and get changed too before you leave. I need to get rid of any trace of Danny.”

“I will.” I leaned against the wall, wishing I could get rid of Danny’s memory as efficiently as we could his body and any evidence of a crime. Lissia was going to carry this night with her for the rest of her life. “We need to discuss a few things.”

“I told you I got this.”

“I appreciate that, and I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, but I need you to do something else.” I sighed. “You’re not going to like it, but it’s necessary for this family.”

“Anything.”

I hated to ask this of my brother, especially with our father gone and the business climate being so volatile, but I didn’t see another way. Maybe in a few weeks or months the circumstances would be different.