Page 134 of Dangerous Intent

“I’ll go on an adventure with you.” She bit her lip. “I trust you with my life.”

“What happened here can’t ever happen again. You are far too valuable to me not to remove you from this situation.”

“I would go anywhere with you.” She draped her arms around my neck. “As long as we’re together, I don’t care where we go, but can you just leave Milo? Will he be safe?”

“Milo will be fine. I don’t have any doubts about his ability to run this empire.”

Given the choice, I would stand with my brother, but that wasn’t the hand we were dealt. Splitting the tasks and having him return to New York while I handled keeping Lissia safe and gathering intel on Diego was our best option.

Milo and I would reunite with my father, and when the three of us were together, there wouldn’t be anything we couldn’t accomplish.

I pressed my mouth to hers, meshing our lips together and kissing her with every ounce of love I had for her. She may have been my captive, but my defiant hostage had stolen my heart.

After a few minutes, I broke the kiss, leaving us both breathless and eager for more. Her full, pouty lips and stunning brown eyes brought me back to the night of the gala. I craved her smart mouth and quippy banter. She had been mine since that night, but more importantly, I had been hers.

“Marchello.” She rested her hand on my cheek. “Nothing is ever going to tear us apart.”

“Not as long as I draw breath.” I brought her fingers to my mouth and swept my lips across her knuckles. “You’re my ride or die.”

“Always.”

“Princess, it’s time to ride.”

Taking her away was the only option for now. Diego was not going to relent. He was coming for this family one way or another, and I wouldn’t leave Lissia in his path of destruction.

My father had two heirs for a reason.

The End