Page 67 of Bound in Promise

I frown. “Where else was I supposed to go?”

He brushes my cheek with his thumb. “You did good.”

I reach for his wrist. “Are you okay? How’s your leg?”

“It’s fine. A flesh wound.”

“We need to get you to a doctor.”

“Victoria—”

“Can you get down?” I scan behind him to see where he came from, realizing he must have taken the same path I did. “Do you need me to help you?” Dante doesn’t answer, and I look back at his face. “What is it?”

His lips set in a fine line, whitening from tension, before I see him breathe out and deliberately relax his features. “What happened last night?”

My nose wrinkles in disgust at what Angelo tried to do to me. I’m so damn happy the moron didn’t find me up here.

Still, he must have taunted Dante about me.

There’s no other reason Dante would be asking about what happened.

“He came to my room,” I finally say. “And I hit him as hard as I could in the head with a lamp.”

Dante bobs his head. “What else?”

“I grabbed his phone and climbed out the window. I didn’t want to risk the hallway because I was afraid someone would catch me there. I thought I’d be able to get off the property, but that was a failure. So, I did what you told me to do if I needed help.”

“He didn’t… Did he…” Dante’s dark eyes, frantically searching my own, tell me everything I need to know. He thinks there’s more to the story. I shake my head in denial. “Victoria, you can tell me the truth. It’s not your fault?—”

“He didn’t rape me,” I reply. “He didn’t get a chance. Angelo’s too slow.”

“Are you sure? Princess, I will kill him for you regardless, just tell me if he touched you.”

“He didn’t.” Dante doesn’t look convinced. “I promise, Dante. I would tell you. There are no secrets between us.”

“Such a strong little princess,” he mutters, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. “We should get you a piece of land and your own castle.”

“Only if you come with me.”

He pulls back from me then, a frown in place before he begins to rise to his feet. He winces a bit in the process, so I know his leg is bothering him more than he’s willing to admit. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”

“Is it safe? Will you?—”

“Enzo will have the place cleared out by the time we hit the second floor.” He helps me to my feet and wraps an arm around my waist. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“But—”

“Watch me work,” he states as we walk toward the edge of the roof. “I’ll show you what happens when idiots fuck with what’s mine…when they piss me off.”

I understand that.

I’m pissed too.

But I don’t want to see him hurt himself when we’ve just found our way back to each other. In truth, all I want is to stay on this roof and stare. The last several hours have felt like an eternity. I can’t believe it’s only been one night, that he’s safe, that my call to Enzo worked.

I know we have unfinished business. There are things that need to be taken care of if we’re going to be able to leave the country safely.

“Dante, let’s just go. Angelo will never get to us.”