Page 117 of Devil's Iris

42

ROMERO

I try to keep my head on straight as we breach the house. Try to think like the cold, calculating bastard who’s survived this long in a world that eats the weak for breakfast.

But logic is drowning in the tsunami of rage crashing through my veins.

I signal to my men as we step inside, gun raised and ready, my heart hammering like it’s trying to punch its way out of my chest. The silence hits me first—it’s too quiet, the air too still. If I didn’t know for absolute certain that Leni and that fucker Mikkel are somewhere inside, I’d swear the place was empty.

Where is she? Christ, where the fuck is my wife?

And then I see her.

She comes tearing out from the hallway at a dead sprint, her eyes wild and enormous. She pauses for just half a heartbeat, those slate gray eyes locking on mine with desperate relief, and then she’s charging straight towards me, running like her life depends on reaching me.

I barely have time to lower my gun before she’s colliding with my chest, her arms wrapping around my ribs as shepresses her face against me. The impact nearly knocks the breath from my lungs, but nothing has ever felt more perfect.

She’s here. Thank Christ, she’s okay.

The crushing tension in my chest finally releases at the solid weight of her in my arms—warm, breathing,alive. Sandro moves to cover us, his gun trained on the hallway Leni just emerged from, but no one follows.

“You—” My hands slip to her shoulders, pushing her back just enough to see her face, to inventory every inch for damage. "How could you be so fucking reckless?” The words come out harsher than I mean them to, edged with a fear I don’t know how to handle. I shake her, properly too roughly, but I can’t help it. “I could’ve lost you.”Again.

The thought sits bitterly on my tongue.I could have lost her without her ever knowing how much I love her.

She meets my gaze, eyes glossy, her breath shaky. “I know it was risky. But I had to do it—for Ethan.”

Because she thinks I wouldn’t move heaven and earth to save them both? That thought stings, but I file it away for later and pull her back into my arms, mindful of her wound. “He’s safe. One of my men escorted him home the second he walked out that door.”

She nods against my chest, her body finally starting to relax. “I was so scared,” she whispers, and I tighten my arms around her, not giving a fuck that my men are staring. Right now, nothing matters except this woman.

“I’m proud of you,” I murmur into her hair, breathing in her scent. She was incredible—so brave and smart despite her fear. “Jesus, Leni… I’m so fucking proud of you.”

She melts into my chest, her shoulders shaking as quiet sobs wrack through her. “I was so sure I was going to die. I thought that would be my last time seeing Ethan. Or you. And our last conversation would have been that stupid fight that doesn’t even matter anymore.”

“Shhh.” I press my lips to the top of her head. “You’re fine. You didn’t need a Romeo to rescue you after all.” I try to lighten the moment, and she actually giggles through her tears. “You saved yourself.”

I pull her back again, running my hands over her arms, her ribs, her face, checking for injuries I might have missed. “Are you hurt? Did he—did he touch you?”

“No.” She shakes her head, burrowing right back into my chest like she can’t stand to be even inches away from me. “I’m okay. I swear I’m okay.”

Good. If that bastard had laid a single finger on her…

“Find Mikkel,” I bark at my men.

“Wait!” Leni lifts her head up from my chest. “He’s in the basement. I locked him down there.”

Pride swells in my chest so fast it steals my breath. “You did?”

Her smile is small but victorious. “Tricked him into going down there and slammed the door. It only locks from the outside.”

Fuck me, she’s magnificent. My beautiful, brilliant wife.

“Sandro.” My voice goes arctic as I turn to my right-hand man. “Get him out of that basement and take him to the inn. Keep him breathing. I’ll deal with him myself.”

He nods and gestures for several men to follow him down the hallway. The anticipation of what I’m going to do to Mikkel burns in my chest. But first…

“We’re going home,” I murmur into Leni’s ear as I scoop her up. She sighs contentedly, her head finding that perfect spot over my heart.