Page 59 of Lethal Vengeance

I grab his hand. “Later,” I tell him, tilting my head toward the room full of people. The image on the screen catches my eye. “There is a room missing. Not sure it matters, though. There is only one entrance and exit.”

He doesn’t even glance at the screen. “Forget the bloody room,” he orders in a hoarse voice.

Bending down, his warm lips meet mine in a scorching kiss full of feelings. He pours them into me one at a time until my heart aches for him. Gone is the cheerful, happy-go-lucky Brit. In its place is a man wrecked by reliving the past. His emotions are dark and full of sadness, but there’s an undercurrent of hope in there, too. And heat. The kind that burns you up from the inside.

His arms tighten around me, and this time, I grunt in pain.

Jerking back, he raises his head and stares down at me. “It’s worse than a few bruises. Tell me.”

“Three minutes dangling from a rope,” I reply. “Could have been worse. It was worse for Raider.”

He frowns fiercely, and he swivels around to look across the room. “Where is he?”

“Stayed inside to help.”

He jerks away and spears his fingers through his golden locks, pulling the strands in frustration. “Damn him.”

“Sterling, where’s the update?” Zane asks loudly.

Indecision wars in Sterling’s eyes.

“Go back to work,” I urge him. “Raider’s choices are his own.”

I blink at the words. It’s obvious these men don’t like the fact that Raider chose to stay, but they accept it’s his decision. Just like they accepted mine to stay in Samantha’s place.

“I can’t wait for this mission to be over,” he rasps. Dropping a kiss on my lips, he sinks into his chair. “I should be done with this soon. Go rest. I’ll find you.”

Margot drifts over to stand behind him, but with a glance at me, she stands a little farther away.

I look around the room, feeling a little lost and left out. Angry at the thought, I stalk over to the kitchen and open the refrigerator. Pizza boxes are stacked inside. I pull one out, heat up a few slices, and scarf them down. Samantha was right about the food in the facility. I wouldn’t feed it to a dog.

“Got any extras?” a gravelly voice asks behind me.

I turn and find a dark-haired man behind me.

He flashes a charming smile, but it does nothing for me.

Without a word, I grab another plate, add a few slices, and pop it in the microwave. When it dings, I turn to hand it to him.

“Thank you. We traveled down early this morning from Chicago and didn’t get time to eat. Too many preparations,” he explains with a shrug.

I tilt my head. “Chicago? What’s your name?”

“Dante Luciano.” He takes a large bite of the pizza.

My eyebrow rises sky high. “Aria’s brother? She made it home? What about Samantha? Is she there, too?”

He stills. “You must be Quinn.” Eyes that shined with friendliness a moment ago turn to suspicion. “Aria informed me you saved her, at the request of Armando, of course.” Sinister light gleams in his eye.

“That’s correct.”

Two men walk over and stand beside him. I eye the younger one. This must be the other brother Aria mentioned. He looks remarkably like her. His smile disappears when he sees the look on his brother’s face.

The last man is older, hardened compared to the other two. He looks like he could fight his way out of a dark alley with his hands tied behind his back. The muscle, I’m guessing.

“This is my brother, Leonardo. And our right-hand man, Giovanni,” he says, introducing each of the men beside him. “This is Quinn.” Teeth gleam in their pseudo smiles, but I can see the predators behind the façade.

“Nice to meet you,” I state flatly. “There’s more pizza in the fridge.” I pivot to my left to walk away, but a large hand grabs my elbow.