Carmine's POV
"Is she okay?" Matias asks, blowing cigar smoke into the air in the cigar room.
I fold the contract and slip it into my back pocket, ignoring the cigar and heading straight for the whiskey in the crystal decanter.
This woman has a hold on me I can't shake. The moment she stepped into my home, confronted me, I was drawn to her bravery, an audacity most men wouldn't dare.
Strong-willed, sassy, reluctant… annoyingly beautiful. She makes me feel things I've spent my life avoiding. Things I've numbed myself against because feeling is dangerous for men like me.
I sip whiskey, burn chasing the heat her presence ignites inside me.
When she choked, something unrecognizable stirred in me, fear. I was afraid she might die before I even had a chance to see what life with her could be. Her face red, tears in her eyes, clawing at her throat… I'd never been helpless like that before.
