her bleed, you put her through a serious amount of pain, and I have a huge fucking problem with all that. None of it is acceptable to me, and none of it is forgivable for me. Naturally, there’s no chance of you getting out of this hut alive. Whether you die quickly or painfully is up to you. What will it be?”
“Go fuck yourself!”
Dante shrugged and then quickly snapped his thumb. “Before you again advise me to fuck myself, I should point out that I intend to work through each one of your other fingers. Then I’ll move on to your wrists. Oh and then I’ll look forward to dislocating your shoulders. And after that—”
“All right, fine! I’m a lone wolf. I do…jobs,” he admitted begrudgingly.
Dante whistled. “A gun for hire, huh.” It wasn’t unusual for lone wolves. It was a good way for them to earn money, favors, or protection.
“Your female was just a name on a long list,” he said with no remorse whatsoever.
“Who gave you her name?”
“She didn’t introduce herself.”
Glory. “Go on.” When he didn’t respond, Dante repeated, “Go on. ”
“I’ve told you enough al—” He stopped abruptly and yelled as Dante snapped his other index finger. “She just said to make sure the bitch was dead!”
“Dead?” echoed Dante in a low, menacing voice. So the shooter had been aiming to kill, not to injure, and probably would have succeeded if Jaime hadn’t sensed his presence and quickly moved.
As the reality of just what could have happened to her hit him, a sinister growl rumbled out of him.
She could be dead right now. He could have lost her, could have been forced to grieve her—
something he would have done every single day for the rest of his life. Nothing would have helped him move forward. No one could have replaced her. Not even his true mate. He gritted out, “And you had every intention of making sure she was dead, didn’t you?” Fuck looked up at him miserably. “You’re going to kill me now, aren’t you?”
“Without blinking.”
It was an hour later before Dante returned to the caves. Any other time he would have spent some time alone, but he needed to see Jaime. Needed to be sure she was safe and well. He also needed the sense of calm that only she could give him. To his surprise, she was asleep with Hunk curled up beside her protectively.
Grace looked up and smiled from the chair beside the bed. “She’s fine,” she assured him quietly. “I’d say she’ll be fully healed by morning.”
“Thanks, Grace.” He made a mental note to thank Lydia tomorrow.
“Are you staying in here with her? Lydia or I can do it if you—”
“No, I’ll do it.”
“Okay. Come get me if she wakes up through the night in pain, all right?”
“I will. Thanks again, Grace.” Sinking into the chair that Grace had vacated, he stared at Jaime’s sleeping face, marveling at how she never, ever looked at peace when she slept. She was always frowning or pouting or wearing that odd little expression that made her cute little nose crinkle up. Leaning forward, he placed a soft, lingering kiss on her forehead, ignoring the hiss that came from the huge, ugly cat that was snuggled into her. When Jaime’s eyes fluttered open, he cursed. “Sorry, baby, I didn’t mean to wake you. Look, I know you’re pissed at me for telling you to stay behind, but
—”
“I’m not. Well, I am. But I get why you didn’t want me there. You okay?” The way he rested his head on her shoulder said that he wasn’t. “Did you get answers from him?”
“In the morning, baby, we’ll talk about in the morning, I swear. I just can’t think about it all right now.”
Because he needed to calm down, she realized. On the outside he was the picture of calm, of course. “You don’t have to feel bad about killing that guy.” She wouldn’t have if the situation had been reversed.
“I don’t. He hurt you.” Dante knew he should feel some remorse, knew it probably made him a bad person that he didn’t. But that kill had about as much significance to him as a tiny splinter, because of what the bastard had planned for Jaime.
“You’re not a bad person,” she told him, knowing where his thoughts had taken him. “I’m not saying you’re perfect. You’re cocky and a know-it-all and you’re addicted to working. But you’ve got a nice big dick and great bedroom skills, so I’m willing