Chapter 18 - Healing Wounds
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They stayed in the bunker for three hours before Marco finally gave the all-clear over the emergency radio. The assault had been repelled. Vincent's loyalists were dead or captured, and Vincent himself was still securely locked in the basement cells.
The estate was scarred, but Lorenzo's empire had held.
In the aftermath, a private doctor patched up Lorenzo's shoulder in his study. Hannah sat on the leather sofa, watching him closely, Nero resting his heavy head heavily on her feet.
Once the doctor left, Lorenzo poured two glasses of scotch with his good arm, handing one to Hannah.
He sat down beside her, his dark eyes tracing the small, superficial scratch on her cheek she had gotten from the flying glass.
He reached out, his thumb gently grazing the cut.
"I meant what I said last night, Hannah," Lorenzo murmured, his voice heavy with guilt. "This life is brutal. I will never forgive myself for putting you in the crossfire today. You can still walk away. I will not stop you."
Hannah took a slow sip of the burning scotch. She looked around the ruined, beautiful study, then at the terrifying, magnetic man sitting beside her.
"Lorenzo," Hannah said softly, setting her glass down. "Do you remember what I told you on the day we met?"
Lorenzo frowned slightly. "You told me my handler was an idiot."
Hannah smiled faintly. "After that. I told you that dogs don't lie. They only react to what the world gives them."
She reached out, resting her hand over his heart, feeling the steady, powerful beat beneath his shirt.
"You are a dangerous man, Lorenzo," Hannah said, looking deeply into his eyes. "But you have only ever given me protection, respect, and kindness. You made me feel beautiful when the rest of the world told me I wasn't. I am not running away from you. I love you."
Lorenzo stopped breathing. The confession hit him harder than the bullet had.
May you like
He pulled her into his lap, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and buried his face in her neck, holding her as if she were the only real thing in a world of ghosts.
"I love you," Lorenzo whispered fiercely against her skin. "I will burn the world down before I let anyone hurt you again."
