Swift impatience crossed Elijah's face and she caught a glimpse of the man she knew best. The one who was in command. Rough. Tough. The man who was whispered about. If he truly worked for Drake--and she couldn't imagine him taking orders from anyone--then it was because he chose to follow Drake, not because it was in his nature. He was an alpha all the way, and she didn't have a single doubt that he had done things that crossed the lines of legality.
Still, for all the cold fury gathering in his eyes, his touch on her was very gentle as he pulled back the covers and helped her into bed. The bed was raised and she was short, so it was a stretch for her injured leg. The moment he saw that, he lifted her, sitting her on the mattress and helping her slide her legs beneath the covers.
"Take a nap. Do you need a pain pill?" He caught up the paper she hadn't written a thing on, glanced at it, then at her and tossed it aside.
She did need a pain pill, but Doc had told her not to take one unless she absolutely needed it. The laceration on her leg throbbed and burned, but not so much that she couldn't stand it. She splayed her hand over her stomach, rubbed the small pooch soothingly, not even realizing she was doing it until she saw his gaze drop to the movement. There was satisfaction on his face. Instantly she stopped.
"When you have a chance, Elijah, I really could use a cup of tea. Black tea. With milk. I haven't had a single cup of tea since I've been in the hospital and it's my go-to comfort drink."
"You've got it, mi corazon," he said, and leaned down to brush her forehead with his mouth.
He had to stop doing that. Every time he did her heart stuttered and stammered and she lost all control of her breath. She didn't want him touching her, let alone kissing her anywhere on her body. The moment he did, her entire body reacted to him. Melting down. Her brain short-circuited, and she couldn't even push him away. What did that say about her?
"Damn it, Elijah."
Elijah's head came up in a way that didn't bode well for Drake. He spun around and stalked across the room. Siena watched him the entire way, the fluid glide that made him seem invincible with his muscles rippling subtly beneath his tight shirt and the jeans cupping his butt so lovingly. She could read the dangerous fury in every line of his body as well as feel it filling the room so that the air seemed to vibrate with it. He yanked open the door.
Drake was there, framed in the doorway. Elijah put a hand on his chest and walked him backward, closing the door behind him.
"This couldn't wait," Drake said, ignoring the hand on his chest. "We've got cops coming up the drive. I informed Jake, and he's countered with a couple of cops he knows for certain are clean. It will take them a few minutes to get here."
"I have nothing to hide," Elijah bit out. "Do you think I would ever have anything in my home that would in any way be illegal?"
"You have Siena Arnotto. Paolo and Alonzo are with the police officers," Drake said. "Trailing behind in a second vehicle. We tried to stop them at the gate, but the officers claimed it was a well checkup and they had to physically see and talk to Siena."
Elijah cursed. "That bastard has balls coming here. He knows she can't point the finger at him. The word was a rogue leopard attacked her, but damn it all, he beat her. I just told her she was safe here. If I knew for certain the cops coming with him were dirty, on his payroll, no one would find their fucking bodies."
"Elijah, you might want to allow me to handle the cops," Drake suggested tactfully. "They can't take Siena against her will. I'll go in to her and tell her she has to let the officers know she asked to be brought here."
"She won't say that. She doesn't want any part of me or this house," Elijah admitted, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Damn it. I should have been more careful with her. I should have recognized she was innocent." He wasn't going to use the excuse of his leopard turning savage and amorous on him, although that much was the truth. He had control and discipline. He'd learned it in a hard school, and he sure as hell should have had it with the one woman who meant something to him. He should have handled her with care.
"I'll talk to her. The boys have surrounded the house. Paolo and Alonzo will know they're there because they'll be able to smell them. The cops won't. Jake and Eli are on the way. Both have a great deal of pull with the police," Drake assured. "You get the door. Joshua will be right behind you."
"Protecting me or them?"
Drake smirked. "Them, of course. Keep it together, Elijah. Siena's broken. This goes wrong and you may lose her altogether. I can see how fragile she is."
Elijah hated to hear the truth. He'd contributed to breaking her. He nodded and swung on his heel toward the front of the house. Paolo and Alonzo wanted a look inside his home, hoping to get the layout and a feel for how much security he actually had. They also needed to see Siena and judge her state of mind. Elijah and Drake had managed to keep both away from him, but Paolo had to wonder how she was going to react to him.
Elijah had promised Siena that she was safe in his home. Now she was going to have to face the very monster that had ripped her body to shreds. He cursed again under his breath and stalked to the front door, Joshua falling into step at his side. He made them wait. The doorbell peeled melodiously several times before he got his fury under complete control and opened the door.
There was another long silence as he stared at the two officers in suits, rather than uniform, his eyebrow raised.
"I'm Detective Madison," one said, flashing his badge. "This is Detective Harrison. Elijah Lospostos?"
Elijah nodded curtly, ignoring Paolo and Alonzo as they crowded close behind the two detectives. Madison clearly didn't like it and turned his head to scowl at them.
"I'm Lospostos. I own this house." Outright. And the immense acreage surrounding it. The oil wells. And everything else on the land. Including Siena Arnotto, soon to be his wife. "What can I do for you?"
"These gentlemen are friends of Siena Arnotto's grandfather. They both work for him, and they've been very concerned about Miss Arnotto's welfare. They claim they were kept from visiting her in the hospital after she was attacked by a leopard."
Elijah nodded slowly. "She hired Donovan's security agency to protect her. Apparently she had concerns about her safety. Drake's in with her now. I can allow you both in to see her, but not the other two. They'll have to wait. You can ask her if she wants to see them."
Paolo shouldered past the detective to confront Elijah. His eyes were two pinpoints of blazing cat, the leopard obviously close. "I demand to see her."
Elijah deliberately--and slowly with contempt--looked him up and down, from his head to his elegantly clad feet and then shook his head. "Not unless Siena indicates to these detectives--and to Drake and me--that is what she wants."
"Her grandfather left me in charge of her," Paolo snapped. "I'm responsible for her. She's engaged to me."
Elijah's eyebrow went up. A slow, amused quirk was there and gone. "That is rather impossible. Siena ran from you, Riso. In fact we have you on the security tape outside Bannaconni's building forcing Siena into a car. We also have X-rays of her ribs." He looked at the two detectives. "Four cracked ribs, one broken. A black eye and bruising all over her face. Fingerprints on her arms. She told Drake you did that to her and that she was afraid of you. She was the one who refused to see you in the hospital."
"What the hell," Alonzo burst out. "You did that to her, not Lospostos?"
Both detectives swung around to confront Paolo. "You assaulted this woman?"
"Hell no. He's lying. Let me talk to Siena and she'll tell the truth. She's probably afraid of him. I'm telling you, she's been taken here against her will," Paolo said. He moved a little away from Alonzo, who continued to stare at him with ice-cold eyes.
"You'd better hope that's what she says," Madison snarled. He gestured toward Elijah. "I'd like to see her now. You two can wait here," he added to Paolo and Alonzo.
Alonzo pulled out a pack of cigarettes and immediately complied with the request, stepping off the porch an
d wandering away, as if he didn't have a care in the world. Elijah wasn't deceived. Siena had been correct when she insisted Alonzo was the far more dangerous of the two men. Paolo was clearly ruled by his emotions and those of his cat. Alonzo was controlled. Thinking all the time. He didn't have to appear to be top dog. He was content to slip into the background. Elijah had no doubt that he was sizing up the house and looking for weaknesses in the security.
Paolo swore savagely and began to pace.
"Evan, keep an eye on these two," he said softly to the watcher close by. Instantly Paolo and Alonzo tried to determine where the threat was. Smirking, Elijah deliberately turned his back on the men, knowing Joshua was there and would come out of the shadows like lightning if Paolo were stupid enough to make a move against him. Madison and his partner, Harrison, didn't seem under Paolo's thumb. Elijah led the two policemen through the house to the bedroom, where he knocked on the door.
Drake opened the door. "She's resting," he said softly, "but I let her know the detectives were here and she agreed to talk to them."
"We'd like to speak to her alone," Madison said.
"I'm sorry," Drake said. "I can't allow that, not without her consent. You came here with a man who attacked her. She's afraid for her life, and I'm handling her security."
Madison's gaze jumped to the bed. Elijah had already crossed the room and had taken her hand. Siena sat up in the bed, pillows supporting her back, but he could see she was sitting stiffly.
"Does it hurt, baby?" he asked softly. "You don't have to sit to talk to them." He glanced at the detectives. "The leopard injured her back as well."
Siena's free hand crept toward her face and the bandage there. He caught her wrist before she could cover the gauze with her palm. Deliberately he brought her wrist to his mouth, his gaze back on hers. She moistened her lips and then shook her head.
"You can do this, carino. This is Detective Madison and Detective Harrison. They would prefer to speak to you alone . . ."
She gasped and shook her head, her gaze jumping to his face and then to Drake's. "Whatever you want to ask me, you can ask me in front of them," she said.
Madison nodded. "Are you here of your own free will, Ms. Arnotto?"
"Please call me Siena," she said. Her fingers bunched in the blanket. Elijah gently rubbed the back of her wrist and hand. "Yes," she said in a low voice.
"Are you engaged to Paolo Riso?"
A small squeak of alarm emerged. She shrank deeper into the pillows and winced, her face going pale. "No. Absolutely not."
"Did Paolo Riso assault you?" Harrison asked.
She turned her face away from the detectives. "I don't want to talk about any of this anymore. My grandfather was murdered and I was attacked by a leopard. I just want to be left alone for a while."
"We can put him in jail if you make a complaint," Madison encouraged.
She shook her head. "Men like Paolo don't stay in jail. I'm not giving any kind of a statement."
"Are you planning on marrying Elijah Lospostos?" Harrison asked.
Elijah's heart jumped in his chest. She had only to deny it and the detectives would be suspicious all over again.
"We haven't finalized plans," she dodged diplomatically, staring down at Elijah's hand.
Drake had coached her and apparently considered every contingency. Elijah leaned into her and brushed a kiss along her temple. "Her grandfather just died. She's mourning that loss and now has to cope with a leopard attack. It isn't the best timing."
Both detectives nodded their heads simultaneously. They stayed another ten minutes, asking Siena questions and coming back several times to the subject of whether or not she was there of her own free will. She insisted she was.
"Would you be willing to speak to either Mr. Riso or Mr. Massi?" Detective Harrison asked.
"I will not, under any circumstances, speak to Paolo," Siena said. "I don't want that man anywhere near me. If Alonzo needs to see for himself that I'm safe, well, of course he can, but I want Drake and Elijah with me."
Madison and Harrison exchanged a look. Harrison left the room, Drake trailing after him. They returned a couple of minutes later with Alonzo Massi. Ignoring everyone else in the room, Alonzo went straight to the bed, his eyes taking in Siena's face and the bandage there.
"Siena, I didn't know."
Elijah knew he meant he didn't realize Paolo had attacked her.
"Where else are you injured?"
"Four cracked ribs. One broken. Lacerations, four of them from her shoulders to the small of her back, fairly deep. The laceration from temple to the top of her cheek and the worst, a claw mark from her hip to her knee. That one was extremely deep," Elijah answered for her. "She got a massive infection from the bacteria in the leopard's claws."
Alonzo's face didn't change expression. Not at all. He looked as cold as ice. "You good here, Siena?" he asked.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth and nodded. "For the time being. I can't go home. It's a crime scene, and I don't want to be anywhere near Paolo. I don't trust him."
"Sweetheart," Elijah cautioned her. Alonzo was definitely not happy with Paolo attacking her.
Her gaze jumped to Elijah's face. She bit her lip again and then twisted her fingers together. Elijah gently laid his hand over both of hers, stilling the nervous habit.
"She's on the road to recovery, Massi," he said. "But it's a slow process. She had an enormous amount of stitches, and that isn't comfortable. She needs to rest as much as possible." He made it a clear warning that all of them should leave--and soon.
Alonzo nodded and then turned his attention back to Siena. "You have my cell number." It wasn't a question. She'd had his cell number since she was a teenager.
"Yes," she said softly, avoiding his eyes. "Thank you for arranging my grandfather's memorial service when I couldn't. I really appreciate that you did that while I was in the hospital."
"This will be taken care of," Alonzo said. "You need me, I'll come running. Take your time, Siena, and get better. Your grandfather's lawyers are pushing to see you. They want to read the will."
She shrank back. "Not yet, Alonzo. Tell them I'm not ready."
He nodded. "You have any other orders?"
Siena blinked at him. What was he saying? She'd always been a little afraid of him. He was the coldest man she knew. Her grandfather often whispered to him in an aside and he'd be gone for two or three weeks and then come back. Her grandfather would seem very pleased for weeks afterward. After the kidnapping, Alonzo had watched over her more than any other of her grandfather's trusted inner circle.
Still, she was almost certain he had plotted with Paolo to murder Antonio. She tried to remember why she thought that. He'd fired his weapon, but could he have been firing at a shadow Paolo had pointed out? She honestly didn't know, but she didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone. Not even Drake entirely. She sighed.
"Siena?" Alonzo prompted.
She shook her head. "No. I'm just trying to recover."
Alonzo turned to Elijah. "I'd like to be kept in the loop about Siena's progress. If she needs anything, let me know. Siena has my number." He waited, still, unmoving, his eyes focused on Elijah.
Elijah nodded slowly.
Alonzo switched his attention to Drake. "If you need help with her security, call me. I'll come myself."
A delicate tremor slid through Siena's body. She knew Elijah felt it because he shifted closer, drawing Alonzo's attention so that he missed her reaction. She was more confused than ever. Paolo at least reacted humanly to situations. Alonzo rarely showed emotion. More, it was Alonzo who carried out the discipline of anyone in her grandfather's employ who failed in his duties. Often that meant a physical retribution, and more than once she'd seen Alonzo dispassionately tear someone apart. He hadn't even broken a sweat and looked almost bored while he did so.
"Siena is tired," Elijah announced. "I think you got what you came for," he added to the detectives. "I think you can assure the la
wyers and anyone else who is interested that Siena is recovering."
Madison nodded. "Ma'am, I appreciate you taking the time to see us. Are you certain you don't want to swear out a complaint against the man who beat you?"
Siena winced. The detective had slipped the question in so casually. She felt Alonzo's focused, unblinking stare, but she kept her gaze on her hands. More precisely, on Elijah's hands. He had strong fingers. Callused. A workingman's hands. Not at all what she expected from the head of a crime family. She closed her eyes, remembering the feeling of his hands on her skin. His fingers moving in her. His viselike grip when he threw her out. Around her, she heard the others leave the room, but she kept her gaze fixed on Elijah's hands.
He didn't hurt you physically, she reminded herself. Not like Paolo. But the emotional pain was so much worse. Far, far worse. She could almost take Paolo before Elijah because she would never feel about Paolo the way she had about Elijah. He couldn't hurt her that way.
"Stop it," Elijah said, his voice a growling command. "Seriously, Siena. Let it go." His hand settled in her hair, fingers sliding deep into the long, silky strands and fisting there. He pulled her head up, the little bite of pain startling her. His dark gaze blazed into hers.
"Do you really think I can erase the things you said to me so easily?" she hissed, wishing she were strong enough to push him away.
"I told you I didn't mean them. That should be enough."
She frowned at him. "That's arrogance, Elijah. Sheer arrogance. You said it. You can't take it back." She ducked her head. "The worst part of it is, what you said was true. I didn't know what I was doing. I was there to distract you even if I didn't know it. The reason he sent me was so Marco could slip inside undetected. I confronted him and he all but admitted it to me." Bile rose and she pressed the back of her hand against her mouth.
"Baby, no way was it the truth. I'm telling you the truth right now. You're leopard and you can hear it in my voice. I have never once lost control with a woman. Not a single time in my life. You made me lose control. Hell, I was so far gone I didn't even realize you were a virgin. I needed to fuck you fast and hard. Rough. Get inside you any way I could. I was so damned hungry for you, I couldn't think straight. That's sure as hell not because you didn't know what you were doing, babe. It was because you made me crazy for you."
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