Bed of Bones (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book Five) Read Online Free PDF Page B

You’ll leave tonight.”
    I will go?
    It’s what I’d always run from in the past—overbearing, controlling men. I thought he was different. I thought he understood. “I care about you, but I don’t and I won’t take orders from you, or anyone.”
    “I can’t protect you—not in here, not like this!”
    He slammed a fist down on a wooden table beside him. A metal tray launched off the edge, clanking as it touched the ground. I reached down, picked it up, moved it to a safer location. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carlo peer around the corner while Giovanni wasn’t looking. I cracked a smile, indicated I was fine. He backed away.
    Finally, a taste of what it was like when Giovanni became angry. Up until now he’d always been so composed, civilized. I sat down again. “What do I need protecting from? Can you at least give me a name?”
    He transferred his gaze to a blank wall.
    Silence. Always silence.
    “You can’t even answer one question, can you?” I asked. “You just expect me to leave because you want me to—I’m not one of your lackeys.”
    I leaned forward in the chair, encircled my hands around the nape of my neck, and focused on the faded, grey flecks in the tiles below. The floor looked like it hadn’t been replaced for several decades, if ever. How many had sat before me in the exact same spot I was sitting now, praying for a loved one, clinging to faith, hoping for a miracle?
    “I wouldn’t ask you to go if it wasn’t necessary,” he said.
    “You didn’t ask. You told me. Why is it necessary?”
    “I’ve always respected your judgment in the past. Now you need to respect mine.”
    Hospitals scared me, but not as much as the icy chill I felt at this moment. He’d never been so cold before. “I’m…not…going…anywhere without an explanation.”
    Judging by the look on his face, I prepared for a second explosion of major proportions. I wanted to meet his hardened glare, but I couldn’t. Not because of his anger—because of my guilt. It wasn’t easy sitting in front of him, seeing him tired and sluggish, like a…regular person. Gone was the debonair suit, the fifty-thousand-dollar watch, the kind, gentle man I’d come to know. Sitting in front of me was a man consumed by hate.
    This was his other side.
    The one I’d never seen.
    The one I always thought I needed to see.
    Except now I wished I hadn’t.

CHAPTER 6
    It was over three full minutes before Giovanni spoke again. I knew the exact timing because, while I waited, I watched the seconds tick by on a worn, chipped, metal clock dangling from a rusty nail on the wall in front of me. Every so often, I snuck a peek, watching him wrestle inwardly with his feelings, his face expressing a strange combination of sorrow, anger, hurt, and rage. I watched and waited, hoping in the end, the man who addressed me next would be a lot more Dr. Jekyll than Mr. Hyde.
    He sat up straighter, ogling me with a one-eyed stare down. His face had softened, a little. Part of me wanted to embrace him, but the thought of his possible rejection kept me glued to the chair.
    “Before we met,” he said, “I hadn’t been in a serious relationship in six years. Because of what I do for a living, which I trust you know, I didn’t believe I could be with a woman and keep her safe. Every woman I’ve ever known, aside from my mother, needed saving, until I met you. Strong, independent, and as tough as nails—at least when you want to be. In many ways, I’d met my equal. In others, I’d met my opposite. The combination of the two fueled my attraction when we first met. I admire your desire for justice. You always want to do what’s right. It hasn’t been easy, watching you struggle within yourself over the life I lead. At times, it’s pained you—the secrets, the life I never shared.”
    Carlo was right. Giovanni’s behavior was unusual. There was an air of nostalgia in his words, followed by an air of regret. “Is there something you’re