Savannah’s POV
My head throbbed violently as I forced my eyes open, the sudden flash of morning light cutting straight through my vision.
I raised an arm, blocking the glare that filtered through the heavy curtains.
A wave of dizziness hit me instantly, making the room spin.
What the hell happened?
As my vision cleared, the clinical layout of a high-end recovery room came into focus.
Before I could fully process my surroundings, a pair of arms wrapped tightly around me, pulling me into a suffocating embrace.
The tight hold crushed my ribs, sending a jagged spike of white-hot agony straight down my spine.
“A-aacckk!” I groaned, stiffening as her hands accidentally brushed against my heavily bandaged back.
The woman pulled away instantly, her eyes wide with panic.
It was Dr. Ellise.
“I-I’m so sorry, Sav! How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Do you need water? Anything else?” She hovered over me, checking my vitals and adjusting the IV line.
I caught her trembling hand, forcing a weak smile to calm her down.
“I’m okay, Doc. Really. Just… a bit sore.” I swallowed hard, my throat dry as sandpaper.
I hesitated for a fraction of a second before asking, “Is he… okay?”
Ellise stopped checking the monitor.
She slowly turned her head, a knowing smirk spreading across her face as she lightly swatted my uninjured shoulder.
“Be honest with me, girl. Do you love him?”
I scoffed, rolling my eyes.
She stared at me with wide, puppy-dog eyes, practically wagging an imaginary tail as she waited for a juicy confession.
I opened my mouth to deny it instantly, but a tactical thought flashed through my mind.
I needed to keep up appearances if I wanted to survive inside the Ciffarelli stronghold.
“That’s the wrong question,” I retorted, leaning back against the pillows.
“You should be asking why I took a bullet for a ruthless mafia boss.”
She sighed, cross arms, and let out a dramatic, sarcastic eye roll.
“Fine. Then why? Tell me.”
“Because I couldn’t stand the thought of him getting hurt.” Internal alarms went off in my head.
I was practically gagging on the sheer, unadulterated cheesiness of my own line, but Ellise bought it hook, line, and sinker.
She clapped her hands together, giggling like a schoolgirl.
“You are really something, Savannah! Anyway, are you sure you’re not starving? Or dehydrated?”
Right on cue, my stomach let out a loud, hollow growl, and my throat burned for something cold.
“Actually, a refreshing juice or some water would be amazing,” I admitted.
“I’ll get it myself,” she said, turning toward the door.
I grabbed her wrist before she could take a step.
She blinked, looking down at my hand in confusion.
“Is Keegan around?” I asked, keeping my voice casual.
She shook her head.
“No, he’s down in the lower levels dealing with business. Why?”
“Can I borrow your phone for a couple of minutes? I… I just really miss my parents, Ellise. Please? Just a quick call to let them know I’m alive.” I softened my expression, injecting a desperate plea into my eyes. This story is hosted at g.com.
She melted instantly, nodding without a single question or hint of suspicion.
She pulled her phone from her lab coat pocket and slid it into my hand.
“Thank you, Ellise,” I murmured, offering a genuine flash of gratitude.
The heavy oak door creaked shut behind her as she left to inform the kitchen staff of my needs.
The moment the latch clicked, my soft expression vanished.
I scrambled to sit up, ignoring the burning sting in my back, and quickly dialed a highly classified, unlisted number from memory.
I pressed the phone to my ear.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Come on, pick up.
Just as I was about to redial, the line clicked open.
“Who is this?” a deep, calculating, and dangerously smooth voice demanded.
It was the exact tone that had haunted my nightmares for the past few weeks.
“Inferno,” I said, my voice dropping to a low, lethal whisper.
“Long time no call. I bet you haven’t touched my agency handlers yet. And I assume the news of my ‘accident’ has reached your ears.”
A dark, low chuckle echoed through the receiver.
“Oh, dear… you are still the exact same Agent Beltran. Bold and reckless. Don’t worry your pretty head, I know my boundaries. I’ll keep my end of our little bargain.”
Click.
The line went dead.
I stared at the screen, my blood running cold.
I quickly cleared the call logs, dialed a random corporate number to mask the history, deleted that too, and hid the phone under the mattress just as the floorboards outside groaned.
I forced myself back down, burying my body into the soft mattress and exhaling a shaky breath.
My heart was still hammering against my ribs when the door didn’t just open—it exploded inward.
BANG!
The heavy door slammed against the concrete wall with enough force to rattle the glass windows.
My eyes widened as a towering, masculine silhouette filled the doorway.
Keegan stood there, radiating a raw, lethal aura that sent a violent shiver straight down my spine.
He was bare-chested, his skin smeared with sweat and dried dirt.
His jaw was tightly set, and his face was unnaturally pale.
The dark, hollow circles bruising the skin under his eyes made it obvious he hadn’t slept a single wink since I passed out.
He looked unhinged—like a predator that had been locked in a dark room for days.
My hands began to tremble against the sheets as he crossed the room in three long, predatory strides.
Before I could utter a syllable, he threw his weight onto the edge of the bed.
His powerful arms wrapped securely around my upper body, pinning me to his chest as he buried his face deep into the crook of my neck.
His entire frame was violently trembling.
He was panting, his chest heaving heavily against mine as his warm, rapid breath ticked the sensitive skin of my throat, driving my heart into overdrive. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
He pulled back just enough to force me to look at him.
The sheer ruthlessness in his dark eyes could have pierced through armor.
His grip tightened on my shoulders, his fingers pressing dangerously close to my collarbone.
“Why the fuck did you do that?” he demanded, his voice a rough, gravelly rasp.
My shock instantly morphed into cold defiance.
I wasn’t about to let him see me shake.
I gritted my teeth, annoyance etching deep into my features as I planted both hands against his bare chest, pushing with all my might to create some distance between us.
“Do I really have to spell it out for you, Ciffarelli?” I snapped, glaring right back into his eyes.
“I. Don’t. Want. Any. Fucking. Involvement. In your mafia wars! I didn’t do it for you!”
His face hardened into stone.
I felt the rigid muscle of his jaw twitch violently against his cheek.
“You don’t want me, huh?” Keegan muttered, his voice dropping to a dangerous, deceptive whisper.
Without warning, he slammed his fist into the soft mattress right next to my head, the sheer force of the blow vibrating through the frame.
He locked me in a cold, suffocating stare—a silent warning that I was pushing a beast over the edge.
Furious, I snatched the pillow from beneath my head and hurled it straight at his face.
Keegan didn’t even flinch.
In a blur of motion, he grabbed my wrists and pinned them flat against the mattress on either side of my head, using his massive body to completely trap me beneath him.
His face was mere inches from mine.
I could smell the sharp, intoxicating scent of mint mixed with raw sweat.
“I don’t want you! And I never fucking will!” I yelled, defying the heat radiating between our bodies.
A dark, mocking chuckle escaped his lips.
He released one of my wrists, his large hand moving up to grip my jaw in a vice-like hold.
My entire system tensed, my muscles locking tight at the sheer dominance of his posture.
I tried to swat his hand away, twisting my head to dodge an intimidating gaze that felt like it was stripping away all my defenses.
“Then we’ll see if you actually have the power to defy me, sweetheart,” he retorted.
Before my brain could process the threat, his shadow fell over me and his lips slammed into mine.
My mind went completely blank.
My heart beat in a chaotic, erratic rhythm against my ribs.
The kiss wasn’t gentle; it was a needy, deliberate, and drastic collision.
He claimed my mouth with an absolute, possessive hunger, his tongue forcing its way past my lips to taste me completely.
A cold shudder ran through me, but as the seconds ticked by, my training, my logic, and my defenses completely crumbled under the heat of his touch.
My eyes fluttered shut.
Slowly, helplessly, my lips softened, and I found myself following his frantic, desperate lead, completely consumed by a foreign, terrifying feeling I couldn’t control.
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