Minutes ticked by in silence.

“I can understand your reaction, but I told you I didn’t want to have to hurt you. You forced my hand.”

She tried not to think about how gently he’d bandaged her wounds back at Angelo’s place. There had been glass embedded in her skin. He’d spoken quietly to her and told her exactly what he was doing through the process. Then he’d put a topical antibiotic on the wounds and wrapped her feet in gauze.

Even if she’d managed to get away from him, how far could she have gotten on bandaged feet before he—or something worse—caught her? She hadn’t been thinking that far in advance. The only thing she’d been able to think about was how she couldn’t surrender. She had to fight. Sitting quietly was the worst thing she could do. It would only allow her too much time inside her own head to imagine what might lay ahead for her and later to regret not taking any opportunity to save herself.

While she’d noticed—in a purely clinical way—the attractiveness of the brother, Leo’s small acts of kindness and his tenderness had created an unexpected, visceral reaction that made his matching physical beauty come into sharper focus. It was a physical beauty that even his scar couldn’t mar. In fact, the imperfection brought the rest of his perfection into starker contrast. She didn’t want to admit she could see herself doing anything this man wanted. Her only fears were that he might hurt her, not that he might fuck her. The realization made her feel sick inside.

“Just let me go,” she whispered. “I told your brother I don’t care who you are or what you’re doing. I’m not interested in being a hero. I just want to go back to my life. Please. I swear I won’t say anything to anyone.”

She’d seen enough movies about crime families to know talking got you killed, that these people were omnipresent. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Leo might be her only safety, the one person who could keep her from having to spend the rest of her life running.

“I won’t take that risk. What’s your name?”

“None of your business.” If he thought they were going to sit here and have some polite conversation as if he weren’t committing a felony …

Leo pulled the car onto the shoulder and turned the engine off. The interior lights came on, casting his face in shadows and light that made him look demonic. Anger twisted his features in a gruesome tableau of barely constrained violence. Before Faith could react, his impossibly large hand wrapped around her throat, pressing her against the glass.

“This. Will not work,” he practically growled. “I saved your life. You belong to me now. You keep showing me attitude and see where it leads you. I can make your life the darkest hell imaginable. Or I can show you kindness. Your choice.”

Faith clawed at him as his hand tightened. She wanted to beg, but she couldn’t squeeze words out of a throat already being squeezed. Leo was no less lethal than his brother.