“Look at me, mi amorcita, sweetheart. Really look at me. I’m not the kind of man another man messes with. I’m standing between you and anyone who wants to hurt you. I’m putting myself there.”

God. God. He felt like he owed her because of what happened between them. He was the type of man who would do that too, put himself in harm’s way because he felt he’d done something wrong. She let herself really look at him, taking in everything from the width of his shoulders to the heavy muscles of his bare chest. He was a man who looked invincible. Looked as if he could stop bullets. But he couldn’t. Her grandfather couldn’t.

“Elijah, you don’t owe me anything. I was doing exactly what you accused me of doing when you threw me out. I was there to distract you so Marco could get in to kill you. I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way for me.”

“I’m telling you to look at me, Siena. See who I am. I’m that man you’re afraid of because I can be that scary man when I need to be. And I’ll be him for you—to protect you any way I have to. I’m taking your nightmare. I’m choosing to stand between you and any enemy because I choose you. Every time, my choice is you, and it has been for years. I don’t want you ever to feel fear again—not from Paolo Riso, not from anyone. Not ever again.”

Just because Elijah ordered it didn’t mean the fear would go away, but somehow, looking into his eyes, that terror inside her diminished. The tight coils in her belly unraveled. She found herself breathing easier. Looking at him. She didn’t have a clue where the fear went, only that lying beside him, feeling his hard body surrounding hers, his arm locked around her, his gaze so intense and dark with real emotion, she knew she could let it go for the first time.

He must have seen the relief on her face, or felt her body relax. Satisfaction crept into the hard lines cut into his face. “Is it gone? The nightmare?” He closed the two-inch gap between their faces, his lips brushing back and forth across hers. Coaxing.

He didn’t have to work hard to get her to open for him. The moment her lips parted, his tongue swept inside, and the last of the nightmare was gone. He could kiss. Seriously kiss. And he did. Her fingers found his hair and dove deep. She kissed him back, losing herself in him the way she always did. Melting so she didn’t think. Only felt. Every cell in her body responded to Elijah’s kisses.