His hand swept back her hair, slid into the thick strands and massaged her scalp. “What does that mean?”
“You take care of me. Not Bellisia.” She didn’t care if she sounded needy or demanding or if he was sick of her. It was Gino who would keep her safe. He was her only chance and she wasn’t about to be separated from him, even if it was his idea. She wanted to be tied to him. She wouldn’t have minded if he handcuffed them together or tied her to him with a rope or anything else as long as he couldn’t break that tie.
She heard his soft laughter. He bent his head toward her, his breath warm against her skin as he brushed his lips over the swelling of cheek. “You’re going to be a little monster, bossing me around.”
She hadn’t thought about it that way, but she was okay with bossing him as long as he stayed close and kept Zhu from her.
The sound of the door opening had her stiffening. She struggled to open her eyes. Panic set in when she realized there were cool bandages over them and she couldn’t see. She reached up to rip them away and Gino caught her hand. He had insisted on putting cool gauze soaked in something over her eyes every half hour.
“Leave it, princess,” he commanded, his voice an absolute authority. All trace of amusement was gone. “What is it?”
“Trouble, Gino. Boss wants to talk to you,” Rubin interrupted.
Zara knew. He was there. Zhu was there at the embassy and he was going to force them to turn her over to him. A small, terrified whimper escaped. She didn’t even care that Gino might think her a coward. Let them all. Let everyone think that. She knew she was a coward and she wasn’t going to make apologies for it. She tried to throw herself sideways. All that mattered was escaping. Getting out of bed and running. Hiding. Shanghai was a big city. She could lose herself there.
Gino’s arm clamped down around her waist. “Stop, Zara. How many times do I have to repeat myself? He’s not getting you. I’m taking you out of here one way or the other.”
“You have to follow orders,” she whispered. “Everyone has to follow orders.”
“Ma’am, excuse me,” Rubin said softly. “We’re not exactly known for followin’ orders. We’re takin’ you home with us no matter what these people say.”
“The embassy has to fly us out of here,” Zara protested, but she subsided beneath Gino’s restraining arm, although she was still tense.
“We’re already looking into alternatives, just to give us options and diversions,” Rubin explained. “Gino’s handling it.”
“Shouldn’t have to keep saying the same thing, Zara,” Gino said. “I got you out, you’re staying out.”
She almost bit her lip, but it already hurt so she licked it instead. “Would you take the wraps off my eyes?” She wanted to be able to see. “Please?”
“Not yet. I want that swelling to go down. Give me a second to see what’s so important and I’ll be right back.” His fingers touched her face very, very gently, so gently she barely felt the whisper of his skin against hers, but it was enough to send her stomach tumbling off the edge of a cliff. She’d never had a reaction like that before to anything, and it shocked her enough that she froze and just nodded, hoping he wouldn’t noticed her accelerated heartbeat.
She should have known better because it seemed Gino noticed everything. His fingers brushed over her inner wrist, right over her pulse, came back and stayed. She resisted the urge to pull her hand away and instead, held her breath.
“Princess, I swear to you, I’ll get you out of here.”
Grateful he thought her heart had gone into overdrive because she was so fearful, she managed to nod her head to show him she’d be fine until he returned. She wasn’t, but Zara could justify being a clingy baby for only so long—then she’d lose what little respect she had left for herself.
The mattress shifted as Gino got up. Zara curled her fingers into the cool sheets. They felt so good beneath her back. The painkillers Gino gave her were surprisingly effective when she hadn’t thought anything could take away that all-encompassing pain. They held off the worst of the agony inflicted by Zhu.
The moment she allowed herself to think of the man and what he’d so casually done to her, her entire body shuddered. Shivers started again. Gino had managed to stop them by his presence. He seemed … dangerous. Predatory. Invincible. There was that same energy Zhu had given off, only Gino felt different when he was close to her, his energy merging with hers. He felt protective and even possessive toward her. She didn’t know what the possessive part was all about, but she needed protection desperately and he felt as if he could shield her. He was a rock. Solid. Steady. An anchor she’d never had before and wanted to keep.
Zara detested that she counted each second Gino was away from her, but she couldn’t stop. She’d never thought of herself as a needy person. Her best friends were Bellisia and Shylah, two women she’d grown up with from the time she was an infant. They weren’t born of the same blood, but they were sisters. She often, over the years, had wished she was more like the two of them.
She hadn’t excelled at being a warrior like the others. She’d come in last at everything—well with the exception of running. That was her one call to fame. Whitney despised her for her lack of talent, although she learned quite a lot and was proud of her capabilities—she just wasn’t quite as fast as her “sisters” in a battle. They coached her of course. Both girls were generous with their help, but she wasn’t wired for combat.
She knew Whitney would have gotten rid of her had it not been for her brain. Once he realized she had something to offer, he stopped her training and began to devise a different path altogether for her—but no matter how good she did on the outside, he made it known to everyone she was a failure and inferior to the rest of them.
Her fingers stroked the sheets, clutched at them. She couldn’t stop the nervous habit she’d never been able to get rid of, no matter how many times Whitney had told her he was done with her over her inability to stay still. She silently counted, drawing air into her lungs and breathing it out. Maybe she should go looking for him—Gino. She desperately needed him with her. Time stretched out and her heart began to accelerate. Not too fast at first, but beating harder, finding fear so that the acceleration started slow but ended up galloping.
Maybe he was sick of her clinging to him. Maybe Zhu and Cheng had made an appeal to their government, and to avoid an international incident, the American consulate was going to order her turned over to Zhu. What could Gino really do if that order was given? He’d have to turn her over to Cheng.
Panic welled up. She felt dizzy, unable to catch her breath. Her hands and fingers tingled, numbness setting in and that panicked her even more. She knew she was shutting down, terrified that Gino had left her alone and the real monster was coming. She braced herself for the attack, held her breath until she nearly fainted for lack of oxygen. She drew her feet up, struggling into a sitting position, not wanting to feel so vulnerable when he came. If she could make herself small, keep her legs and feet away from him, he might not be able to do as much damage.
“Zara. What the hell is wrong?”
Gino’s voice made her jump. She hadn’t heard him come in. But then she hadn’t heard him go out. Maybe he was part of some larger conspiracy, one of the many mind-tricks Whitney played on the women to see how they would handle a situation. She wrapped her arms tightly around her drawn-up knees and shook her head.
The mattress shifted as he sank down onto it beside her. She wished she could stop shivering, that air would find her lungs so she wasn’t gasping like a fish. It was humiliating to know he was seeing her panicked and out of control.