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coffin myself…and…and…Shawn wasn’t there.”
    A lump rose in Dante’s throat. An image of that little blue blanket flashed before his eyes. The reason for Shayna’s pitiful condition was quickly coming together in his mind.
    “Where was he?” he asked, already knowing from her torn photograph that the answer wouldn’t be good.
    “With her !” she gasped against his shoulder.
    Dante couldn’t help his outrage. Shayna’s baby had died and her husband… “He was having an affair?”
    “Yeah.” A hint of anger blended with Shayna’s tears. “With the vending machine girl at his office,” she slurred, and Dante was reminded of her drug-addled semi-consciousness. He held her as she cried and ranted, stroking her back and hair. Shayna had lost her baby and was left alone while her husband betrayed her. No wonder she’d sounded so apathetic when speaking of her impending divorce. That was why she’d walked until her feet bled, too. She’d been trying to outrun the pain.
    Dante couldn’t imagine that kind of agony. The loss of his mom still ached like an open sore, but losing a child? He would have gone insane. Not knowing what else to do, he sang to her.
    Although he was at his best belting out powerful melodies before a crowd of thousands, he had a few soft ballads up his sleeve. Taking a deep breath, he sang his cover of Rainbow’s “Catch the Rainbow”—one of his mother’s favorites.
    His voice soothed Shayna, and she relaxed in his arms, her breath flowing in the even rhythm of sleep. But Dante wasn’t ready to let her go. Slowly, he eased them both down on the bed, cradling her head before he placed it on the pillow as if to shield her from any more impact. But his mind raced with all she had told him.
    One thing was certain. It would take longer than a week for her to heal.

Chapter Four
    The smell of bacon and pancakes coaxed Shayna’s eyelids open. For a moment she lay there blinking at the sunlight streaming through the pale curtained windows. She’d dreamed of Dante holding her, singing to her with a voice that was too beautiful to be human. It seemed she could still even feel his presence, but when she turned over, the other side of the bed was empty.
    She should have been alarmed by the idea of him in her bed, but instead all she had was a sense of comfort. Her stomach rumbled, and she reluctantly rolled out of the blankets and limped forward toward the tantalizing scent of breakfast. A throbbing ache infused her feet with every step, each foot pulsing like a mouth full of infected teeth, but at least this was nothing like the stabbing agony of the night before.
    It took an eternity to hobble down the hall, pausing every so often to lean against the wall or an antique end table. Pictures of medieval battles were hung everywhere, making her raise a brow at the choice of décor. But she approved.
    She gingerly made her way down the stairs, panting against the banister, and the soothing sound reached her of a woman humming in the kitchen. Was this the housekeeper Dante mentioned?
    “You must be Miss Shayna,” a curvy older Latina said, appearing in view while wiping her hands on her apron. “I am Rosa. Please, sit down and rest those feet. Señor Deity says you must eat. He is right. You are much too thin.”
    Shayna went and sat at the dining room table with a bitter smile. Her husband had often said she was too fat after she’d given birth, and now she was too thin. It seemed perfection was impossible. Though, to be fair, the bath last night had revealed emaciation from her long walk.
    “Where is Dante?” she asked as the housekeeper placed a heaping plate of bacon, eggs and pancakes in front of her. The portion was enough for ten people.
    “ Señor Deity is shopping,” Rosa said, setting Shayna’s pain medication next to her glass of orange juice. “I tell him I could do it and he tells me no, it is too personal.” The woman sighed and lifted her gaze heavenward. “He needs