He gazed at the woman he loved being strangled to death by a man atop her. The very same employee he saw yesterday in the lobby.

Cristiano's bellow echoed throughout the halls of the penthouse suite.

"Got off of her!" He snarled lifting his gun and pointing it at his head.

It was near impossible to breathe as his lip curled and the gleam in his eyes became vicious.

The man lifted his head from Jasmine's still body, but he hadn't released her. A merciless smile courted his lips as an eyebrow quirked with amusement.

"You're too late."

Tension and fear thrummed through him as he took a step closer.

"I said let her go!"

He raised his gun but couldn't shoot him. Cristiano couldn't risk hurting Jasmine within such close proximity. His eyes latched on to Jasmine's form and focused on her chest searching for the rise and fall of her breathing. She wasn't moving. Still as death.

Sick panic roiled through him.

"Yasmina!"

She remained perfectly still, her complexion waxy pale, ghostly pale. Her lips were chalky, her honey stands matted, her clothing hanging in shreds on her body. He fought back the turmoil that threatened to overwhelm him. His stomach turned over with a combination of stark fear and helpless pain. If he was too late–

He had to reach her side refusing to consider such a thing. He had to act quickly. She cannot die.

He forced his mind to fight back his terror to the far end of his brain and concentrated on his rage. Grim, unrelenting determination filled him. His blood quickly boiling and pulsating through him. The man released his hands from her body and snatched a knife from behind his back and stood.

The boys lips curled in a contemptuous sneer as his light eyes raked over Cristiano.

"Come to save the damsel?" He hissed. "Sorry mate, the damsel in this story died before you can save her."

The boy was baiting him. Cristiano was trying hard to keep himself under control before he lost his temper and shot him so close to his beloved. With every cell in his body, he knew he wouldn't survive her death.

"Drop the knife." Cristiano shouted.

Humphrey with a wild crazed glint in his eyes didn't follow orders. Instead, he pivoted to face him and sprang like a leaping cheetah. At that same moment, Cristiano crouched, his face darkening ready for the force of Humphrey's attack.

He still couldn't shoot. It was still too risky if he missed the target while Jasmine laid unconscious on the floor behind the boy. He was determined to keep her sheltered from the crossfire.

"You should not have interrupted us!" Humphrey screamed. "Her heart is mine once I done with you. I will slice it from her body and she will forever be mine and no one else's if its the last thing I do."

"She never was yours and she never will be!" Cristiano roared, thrusting his gun to the floor.

He launched himself forward and seized hold of the boy, pulling him away from Jasmine's body within seconds trying the keep her safe from the impact of their weight. They bounced across the floor mere inches from her. The boys fist slammed into Cristiano's cheek. His face twisted with fury and agony as his eyes burned with renewed anger.

Twisting his face back around, Cristiano struggled to grab the frenzied boy who dodged back to retrieve his knife. Cristiano grabbed him by the neck and with incredible strength, lifted him like a rag doll he shook him viciously. His fingers lashed out, the boys suffering making him reckless, striking recklessly and connecting to Cristiano's chin.

Having had enough of the lanky crazed boy, he heaved him across the wall with all the rage he felt. His body collided with the wall. It shook from the force of the blow and a large crack lanced up towards the ceiling. He landed head first on the floor with his legs above his head. He lay for a moment before slumping away from the wall. Staggering to his feet, he shook his head in disorientation.

Cristiano kept his body protectively in front of Jasmine as he waited for another charge. But the boy swayed on his feet, eyes rolling to the back of his head as blood gushed from a wound on his scalp. Battered and beaten, he took another step forward to only collapse flat on his face.

Not trusting the boy wouldn't wake from his head injury, Cristiano kept all his senses honed for another attack as he turned to Jasmine. He approached her cautiously. The fragileness of her lifeless body hit him forcefully as he kneeled at her side.

"Yasmina. . .?" He whispered in a broken voice, his gaze roaming her face. "Don't leave me. . ."

She was so frighteningly still. So pale.

He touched her cheek with a trembling hand and used two fingers to feel for a pulse.

There was none.

Focusing, he began CPR and pressed the heal of his hand on the center of her chest. Compressing pressure on her chest 1,2,3 times he pinched her nostrils shut for mouth-to-mouth breathing. He repeated the maneuver four more times, sweat accumulating on his forehead. The adrenaline coursing through his veins pushed back his growing fear.

"Yasmina, please, please don't leave me. Wake up!"

Jasmine was surrounded by light, pure white light. It was warm, much like the rays of the sun soaking her skin. It beckoned her forward, inviting her to travel to an alternate universe where nothing could hurt her. Although she could feel nothing she knew it was peaceful and beautiful.

She floated towards the light, feeling as light as a feather, not knowing where she was going but knowing she never wanted to leave. She was safe. Like a flower awakening, unfolding to welcome the sunlight, leaving the pathway to her old life behind, she entered another realm.

This was heaven. She smiled as her hand reached for the light. But she was tugged from behind. Pulled back away from the light back into the darkness she wasn't prepared to go back to. The bright shimmer of warmth and peace began to fade. It was like nothing she could ever imagine. Her entire body felt like it was yanked back into the swirling darkness.

No! She tried screaming.

She didn't want to go back. Jasmine fought against it and it was as though her voice was muted. The light extinguished like a flickering candle that lost its flame. There was darkness surrounding her more.

Then she heard someone calling to her, in a hoarse and anguished tones.

"Yasmine!"

Her chest was being compressed. She felt pain. She didn't want to go back.

"Jasmine!"

She heard it again.

It was cold.

She was in pain and unable to move.

Warmth brushed over her face. She was kissed over the forehead. But still she didn't want to wake up. She took a long, shuddering gasp of air and felt the world around her.

"Oh God!" The voice said against her skin, touching her throat.

The voice pressed a desperate, lingering kiss to her brow.

"Don't leave me. Come on. You're a fighter. You've got to fight now. Don't leave me!"

Jasmine felt pain, too stunned to react, to fight, to even cry, limp as a rag doll.

My baby, she thought trying to fight to open her eyes.

"Yasmina!"

Her heavy lidded eyes fluttered open and her eyes met the eyes of the man she never thought she'd seen again.

Cristiano.

"You're alive!" He cried, lifting her hand and furiously kissing the back.

Opening her mouth to speak, no words would come out. Her throat was throbbing and it was difficult to swallow. Her eyes rolled to the back of head and her heavy lids closed once more.

"Yasmina!"

He shook her body and her eyes flew back open. Jasmine began to cough, her chest lifting to force air into her lungs having a difficult time breathing. Her throat was too swollen restricting air passed her throat.

Cristiano panicked and quickly turned body to her side.

"Breath slowly. Don't force it. Relax your muscles and slowly inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth."

She did as he instructed.

Flipping her on her side helped regulate her breathing, releasing pressure on her throat and chest. She continued to cough, tears seeping from her eyes. Closing her eyes, she focused on trying to regulate the uneven tempo of her breaths as Cristiano patted and rubbed her back in a soothing motion murmuring encouragement.

Jasmine faintly heard him speak. It sounded like he was on the phone but couldn't make sense of the words. His tone was panicked yet rapid, giving orders to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Yasmina?"

He touched her shoulder.

Jasmine wanted to squirm away from his touch but she could barely move her pinky. Her entire body felt like it had been run over by a semi-truck. She wanted to scream at him to leave her but she couldn't form the words. Her tongue felt like it was made of lead.

"Yasmina, I need to move you. You don't need to speak. Just nod or blink. Give me a sign." He pleaded.

Although she had no wish for him to touch her, the tile floor was cold and hard. Managing the effort to sit up and move herself was impossible without assistance. With no other choice but to comply with his suggestion, she blinked, giving him permission to carry her.

He sighed in relief behind her. Gently, maneuvering in his arms, slowly as if afraid she would break, he lifts her into his arms and stands, nestling her carefully against the safety of his chest.

The gesture instantly made her want to cry again as her head laid against his strong beating heart. His tenderness, although not welcome, felt good. He comforted her like she needed without knowing it. He pressed a caress-like kiss on her forehead and strode into the living room.

His faint cologne teased her cold nose and numb lips. His warmth infused her frozen body breaking through the shock. Seating her on one of the sofas, his warmth left her body as he scurried to support her back with decorative pillows. He quickly turned and found a throw blanket draped over the back of the chair opposite her. Approaching her, he flapped it open and like a cloud it descends over her legs and arms.

Before he bent to wrap the blanket more securely around her body, a low moan came from the hallway. It took a considerable amount of effort to move her head to the sound. Cristiano's head snaps in the same direction and the look of worry for her was replaced within a second.

His face looked like the pure fury of the devil himself, his black brows kit in a thunderous line. The muscle in his cheek jumped furiously. The once pale skin of his face turned a dark shade of red.

Jasmine could have sworn she noticed his eyes turn pitch black. His entire body trembled with rage as he glared down the shadowy hallway. She had never seen anything more forbidding than the expression on Cristiano's face. It was hard–like granite–his eyes colder than a winter storm brewing in the dark.

He was enraged.

She was lost to his switch in emotion and lost all sense of what happened until it all came back to her, too focused on Cristiano and his presence to understand and felt her heart triple beat in her chest.

Humphrey!

Her breath came out in panicked gasps, Jasmine had the urge to run and scream in terror. He must have walked in while Humphrey was strangling her to death. He nearly killed her and she slowly came to realization that Cristiano had stopped him and saved her life. Her fist bunched beneath the blanket. He almost killed her and her baby.

She lowered her gaze, heart pounding. Finally, she was slowly regaining feeling in her limbs and placed her fisted fingers over her abdomen.

"I'll be back. Don't move." He instructs, never looking her way. "I need to finish what I interrupted earlier." He added bitterly.

Swallowing a lump of emotion which made her throat constrict further, she gazed after Cristiano in despair.

Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, he stalked angrily towards the hallway. From her angle it was difficult to peer into the hallway but she saw Humphrey shifting his slumped body and trying to regain his footing. She had the strong urge to warn Cristiano, to tell him to be careful but she couldn't form the words still too weak.

"Get up you coward!" Cristiano continued to stalk towards him.

Humphrey stood, wobbling sideways, using the wall to lean on. He blinked several times to rid him of the blur in his eyes. The knife lay before him, catching the reflection of the light. Still unbalanced, he dodged for it.

They crashed to the ground, the knife flying out of Humphrey's reach. Jasmine wrapped her arms around her stomach watching the fighting men, who were now locked together and rolling on the floor.

For a skinny lanky body, Humphrey was very strong. But it wasn't his strength in what little muscle he had fueling him, it was his quick unexpected moves that gave him an advantage as he managed to jab Cristiano with his knee in the jaw.

Cristiano's head snapped back but quickly regained his composure, fighting like he had been trained all his life and retaliated with an uppercut to the chin that sent Humphrey flying. Humphrey slid back, scuttling like a crab. He screamed in frustration as Cristiano raised an eyebrow, giving Humphrey a darkly arrogant look that Jasmine had once despised.

"She's mine!" Humphrey screamed, muttering all the sadistic things he'd do to her if Cristiano wasn't there to protect her.

Jasmine felt herself pale once more with horror. Cristiano seemed unaffected by Humphrey's sick, evil words.

"She belongs to no one." Cristiano answered quietly. "You have no way out of this." He eyed his gun still thrown in the corner trying to determine if he should use his gun or his hands. He shook his head, his hands twitching. No. He will kill him with his bare hands. It was a fitting punishment. "Surrender now, or you will die the same exact way I saw you do to her."

"I've killed for her. What have you done to deserve her, you wretched snake!"

Cristiano advanced on him, each step vibrating like an earthquake. With a yelp, Humphrey turned and ran in the other direction. But Cristiano easily caught up to him, grabbing his shoulder and whirling him around.

"Killed, have you?" He punched Humphrey in the face–once, twice

"Stop!" Jasmine shouted hoarsely.

It sounded more like a squeal to her hears. Every muscle in her neck throbbed, having difficulty swallowing.

Neither of them paid any attention. Cristiano lashed out encircling Humphrey's throat. Thrusting him sideways, he lifted him up, slammed his body against the wall and pinned him there. Humphrey's feet dangled a good foot off the ground. His eyes bulged as he face turned red. He gasped for air with a choking sound.

"Not so strong now are you?" Cristiano snarled. "How does it feel to know you will die?" He demanded.

"Cristiano, don't–." Jasmine sobbed.

"Why should I spare his life? Do you think he would have let you live?" He demanded, not looking at her.

Humphrey's eyes grew dim as he continued to claw at Cristiano's hand until his last dying breath. He kicked violently as his life was slowly leaving his body, looking like a man being hanged by a noose. Cristiano continued to squeeze until his fingers turned numb. As soon as he was assured the boy was dead, Cristiano abruptly stepped back and released his choke hold, tossing his limp body like a bag of useless rocks.

He lay there, on his back, his blue eyes wide open.

Dead.

Without a word, he turned back to Jasmine, clutching a pillow to her chest, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Hands in the air." A man said from the doorway in heavily accented English. "Step away from the lady." Jasmine and Cristiano looked up to see a man in police uniform, with half a dozen policemen behind him. "Don't make any sudden moves."

Cristiano held up his hands in surrender, not moving except for the muscle twitching in his cheek.

"The man you're after is on the floor." He supplied, nodding his head in the direction Humphrey lay dead. "I was the one that called for the police once I found him committing murder."

The uniformed men moved into the penthouse like trained soldiers, guns raised.

"That man nearly killed me." Jasmine declared hoarsely, pointing to Humphrey. "That man is the Casanova killer. He was strangling me to death until this man saved my life." Referring to Cristiano who was being cuffed.

"Ma'am, are you alright? My name is officer Nichols. Do you require medical attention?" He approached her, placing his gun in its holster. "Paramedics were dispatched and are on their way."

Jasmine slowly shook her head, reaching for her neck which felt bruised and tender. She was sure the print of Humphrey's fingers were imprinted on her neck.

"I'm fine, I think." Barely getting the words past the constriction in her chest and throat.

Officer Nichols nods curtly. "Now, you claim this dead man is the Killer? The Casanova Killer died and evidence was collected to confirm Marcus Cunnings as the murderer. That investigation was cleared and the case was closed. I was the first officer to respond to the call to this very hotel."

Jasmine quickly glanced at Cristiano and slowly managed to recount the awful events of the night. How Humphrey confessed he was the killer and set it up to implicate Marcus Cunnings with the help of her assistant. It was all a ruse to mislead them all. When she was done the officers turned to stare at one another questioningly.

"Very well. Un-cuff him. However, we will need his statement." He turns to another officer standing closely behind Cristiano and clutching his arm. "Sir, please don't go anywhere." He says to Cristiano who nods, hands fisted at his sides. "Ma'am, we will need to take your official statement of the events since you're a key eye witness in this crime. Are you able to accompany us to the police station?"

Jasmine was starting to feel drained again. Her first concern was of her baby.

Was it okay?

She needed reassurance before she could move and if she could manage standing, Cristiano would be able to see the outline of his child growing inside her.

"Perhaps I will seek medical assistance. I don't feel well. I can stop by tomorrow and give my official statement." She offered, her head bowed.

The officer nods, offering a smile of thanks and turns to the investigators surrounding Humphrey's body.

"How are you feeling?" Cristiano asks, getting on bended knee before her, speaking in a hushed tone to preserve their privacy.

His fake concern hit her like a slap.

Jasmine used the edge of her sleeve to wipe the left over tears drying on her cheeks. She was startled to realize him looking at her like he cared for her well being. He didn't look like a man who just killed another.

"You shouldn't have killed him." She muttered, ignoring his concern, and checking if the officers were listening.