My gaze froze to ice. “Since we’re getting the threats out of the way—if you ever do anything stupid enough to get another gun pointed at her head, I’ll skin you alive. Got it?”
He smirked. “Got it, bro.”
Jesus. As of tomorrow, this idiot was my fucking brother-in-law.
The clock said two a.m. when I got home. Tony and I had finished the meeting without trying to kill each other—a success in my book—and then I had some other business to take care of. Annoying business that left a red stain on my shirt.
The trashcans near the garage were full of bags, and a small smile came to my lips when I realized what Elena had thrown away. She was like a fascinating creature in my house, and I’d never know what she would do next.
Luca left after filling me in on Elena’s amusing activities today. I knew he was getting tired of having to stay here—and I also needed him back at work—but I wasn’t sure who else to trust. Usually, I would have left Lorenzo with this kind of shit—but with Elena? Fuck no. I briefly wondered if eunuchs were still a thing.
Truthfully, I hated the idea of leaving her with another man at all, but her safety was more important to me than that. Also, there was an itch in the back of my head that kept reminding me she’d tried to run only six months ago. Did she leave because her papà was a fucking scrooge, or for another man who possibly still lived? My teeth clenched.
I headed upstairs and decided I needed to do something about the creak in the stairs. It was loud as shit.
I’d been chafing to come home. Just so I could fuck Elena soft and easy, all night long. I wanted to draw it out, soak up her moans, make her sweat and shake beneath me. I was fucking rock hard at the idea.
After going to my room and finding my bed empty, a growl sounded in my throat. I pushed open the spare bedroom door to see her fast asleep. The window was cracked, letting a breeze in that rustled the sheer curtains. The streetlight shone a yellow glow across her face, and my chest ached at the sight.
I dropped to my haunches next to her. She slept on her side, facing me. One smooth thigh was outside of the covers. She had on a tiny t-shirt that had ridden up to right below her tits and a fucking thong. The curve of her bare ass was right there, begging me to bite it. My dick insisted that I be an asshole and wake her up. Shit. I rubbed my face and gave my head a shake. I couldn’t do it.
Her lips were slightly parted, and her breaths came out even and shallow. Dark eyelashes fanned her cheeks. I stared at her for a moment. How peaceful it must be in that head of hers to have such a sweet expression. I wanted to keep it that way, to make sure she never worried about anything again.
Fuck, I was whipped.
If perfection had a face, a body, a voice—this girl would be it.
I skimmed a thumb across her soft cheekbone.
My gaze found her ring and my throat tightened. Gianna’s words filled my mouth with a bitter taste.
I would make this girl want me, need me, love me, because fuck if I was going it alone.
“We are most alive when we’re in love.”
—John Updike
IT SMELLED LIKE FRESH AIR and expectation. A warm breeze flowed through the cracked window and I realized I left it open all night. That wouldn’t be good for Nico’s electricity bill, though I was sure he had enough money to power New York City for years.
I got up and closed the window, and then padded toward the bathroom. After I appeared halfway presentable, I headed downstairs. My feet froze at the base of the stairs, but unfortunately, this time it wasn’t due to a half-naked Nico.
A quiet “No” escaped my lips.
“Yes,” Nico said.
My heartbeats ricocheted like pinballs in my chest.
I glanced from him in his black three-piece suit to the white dress lying over the back of the couch. A cool rush of unease drifted through my body, but there was something else intertwined. A warm kernel of pleasure, of relief, expanding like a balloon. I didn’t realize that living with this man unmarried had bothered me until now—and it wasn’t because of what it would do to my reputation. As much as I loved the freedoms such a liberal world provided for others, my heart bled for the Cosa Nostra, for everything romantic, and for the structured walls of tradition. Also, the idea that he would grow bored and decide not to marry me had been a cold whistle of alarm in my blood.
I wanted to be married, to have a husband of my own, but the sunny, white picket fence dream I’d always envisioned would be marred by the shadows of other women. I couldn’t share. Not this man. The idea made me feel sick to my stomach, cut my breaths in half, sent an ache radiating through my chest.
“Why did you kill Oscar Perez?” I blurted.
Nico stood with his hands in his pockets as he leaned against the island. His gaze was as calm and deep as the sea. “Because you were mine.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. I didn’t think he would lie about the question, but I did believe he’d evade it. I suddenly knew that this throb in my heart would be worse than any physical pain Oscar could have inflicted upon me.
“Maybe you screwed fate.” My voice was a whisper as I stared at the white summer dress on the couch.