Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

“Si che paralizzato?” Who crippled you?

I woke to more angry Arabic and groaned as I looked at the clock and it read 4:00 a.m. Daniello had made another appearance tonight, which did nothing but confuse me further. During dinner, I was sure an apology was on the tip of his tongue but had never made it past his lips. He seemed distracted, and I hadn’t bothered to ask why. All I did know was that his threat to hurt me if I interfered with his business hadn’t been dismissed from my thoughts.

Pushing off the covers, I winced at the soreness between my legs and walked to my dresser. Pulling on a T-shirt and panties, I made my way to the living room to find Daniello at my front door, facing off with Rocco.

The two were whispering heatedly, and as soon as Rocco saw me over Daniello’s shoulder, he narrowed his eyes and pointed in my direction. Daniello all but pushed him out the door before turning to me with reassuring eyes.

“He will not return to your home.”

“Great. And he was never invited in the first place, and neither were you,” I added, starting a pot of coffee in the kitchen.

Daniello cornered the counter and gripped my T-shirt, pulling me to him. “You are such a mood woman.”

“Yes, yes I am.” I grinned. “And it’s moody.”

“Bitch woman.” He grinned back.

“It’s bitchy,” I smarted, resisting his pull and slapping at his greedy hands.

“Stop correcting my English. I am aware I have not mastered it,” he scorned as he gathered more of the material of my shirt in his fist and I slid hesitantly toward him. If he filled my senses with his scent, I wasn’t sure I would be able to resist him, and my body needed a break. He’d fucked me to the brink of unconsciousness after our quiet dinner.

“Why do you not just say what is on your mind, Taylor?”

I turned my back to him and braced my hands on the counter, watching the coffee brew.

“I will not beg you to tell me your mind.”

I rolled my eyes at his statement. His English tutor should be shot. The man couldn’t even scold me without needing correction. It made it comical, but at four in the morning, it made me brave.

“You threatened my life. I don’t think I’ll be able to get over that. I don’t think I want to. And I still don’t like you.”

He gripped the back of my shirt, turning me to face him. His tight hold outlined my body, and my nipples peaked under his watchful eye. “Then it is a good thing I play so well with your body.” Heat invaded me as he leaned in, sucking my nipple through my T-shirt until it was painfully hard. Pulling out of his grip, I crossed my arms.

Bowing his head, he let out a long breath.

“You want apologies for words I mean when I say them. Do not let your curiosity about me get you killed, Taylor.”

I took a step forward, my eyes as cold and steady as his. “And you would be the one to kill me?”

“Would it ease your mind if I told you I would have no choice?”

“I don’t know.” And I didn’t. The man stood in my living room weeks ago with enough DNA on him to convict him for life. Was I really that surprised he would do the same to me?

“And if I end this now?”

He scrubbed his face with his hand, agitated as he answered. “That is your choice. I will honor our agreement.”

We stood facing each other in a silent standoff, the ever-present current passing between us.

“What made you think I was the type of woman to deal with your life, your choices?”

He smirked as he sandwiched me between him and the counter, his ready cock pressed against my leg.

“Are you not?”

He had no clue about my past. He couldn’t possibly. There was nothing about it to be found on any piece of paper or hidden in any database. I had no criminal record. The only people who knew about my past were me, Laz, and Cedric. If Daniello thought me a woman worthy of handling him, he’d drawn that conclusion on instinct alone. Maybe that’s why I was reluctant to let him go. He was more than capable of handling me sexually, and from what I’d gathered would probably think my corrupt past laughable.

Still, I had no order. I couldn’t seem to make up my fucking mind when it came to him. There was nothing structured about indecision.