Shielded Wrongs (Bellandi Crime Syndicate 4)

I needed out now.

I laughed, deciding to insult his manhood to brush off the statement. I knew better than most that men were just pigs. They said shit like that just to boast, not because they genuinely meant any of it. "In my experience, men who make big claims like that?" I pinched my fingers in the universal symbol for small. "They never deliver."

> He growled, spinning and grabbing my waist. Pushing me back to the wall, he didn't stop until he towered over me and had me pinned with the hard surface at my back and his bulk at my front. Before we'd stopped moving, I'd grabbed a handful of his junk, ready to twist and squeeze until he begged for mercy.

Instead, he grinned for a moment, his eyes glancing down at where I held him through his jeans. The length of him twitched against my palm. And it was really, truly unfortunate that there was just too much there to be small.

Some men had it all.

"Do not speak of other men to me. They no longer exist for you, Carina." His hand stroked my hair, wrapping it around his fist and tugging until I tipped my head back under the pressure. "There's only me now."

His lips crashed down on mine, the taste of pure man filling my senses. He was everywhere, surrounding me, all over me.

I couldn't allow it.

I parted my lips for him, deceiving him into thinking I'd open for him. The way I so wanted to.

Just when I had him convinced, I sank my teeth into his bottom lip until I tasted blood. Instead of relenting, he gripped his hand around my jaw. Fingers on one side and thumb on the other, he applied just enough pressure that I had to release his lip. Then his tongue thrust inside, devouring my mouth until my body was ready to melt in his arms.

Until I was ready to climb him like a spider monkey.

Then he tore his mouth away, leaving me gaping after him as he picked up the bag off the floor and tossed it into the bedroom across the hall. His eyes went to the red stain on my lip as he ran his tongue over the wound on his own. With a wink, he turned back to the stairs. "Sweet dreams, Carina," he said.

I stepped into the room, observing how perfect everything was in there as well. The bathroom was immaculate, looking like it was never used. Either he was as obsessive as I was, which I didn't think was the case given the state of the clothes in my bag, or he wasn't home often.

I bet on the latter.

My eyes landed on the bag on the bed, on the clothes spilling out and unfolded and in complete disarray. I knew I should wait until I got home because I'd just need to fold them again, anyway, but the sight of them made me twitchy. Unable to help myself, I switched off the overhead light, leaving only the bedside lamp to cast a dim glow around the room.

It was just enough for me to see what I was doing as I emptied the clothes onto the bed and set to refolding them, tucking them back into the tote as neatly as I could when I finished. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in the bed and sleep the night away, what remained of it anyway, but that wasn't in the cards for me.

Once I'd finished, I switched off the light and sat.

I counted to fifty in my head. Then I did it five more times.

Only when there were no more sounds in the rest of the house did I let my need to move take over. I eased to my feet, doing everything I could to remove my weight from the bed gradually so it wouldn't make a sound. Nothing could alert Enzo to the fact that I was moving.

That I was awake, and prowling through his house like a creep. How quickly the tides had turned. Draping my bag over my arm, I eased open the door that I'd been very careful not to let latch when I closed it. It creaked ever-so-slightly, and I froze.

Listening for movement.

When there was none, I slithered out the door and into the hall, hurrying along it and down the stairs as quickly as I could manage without making a sound. With the front door in sight, I drew in a deep breath.

I'd seen the intensity of his security system. I knew the alarm would sound the second I opened that door.

I just had to be ready to run. The good news was, I was fast.

I was willing to bet I was much faster than Enzo, even with the advantage his long legs gave him. My petite muscles could work to my benefit. I'd just have to be smart.

Crossing the room, my hand touched the doorknob for the briefest second before the kitchen lights turned on and blinded me. A scream tore itself up my throat, loud and shrill as I dropped my bag to the floor. There was nothing stealthy about the pure terror that filled me as I clutched my chest and spun to face Enzo with red cheeks from my own humiliation.

Not that I'd been caught.

That I'd sounded like such a fucking girl.

He stood frozen solid, staring at me with oddly blank eyes. With my heart in my throat, I pushed through my discomfort because of the sudden change in his behavior. "What in the name of dick is wrong with you?! You scared the hell out of me!" I hissed, picking up my bag of disturbed clothes with a dejected sigh. He shook his head with a sudden snap, his face filling with animation once again as he opened his mouth.

"I'm a lot of things, Baby Girl. But I ain't stupid. March your ass back to bed or I can carry you there and tie you to it," he ordered, leaning against the kitchen counter like the freaking sexy ass Neanderthal he was, clad in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs that clung to his thickly corded thigh muscles. I swallowed down my nerves and budding arousal.