Shielded Wrongs (Bellandi Crime Syndicate 4)

He had broad shoulders, and with his arms crossed over his diaphragm, the faintest trace of abs peeked out below them. The word “Ride” stretched up the underside of his right bicep. The word “Die” served as an echo on the left. On each of his pectoral muscles, a black crow with tribal details faced his sternum with the letters “O” and “R” framed in negative space inside them. A smattering of smaller crows displayed over his ribcage and abs. He wasn't ripped, wasn't incredibly defined with his muscle mass. But he was massive, with a sort of real-world strength, and the light shadow of hair below his belly button and at the top of his pecs was uniquely him.

Pure Lorenzo Vescovi.

"Well, that got kinky real fast," I teased, twisting my lips up into a pout as I hefted the bag on my shoulder. Standing across from him, with his body on display and looking sinfully irresistible, felt oddly intimate.

I'd been naked with men before. I was no virgin.

But none of them were Enzo.

"I'm dying to know how you taste when you come on my tongue, Carina. Say the word, and I will find out." He grinned, his challenge issued. The man didn't know me, aside from the rumors he might have heard from our shared friends, but seemingly what they’d said had been enough for him to know just what the challenge would do to me. If the arrogant smirk on his face was anything to go by, at any rate.

I stomped my foot and turned on my heel, marching my ass back to bed while he roared with laughter behind me.

"Prick!" I yelled, tossing a middle-fingered salute over my shoulder as I trudged up the stairs to sleep.

I'd stab him in the morning.

10

Enzo

I came awake quickly, snapping off the bed and to my feet in a fluid motion. The alarm hadn't sounded. My systems hadn't alerted me to movement in the living room, but given what I knew of Sadie from the way the others talked about her, I wasn't willing to linger in bed.

The house was silent as I crept out of my master bedroom on the main floor and deactivated the motion sensors in the main room when I entered. It didn't appear the little escape artist had tried a second time, and I hoped that exhaustion had finally gotten the best of her. Considering it had been nearly three in the morning when she tried to sneak out my front door, I suspected as much. Even a woman as tough as her needed some beauty sleep.

I climbed the stairs quickly, pushing the door to her bedroom open. Sprawled on the bed, she'd tossed the blanket to the floor in her sleep, so nothing covered her except for a thin white sheet caught around her waist. Having stripped out of the pants and jacket I'd forced on her when we left her place, there was very little fabric obstructing my view of her as she slept.

Sleep shorts shoved up to the tops of her thighs, her crop top tight enough that it thankfully hadn't budged in her sleep. Judging by the bra folded carefully on top of the clothes in her bag, I'd have gotten quite the eyeful.

The contents of the bag stood out, neatly folded with all the corners pressed tightly. They hadn't been that way when I’d shoved clothes into the bag the night before, so that meant she'd taken the time to fold her clothes before trying to sneak out in the night.

I didn't understand it at all, but I felt like a pervert staring at the small of her back and the two indents just above her ass. They beckoned to me, made for my thumbs to dig into while I held her still as I fucked her.

Retreating out of the bedroom, I made my way back down the stairs and reactivated the motion sensors so I could have a bit of peace in the shower. They would alert me if she woke up and left her room. I didn't lock the door behind me as I made my way into the master bathroom and turned on the shower. Brushing my teeth, I tried to shake the image of her lying in bed. So toned and tiny and perfect.

What I wouldn't give to roll over in bed and have the sight of her greet me first thing in the morning, but something like that would never happen for me. She'd have to be okay with that.

It would come. In time.

Shoving the boxer briefs down my legs, I stepped into the shower. I resisted the urge to wrap my hand around my cock and get off to ease the pressure that had been building in me since I laid eyes on Sadie. The next time I came, it would be in her.

On her.

I wasn't picky.

I went through my shower with the efficient movements the Army had ingrained in me, getting out less than two minutes after I'd gotten in. Anything longer than that felt extravagant and unnecessary. I dried off with equally hurried movements, dressing in one of my suits and mourning the fact that we'd have to take my Range Rover to Indulgence. I'd loved the feel of her riding behind me on my bike and reveled in the warmth of her arms wrapped snugly around me.

When she still hadn't woken up, I made my way back to her room. Both eager for the sight I knew would greet me and dreading it since it made me a complete creep, I pushed the door open. She still hadn't budged, her face turned to the side as she snuggled into her pillow.

Oblivious to the killer in the room, and it wasn't hard to imagine how her attacker had made it into her apartment without waking her the night before.

The things I would do to her while we slept, before she ever woke up, only cemented the fact that I could never sleep in the same bed as her. It had never bothered me in the slightest to have to leave a woman's bed after we finished fucking, but the thought of doing that to Sadie tugged at the pit in my stomach.

I needed food.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I watched her back rise and fall with steady breaths. "Wake up, Carina," I said, shaking her shoulder gently. When she gave no response, I pulled my hand back and gave her ass a sharp smack that sent her jolting up the bed and grabbing at the sheet instantly.

"Ow!" she enunciated, staring at me as if I'd lost my mind.