Bound By Love (Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles 6)

I woke to Aria’s soft body curled against me, and sunlight tickling my face. My eyes shot open and I groaned. “Fuck.”

Aria’s eyelids fluttered, then she peered at me with those gorgeous baby blues. “What’s wrong?” Her voice was still raw from sleep.

“I fell asleep,” I muttered. “Not only did you have to spend most of our anniversary with Romero, but I didn’t even fuck you like I wanted to.”

Her lips twitched. “I think,” she began, propping herself up on my chest, “that it was a fitting ending to our first year of marriage. After all, you didn’t get any action on our wedding night, so it’s only fair I didn’t get any on our first anniversary.”

I chuckled. Trust Aria to make me feel better. Light in the dark, indeed. My fingers trailed down her spine over her ass and then between her legs, finding her wet. “Maybe we can start our second year with mind-blowing sex to set the mood for the future.”

Aria smiled then moaned as my fingers brushed up against her clit. “That sounds perfect.”ARIAThings between Luca and me were back to how they used to be. Sometimes when Matteo sent him an update of his hunt, Luca got tense around me, but it only ever lasted a couple of hours. I wasn’t sure if he knew that I could follow Gianna’s progress through the travel blog she’d established. Perhaps he suspected I knew something, but he’d stopped pressing for information.

I breathed in deeply, loving the crisp morning air. Central Park was quiet this early on a Sunday, except for joggers that made their rounds despite December’s cold. In summer Luca and I had been among them, but in winter I preferred to do my run on the treadmill, though we still got up early to enjoy a morning walk.

Luca squeezed my gloved hand, and my eyes found his. “Dollar for your thoughts,” he murmured.

I smiled and drew to a stop. “Just thinking how much I love that we’re both morning people and that we get to have Central Park almost to ourselves.” Luca was almost always working these days. Without Matteo at his side, he had to take care of business on his own. I only had him during the early morning hours and late at night, but only in the morning did we really find time to talk. The nights were reserved for lovemaking, as Luca was too stressed from the day’s events to give me more than physical closeness. It was my fault, of course. Matteo was still gone because I didn’t tell them where Gianna was.

Luca chuckled, the low sound making me want to find a place where we could be alone. “To think that I used to party until the early morning hours, and now I’m up that early.”

My smile faltered. “Do you mind? You used to be the most sought-after bachelor in the city, and now…” I trailed off.

Luca pulled me close, and bent low so his warm breath ghosted over my face. “I was out all night, always hunting, always moving because there was nothing at home calling me back. Now there’s you and no matter where I am or what I’m doing, the thought of you waiting for me is the best.”

My body filled with warmth at his words, but a slight worry gnawed at me. “What about other women?” I whispered. “You had a new girl in your bed every weekend, and now there’s only me.” I’d seen how some of the female joggers had looked at Luca. I noticed how many of the younger and even older women at social events eyed him, how they undressed him with their eyes. His predator charms lured them in. He was all muscle, all man, all power.

Luca shook his head. “Why would I want anyone else, Aria? There’s no one else I want.”

I curled my fingers over his neck and pulled him to me, my lips brushing his. “I love you, Luca.” His gray eyes softened, and that sight always got me. That look, that side of him, nobody got to see it but me. Perhaps Luca had been the first and only man to claim my body, but I was the first and only person who had that part of him, his soft side, his gentle side. That was all mine.

A buzzing noise drew us apart.

Luca let out a sigh. “Who’s it now?”

Luca reached for his cell in his coat, then glanced down at the screen, and from the look on his face I knew at once it was important.

I froze. “Luca?”

He looked up. “Matteo texted.”

My heart clenched. I swallowed. “And?”

“He got her.”

My breath left my mouth in a puff of fog. “Gianna?” As if there could be someone else.

Luca nodded. I could tell he was relieved, but didn’t show it openly because of me. Relieved because Matteo would finally return to New York after six months of being on the hunt for my sister. Six months. That’s how long Gianna had lived her dream.