The Devil I Crave (Devil's Knights 2)

I handed him the beer, and he raised the bottle in appreciation. “I was hoping Alex would come up here and sit on my lap,” he said between sips. “You tapping that yet?”

“Fuck off, Son.”

“So that’s a no.” He turned in his chair, a smirk in place. “You think your plan will work?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed. “My brother did a number on her head.”

“Well, unfuck her head. This shit fucks with the Knights.”

“Yeah, yeah. I don’t need another reminder. I get enough from my dad.”

My family and the Devil’s Knights wouldn’t be in this situation if Luca didn’t screw up so badly. As a child, he liked to break his toys. Luca destroyed everything good, and he’d almost broken our queen.

“You get to have her again before Legare,” Sonny groaned. “Fuck, I’m not gonna lie. I’m jealous. I still think about that night in the temple.”

“Me too.”

Sonny drank from the bottle and set it in the cup holder beside him. “Has she asked about her brother lately?”

I leaned against the railing. “Not since the meeting with Carl. She knows we’re hiding shit from her. Alex isn’t stupid.”

He shook his head. “She’s going to hate both of you when she discovers the truth. It’s only a matter of time before she gets her memories back and pieces everything together.”

“I know. But it wasn’t my fault. I tried to do right by Aiden.”

Sonny nodded. “She might not see it that way.”

I hated he was right. Alex only had blurry memories of what happened the night Aiden disappeared. She blamed Luca, maybe even me. At least she didn’t stab me, so that was a plus.

“I’m gonna head down and keep her company.”

Sonny tapped his beer against mine. “We’ll be at our usual spot in thirty minutes. Have the sandwiches ready. I’m starving.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” I quipped before heading down the stairs.

I found Alex on a deck chair, looking like a sea goddess with her legs spread out and curls fanned around her pretty face. She looked up at me, a big smile stretching the corners of her mouth.

She patted the deck chair beside her. “Sit. I want to play a game.”

I did as she commanded, like I was under her fucking spell. “What kind of game?”

“Twenty questions.”

I shook my head. “Nope, not playing that game.”

Alex sat up, swinging her legs off the side of the chair. “Why not? I want to know more about you.”

“Fine,” I agreed because I was a fucking softie with Alex.

“You can ask me anything you want,” she offered. “I’m an open book.” She outstretched her hand for me to shake. “Do we have a deal?”

I slipped my fingers between hers, and electricity skated along my skin. Alex’s skin was so fucking soft I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the rest of her gorgeous body.

“Okay,” Alex said with her eyes on me. “You can start.”

“This is silly.” I shook my head and drank the rest of my beer. “What’s your favorite color?”

She giggled. “Seriously, Marcello? I was expecting something more… personal.”

“It is personal. So?”

“Royal blue. And you? What’s yours?”

“Hunter green.”

She smiled. “Hunter? That fits your personality perfectly.”

“Oh, yeah. How so?”

“You look at me like a hunter.” Her tongue slid across her teeth, and my heart raced with each movement. “Like you’re two seconds from tearing my clothes off with your teeth.”

“You must read minds,” I said with a wink.

“Okay,” she announced, tucking her legs under her butt. “Nineteen questions to go. What do I want to know about the mysterious Marcello?” She tapped her index finger against her pouty pink lips. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

“Fourteen.”

Her eyebrows rose in shock. “Wow, you were that young?”

I nodded.

“I bet all the girls at school wanted a piece of you.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t pay attention to them. I never knew if girls liked me for my money, or if they were just trying to get close to Luca.”

She smiled. “I’m sure they liked you, Marcello. I mean look at you.”

I gave her a weary look. “You don’t know what it’s like to be a Salvatore.”

“I’m a Wellington. Can’t be any worse.” She rolled her shoulders then said, “Third question. What was her name?”

“Alanna Newton.”

“Was she your girlfriend?”

“No, a football groupie. I fucked her behind the bleachers after a game still in my uniform.”

“You played football?” Alex’s eyes traveled up and down my arms. “I’m not surprised. You have the body of an athlete. But I always thought the Salvatores were too cool to play sports.”

“Luca, Damian, and Bash were too busy getting high and terrorizing everyone at school.”

She snorted with laughter. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I played football with Sonny,” I told her. “We were on the same team.”

“What position did you play?”

“Quarterback.”

She chuckled. “Of course you did.”

“My turn,” I said. “Would you be here right now if Luca hadn’t forced you to come back?”