“Yes,” I whisper, because I do understand his words.I understand what they mean.What I don’t understand is the heat flaring to life between us, the way every impulse tells me to lean in and invite him to what?Touch, taste, explore.I want to lose myself, and he is my only option.
The air is sucked from the room once his fingers press against the small of my back and his gaze lingers on my mouth.Yes, kiss me.Touch me.My aching heart screams even louder than my aching body, craving him.I’ve been alone for so long, even when I wasn’t, even when I was surrounded by the family who was supposed to love me.I was always alone on a deserted island, fending for myself, almost like I had to justify my existence.
And now here he is, staring into my eyes, his breath hot on my face as he leans closer before finally brushing his lips against mine and making my soul sing.
A growl rumbles in his throat before he sinks a hand into my hair and angles my head so he can deepen the kiss.My knees are weak, meaning I have to hold onto him, clutching tight while he makes me whimper with every stroke of his tongue.He is pleasure, he is escape, he’s everything I need most after the ugly turn tonight took.
All the fear, all the dread, all the questions.I pour them into my kiss, searching for answers while Dante’s hands move over my body and my fingers dig into his shoulders.My skin is tingling, and my heart is racing the way Dante’s does when he crushes me against him, tight enough that I can feel the rapid drumbeat in his chest.One of his hands slides down my back and cups my ass, setting me on fire.
My pussy aches in response to the deep growl he releases once he breaks the kiss.“I do have to get back up there.”He sighs, though he doesn’t let go right away.I can’t believe how much I want him to stay and not to comfort me.There’s nothing I would like more than to climb him like a fucking redwood.
But my brother is psychotic, and he’s tired of staying quiet.The thought of that hideous jar is water on the fire blazing away in my core.“Okay.I’ll probably put on a movie or something.I would rather wait until you’re back to go to bed, I think.”Having a guard outside is one thing, but I’d feel safer knowing Dante is across the hall.
“I’ll try to make it fast,” he promises, though I don’t hold my breath as he leaves.
Rocco is beyond murderous, and Luca will want blood from the man who kidnapped and tortured Emilia.I’ll be alone for hours while they plan and obsess.
But for the first time since the wedding, I’m looking forward to seeing my husband walk through the door.
13
DANTE
An entire marching band is stomping its way through my skull by the time I step back into the main house, where dinner has been forgotten by now.Crossing the front hall, I hear Mom’s voice carrying down the stairs.Guilia’s voice rings out, too, like she’s trying to give a little comfort.Emilia is probably down at Luca’s house, on the opposite end of the property.
Nothing could have prepared me for what was in that box, but it’s the yearning I can’t shake.It felt right to hold Sophia, comfort her, kiss her.I don’t deserve to indulge that way, but I couldn’t help it.
I wanted more than anything to stay with her, which is the most surprising thing of all.I should have been chomping at the bit to get back up here and plot that motherfucker’s death, but it was Sophia I wanted.
Correction.Still want.
“Took you long enough.”Luca is pacing the study when I reach it, sneering at me before he turns on his heel and crosses the room again.“Let me guess.Your wife is just as much in the dark as we are.”
“You’re dancing on my last nerve,” I warn.
“I’m not in the mood to listen to the bickering,” Papa mutters from behind his desk.When I look at the empty space where the box sat before I left, he explains, “I had somebody take it away.Disgustosa.”Disgusting isn’t half of it.
“Odds this is actually Alessandro?”I ask the room at large.
Cesco shrugs from where he’s lounging in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk.“I’d put good money on it.This is right in that psycho’s wheelhouse.”
“I called Giorgio,” Papa tells me, gesturing toward the bar in the corner when he gets up, eyebrows raised.I shake my head against the impulse to drown my synapses in whiskey, to soften the sharp edges and dampen the volume of the screaming in my head when I imagine Alessandro plotting against us.Again.
“And?”I prompt.
“And he’s supposedly sending the word out for everybody he knows to track down his rabid dog,” Luca snarls before turning to cross the room again.“Like that’s going to help when it hasn’t up to this point.”
“I hope you told him we’ll match his manpower and double the number of eyes on the street?”I ask Papa.
“Is this the kind of hard-hitting insider knowledge you’ve been learning?”Luca asks.Usually, he’s hard enough to pretend to get along with, but tonight, he is determined to die.
“Enough!”Papa barks, silencing us the way he’s been able to do since we were kids.He sinks into his chair with a fresh drink in hand, adding, “The answer is yes, of course.We’ll work together on this.”
It’s not enough.
Nowhere close.
“Who delivered the box?”
