The intensity of his gaze left me breathless as he pulled me in for a kiss. It ignited a fire in me, and soon our kisses led to touches. I climbed onto him, letting his hands work my body into a frenzy I couldn’t tame, and enveloped him. The steel intensity of his gaze remained on me while he watched me fall apart. Those hazel eyes were so full of adoration and love that I no longer cared that he held secrets from me. All that mattered was Gabe and the way our bodies moved in tandem. As he grew closer to release, he threaded his fingers into my hair, dragging my mouth to his. My climax tore through me, eviscerating me just as he succumbed to his.
Filling me, he murmured, “Ti amo, luna mia.”
And I clung to those words and the emotion they held as I rode out the waves of my ecstasy and fell so far for him that I knew there was no going back, no matter what complications his secrets held.
Chapter 8
Gabe
The clink of Tori’s keys informed me she was ready to leave. Now that she’d passed her exams, the company had assigned her a permanent schedule, one that included Saturdays and second shift weekdays. It left me more time to work on my businesses and plan the next steps, but it kept her from me when I’d grown attached to having her with me so much.
“I’m leaving,” she shouted from the living room.
Rushing from the bedroom in just my boxers, I scooped her up and swung her around before kissing her goodbye. She teetered, grabbing my shoulder when I put her down.
“No leaving without a goodbye. Remember?” I said, loving the smile that lit her eyes.
“How could I forget?” She brought my head down and gave me a peck before heading out. “Dinner when I get back?”
“I’ll have it made and waiting.”
“You’re cooking tonight?” she asked, holding the door open.
“Gotta keep you spoiled.”
With a laugh, she shook her head. “That’s all you do, Gabe. You spoil me nonstop.”
“Good.”
“I love you,” she said.
I pressed my hand to my chest. “Love you, too. Go put those clients in their place.”
“Can’t wait. Another day of talking people through pin resets and giving stock quotes.”
“You’ll get there, Tori. Give it time, and you’ll be running the company one day.”
Her laugh echoed long after she closed the door. There was always an emptiness to the apartment when she left. Five months had passed. Five months since the day she had entered my life and changed it completely. I rubbed my neck, making my way to the shower to get ready for a day of work. Without Tori there, I could work freely. There was no need to hide browsers from her when she came to look over my shoulder. Hiding the spreadsheets and internal workings of my LLCs. The business emails and dark web searches. Given the multiple screens involved in my day job, she never questioned why I had so many monitors and screens open at once.
I peered out the window, seeing her climb into her car. We’d been spending more nights with each other, and I was contemplating taking the next step and asking her to move in with me. Scratching the back of my neck, I returned to starting my day. Her shift would last until four, and I had plenty to do until then.
As I dressed, my phone buzzed. Liv. There wasn’t anyone else it could be this early on a Saturday morning. I’d been ignoring her calls for the last two days, and I knew she was pissed and worried.
“Morning,” I said, waiting for her to rip into me.
“Morning? Where the hell have you been, Gabe? I’ve been trying to reach you for two days, and before then you could barely spare me five minutes. I was about to send one of Dad’s men down to make sure you were still alive.”
Pissed was an understatement. I walked into the kitchen and filled a glass with orange juice.
“Don’t be dramatic. I’m fine. Just busy with work.”
She stayed quiet, and I could just picture her gnashing her teeth. “Talk.”
“I told you work?—”
“There’s something going on, Gabe. I’m not stupid. We’ve been checking in consistently for years, and suddenly, you're AWOL. What are you up to?”
The couch cushioned the drop of my body, and I leaned on my knees.
