Walking out of the kill room was almost more intense than walking in. Apart from the Carduccis themselves, no one had walked into the kill room and survived. My whole body shook as I left, and if it wasn’t the glare of Anthony Carducci silently warning me that this was my final chance to save my life that doubled my discomfort, it was the cold stare of Arturo, no doubt envisioning the many ways he planned to gut me when I inevitably fucked up.
Anthony Carducci could fill a hallway on his own. Arturo was smashed in next to him, meaning Callista had all the cover she needed to cower behind the pair and avoid my gaze. For her to be my sister and not to have stepped up to protect me was painful, to say the least. Even with Anthony’s and Arturo’s stares set straight for me, I stared past them to Callista, part of me hoping I could run to her and hug her and the other part hoping that she would catch fire.
When I reached the base of the stairs, my feet actually attempted to carry me past the two hulking men and toward Callista.
“Have you lost your mind?” Arturo hissed behind me, and his hand on my back corrected me and pushed me up the stairs. “You must want to die.”
“I want to talk to Callista,” I huffed back.
“I’ll get her for you. Don’t go charging at my dad when he wanted to turn you into a pile of your own guts ten minutes ago.”
Though I didn’t respond, I had to admit to myself that he was right. Given that Anthony and Arturo Carducci wanted me dead, I needed to put as much space between the two of us until I was gone from the manor for good. Ashton led me through the house to one of the guest bedrooms and ushered me inside.
Even for a guest bedroom, it was really nice. It had a king-sized bed with an oak headboard and comfortable down blankets covering the bed. The nightstands on either side of the bed were topped with antique lamps, and it was evident by the way the royal maroon carpet and darkened umber walls complemented each other that the Carducci matriarch had likely designed the room.
Ashton walked into the room behind me, closed the door behind himself, and let out a sigh of relief. “You can sleep here for the night.”
“Is that a joke?” I asked. “I’m not sleeping here. Your brother will slit my throat in my sleep.”
“He won’t because I’m sleeping in here with you.”
I cracked my knuckles. “You must really want me to kick your ass.”
“I’ll sleep on the floor.” He waited for a response, but something about my hiked eyebrow and clenched jaw must have told him I was hesitant. “You know what? You’re right. I’ll go sleep in my room, and you can do whatever the hell you want here. I’m sure if Arturo sneaks in here in the middle of the night, you can defend yourself. What kind of gun do you have on you?”
I glared back at him while he sat waiting for me to answer. When about sixty seconds had passed and he didn’t get a response, he peeled his jacket off and slung it over the chair sitting in front of the desk. I turned my gaze away, but not because I was a prude. I turned away because Ashton was sexy, and it had been a while. Under his jacket, he was wearing only a dark blue tank top, revealing his wide shoulders and thick arms. Arms like that didn’t struggle to handle a woman. As fantasies danced across my brain of letting Ashton tackle me to the bed and do what he wanted, I bit my cheek and decided to focus all of my attention on one of the paintings on the wall, one that depicted a couple of doves and a bowl of fruit.
“You good?” Ashton asked.
I nodded, keeping my head turned away. “Fine.”
A boot step on the ground dragged my attention back to Ashton, and I saw that he was encroaching on me slowly. “You sure?”
He had a seductive look seated deep behind his hazel eyes, and all I could think about were all the times I’d considered him in the past. His chest pushed against the fabric of his shirt, andgoddamnitdid I want to rip it off.
Note to self, have sex as soon as possible after getting out of the Carducci household.
“I said I’m fine.”
Ashton continued pushing toward me. I couldn’t blame him. There was no way my face wasn’t betraying me. My cheeks felt inexplicably hot, and there was even a slight lean to my body as he got closer to me. I was quickly calculating what I’d do if he kissed me again. It’d been so long since I’d enjoyed the feeling of another person that it would probably break me. So we’d have sex one time, what was the big deal? We were going to work together, anyway, so what was a little playful petting between friends?
Right?
Ashton’s smile grew the closer he got to me, and when he was close enough that he could reach out and touch me, I braced myself for the connection. Being honest, I was anticipating it, damn near begging for it. Each step he took toward me sent more and more of the logical responses rushing from my brain, leaving only wanton desire behind. He took the few final steps up to me, and I closed my eyes and waited. The heat of his body wafted off of him and slid across my skin like the teasing drifts of smoke before a blazing fire, but after a few minutes, the heat retreated, getting further from my body.
I opened my eyes and saw that Ashton wasn’t in front of me. My throat was dry, and my heart was pounding. I looked over my shoulder to find that Ashton was standing in front of the armoire in the room’s far left corner. I released the tension that I didn’t realize I was holding in my shoulders as I watched Ashton open the armoire and pull out a couple of pillows, a sheet, and a blanket. He walked back past me with more speed, but he did toss me a sultry look as he passed me by. I clenched my chest, hoping that it would calm the racing within. He sucked me in and then played me off.
You’re such an idiot, Denise.
While Ashton laid out the pillows and blankets on the floor by the door, I situated myself on the bed and waited. My body was experiencing a complex battle between wanting to strangle Ashton and wanting to make a move on him. I could probably successfully pull off either, but the former would get me killed.
Knowing the Carduccis, the latter could, too, probably.
“You said you wanted to talk with Callista, right?” Ashton said.
“Yeah,” I grumbled back.
He peered over his shoulder at me with a raise to one of his eyebrows. He looked me up and down, and his gaze felt like invisible hands rubbing me all over, but I did my best to force that thought away. “You okay?”
