“Can I? You seem like a man whose ego is easily bruised. I could only imagine what you’d do to those who cause you pain.”
My sweet angel had clearly picked through the coarse armor I’d wrapped around myself, finding the easiest method ofdetermining my worst faults. I laughed in response. “According to you, I’m a selfish monster, arrogant, incapable of showing my true feelings and… Let’s see. What am I missing?”
“Dangerous and a bully.”
It was good to laugh. “Maybe you’re right. That doesn’t free you from being required to answer the question.”
Her fingers aimlessly traced my tattoos, her thoughtfulness continuing. “I think you’re somewhat misunderstood, trying to maintain a balance between the power bestowed upon you by the death of your father and finding a reason to enjoy the niceties your power and wealth have provided.”
Quite profound and sadly true.
“Are you trying to say I’m not happy?”
“Not even a little bit. I can see it in your eyes, a feeling of uncertainty and simply going through the motions.”
There was no reason for her comments or her ability to pick me apart to have any particular effect on me, but I was bristling. To counter the building anger, which had no place at this moment, I pulled her hand to my mouth.
She studied me carefully as I kissed her fingers, finally tugging until I released her. “And you’re the master at deflection when someone is right.”
Fuck all the reasons we couldn’t be together. Fuck the trouble keeping her would cause me. As her hand slowly began to slide down the hard wall of my chest muscles toward my cock, I closed my eyes. That’s when I made a promise.
“Be careful pushing me in a direction I don’t want to go, my angel. You’ve already discovered I’m not a very nice man when pushed into a corner.”
“If you’re trying to frighten me, Alexander, it’s not working. While I believe you can hurt and even kill, and you’re doing everything to keep me from pushing back at you, I sense you wouldn’t hurt me. Not intentionally anyway.”
Oh, how wrong she was. She truly had no understanding of what I was capable of.
And I prayed to God I’d never be forced to teach her that lesson.
“Then you truly don’t know me very well at all.”
“Maybe not,” she mused. “But I’m willing to learn.”
“As I’ve told you before, be careful what you ask for.”
“I’m only asking one question that matters. And I need the truth. Can you give me the truth without hesitation?”
I searched her eyes, knowing what she planned on asking before the words left her mouth. “I have no reason to lie to you.”
“Did you murder Lorenzo Russo in cold blood?”
Her eyes searched mine with such a ferocity I was momentarily at a loss for words, yet she deserved an answer. A truthful one. “No, I did not. I didn’t have proof, and still don’t that they killed my father, and doing so would bring war into New Orleans; one bloody and lengthy enough aspects of the city would be damaged beyond repair. It would also put my family in danger and that is the last thing I would ever want to do.”
“Because the Russos are also mafia.”
“Are you certain you want to know?”
“If I’m going to find a way to help you, then yes. I need to know everything.”
I’d had many people attempt to play me over the years. Only one had succeeded. That had led to a perpetual bad mood. Did I believe she could be cunning enough to lay a trail of breadcrumbs laced with her feminine wiles then betray me? Absolutely. Women were far more dangerous when push came to shove.
I rolled her over, crushing her with my weight.
“You’re agreeing to help me prove my innocence.”
“While I believe you’re capable of being a monster, Alexander, I believe you didn’t kill this man. That means someone is trying and coming close in succeeding to frame you. If we don’t stop this ruse soon, everything will be taken from my hands.”
Which meant returning her freedom. The ache from the thought remained.
