“Remember that you will die,” I say.
She tilts her head and then looks up at me. “It does make things sweeter, doesn’t it? Knowing that it’s all temporary.”
If by sweeter, she means more heartbreaking than yes. I drag my fingers up the inside of her thigh, beneath the blanket, and grind the heel of my hand against her bare pussy to get her back out of her head. She lifts her hips and bites her lip.So goddamn responsive.
I chuckle. “Finish your water. I need you hydrated.”
A soft, low sound of amusement bubbles up and escapes her throat.
The light deep within my soul flares brighter.
She flings off the blanket. Then she tips up her water bottle, drains it, tosses it in the picnic basket, and straddles me. “Your wish is my command,” she says playfully.
I shove both my hands into her messy hair and pull her face down to mine. “That is a very dangerous promise, Angel.” Then I claim her mouth like the fucking god she makes me feel like. Right now she’s my angel with a crooked halo, meeting my lust with her own. Fuck an afterlife. This is heaven right here.
We spend all night exploring each other’s bodies, talking, laughing, and sometimes being forced to rest from sheer exhaustion. She’s come so many times on my tongue and cock, I’ve lost count. The only thing I know is it wasn’t near enough times. Instead of being satisfied, I’m addicted.
As the sky begins to lighten, signaling the beginning of a new day, both our moods darken. We’re tangled together on one of the lounge chairs, her head resting on my bare chest. Neither of us were willing to waste a moment of our time together with sleep so the exhaustion is heightening everything, every emotion, every nerve ending. I feel completely raw and exposed, skinned alive.
I run my fingers lightly through her hair, memorizing the texture, the scent, the feel of her warm body pressed against mine.
As the ocean begins to sparkle with the rising sunlight, and seagulls fly overhead with their sharp, piercing cries, she stirs. With a sigh, she pressed a kiss to my chest, where my heart beats heavily for her. Then she sits up.
I squeeze my eyes closed and take a breath.
We dress slowly, silently. I drape my tux jacket over her shoulders.
Then we walk hand in hand back down the beach to the parking lot where Big Tony has returned to drive us back to the real world.
Heavy silence is our companion during the ride. Halfway back to her apartment, panic begins to creep in. I turn to her. “Lennon…”
Her hand flies up. “Don’t.” Shaking her head, her pale green eyes glassy with unshed tears, she holds her spine straight. “I know what your future has to be. I can’t be a part of it. So don’t try to give me hope, Sandro. It’s cruel. I have to move on. This was one night. For… for closure.”
My jaw clenches. She’s right. I have to let her go. Even if I wasn’t being forced to marry Giada, I couldn’t ask Lennon to be part of our world. The world that took her mother from her.
Well, since I can’t give her forever, I can at least give her the gift of closure on her mother, too. It doesn’t really matter if she thinks I’m a monster now.
I turn in the seat to face her. “Lennon, I have something to tell you.” I wait until I have her full attention. “Your mother… she was killed because she saw a Russian Bratva soldier with a trafficked girl in one of the hotel rooms. They broke the hotel rules.”
She blinks hard, her mouth twisting. Slowly her head shakes. “No, the police said it was a robbery.”
I want to reach out and hold her, comfort her as I deliver this news, but that’s not what she wants. So, I just say as gently as I can. “The responding officers, the investigating detective, they were in our pocket. They were part of the coverup.”
Her mind is spinning, her breathing growing irregular. “So you know who it was? Who killed her?”
And this is the moment of truth. The moment she’ll understand just how deep the roots of my sins and darkness grow. “Yes. Gunnar and I took care of it after you left. They’ll never find the body.”
A breath catches in her chest. She doesn’t move a muscle. Only her eyes are flicking back and forth between mine, searching for and finding the truth there. Her mouth opens and closes. I can’t tell what she’s feeling besides shock.
Is she horrified? Grateful? Who the fuck knows.
Big Tony pulls the Range Rover up in front of her apartment building. His eyes flick to mine in the mirror and I see sympathy there.
Fuck it.I reach for her hand as I search her face. She’s pale, her eyes glassy with shock. She won’t look at me.
I don’t know what else to say to her, so I just press a kiss on her palm and let her go.
Chapter 27
