“I never said you were,” he answered, as if he’d heard my unspoken thoughts. “And I will tell you, I promise.”
He reached out, and that scarred, inked knuckle grazed my cheek. The caress was utterly gentle. Reverent. Those hands, so capable of destruction, were only soft for me.
“Trust me.” He asked the impossible.
Right now, with nowhere else to turn, I gave in. “Okay.”
The alarm on his phone rang.
“Get dressed. We don’t want to be late,” he said, and as he dropped his hand, he grabbed the door handle, pulling it closed.
I should have been able to breathe easier without that dominating presence eating up the air in such a confined space. But shut away from him in the bathroom, it took everything I had not to rush out, to embrace the force of nature, and draw in deep, cleansing gulps of his aura.
***
“Where are we going?” I demanded, swinging the straps of the one and only pair of shoes I had left. They were going to be worn out if I didn’t go shopping soon. There just hadn’t been time. I hadn’t bought anything since the Monday I went grocery shopping, and that day it had only been a coffee before the delicatessen incident.
Cheeks heating at the memory, I dropped the shoes on the hardwood floor.
Bianco screeched and dove into the weightroom. Grigio prowled over, head down, shoulders hunched, gaze zeroed in on the dainty pumps.
I toed the shoe at him, and he hissed, rearing back with hackles raised. The laughter that bubbled up my throat felt light and freeing. Engrossed with the animals, I didn’t notice their papa kneeling.
“Vincenzo—” I sucked in a sharp breath.
His big, warm hand slid up my calf, bending my knee. He slipped the pump onto my foot and with a reverent stroke of his thumb, he set it down. I squeezed every muscle in my body to balance as he repeated the process on the other side.
Tipping his head up, he gazed at me.
There were many unspoken things in that look. Longing and desire. A sense of calm warring with chaos. I felt like I was falling, even as my body didn’t move.
“Thank you…Enzo.”
Dipping his chin, he nodded once.
“Come on.” He rose, swiped his helmet off the counter. “Maybe I’ll teach you to drive the bike before winter comes.”
My eyes felt like they were going to fall out of their sockets. “Um, excuse me! Do you remember what happened last time?”
Vincenzo smirked and held the door open. “We were seventeen. Neither of us knewwhat we were doing.”
The floodgates opened and memories poured out. The hollow place in my chest pulsed with the faintest beat of life. It scared me how good that felt. As if the ache that nearly killed me wanted to rise from the tomb and start healing.
But, because I was a coward, I ducked my chin, zipped my lips, and scurried past him. The elevator ride was silent, and when the industrial door banged open in the parking garage, I pulled the helmet on to hide from him.
If he knew what I was doing, he didn’t say.
The garage was full of exotic cars. There were a few regular models, but from my limited knowledge of vehicles, it was clear they’d been modified. Thousands of dollars’ worth of changes. The residents of this complex were wealthy and liked to show it. I didn’t have much experience driving, since there’d never been a need, but as I stared at a particular red coupe, I wondered absently if it wasn’t time to change that.
It would be so fun!
I gave myself a little shake. Being around this man again was messing with my head. He made me want to step out of my comfort zone, my strictly set routine, and live on the wilder side of life.
Yeah, the place where you enjoyed yourself.
But I knew what was down that path. Heartache. Soul-crushing destruction.Loneliness.It was better to keep my rigid control than find myself in that frozen, bitter place again.
Fully awake and aware, I straddled the bike behind the mobster. The close proximity was overwhelming. Each point of contact buzzed with an electrical current.
