“What if I never tell you that?”
“It would still be better than being locked in this cell without anything to do and nothing but a hard floor and a blanket for a bed.”
He studied me for a long time. I knew what he was doing. He was looking for tells that I was lying, just like I did when I played poker.
“What do you say? I promise I won’t leave this house unless you tell me I can. I’ll even come back in here if anyone comes around. And I can help you cook and clean or whatever you want me to do.”
His eyes dropped to my lips before coming back up to mine, and I suddenly felt too hot in my long-sleeved shirt and long pants. “I need to go do something for Luca.” He walked around me and left the cell, locking me in.
My heart dropped to my stomach, and I had to hold back a sob.
In the bedroom doorway, he stopped. “I’ll think about it.”
Although my body already ached at the thought of another night on the floor, I guess that was all I could ask. It was progress, at least.
That night I took a tiny flicker of hope to bed with me.
CHAPTER 7
Tristan
My skin tingled and burned where Luna had gripped my arms, and I cursed under my breath as I tried to lock the front door for the third time, but my hand shook so damn much the fucking key kept slipping out of the lock. Jamming it into the keyhole for the fourth time, I finally got it.
What would’ve happened if I hadn’t reacted the way I had? Where else would she have touched me?
I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder, toward the house. Thoughts of Luna consumed me, just like they had every second since I’d brought her here. I gritted my teeth, the tight control I’d always kept over my emotions caging me in as effectively as the bars that held her inside that cell. And just like her, I longed to burst free from the prison of horrors that kept me from what I wanted.
And IwantedLuna.
I listened for the soothing tones of her voice everywhere I went, even when I knew she couldn’t possibly be there. Looked for thestartling cobalt blue of her eyes in the gray winter sky. My mouth watered for the taste of her slick pussy. And after years and years without human contact, Ihungeredto feel her hands on my body, soothing the nightmares that marred my skin.
Would they scare her, I wondered? If I let her see the breadth of the raised scars that covered me? Would she find me disgusting?Un mostro?A monster? And if I told her exactly how I’d gotten those scars? Would she run from me?
I narrowed my eyes, a rush of adrenaline making the blood surge to my muscles in preparation for the hunt.
She could fucking try.
Shutting down those disturbing thoughts, I continued walking to the black SUV parked in front of my house. I needed to get my mind off her perfect breasts and sad blue eyes and back into the game. Once I was inside the vehicle, I pulled out my cell phone and texted Luca to let him know I was leaving for a while. Then I asked Enzo if he’d check in on Luna while I was gone. There was something I needed to do tonight, and I wasn’t sure how long I’d be.
In the end, my assignment took me longer than I’d planned, and by the time I got home the next day, the sun was setting. As I let myself in, I found Enzo in the kitchen, cooking something on the stove.
Surprised to find him there, I hesitated a moment before I pulled the door closed and unzipped my black jacket and shrugged it off my shoulders. “What are you doing?”
Sunglasses firmly in place, he continued stirring. “I’m making dinner for Luna. I wasn’t sure how much longer you’d be.” He glanced at me briefly over his shoulder, watching as I laid myjacket over the back of a chair. I felt his eyes roaming over me, looking for injuries, before he said, “How’d everything go?”
“Uneventful. I don’t think I’ll run into any problems. How is Luna?”
“She’s bored, but otherwise okay. When do you plan to go back to take care of things?”
“I’ll go tomorrow night.”
Enzo nodded.
I eyed him as I made my way to the fridge to get a drink. Something wasn't right. "What?"
“I just have a bad feeling.”
I paused with my hand on the refrigerator door. I've known Enzo a long time. He had good instincts, and I trusted them. If he had a feeling about something, one way or the other, I listened. “What do you mean?”
