The drive from his house to mine takes less than a minute, but it seems longer. He puts the SUV in park and turns it off, then comes around the front and opens the passenger door, offering a hand to help me out.
His movements are tense as he leads me up to the porch, waits while I enter the code into the door, then steps inside.
“What do you need to get comfortable and in bed?” he asks from behind me, scanning the small foyer.
My stomach twists, but it’s not nausea this time. It’s the knowledge that Kian wants to be done with dealing with me, and he’s ready to go.
“Nothing. I’m good. Thanks for bringing me home.” I smile up at him, but it’s forced, and he narrows his eyes at me, as if he knows it.
After staring at me for so long, I start feeling squirmy, he sighs. “I’ll check on you later.”
Kian glances around again, looking for something. Then he meets my gaze and walks toward me, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead.
“Get some rest, Ace.”
When he turns and leaves my house, a lump forms in my throat.
“Bye, Daddy,” I whisper after he’s in his car.
And when I shut the door behind me and head toward the stairs, tears begin to roll down my cheeks.
I’m being emotional because I’m exhausted and out of it from the medication. Once I sleep and rest, I’ll feel better.
Running my tongue over my teeth, I grimace. First, shower and brush my teeth.
No wonder he wanted to get the hell out of here.
By the time I’m done with all of that, I can barely keep my eyes open as I pull on a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top, then fall into bed.
A familiar scentpulls me out of my slumber. For a second, I think I dreamed it, but the moment I open my eyes to look around my dimmed bedroom, I know I didn’t.
Sitting straight, I stare into the most brilliant blue eyes I’ve ever known.
“Luciano.”
Across the room, sitting in one of the two armchairs, he leans forward, his elbows on his knees and his fingertips pressed together as he stares at me.
“Who the fuck answered your phone earlier, Lacey?”
CHAPTER 19
Luciano
Whoever that was is goingto die tonight…
I won’t leave this fucking city until I’ve dismembered him and had my men bury him six feet under. I don’t care where, but it’ll be somewhere out in that dusty fucking desert I flew over when my plane landed an hour ago. We’ll see how tough this motherfucker is when I show up on his doorstep.
CHAPTER 20
Kian
“I thoughtyou weren’t coming to work today?” Cash asks, stalking into my office with his phone in one hand and a glass of liquor in the other.
Then he sits down, crosses an ankle over his knee, and stares at me with his signature smirk.
Besides, what I’ve been doing these past few hours has had nothing to do with work. I only came here because I didn’t want to sit in my house with her scent lingering so fucking sweetly. And I wasn’t completely sure whether I’d be able to keep myself from going to Ace’s house and forcing my way in so I could take care of her and make sure she’s okay. That she’s not in pain. Then demand to know who the fuck was calling her, like he knew her personally.Too personally.
I couldn’t do that to her today, though. She was exhausted and still out of it. If she’d asked me to stay, I would have in a heartbeat, but she didn’t. So now, I’ve been going between being worried about her, to getting pissed off that another man called her demanding to know where she was by her first name.
