“I was so high on pain medication that I was hallucinating half the time. There were times I thought I had woken up to find not only Luciano, but a couple of his closest friends, even the head of the Italian mob, sleeping in chairs around the room.”
Kian is stone still under me as I speak, and when I finally stop, he wraps his arms around me and squeezes, nuzzling my neck. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, angel. I wish I could have been there to protect you.”
My heart squeezes, and I sniff, trying not to get emotional about how sweet and caring this man is.
“I’m in love with you, angel,” he says. “I know that’s insane. We haven’t known each other very long?—”
“I love you, too,” I blurt out.
His hold on me tightens. “I want to try with you. I’m not good at relationships, Ace. I get lost in work, and I miss calls and texts.”
“Yet you haven’t missed a single call or text from me, and I’ve seen you every day without having to ask,” I tell him.
“But you know you’re allowed to ask. I want you to come to me for anything,” he says as he runs his hand up and down my side, soothing me as he always does.
“I don’t want to bother you,” I answer honestly. “You have a really big job, and it’s an important one.”
Kian rolls me onto my back, so he’s hovering over me, his focus zeroed in on my face. “It’s not more important than you, Ace. For whatever reason, since I met you, my entire world has flipped. I want you to bother me. Fucking bother me. Nag at me. Tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen. I just need you to be your authentic, sweet, magical self because you’re shifting something inside me, and it feels good, angel.”
The corners of my lips twitch as I fight a smile but fail. “You think I’m magical?”
Kian breathes out a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, angel. I do. Your spirit. Your heart. Your incredible strength. Jesus, yeah, I think you’re magical, Lacey. Fuck. You’ve got so much power over me. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make you mine in every way possible.”
Touching his beard, I meet his dark eyes. “I feel like our souls have known each other forever already. When I came to Las Vegas, I thought I wanted to be free. I wasn’t interested in meeting anyone because I’d been controlled so much already. But for some reason, the way you control me, it feels different. I don’t feel like my freedom is being taken away. At least not yet.”
“I’m never going to take your freedom away, angel. That’s why you have a safeword to use at all times. I don’t want to change who you are,” he says. “I want you to keep living the lifeyou want while allowing me to put safeguards around you, so I won’t have to worry as much about you.”
I consider that for a second before I level him with a stare. “What if I want to go dancing in a club right now?”
Kian motions toward the edge of the bed. “Let’s fucking go, angel. I’ll have security meet us there. It is only ten in the morning, but fuck it, it’s Vegas.”
Unable to fight my laughter, I roll my eyes and gently elbow him. “Smart-ass.”
“Angel, I’m never going to stop you from living your life as long as you’re safe and not talking to, looking at, touching, or fucking other men. I don’t share what’s mine, angel. Not ever.
“But you want to randomly dress up and go dancing, let’s go. You want to go with the girls instead of me, fine, but security is going with you and will keep a slight distance as long as there are no safety concerns. But you will listen to them if they give you instructions because they will only tell you to do something for your immediate safety.”
I stare at him, wondering how he could even worry about me being interested in any other man. Kian is literally the first man to have ever captivated me. And he fucks like a god. What more could a girl want?
“I only want you, Daddy.”
Kian stares down at me for a long moment before he slowly smiles and then gives me a gentle kiss.
“Good. I’ll go get the shower started and then make you something to eat before we go to work.”
He crosses the room to the bathroom, and when he disappears, I reach over to the nightstand to check my messages before I climb out of bed.
As I straighten the blankets, a smile spreads over my face.
Moving to Las Vegas?
Definitelya good idea.
CHAPTER 38
Kian
As soon asAce is in the shower, I stride into the bedroom and snatch her phone off the nightstand, then head to the kitchen to figure out her breakfast.
