“Curiosity. Boredom. My inherent tendency to fuck up my life and hurt myself. Exhibit number three thousand.” He took a pull of the joint, jerking his chin toward his bare arms. Corded muscles flexed beneath skin inked to perfection. But beneath the beautiful art he wore on himself were jagged scars. “You know I like variety.”
But he didn’t. He’d had a steady girlfriend since high school before Achilles pumped and dumped her to prove to him that he wasn’t straight. Everyone could see Enzo’s blatant disinterest with the fairer sex. Just because he hadn’t mustered up the courage to explore his sexuality didn’t mean he wouldn’t.
“Maybe I’m asexual,” he mused.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“It’s possible!”
“It’s not.” That man loved getting his dick sucked more than Abraham loved God. Every time I spotted him in an underground club, he seemed to have a head bobbing beneath his waist. It was easier to enjoy blow jobs when you could close your eyes and pretend the person servicing you was someone else.
“Fine.” Enzo rolled his eyes. “I agree. I’m too hot not to fuck. God’s sense of humor can’t be that cruel.”
“Put aside the damage it’d do to you to marry a strange woman you have no attraction nor affection for. What about Katya? She is young and hopeful. She deserves a man who would at least try to be a good husband.” I couldn’t believe he’d made me a Katya defender.
“I’ll make her happy. I’ll give her free rein and the option to take a lover. I’m not gonna be my father and Luca.”
I believed him. He was just ferociously loyal and dedicated enough to his family to sacrifice himself for everyone else’s benefit.
“Butyou’llbe miserable.” I jabbed my finger in his chest. “You’ll live a lie. You’ll never experience a great love, a truly sensational fuck. You deserve both, goddammit.”
His jaw ticked, his heavily lashed whiskey eyes warning me to drop it. I couldn’t. I cared about him too much.
“Why’d you agree to this?” I pushed.
“Loyalty, devotion to the Camorra…and power.” His smirk was lazy, playfully decadent. “It was my one chance to push Achilles out of the race. I took it.”
“What about Luca?”
Enzo shrugged. “The Camorra’s closing rank around him. He’ll likely become the don, but I’ll still be the consigliere, next in line. Occupational hazards are common in our field of work. I’ll be waiting in the wings?—”
“Enzo, get lost,” a brutally gruff voice commanded. One I knew perfectly well to belong to my own filthy god. Achilles materialized from the shadows, dripping menace and authority, arduous prowess poured into a Prada suit.
“I’m sensing a theme here.” Enzo ran a finger over his jaw.
“You’ll be sensing my knee on your windpipe next if you don’t fuck off.”
“I love it when emotionally constipated men finally let it all loose.” Enzo passed me the half-smoked joint with a wink. “Sorry, sugar. Gotta go make sure I still have a bride in that bullet-infested room.”
Achilles stared me down, waiting for an acknowledgment.
“Everyone okay back there?” I fixated on the birdbath across the pool, refusing to address my little jealousy fit from earlier.
“For now.” He tugged me up by my elbow, grabbing the joint mid-suck and tossing it into the pool. “You thought she was here for me.”
His dark gaze fell to my mouth. That’s all it took for my traitorous thighs to clench at the memory of him serving me with one earth-shattering orgasm after the other. Who said lust only made men stupid?
“I wouldn’t care either way,” I huffed, but the bite was gone from my voice.
“You’re a very bad liar, Piccola Fiamma.” His thumb brushed my cheek, leaving fissures of pleasure that made my spine tremble. “Admit that you’re jealous.”
“I can’t admit something that’s not true,” I maintained calmly.
He produced a baffled, enraged snarl. I could tell he was losing his patience. Only this time, he was no longer able to punish me with a spur-of-the-moment idea that’d throw me into the arms of depression.
“Let me take you out after dinner. Somewhere fun,” he ground out.
“I’d love to, but I can’t.”
