I gave a slight shake of my head. “Could have bought a nice woman for that.”
“What’s Aurelia’s rate?”
I gave a cold chuckle. “Keep it up, and a chunk of my glass is going to be impaled in your skull, asshole.”
He turned his attention to the TV for a while, and when enough silence passed, I assumed we’d moved on from the subject of Aurelia, but then he broached it again. “Are you guys exclusive?”
“Haven’t had that conversation, but yes.”
“So, you’re just going to assume? Is she even sleeping with you?”
“Well, no.” It wasn’t a dealbreaker for me, but fuck, I missed it. Wherever I was, pussy wasn’t far away. I never liked to jerk off because I preferred to share the passion with someone. After touching Aurelia’s flames, they were the only heat I wanted to feel on my skin. When I’d asked her to dinner, getting her on her back hadn’t been my agenda, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on my mind ...a lot. She told me she needed time to move on from her last relationship, that it could be months, so I was free to do whatever I wanted in the interim.
But she was all I wanted.
Rocco gave a quiet chuckle but kept his eyes on the TV.
“What?”
“You aren’t gonna want to hear it.”
“No, but say it anyway.”
“I just think it’s fucking hilarious that the one woman you want is the one you can’t have.”
Chapter 17
Aurelia
I finally got the keys to my new place.
What a fucking relief, because I needed to get out of Cindy’s apartment. I’d gone from having a three-bedroom apartment with two and a half bathrooms to the two of us sharing a tiny bathroom. It was even more challenging when her boyfriend was around, and he stared at mewaytoo much.
I paid for a taxi to get my suitcases to the new apartment. I would retrieve my motorbike some other time. I paid for a furnished spot because I didn’t have a single piece of furniture to my name. Technically, Enzo and I had split the cost of everything at our old place, but I wanted him out of my life so much that I didn’t even want to bother with that conversation. He could keep it all. Fuck her on every piece of it, for all I cared.
I texted Constantine my new address, and the second I saw his name at the top of the message box, I felt a thrill of excitement and hesitation. Excitement because he made me feel alive when I thought I’d never feel that way again. And hesitation because ... well, he was the most dangerous man in the world I could have in my life.Just got the keys to my place. Excited to finally have my own space ... and not share a bathroom.I wasn’t sure when to expect a response because Ididn’t have a clue what his hours were. He said he worked all the time, but he had to sleep, right?
But the dots popped up instantly.Congrats, sweetheart. Now you can walk around in nothing but those cute little thongs you wear.
That same rush I felt anytime I interacted with him was immediate. The same fire-breathing dragons I’d felt when I’d seen him across the bar hit me right in the feels. Outside of our conversations, I felt like a walking zombie, but the second he was there, I felt good again. I hadn’t talked to him in almost a week. I’d focused on editing all of my photos from the shoots I’d done last week. Now, I had to hustle a little harder than before because I needed to cover rent by myself, not to mention all the other expenses that came from just being alive.Did you go through my stuff?
No comment.
I knew I shouldn’t have entrusted you with my belongings.
Yep, that’s on you.
And just like that, I missed him like mad. Missed him like a best friend. Missed him like ... something a lot hotter than a best friend.
I can come by in 15.
Okay, I’ll be here.
See you soon, sweetheart.
When he knocked on the door half an hour later, he’d already placed all my belongings into the hallway, carrying them up from the Range Rover entirely on his own. He hadn’t worked up a sweat either, as if moving my entire life had been a warm-up.
“Wow, that was fast.”
