My heart makes another flip, and his eyes bore into mine, flicking down to my lips. “Kissing isn’t moving around too much, right?” he asks, his eyes hooded and his voice gravelly.
I feel my heart racing in response to his question, my own desire building as I whisper, “It’s not.”
“Good, so Clay can’t say anything against this,” he murmurs, pulling me to him and pressing his lips to mine.
His big hands wander to my ass, and he squeezes it possessively, groaning into my mouth. I moan softly as he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling on it. One of his hands wanders up to my neck, his fingers threading into my hair, pulling ever so slightly, making me whimper.
“The things I want to do to you,” he whispers against my lips, his voice dripping with desire as he pushes my hips down, creating a delicious friction between us.
My body responds eagerly to his touch, every nerve ending alive with sensation.
“We can’t. You’re hurt,” I whisper, but it doesn’t sound convincing even to myself, and my hips rock like they have a mind of their own.
“Anticipation is a beautiful thing,” he murmurs before he pecks my lips again and leans back. “Come on, let’s do what we have to so we can take a nap together.”
THIRTY-ONE
The next day,I stand in front of my apartment door, taking deep breaths. Getting inside the building and walking up these stairs was so fucking hard.
My whole body is shaking. Xander’s truck is still in the shop, so he went to work early today on the subway since he needed to do some work before his first client arrived. He was in such a hurry, and his head was filled with so much he needed to do. It seems he just forgot about getting the money to Roberto.
And that’s fine. It is my job anyway. It was nice to rely on him for a while and not to have to come here again so soon after what Roberto did. But now, it’s time for me to look after myself again and get my shit together. I can’t just let them swoop in and take care of everything forever. I won’t be a burden they’ve picked up.
I take another deep breath and unlock the door, pushing it open just a bit and peeking in. The apartment is quiet, and the door to Roberto’s room is closed, so it seems like he is sleeping.
It is still early since I am here before my college classes start, and I make my way into the kitchen to place the twenty dollars I got in tips yesterday on the counter.
I’m already heading back to the door to get out of there as fast as possible when I hear Roberto’s voice coming from thehallway. I turn and nearly run into my room, hoping he won’t notice that the apartment door isn’t locked.
“Cretino! Come puoi essere così stupido? I told you to make it look like an accident, not to make an accident. Of course, that did not get rid of the problem!” he yells, entering the apartment and walking over to his room.
My heart sinks. What the fuck is he talking about?
“He won’t be pleased, and neither am I. Do you think this will get you any points?” he huffs out, sounding muffled, before he closes the door to his room, effectively making it so I can’t hear him anymore.
Unwilling to take any chances, I make it out of there so fast the dust in the apartment stirs into flurries behind me. When I close the door, I make sure I leave it unlocked since he did too.
When I am outside of the apartment building, I call Xander.
“What’s wrong?” he asks without a hello after the first ring.
“It was Roberto,” I whisper-shout into the phone.
“Fuck, I forgot about that asshole. I’m sorry, I’m going to bring the money on my lunch break?—”
“No! I just brought it here, and I heard?—”
“You did what? You went there alone? Carolina, I?—”
“Can we stop interrupting each other? I need to fucking tell you something!” I hiss. He stays silent, so I start again. “I heard him talking on the phone. He said something about the other person messed up, and it should have looked like an accident and that someone wasn’t going to like that.”
“You lost me,” Xander states, sounding puzzled.
“He wanted to have me dead, Xander,” I admit, my voice trembling slightly.
“Did he say that in those words?” he asks, his concern evident.
“No, but I just know this was about us,” I tell him, rushing down the street, panting slightly.
