I know she can’t see it, but I smile, knowing she’s right where I want her—affected and as needy as I am, restless and craving a touch we both know would burn till the end of time. And yet, we exercise needless restraint, driving us both crazy.
My life before this—beforeher—was predictable. I was calculated, controlled, the ruthless mafia boss who had an entire harbor under his command.
And yet, lying here in the dark, beside a wife I didn’t know I’d have a week ago, I control absolutely nothing.
I am entirely at the mercy of her next breath.
And God help me, I want her more than anything.
Slowly, I lean forward, put my lips next to her ear, and whisper, “Goodnight, Elena.”
Chapter Twelve
Elena
The absolute, arrogant bastard!
I hurl a jagged rock into the sea, watching it cut through the choppy harbor water with a satisfying splash.
The sun this morning is bright and blinding as it reflects off the gray waves, but it does nothing to clear the fog of pure frustration in my head.
“Argh!”
I can still feel his touches from last night lingering on my skin. I can still hear everyannoyingthing he said!
The suffocating heat in the bedroom, the heavy weight of his gaze, and the agonizing, slow burn of his rough thigh pressed firmly against mine under the blankets…I can’t stop thinking about him.
He knew exactly what he was doing. He did it completely on purpose, using that low, teasing baritone to shatter my defenses just because he could. He wanted me spun out, confused, and thoroughly bothered. And the worst part? It worked.
Oh, Elena.
“I shouldn’t even be thinking about him,” I mutter fiercely to myself, tapping my finger aggressively against the screen of my new work tablet.
I look out at the horizon, trying to force my mind back to the shipping schedules.
“This doesn’t make any sense. I shouldn’t care about any of this. As far as I’m concerned, he’s my abductor. I have a plan for my life, and I amnotgoing to let a pair of charming gray eyes derail me.”
I turn on my heel and walk back into the small, shadowed dockside office, determined to bury myself in more work.
I’m halfway through reading a manifest, with a cup of coffee raised to my lips, when a heavy thud echoes just outside the door.
Fear seizes my breath in my throat.
With all that’s happened within the past few weeks, my first thought is that something has just gone horribly wrong.
But the sound comes again, and it sounds different: sloppy, heavy, and frantic.
Before I can reach for anything to defend myself, the door bursts open and someone stumbles into the room.
“Lee…”
Only one person consistently calls me that. And that voice?
No way!
My heart soars, then drops into my stomach at the sight before me. “Henry—oh my God!Henry!”
He’s barely recognizable.
