Dad and I walk into the garden. He starts the conversation exactly where I knew he would.
“He looks like Salvario.”
“Really?” I feign innocence.
Dad chuckles. “You can’t act that well, Princess.”
I groan. “You could’ve pretended to fall for it.”
He shakes his head, smiling. “Tell me honestly, are you with him because he resembles Salvario, or because you love him?”
I consider telling him the truth, that he is Salvario, but decide against it. It’ll make things complicated, and he’ll stress unnecessarily, thinking I’m doing something stupid.
“It’s true I got close to him because he resembled Salvario, but then I fell for him.”
He nods. “Leo met him at the party we held in November. He ran a background check on him and his brother after you told us you were dating him. In our world, there’s no such thing as coincidence, and the Blackwood brothers showing up in Naples right after that party is too big a one to ignore.”
Yeah, I know that very well.
“Did you find anything wrong with them?” I ask, getting to the real question. I really hope they didn’t find out about their connection to that Chris guy.
“They worked for the Flishers for a very long time.”
Shit.
“Don’t worry, Dad. Hunter doesn’t work for anyone anymore. I live with him, I know.”
He nods slowly. “I’ll still keep an eye on him.” He strokes my head. “I don’t want history repeating itself. I couldn’t protect you then, I don’t want to fail again.”
“Come on, Dad. It wasn’t your fault.”
But I know that no matter how many times I tell him, he won’t stop feeling guilty.
Hunter
“Were you smoking?” she chides as soon as she steps onto the balcony.
My mouth curves slightly, unbidden.
“No,” I deny, turning to her.
She plants her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes. “Do you think I’ve lost my sense of smell or something?”
I reach for her waist and pull her closer. She pushes against my chest to move back. I lean back against the balcony railing, trapping her between my legs.
“I waited for you, but you didn’t come. I had no choice but to smoke, I needed to calm down.”
She purses her lips. “I was only away for half an hour.”
“That’s an eternity after meeting your bigger-than-hell family.”
She loops her arms around my neck. “Okay, fine. I’ll let it slide this once. Next time, I won’t accept any excuses.”
I lean down and kiss her pouty lips.
I started smoking and drinking about eight months ago, when Logan started taking me to parties. I hate people, especially when there are too many of them in one place, so I started drinking to calm my nerves, then gradually picked up smoking when I found it even more effective. But after meeting Elowen, I realized there’s an even more effective drug for that.Now that drug is my wife.
I grab her ass and pull her closer, deepening the kiss. Her belly presses against my hardness. She breaks the kiss, looking at me with drunk, hooded eyes. I lift her by the ass and set her on the balcony table. I glance down, there’s a small stretch of hill, then the ocean below. After making sure no one can see her from up here, I pull down her shorts and panties while she peels off her T-shirt and bra.
