Page 292 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

his eyes ablaze with murder as he stares down at an angry bruise the color of plum and sickly yellow stamped across the pale of my skin—the unmistakable handprint—and the air going cold, his pupils blowing wide and feral. “Are you kiddin’ me with this? Vaffanculo! I’m gonna kill him,” he’ll say through gritted teeth. “I’m gonna FUCKIN’ kill him. I’m gonna rip his stronzo heart out through his teeth! Who does this cafone think he is, huh? You think I’m gonna let him walk around this penthouse let alone NEW YORK after doin’ this to YOU? Alla mia ragazza? Vita mia? Ma che cazzo! He’s done. He’s chiuso. He’s goin’ in the fuckin’ ground!”

But I don’t let him get one glance and grip his wrist tighter, shifting and pinning my back to the bed. “Told you—you gotta leave feelings out of this.”

He gives up and rests his gaze on me.

“Allison, Sonny, Angel, Baby—all of you, listen. I’m not cuttin’ my heart out and leavin’ it at the door every time I’m enterin’ whatever room you’re in, I can’t. My first instinct’s always gonna be you.”

“Allison, Sonny, angel, baby?”

He lifts his chin.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Damn Crazy.”

My heart looks up.

A smile hits my face hard.

A blush plunges between my thighs.

“There you go,” he murmurs. “Now, you wanna keep lookin’ at the past? ‘Cause I’m busy lookin’ at you.” He turns his hand in my hold, grabbing my wrist now. “All that shit’s behind us. Hell Week’s over. Whatever happened before this moment, doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter.” I scoff.

“Doesn’t matter,” he insists, not knowing exactly what he’s dismissing. “We’re startin’ fresh. Me and you. One day at a time…”

If that’s true, then maybe I can pretend Raymond never happened, too.

I breathe in deep.

Then nod. “Okay.”

“Okay,” he murmurs.

“I need you now,” I admit.

“Yeah.”

He wets his bottom lip.

Grins.

“Thought so.”

And he doesn’t waste another second.

His lips trail lower, hot,

damp kisses, teeth dragging.

I feel his hair tickling my chin,

then my neck,

then my chest,

then stomach

as he slides lower,