Page 8 of Revenge & Truth

I kissed his neck tenderly before pushing myself upright, looking him in the eye. “Is that a promise?”

“No,” he answered, causing me to frown. Luca lifted his right hand, showing me the mark there, still pink and puffy as it healed. “It’s an oath… one I gave to you binding my life to yours.”

four

There was no other response than to kiss the hell out of him and grind myself on his hard cock, letting him know how much that answer pleased me.

“Please, baby girl, don’t torture me with the promise of getting to fuck you again when I can’t. That will break me faster than a hundred days in solitary.” Luca groaned, resting his head on my shoulder. “Fuck, even smelling you is about to make me bust a nut.”

“Should I go back to the other side of the table?” I asked, a chuckle carried in my voice.

Luca’s hands on my hips tightened. “You could try, but I’m not so sure you’d succeed.”

“Then can I at least turn around so when we talk to Liu, I don’t have my back to him?”

His answer was a grunt, so I quickly twisted on his lap and leaned back against him as Luca wrapped his arms around my waist. The expression on Liu’s face was one of contemplative surprise.

“What’s up?” I asked, cocking my head.

“I knew we all wanted you, and you were interested in more than one of us, but I didn’t know how I’d feel watching you with one of the others,” Liu answered truthfully. “I’m surprised it doesn’t bother me to see you so intimate with Luca.”

Shit, I hadn’t even thought about how the other guys would feel about this. Well, Braxton and Jace wouldn’t give a shit, but how would Ryker or Atticus feel about me liking more than one of them?

“I’m sorry, Liu. I should have been more considerate of the fact that you were in here,” I apologized. “Especially with what happened between us the other day.”

Liu raised a hand to stop me from saying more. “It’s fine. I already knew you didn’t feel the same way about me… yet. You and I haven’t had time to develop the bond you’ve created with the others. I’m not in a rush, Astin. I know what I want, and I’m willing to wait. However, I don’t feel this is the time or place for that conversation, and we have other pressing matters to discuss. I believe you had a question for Luca.”

“Yes, right,” I agreed, shifting to look at Luca. “I need to know where Melony is and if there’s a chance she’s still alive. If we have another person of interest, then they’re forced to investigate her, plus we have the murder weapon, right?”

Luca’s lips pursed, as he sat there for a moment. “My guess is she’s still alive, and we definitely have the murder weapon. The thing I worry about is if Melony shows up out of the blue after being missing, will that help or hurt our case?”

“I don’t understand… how could it hurt?” I questioned.

“Do you plan on her showing up alive or dead?” Luca pressed. “If she shows up dead, then they’re gonna look for who killed her. That will only give them more reason to look deeper into the Caprioni Family and you since you have the highest vested interest in getting me out of jail.”

“Then what do you suggest?” I huffed, crossing my arms. “Oh, and we discovered Detective Koby White is rather friendly with dearest Harvey. Got a photo of him taking money from the bastard, but we don’t know exactly what for or why.”

“All the more reason to play this smart,” Luca reasoned.

“If we can prove that White is dirty, then he could have planted the blood they found at the scene that linked you to this whole thing in the first place. Then having an alternative suspect shows White fucked up even more by not finding her,” I explained. “Dead or alive, Melony showing up is going to help.”

Luca let out a heavy sigh. “All right, I will tell you where Melony is once we’ve come up with the best plan. Until then, I will keep that information to myself.”

I slid off his lap, and he didn’t stop me, telling me he’d knowingly pissed me off. “Why are you making this so difficult?”

“Astin, I won’t allow you to make a choice that might free me but will hurt you in the end,” Luca announced. “Protecting you is the whole reason I’m here, and you’re crazy if you think I’ll let anything happen to you just so I get to walk out of here. Sorry, baby girl, but I’ll rot in this place if I need to as long as you remain safe, running the Family, and out of jail.”

Gripping my head, I let out a frustrated growl. “Do you have any idea how infuriating all of you are when you talk like this? Seriously, it makes me want to stab each of you in the thigh because, let me tell you, that’s a bitch of an experience.”

Liu rose from his seat and walked over to me. I assumed he was going to try to talk me down, but instead, he simply pulled me into a hug. Stunned, I didn’t know how to react, so I stood there like an idiot until my whole body relaxed against him.

“Omae,” he murmured. “I know this is going to be the hardest thing for you to adjust to, but you aren’t on your own anymore. For years, it’s been you and Glenda against the world looking after each other, but things are different now. Yes, we will drive you mad, and you’ll want to stab us. However, that’s the price you have to pay for being the amazing woman who’s captured our attention.”

He stepped back but kept his hands on my waist as he searched my face. “Luca is right about this, and you know it just like I do. We need to do this smart, so when the matter is over and done with, it will never haunt us again. This case has to end in such a way they are forced to apologize to Luca for wrongly accusing him. It will provide protection for him and the Family, not to mention if a certain judge and detective are taken out as well, it’s a win-win for us.”

“Logically, I know all that,” I pointed out. “But it fucking sucks.”

Looking over at Luca, chained to that fucking chair in an orange jumpsuit that did no one any favors, it broke my heart as much as it lit my fury. “I hate the thought of you being stuck here,” I told Luca. “You don’t deserve to be here.”