Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
I wasn’t able to relax here last night, or even this morning, but something about meeting Maria and hearing her say that Luca is a good man has hit me deeply, right in the gut, in the womb.
He’s a good man.
I send the words singing around and around my mind as sleep wraps its cozy hands around me and pulls me down into the dark.
I wake when I feel him standing over me, more a presence than a scent or a noise.
I roll over and open my eyes, finding him standing there bathed red in the setting sunlight. His cheeks are flecked with a silvery shadow of a beard and his silver hair is messy. His eyes are intense as he gazes at me, burning into me and sending solar flares cascading over my body.
“You’re home.”
I wish I could snatch the silly sentence back the moment I utter it. Of course, he’s home. He’s standing right there.
But I’m sleepy and the sight of him glaring so intensely has got my heartbeat pounding like a drum.
“I’m home.” He smirks and sits on the edge of the bed, reaching over and stroking his fingers across my cheek with surprising tenderness. “I didn’t want to take so long, but I had to work out some business.”
“Was anybody hurt?” I ask.
He shakes his head, letting out a sigh of relief.
“You’re going to make an amazing mother, Lucy. That was your first question. Your first concern was keeping people safe.”
A glow spreads through me, a shimmering ball of hot emotion that gets wider and bigger until it feels like it’s going to erupt inside of me.
“To answer your question, no. The only thing that got hurt was my bank account.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, sitting up.
He slides his hand down my body, grazing my breast and making my body vibrate and hum, like I could collapse into a sucker-punch of an orgasm at any second. My lips tingle and buzz at the closeness of him, and my womb screams that none of this matters.
All that matters is the bulging need between his legs, rock hard and ready.
But I want to get to know my man.
“Do you really want to hear this stuff?” he asks, gripping onto my hand.
“Yes,” I say firmly. “I’m going to be a part of your life.”
“You already are a part of my life,” he growls passionately.
“So there you go.” I smile up at him. “That’s even more reason to tell me.”
“Outmaneuvered by my woman.” He grins, wolfish. “I’m paying for protection of all the dockworkers’ families.”
I gasp. “That must cost a fortune.”
“Yep.” He shrugs. “But it has to be done. It’s the only way to stop Franco from using their loved ones against them, the sick fuck. But I managed to convince one of his men to defect to me. Right now all his soldiers have a choice to make, and many of them will choose Ottavio over Franco.”
“And the rest?” I ask.
He stares hard at me, his dark eyes swimming with intensity. “The rest will have a different choice to make.”
I nod, swallowing a ball of anxiety.
What choice, cremation or burial?
He reads my look. “Prison or the bullet. Or exile if they’re lucky. It depends on how quickly they abandon that fool, Franco.”
I clasp one of his hands with both of mine, holding on tightly, feeling all the stiff tension that moves through his body.
“I can’t believe you did this for me. People are going to die because of me.”
“No,” he growls. “You can’t think of it like that. And you’re wrong, anyway. Franco was heading down this road long before I laid eyes on you. He just sped it up when he disrespected you. He’s always been a monster.”
“But still…”
“He’s been getting women hooked on drugs and turning them into prostitutes… or trying to, at least. I’ve managed to keep him in check so far. I learned about this three weeks ago… before we met. So don’t even dream of stressing yourself out about this. Understand?”
“Okay,” I whimper, shivering under the savage force of his gaze.
He shuffles onto the bed, smoothing his hand over my shoulder and pulling me close to him. I bury my face against his chest, taking in the heat and the beautiful nearness of him. It’s so good to have him pressed up against me like this, as though nothing could ever separate us.
“Did you meet Maria today?”
“She didn’t tell you?” I murmur.
“Tell me?” He laughs gruffly. “The second I got home, I came straight here. I’m not going to waste time elsewhere. You’re the only person I want to be with, Lucy. If it wasn’t for this damn war you’d never get rid of me.”
“I think I could manage that,” I murmur with a giggle.
“How was it?” he asked.
“It was nice. I hope you don’t mind. She told me some stuff about you, about your mom and your dad… and about the life.”