He bites down so that his teeth show, aligning in an awkward straight line. Sighing to let the smoke out of his mouth, he says, “Well, you have the floor now, Ms. Ricci, I’m dying to hear this.”
Yea, me too.
I try to come up with some legitimate excuse as to why I was snooping, but I can’t think of a damn thing. So, screw it.
“I don’t have a good answer other than the box just spoke to me. I’m not going to waste your time with some bullshit excuse other than I was just fucking curious, and I’m sorry,” I say bluntly.Honesty is the best policy, right?
“Good, it should,” he says as a grin escapes his mouth, softening his tense jawline.
I roll my eyes and cross my arms, shifting my weight to one leg, as my one hip juts outward.
“It should?”
“Yes. Except, you need this to open it,” he says, dangling the chain around his neck.
Men like Carmine Moretti don’t crack easily. They spend their lives crafting the perfect lie, which makes chipping away at it a slow, torturous process. Still, I am stubborn, so I take a stab at trying to chip away at his elusive, strikingly handsome persona.
“If it’s supposed to call me, as you say, then why can’t I open it?” I ask.
“Because,” he answers plainly.
“That’s it? Just because?”
“Be patient,mi reina. When I’m ready, I will show you the box. Until then, it stays untouched, do you understand?”
I shift my weight to my other hip, arms still crossed, starting to feel pure exasperation at the fact that he thinks he can just toy with me like this.
“Or what?” I say, tired of the games.
“Or I will find another use for this key around my neck,” he says with a seductive smirk. He begins to rub the long skeleton key between his fingers in a suggestive way that somehow, even with the fury I feel toward him, makes my clit throb with need.
The need for him to move his hands from that key and onto me make my ability to maintain the thin line we are skating on futile. My stance relaxes as I approach him, wanting to get lost in his scent. “Is that supposed to make me want to behave?”
He licks his lips, tightly grabbing the long key that hangs from around his neck.
“I hope not.” He grins.
Chapter29
Carmine
That was close,too fucking close.
I knew bringing her here would be risky. I should have known that having my skeletons out in broad daylight was reckless. It’s no surprise that the box, the books, all of this would call to her. She is the product of secrets, so why wouldn’t she be attracted to mine?
The key that can unlock everything she so desperately wants to know is in my hand, but I don’t want to unveil that just yet. I’m far more interested in what I can unlock from her this evening.
“So, are we done here?” she says with a look that contradicts the words that just came out of her mouth.
With you? Never, mi reina.
I look at the clock centered on the mantle. The gala started well over an hour ago, we could still go. Although, judging from the phone conversation I just had with Alex, I think it’d be best we hang back … for safety reasons.
Wouldn’t want history to repeat itself, being Halloween and all.
“Where do you go off to?” I hear her ask, snapping me out of my momentary fog.
A simple question with a complex answer. I head to fix us another drink, to divert the conversation. “Drink?” I ask.
