My gaze slides down his body, over his golden chest and his rippling abs.
I shouldn’t find any part of him attractive anymore.
It’s infuriating that I still do.
He tosses the shirt into the empty laundry basket and then moves his hands to his belt.
I force my gaze back up.
“Fine. You can have three days to ‘get your bearings,’ as you say, and then I want a key to this place and a phone.”
He unzips his trousers and lets them fall to the floor. “How do I know you won’t try to run again?”
I ignore the way my skin prickles with heat at the half-naked view of him. “You’ve made it abundantly clear there’s nowhere else for me to go. But I will not be your prisoner, Nero. If you keep me locked inside this glass box, I’ll bring a hammer to your window and hurl myself out of it.”
My statement makes his eyes flare with fury. It’s the kind of fury that makes even the weakest of men dangerous, and Nero’s anything but weak.
He steps out of his trousers and advances on me wearing only his underwear. I back away until I hit a wall.
His tattooed body blocks my view of the bedroom. Palms appear on either side of my head. I’m acutely aware of the few inches between us and how they simmer with heat.
“You can be mad at me,” he says in a low voice. “You can hate me. You can wish me dead. But you will never threaten to hurt yourself again. If you do anything to put yourself in harm’s way, I swear to God, Blake, I will build a cage and lock you in it.”
He’s so close that I can make out the gold shards in his irises. My gaze drops to his lips. “I’m already in a cage.”
“If you think this is a cage, you’ve lived a charmed life.” He says it so softly that I glance up again. There’s something else licking at the edges of his fury now. Something tender and raw that makes my heart pound against my ribcage.
I swallow, unable to keep my face from growing hot. I wish I could erase our history from my memory bank. I wish I didn’t remember what he felt like inside me.
“You know I haven’t.”
“Then take a deep breath and relax.” He dips his head, nearly brushing his forehead against mine. “Tomorrow, I’ll get you all the creature comforts you could possibly need. You can start to settle in.”
He pushes off the wall and takes a step back, but his intense gaze doesn’t leave my face. “I need a shower. Unless you want to join me, let’s end this conversation here.”
Join him? Fury licks up my spine. How dare he?
His masterpiece of a body might taunt me, but I’m not so weak that I’ll let myself be tempted by it.
I give my head a hard shake. “Better get used to being on your own, Nero. I’m taking the bedroom next door. Just because we’re living together, it doesn’t mean we’ll see much of each other.”
Disappointment flashes across his expression, but before he can argue with me, I leave the room and let the door slam behind me.
CHAPTER 6
NERO
It’s still dark outside when I step out onto the street. Ferraro told me to be ready at seven a.m., so here I am. My gun’s tucked behind my belt, and I’m wearing a comfortable suit and my favorite pair of leather wingtips.
The only thing missing is my wedding band.
I only wore it for the few days it took us to drive here from Vegas, but I got used to it, and I miss not having it on my finger.
It’ll be a while before I can put it back on. I’ve got no idea what made Gino decide against pulling the trigger, and I could tell Rafe doesn’t either. Until I determine what Ferraro’s got planned for me, it’s better if they don’t know Blake exists.
She doesn’t want to be stuck inside all day. I get it. But her happiness is secondary to keeping her safe. I’ll do everything I can to make her comfortable while I figure out the deal with Ferraro.
And maybe it’s naïve, but I still have hope for us. I’ve got a new lease on life, so to speak, and I’m feeling optimistic. I’ll start earning back her trust, bit by bit.
