Page 37 of Read This Before the Villain falls in Love with You

"Is that supposed to scare me?" I pull his mouth back down to mine, grazing his lips with mine.

"It should, because I won't stop until tomorrow." His fingers bite deeper into my nape.

"Then don't stop, you stubborn bastard." I pull him down harder against my pelvis, completely consumed by the friction. "I'm the hostage here. I get to dictate terms. Keep your hand right there and make good on that threat."

His fingers press into the hollow of my throat, cutting the air down to a thin, sharp rasp. The leather sofa creaks under our weight as my head falls back against the cushions. My heart thumps against his palm in hard, frantic beats. I bring both hands up, curling my fingers around his wrist not to push him off, but to pull him down tighter. A low, broken sound rattles in his chest, vibrating through the fabric of his shirt against my ribs.

Our breaths clash together in hot, ragged bursts. His mouth leaves mine and drags down the line of my jaw, teeth grazing the sensitive skin right beneath my ear before sinking hard into the curve of my collarbone. A sharp sting flares across my skin, and a breathless oath slips past my teeth. Above my pulse, his thumb bears down, tightening the pressure until dark spots dance across my vision and heat rushes straight to my fingertips.

"Fuck, Luca..."

The door flies open.

Matteo barrels through the doorway mid-sentence, bruised face beaming with whatever operational crisis he came to report, before skidding to an abrupt halt so violent his boots squeak against the hardwood. "Oh sweet mother of God. Oh hell no. I did not... Adrian swore you two were looking at spreadsheets! I am gouging my eyeballs out. I am currently blind."

Luca freezes for three agonizing seconds. Then, with excruciating slowness, his hand releases my throat, fingers curling into a fist as he drops his forehead against my shoulder to draw a ragged breath. "Matteo." His voice could freeze boiling water.

"I knocked! In my mind, I knocked twice!" Matteo throws both hands over his face, peeking through his fingers with shameless curiosity.

"You have three seconds to turn around before I put a round through your knee." Luca doesn't even lift his head.

"Evacuating immediately!" Matteo backpedals frantically toward the hall, bumping his elbow hard on the doorframe. "Just so the room is aware, Nonna is going to detect this unholy energy all the way from the pantry and she will begin drafting a wedding guest list. Also, Enzo requires your presence downstairs in five minutes. Actual five. Something about a Bellini shipment. I am walking into the ocean now!"

The door slams. Somewhere down the hall Matteo shouts something that sounds a lot like "I knew it" followed by distant laughter.

I sit up slowly, staring at Luca while he straightens his spine. My throat still throbs with the glorious ghost of his hand.

"Do you people ever knock on wood, or is home invasion just a family tradition?" I smooth my wrinkled blouse.

"We don't knock when there's an active gang war, no." He rakes a hand through his dark hair, looking thoroughly murderous.

"Well." I blow a stray strand of hair out of my face, fighting off a breathless, unhinged smirk. "That was an Olympic-level cockblock. Do we tip him twenty percent or put a bounty on his head?"

"Neither option is off the table." Luca pinches the bridge of his nose, exhaling a slow, lethal hiss through his teeth as he reassembles his composure.

He stands, offers me a hand up like we weren't just seconds from doing something irreversible on his sofa, and the smirk he gives me is pure trouble.

He buttons his cuffs, dark gaze locked onto mine with devastating precision. "This conversation is unfinished. And Nora? Next time my hand is around your neck, we bolt the heavy iron lock."

"I'll bring the key." I wink, thoroughly unrepentant.

The smirk fades from my lips as the silence settles between us again, heavy and charged. I reach out, catching the edge of his unbuttoned cuff before he can turn toward the door.

I meet the dark intensity in his eyes without blinking. "All jokes aside, Moretti. Before we actually finish what we started on that couch, I need one thing from you."

Luca pauses, his fingers stilling against the linen of his sleeve. "Name the price, Blake."

"I want the real you," I say, voice steady even as my pulse skips. "Not the mob boss, not the ruthless syndicate heir, and not the guy wearing a mask for his soldiers. If you want me in your bed, I need to know the actual man underneath all the blood and armor."

A slow, dangerous spark flickers deep in his dark eyes. He tilts his head, studying my face as if searching for any sign of hesitation.

His voice drops to a low, rough rumble. "You might not like what you find in the dark, Nora."

I lift my chin with absolute certainty. "Try me. I don't sign contracts without reading the fine print."

Chapter 14

NORA