Page 13 of Sacred Blood

Overwhelmed.

And instead of recognizing it immediately, I'd allowed my own temper and desire to cloud my judgment. It wasn't a mistake I was accustomed to making.

All the careful control I exhibited in bringing her to my office for a private chat had meant to be only that, a chat. But her tantrum and the disrespect she exhibited brought out a side of me I didn’t want to hold back in her presence.

She’d been the source of my fantasies since that day in my brother’s restaurant when our gazes collided. The spark that passed between us and the resulting challenge she held in her eyes practically begged me to deliver what she wanted and needed. Unfortunately for me, when I got the chance to deliver, my passions were far from being satiated as I’d hoped. Instead, a deep burning desire to have her again haunted me night and day ever since.

When I returned to my office, hours later, after performing the surgery, she was gone. The blanket I’d covered her with still carried her scent. Pressing it to my nose, etched her into my memory all over again. All other traces of her vanished, including her ripped underwear by the desk.

Now, even her scent was gone. My cock hardened remembering her tight, warm channel and penetrating her slick, silky entrance…I shook my head, releasing myself from the trancelike state.

Searching for Gaby had come up with nothing. The address on her form wasn’t the one where she’d been staying. Her friends from lunch had turned out to be nurses as well, which I didn’t find out until I saw one of them in the hallways of the hospital. When I approached her about Gaby, she said she hadn’t seen her in days.

Ridiculous! I slammed my hands on my desk. Get a grip, Vitale! Forget about Gaby Cala and go and have sex with a woman who doesn’t matter to you.

Good advice from my conscience, alter ego, or the devil on my shoulder?

My phone pinged with a message from Gio—Come to Carnage and have a drink with your brothers.

Brothers, as in plural?

Another message, this one from Romeo—That’s an order, Tano!

Great, orders from Don Vitale, which I needed like a hole in the head. Most likely this was an impromptu get-together, and they didn’t need me there, but just wanted me to join them in blowing off some steam. They had no idea how good their timing was, as I was heading there anyway.

Fine. See you in half.

I downed the remaining contents in my glass and gathered up my things to leave.

“Leaving early, sir?” my secretary asked as I passed her desk.

I nodded. “Feel free to leave early as well, Rita. It’s been a busy week. I’ll see you on Monday.”

She smiled. “Thank you very much, Sir.”

I was almost outside the door when I turned around. “Rita, when Nurse Cala left my office the other day, how did she seem to you?”

Rita stopped typing. “She looked upset.”

“Upset?”

“Like someone trying very hard not to cry.”

I nodded, closed the door and made my way to the lot. Waiting for me was Romeo’s car and driver. That meant we were drinking, exactly what I needed to drown out the question in my head— What happened to Gaby Cala?

It wasn't a question I should have been asking.

Not after five days.

Not after one reckless afternoon in my office.

Not after spending most of my adult life avoiding attachments.

Yet there it was.

Not: Where is she?

But: Is she safe?