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His gaze cuts, and without a word, he pulls a pistol from his waistband. The cold metal gleams as he places it in my hands, his fingers covering mine.
The weight of the weapon startles me, but I don’t have time to dwell on that when his arms come around from behind.
I can barely breathe.
“Safety here. Finger there. Squeeze. Don’t jerk.” His husky voice drops, each word searing.
Heat pools low in my stomach.
He leads me to a door I hadn’t noticed before. Reinforced steel hidden behind a false panel in the garden shed. Inside, concrete walls absorb sound. An indoor range, complete with targets and overhead lights that cast a harsh white glow.
I aim at a target and squeeze the trigger. Bang! The bang echoes off concrete walls. The recoil slams into my shoulders, causing me to stumble, but I refuse to fall.
He steadies me with a hand at my waist. “Again.”
Boom! This time the shot is firmer, with more of my determination channeled into it.
After several rounds, sweat beads at my temples. When his thumb brushes it away, my pulse skitters wildly. His eyes trap mine.
The confession slips out, whisper thin. “I want revenge. For my mother, Elena. For what Vincent did to her.”
Surprise flickers in his gaze. Then his hand—rough, possessive— cups my face, and he kisses me. I bite his lip in response, my nails clawing at his shirt.
He groans…guttural, raw.
Training dissolves into fire. My back whacks the wall as his body consumes mine. His roar vibrates against my throat. “You’re playing with fire, ragazza.”
“Then burn with me,” I breathe, daring him.
He lifts me, effortlessly, and presses me against the wall. My legs wrap around his waist as his bruising hands grip my thighs.
The kiss deepens as his demanding, relentless tongue claims mine. I meet him stroke for stroke, with teeth and lips and desperate need. My fingers tangle in his hair and yank.
He breaks away just long enough to trail his mouth down my jaw and throat while biting, sucking, and leaving marks I’ll feel tomorrow.
I gasp. Arch into him. “Enzo—”
His mouth crashes back to mine, hungrier, like he’s trying to devour me whole.
Just before I drown completely, he tears himself away, his chest heaving, his eyes wild. “You’re dangerous.”
With ragged breath and swollen lips, I ask, “Because I’m weak?”
He answers with a raw, broken laugh. “Because you make me lose control.”
A reckless smile curves my lips. “Maybe that’s exactly what I want.”
We collapse onto the floor together, gasping. His arm anchors me, his chest rising and falling under my cheek.
Crickets hum in the thick night air, but inside me, a new rhythm beats louder.
Sophia
The next afternoon, the maid fusses over me, slipping a pink silk dress over my head that feels like something out of a wedding catalogue.
The door clicks open, and Enzo stops in his tracks. “You’re…” He doesn’t finish, but his emotions are written on his face.
His gaze skims over me, causing heat to tighten low in my belly. My breath stutters before I can stop it. “There’s a christening.”
