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“I’m not a bad girl,” I shot back with fire behind my words.
His eyes flickered with desire. “No? Because I think there’s a little devil hidden beneath your beautiful exterior.” His long fingers inched down my arm, flames scorching my skin. “And I think she wants to come out and play.”
I cleared my throat, ignoring his last statement. “I know when someone wants to hurt me. You won’t hurt me, Luca.” I shoved his hand away from my face. “So cut the shit and let me go.”
Unfortunately, I had learned this lesson the hard way. Most of the people in my life had tried to hurt me over the years. Because of them, I wasn’t a delicate girl who handed out her trust to anyone.
I could spot a snake a mile away, and despite his intimidation tactics, I knew Luca did not want to cause me physical harm. But what he was doing to my emotions… and my body.
Well, that was another story.
A moment of silence passed between us. Luca inspected me like he was peeling back my skin, looking beneath each layer. Like it wouldn’t satisfy him until he discovered my darkest secrets. But I could tell even my worst ones wouldn’t compare to what he was hiding.
A monster lurked in the shadows. He couldn’t fool me. I’d known enough evil people to see right through him.
Luca was rotten to the core and didn’t give a shit what anyone thought about him. He wanted people to see the ugliness inside him. I knew from firsthand experience it was easier to push someone away before they got too close than to let them into my life, only to end up disappointed.
“What happened to your back?”
He turned away from me, his eyes on the balcony to our left. “You don’t want to know.”
A warm breeze blew in through the French doors that led to a large patio overlooking the bay. His jaw looked even harder from the side, all clean lines and sharp edges. My fingers itched at the chance to sketch every detail of his face, so I could capture his essence with my charcoals.
“Art tells the truth, even when people lie,” I said to quote his mother.
Luca’s head snapped to me and heat rushed down my arms from the intensity on his face. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to kiss me or kill me.
“You don’t have to hide from me, Luca.”
Standing painfully still, he clenched his fist, and his jaw tightened.
I shot up from the bed, now standing in front of him. Feeling brave, I slid the dress shirt over his strong shoulders. “Let me see you.”
I wasn’t talking about the scars on his back. I wanted to know what made Luca Salvatore tick. What were his hopes and dreams, his strengths and his weaknesses? I wondered why my heart beat differently when I looked into his eyes, why I felt connected to him in ways I could not explain.
“I see you too,” he said with a sharpness in his tone. “You know what it’s like to hide the truth.”
I nodded. “I won’t hurt you, Luca.”
Madness danced across his blue irises. “Maybe I want you to.”
He turned his head to the side, unable to meet my gaze, and the fabric bunched around his muscular biceps. Then he shook the shirt off, letting it fall to the floor. I smoothed my fingers over his marred skin.
My parents never laid a hand on me, but I had endured years of neglect in my personal version of Hell. Aiden was the reason I made it through those painful times.Who did Luca turn to?His brothers were not the comforting types.
I stifled my gasp, the sight of his scars up close heartbreaking. My mind drifted to someone hitting him with the buckle of a belt until his skin cracked open. Someone slashing into his flesh with knives. A few were from cigar burns.
I closed my eyes and cringed, wondering how he had survived years of torture. He flinched and hissed when I placed my hand on his lower back. Long and jagged, the worst scar ripped a tear from my eye, wetting his skin.
Luca groaned, then pulled away.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
He spun around, studying me with a strange expression on his face, and then swiped his thumb beneath my eye. “Don’t cry for me, baby girl. I don’t deserve your tears.”
Luca buttoned his shirt, staring down at me, as if he were deciding what to do with me. Then he grabbed my wrist and yanked so hard I tripped. My cheek smashed into his hard chest.
He opened the door and led me into the hallway, squeezing my fingers as we descended the stairs to the second floor.
