AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I smile, shaking my head. “I’ll accept thehotpart of that, but I had my life together before you came strolling into it.”
“Did you? I seem to recall a defiant girl standing in front of a corpse burrito.”
“That was a low point.”
He releases my feet, leaning over toward me. I look at him, think about pushing him back, but I don’t. He pins me onto the couch, his heavy body like the crust of the earth buried on top of me. His lips find my neck, kissing gently.
“You can handle this. I promise, you can.”
“What if you’re wrong? What if I start hearing voices in my head? What if I run away screaming at the top of my lungs?”
“I’ll have you committed,” he murmurs, kissing closer to my mouth.
I wiggle my hips as my nipples stiffen. God, what is wrong with me? The memory of those severed fingers is still fresh, but this man has the ability to arouse me like it’s nothing. And to be honest, I’d rather let him fuck me than think about this horrible night.
“So long as I’m locked up somewhere you can’t get to me, I’m game.”
He chuckles, bites my lower lip, and pulls back to stare into my eyes. “Youcando this, Renata.”
“I’m glad you have so much faith in me.”
“You should have more faith in yourself.” He kisses me, slow and deep. For a second, his voice echoes in my brain.More faith in yourself. He’s not wrong—I’ve always seen myself as barely holding on. Taking care of Grandpop has been my entire existence for a while now. I barely know anything else.
Until Lanzo. Until his lips against mine.
I give myself over to the moment. Let myself sink into his kiss. His hands roam, his fingers grip my hips.
My clothes end up in a pile on the floor.
He’s between my legs, licking me, making these filthy, sultry noises.
His lips and tongue lap my pussy. I pull his hair, pull it tight, push my hips against his mouth.
I want him to hurt me and I want him to make me come.
I can lose myself in him. His lips are a thousand times more effective than the strongest alcohol at dulling my pain.
“Let go,” he whispers, not talking about my fingers in his hair. “Let go, lovely Ren. Let go and let me taste you, lovely girl. Beautiful girl. So fucking strong and clever. Let go.”
I breathe hard, saying his name as I come against his mouth.
Chapter20
Lanzo
It takes all of twenty minutes to figure out exactly who Craig Hicks is.
I’m sitting in bed naked while Renata sleeps beside me. Every few minutes, I stroke her hair. She stirs, mumbling to herself, but doesn’t wake, her breathing nice and even. I can’t bring myself to move. Not with her so close. The urge to stay here next to her is overwhelming, a feeling I’ve never experienced before. The rawneed. Like a wound that won’t close.
I lick my lips, still tasting her as I close my laptop lid. The room plunges into darkness. I close my eyes, focusing on Renata’s breathing. Slowly in, slowly out. I could meditate to that sound all my life. I could live in this room, breathe in her smell, taste her on my tongue. The feelings in me, they’re overwhelming. They’re opening a section of myself that I’d locked away a long time ago.
In my business, I can’t get close to people. Romance, friendships, I can’t risk them. The Atlas boys are the only people I’ve remained close with, but only because they can handle themselves—and they don’t operate in my circles.
Renata’s a liability. She’s a danger. Worse, I’m a danger to her. But I keep thinking about Carmine, Evander, Gareth, and Ford, my four brothers, all of them settled, all of them happy.
They have something I don’t.
“They have their own version of you,” I whisper to sleeping Renata. I bend down to kiss the back of her neck. “Lovely girl.”
