AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He stood, grabbed his phone, and met me by the door casing.
“Just for a few hours, alright?” His words stumbled.
I nodded and turned as he trailed behind. Lucca took a quick shower and changed into a pair of black sweatpants, and this time I was the one who trailed after him. The bed sank under his weight, and without hesitation, I sought out his warmth.
Lucca didn’t tense and his body didn’t pause beneath my touch. Only his eyes shut, and his hand repositioned on my back. His body didn’t even fight me, it embraced me for the first time. It could have been the lack of sleep or the stress that radiated off him, but I failed to think and just felt his desire to feel me close to him instead.
But as the unforgiving light infiltrated through my lids, I tried to find the remote to close the blinds that hung high. I didn’t even get the chance to twist before Lucca’s palm pressed over my back with fingers spread.
“The blinds,” I explained.
His throat trapped a low sound.
“Blinds.” His voice rose firmly, and a beep echoed. “Close.”
Magic.
The blinds shut by command, and I rested my head on his shoulder. My fingers roamed over the valleys of his abs, and the lines of his chest, exploring and soothing his mind to succumb to unconsciousness.
“Why did you really search for me?” Lucca asked heavily.
I didn’t dodge the answer. I wanted him to know and understand my limits. With him against me and beneath the covers, I spoke the truth.
“I won't stay here if I’m meant to be alone. I can do that in Miami. At least in Miami, I have the boys.”
“And I cannot stop when I have work, Katia.”
Discouraged, I answered. “I know.”
The Mafia would always be first.
XXXVI
LUCCA
“Katia?”I called out after waking up without her heat pressing against me.
Silence answered me, and I shifted my weight to glance around the empty room. I’d always been the first one out of bed. The one who always left a spot empty, our close proximity a memory. I lived on a routine. Wake up, work out, shower, get ready, work, and catch a few hours of sleep before starting the same pattern all over again.
By the time Katia woke up early enough to see the next sunrise, I would already be gone and deep in sin.
It was how I functioned, routine.
Today, everything was off.
I was the one alone, and as a creature of habit, the change didn’t sit well with me. I felt as if I’d slept for days, groggy and aching. I needed to move.
Nothing good ever came when I stopped.
After a quick glance at the time and the endless missed calls on my phone, the pit in my chest grew with tension. It had been five hours. Five too many in broad daylight. I was lucky to get close to that during the night, and even then, every morning my mind rushed to get going. Today that rush had become erratic, and I left the bed with my phone already in my ear as I went to the bathroom.
Arlo didn’t answer, and while I played every voice mail, listening to his tone and urgency to call him back, I dwelled on the reasons that could’ve kept him pressing for my call.
I hopped into the shower to rinse off sleep and scrub off the sense of lost time. It had been useless. I dried and dressed myself with the same urgency I’d left the bed with.
Something was off.
It was the same feeling I hadn’t shaken since leaving Miami. The same pressure that bubbled all day yesterday. But today the magnitude only increased in a force I couldn’t shake or carry. Even the quietness inside of the home didn’t align as Katia hadn’t made a sound. There were no footfalls or creaks. No signs of movement.
