Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
"Closer," he says, and there's a little twinkle in his eyes.
"Maybe you should just tell me!"
"I will, because we don't have a lot of time, and Lord knows you could spend hours listing all your many fine qualities and things you're good at."
"Adriano…"
"One of the best self-defense tools you have is your voice."
"Ah-ha!" I wag a finger at him. "I knew that would come in handy."
He anchors his hands on his hips, one of my favorite moves of his, because he looks all dommy. His muscles flex, and his jaw clenches, and he stands there looking ready to tackle somebody, hopefully me. Squee!
"Okay, so what does my voice have to do with self-defense?"
"Everything. When someone is in a traumatic or dangerous situation, they often forget that screaming, yelling, and making as much noise as possible alerts people that they're in danger. The more noise you can make, the better. And if you ever get into a situation where you can't speak, find something around you that will make noise. Garbage can lids, breaking glass, try to get the attention of a loud dog."
"Now I just know you're teasing me," I say.
He sobers and gets that look on his face he does when he's thinking about something that happened once. He focuses on lacing up his shoes. "Worked for me in Italy."
I stand still because I feel like it’s sacred when he talks about his past. Magical. If I move suddenly, I’ll break the spell and he’ll withdraw from me again.
"There was a stray dog that used to roam the city streets. And every single time he saw a squirrel, he would bark so loud everybody would come to the door and scream at him. One day, I was taking a walk and I saw a little stuffed animal on the side of the road. Most of the stuffing was out of it, but that's not what I needed. I shoved it in my pocket. The next night, the neighborhood bullies were hunting me. I waved that thing over my head, caught the attention of that stupid dog, and he barked his damn head off. It saved me."
Interesting. I add this to my mental image of a waif of a child on the streets of Italy, barefoot and dirty and homeless. It makes me want to cry.
“Alright,” he says. “Let’s practice those moves.”
We practice over and over and over again, until I’m panting and sweaty and I’ve had some luck defending myself. I’m feeling a little proud, when his phone rings. It’s Sergio.
“Got it,” he says. “On my way.”
I huff out a breath of disappointment. Those words always mean he’s leaving again. Gah!
When he hangs up the phone, his dark eyes spark with danger. I almost take an involuntary step back but force myself to stay put.
“New development. We’ve got names and locations.”
“You do? The person who snuck into your apartment?”
“No,” he says, but gives me no further details. “You’re going to stay here with Sergio and Eden.”
When I don’t follow him, I half expect him to give me shit about not doing what he told me to, but I’m getting oh-so-sick of being kept in the dark about everything.
“Listen,” Adriano says, facing me fully. He takes me by the wrist and pulls me to him, his eyes as fiery as burning coal. “I’ll tell you soon. I’m not trying to keep things from you, Quinn.”
Sure buddy, and I have a bridge to sell you…
I nod. “Okay, then. Hey, have you ever done a trust fall?”
“A trust fall,” he repeats, eying me warily.
“Yeah. You let yourself fall backward. You trust me to catch you.”
“No.”
“Yeah, I knew it. You don’t trust me to catch you because you think you’re too big. You’re too heavy. It’s too much for someone as little as me to catch you. Well guess what, not everything is too heavy for me, Adriano. I’m capable of a lot more than you think I am.”
I leave, not giving him a chance to reply.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“TONIGHT”
Adriano
“Step out that door and you’ll find yourself over my knee, Quinn, and it will not be the good kind of spanking.”
She leaves when things get hard. She leaves when the fear of being hurt rears its ugly head.
Not this time.
I can see her struggle.
I love watching her struggle.
Quinn may crave pain, but I know for a fact she likes it when I dominate her. She doesn’t like when we really, truly have something wrong between us.
And she is very aware of what kind of punishment I have in mind.
She pauses, her shoulders tense. Christ, I wish I could tell her everything, but I gave Sergio my word, and I never break my word to anyone, most especially my Don. I’ve asked him two more times now if it was time to tell her and he’s adamant that we need to be in a safer situation first.