Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81175 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
He carried me into his bedroom, and the second we entered it felt dormant. He hadn’t been sleeping there for nearly a month and the air remained undisturbed. Nothing had changed since I left two months ago. The bedding was identical, the curtains were the same, and it was spotless like it’d always been.
He set me on the bed then immediately pulled his shirt over his head. It was stained with blood, mine and the men he killed. Underneath the fabric was his chiseled physique. It was identical to the last time I saw him. Abrasions, cuts, and bruises didn’t permeate his skin during the battle that raged in the streets of Rome.
His gun sat on his hip and he pulled it out of holster and set the safety on before he placed it on his nightstand. Sleek and shiny, it reflected the dim light of the rising sun outside the window. I’d never seen him with a gun other than the night he snatched me from Bones. I wondered how many he had stowed away in the house.
He got his jeans off next then removed his boxers. Like always, he was hard and ready to go. He leaned over the bed and gently forced me to my back, his hands on either side of my waist. With eyes glued to mine, he removed my jeans and panties until my lower body was naked.
The moment didn’t feel sexual in nature. It was a level of intimacy we never shared before. With hearts beatings as one and the fear still heavy in our chests, we clung together like magnet and steel. He got my shirt off then my bra before he lay on top of me, his naked body hard and defined. His lips brushed past mine as he positioned himself over me, and his arm hooked around my torso until he had an iron-clad grip on me. If he were going to fuck me he would have already shoved himself inside me. Every minute passed with anticipation, and he took his time focusing on my eyes rather than everything else.
He slid inside me slowly, taking his time like he was in no rush to reach the finish line. His usual look of prevalent darkness was absent. Instead of looking like a man who just killed dozens of men, he looked like a man who just returned from a venture out to see. His brown eyes were warm and he sunk into me purpose. When he was fully situated inside me he slowly rocked into me. It was the kind of sex we had just before he walked out of my apartment for the last time. Slow and tender, it about more than just feeling each other in the most pleasurable ways. It was about every touch and every kiss.
It was about so much more.
Chapter Sixteen
Crow
Despite the exhaustion burning behind my eyes I couldn’t sleep. Normally when Button was beside me I was out like a light. Now I sat in my study and depleted my storage of scotch and brandy, wearing my pajama bottoms with a black t-shirt.
It was five in the evening but she was still asleep. After what she’d been through, I couldn’t blame her for being depleted of energy. She was chased down in her own home then drugged before dragged onto a plane. Then truck crashed into the vehicle she was in and sent her against the opposite door. She was banged up and bruised, and after a day of rest they were bound to look more gruesome.
She deserved the rest.
Cane walked in a moment later, his briefs tucked under his arm. He plopped down onto the couch and immediately helped himself to my glass of scotch. He downed half the glass before he set the folder on the table.
I poured myself another and ignored his subtle attack of disrespect. “What’s the news?”
“Our people cleaned up the street and disposed the bodies. We jacked some of their cars. After a thorough cleaning and license plate fix, we’ll have more toys for the yard. We got some cool guns too and they’ve been added to the collection.”
“The police?”
“They came back to check on things but didn’t file a report. They aren’t stupid.”
“You mean, they aren’t suicidal.” I didn’t mess around with cops. They protected innocent people throughout our country and did their jobs the best they could. People like Bones and I were above the law, and just because they got in our way didn’t mean there needed to be casualties. With a clear warning, they usually backed off our territory and turned their cheeks. Besides, we were criminals that only killed other criminals. We weren’t exactly a threat to the people of Italy.
“Whatever.” He finished his scotch—mine—and filled it to the brim. “I haven’t gotten any intel on Bones. Have no idea what he’s doing.”