Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 45819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45819 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
He took my hand in his, thick fingers brushing over my knuckles to soothe my mounting tension. “No one will touch you,” he swore. “Duarte won’t allow it. He knows I saved you from Los Zetas when they kidnapped you, and he approves.”
“But Duarte wants you to…kill George,” I stumbled over the word, my throat closing in horror at the prospect of his murder, no matter his corruption. “You said you’re doing it as a favor.”
He nodded, unruffled and unrepentant. “George is dirty. He dug his own grave when he sold his loyalty to the Zetas. You are innocent. Duarte appreciates the difference. He won’t allow you to be harmed.”
I pressed my lips together, considering my next words carefully. “I don’t want to meet Duarte,” I finally said. “He’s a drug lord. That scares me, Massimo.”
It wasn’t a lie, and I allowed my dark protector to read the stark truth in my eyes. I wasn’t accustomed to showing my more tumultuous emotions so openly, but if honesty would give me an advantage, I would use it.
He stroked my hair. “You don’t need to be afraid, farfallina. You’re with me.” Before I could formulate another protest, he continued on. “This isn’t optional. I have to attend Duarte’s party to secure our alliance. My friends are counting on me, and I won’t let them down.”
“Your friends?” I remembered the two handsome Italian men who’d argued with him last night—the brothers. “Why can’t they be the ones to go to the party?”
“They’re on their way back to Naples. It’s up to me to conclude our business here in Mexico.”
My blood went cold. “And what business is that?” I demanded, daring him to admit to his criminal activities. It would be a good reminder for me, too. The man who held me so tenderly was involved in organized crime, and I couldn’t allow myself to forget it.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he replied, posture relaxed and completely unbothered. Whatever he was doing here in Mexico, Massimo didn’t feel a shred of guilt over his lawless lifestyle.
I gaped at him. “You want to take me to a drug lord’s party, and you think I shouldn’t worry about what you’re up to?”
He nodded. “There’s no need for you to concern yourself with my business.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, and the shockingly intimate gesture made my mind blank for a moment. “You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll take care of you, Evelyn.”
Deep in my bones, I believed him. But that didn’t mean I was okay with the situation.
“I don’t want to go,” I said, once again hoping the bald truth would sway him.
His lips ghosted over my cheek, his stubble lightly scraping my skin as he whispered in my ear, “I know what’s best for you, dolcezza. I’m not letting you out of my sight, but I have to attend this party. That means you’re coming with me, and you’re going to behave.” His teeth grazed my throat, a sensual threat. “I promise I will reward you after.”
My belly fluttered, equal parts unease and arousal. “I don’t want a reward.” My protest was embarrassingly breathy when I should’ve sounded outright indignant. I was wary of any gifts that might make me indebted to him.
His low hum vibrated over my neck, sinking into my heated flesh. “You will. You’ll be desperate for it by the time I’m finished with you.”
Before I could demand to know what he was talking about, his teeth sank into my shoulder in a purely primal act of dominance. I cried out at the shock of pain, even as my core contracted in response. He kept me pinned in his ruthless bite and fisted my hair in one hand, anchoring me in place. My scalp lit up with little pinpricks of pain that turned into dancing sparks along my spine.
His other hand went to my breast, palming it through his soft shirt. My nipple was hard, straining against the fabric. He growled his approval, the sound rumbling all the way to my heated core. My thighs were slick with a shocking wash of arousal, an embarrassing sensation I’d never known before meeting Massimo. I squirmed, but he kept me captive in his savage bite, his tongue tracing soothing patterns on my skin even as pain radiated from my shoulder. It morphed into dark pleasure, sending lightning strikes straight to my sex.
Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle any more of the cruelly erotic sensations, he released me, and he pressed a tender kiss to the little indentations that he’d left in my skin.
“Now everyone will know you’re mine.” His voice was heavy with his own desire, a deep, wicked satisfaction.
The prospect of attending the drug lord’s party with Massimo’s bite mark on my neck caused anxiety to nip at me, but he quickly obliterated my budding concern by pinching my peaked nipple.