Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 52260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
I’d finally admitted to myself that she was mine, so I took my time, like I had never allowed myself before, and admired her beautiful body. Her long red hair was splayed over the pillow, begging for my hands to run through it. My cock was hard and aching, ready for me to claim my woman. I gave in to what it wanted, since the caveman inside me demanded the same thing.
After removing my shoes, I silently approached the bed, stripping as I went. Since it was Carly, and I knew better, I removed the gun from under her pillow, putting it in my bag. She was bound to be pissed when she realized she’d slept through my breaking and entering, removing her gun, and getting into bed with her.
I debated whether to leave my boxers on but decided against it, knowing there was no way I could get into bed with Carly and not seduce her. Lying down next to her, I winced at a slight twinge of pain in my leg when I lifted it off the floor. It reminded me that she’d earned herself a spanking.
The night she ran, she’d come to warn me about her father’s nefarious plans. I could admit, in my desperate bid to fight my attraction to her, I may have said something that could have been construed as me accusing her of not being loyal to the DeLucas. Seeing her outraged and riled up was hot as fuck, and I wasn’t able to control myself anymore. I’d kissed the ever-loving fuck out of her. It was such a sudden action that she didn’t have time to react and her body melted into mine. Unfortunately, rational thought caught up with her and she shoved out of my arms. I’d let her go, giving her some space to process what had just happened, and preparing myself to apologize. Until I realized she’d taken my gun from the back waistband of my pants. I knew it was stupid to wear it there, but I’d wanted it hidden, yet easily accessible when I answered my door.
A few seconds later, we were startled by a noise heard through the open window by my back door. It was immediately followed by a gunshot and a searing pain in my leg. The woman had fucking shot me. Despite the pain and blood, I’d raced to my back door, pointing back at her and growling, “Don’t move.” Grabbing a backup piece from a drawer in the kitchen, I’d taken the safety off and was about to open the door when I heard a voice shout my name. Glancing back, I saw Enzo, one of Nic’s hitters—yet another cousin because we are Italian, after all—rushing in.
“It was that little shit, Darby,” he snarled.
Shit. Carly’s brother was a little weasel and he would surely run right back to Daddy and tell him he’d seen Carly with me. Most likely, he saw me kiss her. Enzo didn’t know about Carly’s actions as our “inside woman,” and I knew I’d have to come up with a damn good explanation. I’d turned to face Carly, only to find she’d cleared out.
“Motherfucker!” I was going to wring her pretty little neck. I would have run after her, but Enzo swore and shouted at the guy with him to come inside.
“You’ve been fucking shot, Bran. Why didn’t you say anything?”
The truth was, in the adrenaline high, I’d forgotten all about it. They took me to a place where our family doctor could patch me up, then I took off after her. The injury had created just enough of a window for Carly to get completely off my radar. I still didn’t know how she’d done it. She was good, but I was better.
I sighed and settled onto the bed. It hardly mattered now. Her face was turned toward me, soft and sweet in sleep. It was an expression I’d never seen there before. When she looked at me, she was usually scowling. Rolling onto my side, I propped up on an elbow and leaned over. I brushed her hair off of her cheek and softly kissed her pale skin. I continued with my kisses all over her face before ending at her lips. I brushed my mouth over hers and paused when she sighed and shifted. I leaned back and waited for her to wake up, but she seemed to fall back into her dreams. This time, when I kissed her lips, she moaned. Moaned my motherfucking name.
If that wasn’t an invitation, I didn’t know what was.
TWO
Carly
I might have physically gotten away from Brandon, but I couldn’t seem to get him out of my head. He’d been seared into my brain from the moment his lips crashed down on mine. Or more likely, from when I saw him for the first time. Brandon DeLuca was a man most women would find impossible to forget. At six-foot-three with an athletic, muscular frame, he made me feel downright tiny next to him. His dark, tousled hair made my fingers twitch with the need to touch. The thick, long lashes, surrounding brown eyes so dark they almost looked black, evoked a ridiculous amount of envy.