Page 120 of Twisted Temptation

"I'm ... yeah. I'm okay. Dante, what’s going on?"

He kisses me.

And this kiss is nothing like any kiss that came before it.

It's gentle and shaky, like he's trying to say something he doesn't have the words for.

I pull back to look at him. His eyes look haunted. "Dante, talk to me. What happened?"

"I need you," he says. "I just need you. Please."

The please breaks me apart because Dante Di Zaro does not say please. He commands and growls and gets impatient.

But I know he needs me like this right now. Not sexually. Just like this. In his arms. Me safe and him knowing it.

"I'm here," I whisper. "I'm right here."

He lifts me off the counter, carries me through the penthouse to the bedroom, and lays me down on the bed.

"You're safe," he murmurs. His lips brush my lips. "You know that, right? You're safe here."

More emotion surges forward.

I don't know where this is coming from. I don't know what happened at work tonight, but I don’t think this is about work.

I get the feeling this is about me.

"I know," I whisper. "I know I'm safe with you."

“Good, because I need you, little rose. I need you more than I need anything else.”

My eyes burn and my throat is tight, because I can hear the emotion in every word.

"You have me," I whisper.

We lie there in silence with his face in my neck.

I don't ask what happened, what's wrong, or why he walked through the door looking like a man who'd been gutted.

He'll tell me when he's ready.

Or he won't.

But whatever it is, I'm here if he needs to.

53

DANTE

The bed is empty.

I’m in that murky place between sleep and wakefulness when my hands go looking for her but find nothing but cold sheets where her body should be. My eyes flick open, and I sit up and look around the bedroom.

Rain hammers against the windows, and the skyline has disappeared behind a wall of water.

Sunny’s gone.

I pull on sweatpants and walk out into the hallway. The penthouse is dim in the early morning light as rain pours down the windows in small rivers.