Page 44 of When She Tempts (The Fallen)
When he drapes his arm back over my waist, I gather up some courage and drag my fingertips over his skin, feeling the coarse hairs on his arms. His body stiffens, but he doesn’t stop me. If it were daylight, he would. I’m sure of it. But with the rain and the darkness wrapped around us, it’s like we’re suspended in time and space, floating in a universe with different rules.
His body molds to mine, and his breathing grows deeper. When I’ve nearly fallen asleep, the rains stops, and the noise quiets.
CHAPTER12
GIORGIO
Amber liquid swirlsinside my glass.
I’m not a whiskey drinker, but sometimes the circumstances demand it.
It’s three a.m. I snuck out of her bed ten minutes ago when I was sure I’d lose whatever loose grip on reality I still had if I had to spend another minute with her scent taunting me.
I don’t know what possessed me when I got into her bed. Madness? Pity?
No, something else. Something I’m incapable of naming, because how can you put a word on something you’ve never felt before?
That small body of hers pressed against mine felt like coming home. How fucked up is that?
I cross my feet on the coffee table in the library and drop my head back until I’m looking at the ceiling. There are no answers there. No manual for turning back time so that I can go back to the moment I picked her up in Ibiza and start over.
If she says a word of this to her brother, he’ll demand I bring her back to him. A lowborn soldier in bed with his sister. We didn’t do anything, but it won’t matter. Damiano may respect my expertise, but not enough to risk putting her innocence into question.
Bad luck.
Bad fucking luck to want the one thing you can never have.
Martina isn’t meant for me. Tradition dictates one day she’ll belong to someone in the upper echelons of the Casalesi hierarchy, and De Rossi knows it. If he wants to be the new don, he knows better than to fuck with tradition.
Sitting up straight, I take another sip and eye the clock. I had work to do tonight, and none of it got done. My iPad lies forgotten on my bed. As soon as I heard her crying, nothing else mattered.
Martina’s somehow strong and fragile at the same time. In class, when she pushes past her self-doubt, her eyes shine with fierce determination. But her past won’t let go of her. One step forward, one step back. She’s stuck, and for some reason, I feel it’s my duty to get her unstuck.
For some reason…
I drag my palm down my cheek and toss back the rest of the whiskey. That reasonshouldbe getting into De Rossi’s good graces, but I can’t say he’s been on my mind very much when it comes to the things I’ve done with her.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
I grab my phone, check the caller ID, and pick up the call.
“Giorgio,” Sal’s voice filters through the speaker. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Of course not, Don.”
“Where are you right now?”
He can’t track my location from my phone, so I answer easily. “I’m in my apartment in Rome. It’s late. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, well, because of the nonsense with Damiano, I’ve had a lot of late nights recently. It’s unfortunate he’s made such a fatal error. It will cost him dearly.”
“He’s grown arrogant,” I say, pandering to him.
“And now he’s gathering fools for his court.”
“More have joined his cause?”
“No one important,” he quickly dismisses. “But yes, a few have miscalculated by going to his side, and I’m eager to put an end to this. It’s a distraction for our business.”
