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She remained still while he cleaned her cut and put the salve on it that she’d used earlier in the day. Her heart didn’t settle at all as she studied his blue Di Salvo eyes under the fluorescent lighting.
“Better?” he asked.
She reached out, her thumb tracing along his cast. “I understand, you know. Giovanni and Nera come first for you. They should be kept far away from this mess.”
His finger slid down her nose. “Stop that. I came here to say the alliance was over. I had every intention of focusing on that.” He leaned forward, kissing the tip of her nose. “Instead, I blurted out something even more real. I might not have timed it well, but I wasn’t lying, Vespa.”
She told herself it didn’t change anything even as her pulse went wild. “Say it again?” She wanted to bite off her own tongue, but she also wanted to hear the words. She wanted that more than anything.
“I love you, Vespa.”
She drowned in the euphoria that hit her, unable to say anything back. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed him, a soft meeting of lips that felt right and made her dizzy.
Her eyes slid shut. “Fuck, I’m exhausted. I thought I heard that asshole Di Salvo say he loved me.”
Antonio chuckled against her throat as he shuffled her backward. “Bed for you.”
He helped her strip. “You smell like me,” he murmured in her ear as he settled in beside her on the bed.
“Of course I do. I’ve been leaking your cum all night.” Vespa yawned, settling herself into his good side.
“You should shower.”
She relaxed into his body as his fingers carded through her hair. “In the morning. You can stay.” Her eyes were too heavy to open. “Just don’t ruin my reputation.”
“I couldn’t. Everyone knows you’re a badass, Vespa.”
She grunted, too tired to come up with a retort as sleep swooped up and dragged her under.
Chapter 26
Antonio listened to Vespa’s soft snores. He slid his hand through the loose strands of her hair, enjoying the way her body curled against his.
He’d come to the Coronella estate intending to break things off with her, at least temporarily. Finding her awake and exhausted, he’d lost his mind instead.
Vespa hadn’t returned his declaration of love. Her expression had gone from disbelief to embarrassment to skittering panic. Vespa wouldn’t say the words until she was certain herself, and he had no problem waiting.
Besides, it would serve him right if she doubted his feelings. The type of person he was, it wouldn’t have been outside the realm of possibility for him to use emotions to manipulate someone.
Vespa likely doubted him despite how much she’d liked hearing the words the second time. With only one former partner, one who had tried to have her gang-raped and killed, Antonio highly doubted anyone had declared their love to her before.
Fucking Cesare Moretti. Antonio was beginning to suspect that wasn’t even the bastard’s true name. He’d called in quite a few favors for information on the man and drawn very little information in return. It had to be a pseudonym. Nothing connected the man to Rossi.
It all but confirmed his suspicions. Rossi’s name being behind the recent hits was too convenient.
Antonio slid out of bed, feeling clumsier than usual with his cumbersome cast. It hadn’t been anywhere near the two months the doctor had recommended, and he knew he’d never last that long.
He’d expected Vespa to be a light sleeper, but Antonio’s movements didn’t disturb her at all. He leaned down, letting his lips brush over the small scar on her cheekbone.
When he opened the door and found there were still no guards outside of her room, Antonio’s irritation spiked. He remained blatant in his progress toward the front door. The guards eyed him warily, as if they didn’t know what to make of him.
He got up into the face of the one who seemed to be in charge. “Why the fuck are none of you loitering around her hallway? You trust me not to kill her that much?”
“Fuck off, dickweed,” the Coronella soldier muttered.
A younger soldier smirked. “You just confessed your undying devotion in front of all of us.”
Antonio’s gaze scanned them as he let his normal, smarmy smile fall into place. “And if I lied?”
