Page 178 of A Beautiful Crime
Exhaustion weighs heavy on my shoulders as my heart begs to burst from the cage of my ribs.
I aimlessly rap my knuckles along the wooded desk. The sound is far more comforting than my thoughts.
Since Niall’s death it has been two days since gaining any new information. I underestimated Savio and Luca. Clearly they’ve had this safe house planned for years.
The Fiore Famiglia has gone incognito. But they can’t hide in the dark for long. You can’t hide where you don’t belong. And the dark belongs to me.
I lean back in the plush office chair. Elongating my body and propping my feet on the wooden surface. I allow myself to feel the exhaustion that has been weighing upon my shoulders.
The sound of the door opening disrupts my reprieve. But only for a moment. I know who it is before I even glance in his direction.
I feel his raw masculinity. His power. It’s a tangible thing. A call. And it’s one I’ll always answer to.
His expression is troubled. His brows knit as his eyes worry over me. I long to smooth the lines of concern, but even I know they won’t fade. Not until Savio and Luca are dead. And who is to tell if they will truly fade then.
Constantine will continue to worry until I fall apart in his arms. Until I grieve.
He crosses the office with bare feet. His sweatpants hung low on his hips and his chest bare. The mark of my name peeks through his chest hair.
“You should be resting,” he says in a low tone.
“Are you saying I look tired, dear husband?”
“I’m smart enough to know I should never tell a woman she looks tired,” he says but I can feel the but coming. “But,”ah, there it is, “you’ve hardly slept. Even in my own slumber I feel the moment you slip out of bed. There’s an absence. And I fear it’s not only physical.”
I work a swallow. “I see his face. When I close my eyes I’m haunted by the sight of him.”
“Carina.” My name is spoken with a myriad of emotions. Empathy being the most prominent.
He closes the distance between us. One moment I am in his chair and in the next I’m in his strong embrace. I tuck myself into him. Making myself as small as possible as I hold onto him like he’s a rafter.
“How did you do it? When your parents passed, how did you grin and bear it?”
A chaste kiss is placed upon my head before I feel his fingers play with my hair. “I didn’t.”
“You never showed it.”
“I was only to be perceived how I wanted the world to see me. After pa had passed I needed this world we live in to understand they had to fear me. That I was more ruthless than my pa. More cutthroat. More beast than man. We were in a vulnerable position. I had to become something more.”
“The Devil of the East Coast,” I muse. “Your own rebirth.”
He hums thoughtfully. “Not necessarily. I was born into this life, Carina. I knew I was to be Don one day. I just hadn’t expected it at that age. But it’s in my blood. There was no other path for me. The man I am was the man I was born to be. The only thing missing to make me complete was you.”
I place my hand over his tender heart. “But you made me realize I was born for this life, too. I’ve always held something dark within me. You showed me it didn’t mean I was like them.”
“My own angel with black wings,” he muses and it warms my heart. “So much power you hold in just that pinky of yours. Never forget it, amore.”
“I won’t,” I promise. He presses another kiss to my head. And I’ve come to realize that his soft head kisses have become my favorite.
“Now, would you please come to bed?”
Unbidden a chuckle passes my lips. Constantine pulls my head back by tugging my hair so our eyes meet.
With a brow raised he asks, “Care tell what has you laughing?”
My lips twist with humor. “You of all men begging me to come to bed with you.”
“Ah,” he sighs amused. “Well, the bed is too big without you. And if I can hear that laughter once more I’ll beg until my voice dies out.”
