Page 98 of A Beautiful Crime

Indescribable, inscrutable pain.

And while I may be protected by Constantine and Pietro at this moment, I won’t always be guarded.

I’ll never be safe from him nor papa.

His eyes promise me that.

I’ll always be their pawn, no matter who has claimed me.

It sends an uncontrollable shiver down my spine.

Attuned to my body Constantine pulls me closer to him. Keeping his eyes on Luca he tilts his head to ask me softly, “Are you okay?”

And I want to cry. Burst into a puddle of tears from the affection of a man who has only known me for a matter of weeks.

How can he be so compassionate? How can he be so compassionate to me?

Steeling my spine I respond back coolly, “I’m okay.”

Without glancing away from me he dismisses my brother along with Marquise.

I can feel the heat of rage from Luca, but I don’t dare take a look. I refuse to break eye contact with Constantine.

“You can’t be serious,” Luca says with slight exasperation.

Constantine’s lips twitch with amusement, but not the good kind. It’s the kind that welcomes violence. An amusement that dances with sin. “I am. Leave, Luca. Before I make you.”

It’s a battle Luca must not want to fight, or one he knows he won’t win, because he stiffly retreats with Marquise without another word.

“You gave me a beautiful lie, mia leonessa.” His fingers bury themselves deeper in my flesh. And I loathe how my body responds. With want. With need. “What has happened to my unspoken truths?”

I’ve never known a man to be so hypnotic. It’s as if he’s casted a spell upon me. With every word I lean a bit closer to listen. With every touch I find myself craving the next.

He’s bewitching.

Constantly I have to remind myself that I must loathe this man, that I do.

I do. Loathe him. I do.

Or is that only another one of my beautiful lies?

“Since I’ve learned you enjoy them so, I refuse to give you another.” It sounds like I’m teasing him. And maybe I am. Maybe I’m teasing him as he teases me. But I do quite enjoy the fact that I can deny him. I have that power.

And after blindsiding me today with my dearest brother I want to deny him of everything he finds pleasurable.

“You say you’re dead and yet you’re angry with me,” he points out, sounding pleased.

“Don’t sound so pleased.”

“Oh, but I am.” He grins smugly. “You’re proving me right, mia leonessa.”

I turn to him. Eyes glaring, skin boiling. “I have done no such thing.”

“All these lies, Carina. Aren’t you tired of them?”

He says they’re lies but they are the only thing keeping me from succumbing.

“Why must you fight this? Can’t you see that you have already succumbed to me?” His knuckles graze my upper cheek, the light touch igniting my blood. His eyes, those dark compelling eyes, take notice of how my body betrays me.