Page 100 of Vicious Kingdom

Giggling, Penelope scored the bottom of the spoon with her teeth.

“How many of those have they drank?” Sandro groaned.

“Too many.” The bag of tortilla chips was half gone, the queso grown cold.

“We’re not sitting down to a proper meal at this point,” Sandro sighed. “Want a taco?”

Penelope’s cheeks turned red. “You already had one!”

Anna gasped, and Penny clapped her hand over her mouth.

“Mio dio, they’re toasted,” my brother muttered.

But under his annoyed observation, there was a light that never used to shimmer in his eyes. He had it bad for his wife. Her antics brought new life to his world.

I wished I could say the same for me.

She would if you let her.

There was no good reason to punish Annaliese. I knew my behavior was abominable. But while logic told me to quit being an ass, my guard was up, protecting the feeble organ in my chest. I knew what it was like to have it ripped out. The pain was a not-so-distant memory.

“Ah, shit, they’re burnt.” Penelope poked at the puffy, still undercooked treats with chocolate chips still unmelted.

“And that’s a wrap.” With lightning speed, Sandro took the hot pan from her. “Say goodnight to our guests.”

“What!” Anna protested.

But I was already scooping her off the counter. As agonizing as it was to know she was capable of destroying me, not touching her, not being in the same space as her was equally painful.

I tucked her struggling form against my body and managed to put her in the front seat of the car. Anna groaned as I secured her seatbelt. By the time I started the car, her eyelids were flickering with the heavy, wild dreams of drunken sleep. Streetlights sped past us, a blur of brash colors and vivid shapes, until the kaleidoscope merged into one dull smear against the darkness. Her head lolled forward. She muttered something unintelligible.

“What was that?” I demanded.

She sucked in a sharp breath and adjusted herself with a jerk. “Why does he hate me?”

Unease shifted through me. “Who, cara mia? Who would dare to hate you?”

“My lion.”

Those words snagged in my chest like a barb. They hooked deeper with each mile we drove in silence. Her chin drooped,and her words became a gentle snore. She passed out before we were on the expressway.

One arm rested against the center console. I let my pinky hover above her skin as I flexed my grip on the wheel. I was too proud to reach even that far into the void that was growing between us.

“You confuse me,” I murmured to her snoozing form.

The flash of her bare legs curled up on the front seat had me hard, but the space she already occupied in my gut was even worse. That was the heart of the matter. She drew me with a force that bordered on obsession, sparked through me like a live wire. But there was a wariness I couldn’t shake, one that rumbled beneath every kiss, every soft and dangerous sigh. I was drawn to her body, electrified by her presence, but wary like a stray that didn’t yet know how to act around a friendly face.

“I don’t hate you.”I never could.

But she didn’t hear the confession.

My shoulders collapsed around my ears. No matter how close I kept her, she was always one step ahead. I could never be sure who would pay the price when I let myself love her.

“I need to learn how to trust you,” I whispered. “That’s all, Anna. That’s what bothers me.”

Once we were home, I carried her upstairs. The stairs creaked like the old bones of the house even though the luxury apartment was a newer build. The ominous sound haunted me.

I laid her on our bed and stood watch over her.