Page 5 of The Taste of Deceit

Luca is asleep beside me with one arm wrapped around my waist like he thinks I’m going to make a run for it. His chest rises and falls beneath my hand. At some point during the night, I’d ended up practically on top of him, one leg tangled with his and my face buried in his shoulder. I should move. Any woman with a functioning survival instinct would move. Instead, I’m lying here tracing a snake tattoo across the chest of a man who just informed me he’s in the fucking Mafia.

I drag my hand over my face and stare at the ceiling.

Not only am I still here, I had sex with him. After the crying. After the life-altering revelations. After finding out Michael isn’t just a billionaire CEO but an actual honest-to-God mob boss. After realizing that if Michael is in the Mafia, then Luca is too. I had all the information, and I still took his pants off.

My eyes squeeze shut.

The truly infuriating part is that I can’t even blame it on shock. I wasn’t in shock when it happened. I’d already cried. I’d already yelled at him. I’d already had my existential crisis. By the time we ended up in bed, I was fully aware that the man kissing me belonged to an organized criminal enterprise. The thought should be more alarming than it is.

Luca shifts beside me and makes a low sound in his sleep. His arm tightens around my waist for half a second before relaxing again. I glance over at him. The asshole looks unfairly good asleep. His dark hair is a mess. There’s stubble on his jaw. The blanket is hanging low on his hips. If somebody took a picture of him right now and showed it to a random person on the street, nobody would guess mafia.

They’d probably guess firefighter, or contractor, or a guy who owns three Labrador retrievers and grills every weekend. Definitely not a criminal. Unfortunately, I’ve met him, and now I know better.

I stare at him for another second before dropping my head back onto the pillow. I’ve known this man for three months. Three months ago I was working, paying my bills, minding my own business, and now I’m lying in a mobster’s villa having sex with him.

At what point exactly did my life become completely unhinged?

“Hey,” Luca says.

I lift my head and find him watching me. The man is barely awake. His eyes are squinting against the light, and his voice sounds like he swallowed gravel sometime during the night. Any sane woman would probably use this opportunity to remind him he’s a criminal and then flee the premises.

Instead, my first coherent thought is, that’s annoyingly cute.

There is something fundamentally wrong with me.

“Hey.”

“You okay?”

His fingers slide through my hair, tucking it behind my ear.

“Yeah.”

He smiles.

“Good.”

He has a hand at my waist, and in one quick motion he flips me onto my back as he settles over me on the bed. One hand braces next to me on the mattress while the other trails down my side. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his mouth down to meet mine. The kiss starts slow. His lips are warm, still soft from sleep. He tastes like the beginning of the day, and I sink into it. His tongue slides against mine, and I moan into his mouth.

He brushes his thumb across my lower lip. “What’s running through that head right now?”

I don’t want to say it, but he asked.

“That I should probably be scared of you.” I pause.

His expression doesn’t change. He watches me, his hand moving to cup my jaw.

“Are you scared of me right now?”

I consider it. His body is pressed against mine. He’s stronger than me. He could do anything he wanted, and I couldn’t stop him. But that’s not what I feel when I look at him.

“No.”

“Then don’t think about the rest.” He leans down and kisses the corner of my mouth. “Just be here with me.”

I nod. His hand slides down my body, palm skimming over my ribs, my hip, the outside of my thigh. He hooks his fingers under my knee and pulls my leg up, opening me to him. I feel him hard against my thigh. The anticipation coils low in my belly.

He kisses down my neck, biting lightly at my collarbone. I arch into him as my fingers thread through his hair.