Page 13 of A New Days Don

His gaze meets mine once more, sucking me into a torrent of emotion and warmth spreading across my body. The bottomless pits of his eyes drink me in as if he can see the ruin that is my soul and read every thought and every memory, even the ones I don’t recall.

A tremor runs through my body as I break his intense stare, and he finally speaks, “Massimo Bianchi.”

“What?” The word slips from my lips before my brain can catch up.

“My name.” Okay, Mr. Two-Word Tom…

The laughter inside me comes out as a snort, making his eyes burn with lethal amusement.

“Something funny?” Okay, so really living up to your nickname then.

“No.” I straighten, looking between him and the door, “Why am I here?”

He seems to think about this for a moment. His head tilting in contemplation, “I wasn’t going to leave your unconscious body among the pile of drug dealers if that’s what you’re asking.”

His voice is as smooth as silk and as decadent as the finest chocolate I have ever tasted. My mouth almost instantly dries at the sound, and for some God-forsaken reason, I don’t want him to stop talking. It takes everything in me to focus on his words, trying to connect the few crumbs of information he gives me.

I open my mouth to argue, but that’s when it dawns on me. Meeting Vicek. Following him into the house. The raised voices.

“You check the basement. I will head for the living room.” Vicek ordered, and I nodded.

Uncertainty and unease were bubbling inside of me, but I did as I was asked. This wasn’t the first time I joined a raid, but this was the first time doing it without backup. I just prayed that the backup would be on their way.

I head for the basement stairs, hearing fists connect with skin and hold my gun at the ready. One step, then the next, then the next.

I slowly crept down the basement hallway, the tight space making jitters creep along my skin. Skin against skin. Some kind of slopping sound. A moan.

My eyes widened as I took in the scene. A naked man with a naked woman on top. His cock penetrated her over and over again.

I should have made myself known. I should have controlled the situation and diffused whatever fight was going down adjacent to the two, but I couldn’t look anywhere other than the lewd scene.

My stomach churned. My breath caught. My blood felt like it was boiling.

My heart hammered against my chest, and then hands were on me. In the shock, my gun slipped from my hands, clattering to the ground. I tried to scream, but the man holding me caught my screams with his hand.

My heart raced faster and faster. My head became light. I couldn’t breathe.

Not again!

Then my body felt limp, the lightness in my head swallowed me whole, and I felt nothingness.

Oh my God. I fainted.

Nauseating warmth spreads across my body, heating my cheeks up as embarrassment grips me.

Fainted. On a job. In this guy’s arms.

I want to cringe and groan, instead I settle for, “Okay… I vaguely remember that.”

“You going to tell me your name?” Massimo asks, a wicked grin pulling at his devilish lips. I open and close my mouth like a fish out of water, words and thoughts choked inside of me.

We stand in a stalemate, staring at each other. No matter how hard I try, I can’t think. My mind and body are frozen in stasis, in a thick fog as I stare at the broad, muscular chest of the man in front of me. Maybe this is the next level of anxious response that I haven’t explored yet. I don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s not as bad as the overwhelming, dramatic attacks that I’m used to.

After a few minutes, he shifts, and I flinch. He shoots me a suspicious glare but doesn’t comment.

Massimo turns on his heel, “I’m going to change. Make yourself at home, mystery girl.”

Before I can say anything, he looks over his shoulder and adds with a sly wink that sends heat radiating across my body, “Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind, please put the lamp down when you’re done.”