Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
So far, the only thing disturbing about his story was the idea of him giving someone else the same pleasure he’d given me.
“We spent a lot of time together, a lot more time than was needed for me to learn what I wanted to learn. I was having fun. So much fun that I lost my head. I should’ve seen the signs, but I didn’t. I wasn’t really the one getting information. He was.”
I tried to imagine a younger Lorenzo falling for lies told by an older man. I hoped the man who’d betrayed him died a painful death.
“I made plans for him to let me into your grandfather’s house. He said he was going to help me place bugs in the office. Bébé had already started to doubt whether the information I was getting was legitimate. He must’ve realized I’d gotten too deep with this guy, so he sent one of my distant cousins with me.
“It should’ve been a one-man job. My cousin shouldn’t have been there. But as Bébé had suspected, my informant betrayed us. As soon as we stepped on the property, their guards were waiting for us. They shot my cousin through the heart. I watched him fall to the ground as blood spread out under him. I managed to escape, but I was out of my mind with grief, knowing it was my fault my cousin was dead, and wild with anger at myself for being too stupid to realize I was being used.”
I moved closer to Lorenzo and laid my hand on his thigh. “I’m so sorry. You should never have been in that position.”
He covered my hand with his and continued. “I went on a rampage, fighting my way through bars, destroying property, making a mess after mess that had to be paid for by my family. Finally, I tracked down my betrayer at a bar where he was enjoying the reward of a night off. I beat him almost to death, then pulled out my gun. I was ready to kill him right in the middle of a fucking restaurant, but someone had called the cops, and they showed up before I followed through.”
I supposed that was for the best, but the man had deserved to die for what he’d done.
“I went to prison for two years. Rafe was eighteen. I’d taken care of him for years, and that was what he saw of me.”
“But that’s not who you are now.”
He closed his eyes and let his head fall back on the couch. “Isn’t it? Isn’t that man inside me?”
“A man who is passionate. Who defends his family. Who cares. Yes.”
“Look what I did to you. I just showed up and told you I—”
“No. You saved me.”
He shook his head. “I left you there.”
“You left me there because it wasn’t safe for you to take me. How do your brothers feel? Do they resent you? Do they blame you?”
Lorenzo shook his head. “No. They say it wasn’t my fault. That the man betrayed my trust, that he was evil.”
“They’re right.”
He sat back up and looked at me. “Niko, it’s okay to be angry with me.”
“But I’m not. I’m angry with my grandfather and my father. I’m angry with Ivanov. Not with you. Not unless you’re going to be an idiot now.”
“What kind of idiot?”
“The kind that decides that they need to be noble and send me away.”
“Niko, I won’t send you away, but I also won’t force you to stay. You have to understand you’re always going to be in danger. I’m going to always be in danger. My family… sure, we do some good things, but we’re not the good guys.”
“If you think I’m strong, then why wouldn’t I be able to handle being with your family?”
He sighed. “You deserve a real life.”
“Just because Dante wanted out doesn’t mean I do.” Why couldn’t he understand that?
“But you could have a regular life with someone else.”
“Not after what I’ve been through, the way I was raised, the things I know. I don’t think that’s possible. Did it work for Dante?”
“I keep pulling him back into this life because I need him.”
“Would he have come back if he really didn’t want to?”
“Maybe. No. I don’t know.” He let out a long breath, then held out his hand. “Come here.” I scooted even closer, and Lorenzo pulled me over his lap so I was straddling him. “If I had my way, I’d never stop touching you. I’d hold you against me all the time.”
I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around me. Nothing had changed for me after his confession. In Lorenzo’s arms, I still felt safe, relaxed, and cared for in a way I never had.
30
LORENZO
Time seemed to slow as the next day creeped along. We were all tense, knowing that once it was dark, the attempted infiltration of Ivanov’s compound would begin. Every hour dragged past, except the ones I spent showing Niko how much I enjoyed pleasuring him.