Page 67 of Killer Love

He reaches out for the hammer. I hand it to him to set aside while I cast the broken bits into the flames, the diamond included.

Now that the weight of the Zappias melts away, the guilt for the Lutrovas takes its place.

“Luka, I should apologize to your family,” I say. “And your father.”

Luka shakes his head as he sits down. “He’ll come around, Sofia.”

“But he’s not wrong,” I argue. “What we’ve done... It will have horrible consequences for all of us.”

“We’ve always known that. Nothing has changed.”

“But, I...”

“Sofia, don’t waste your breath,” he says. “My father might not be wrong but what we did was right, and I’d do it again.”

“You would?”

“In a heartbeat. You and Lucian belong beside me, not hidden in the shadows of a whiny tyrant.”

I look at the fire, feeling warmer than ever. “Beside you?”

“Yes.”

“In what way?”

“In every way, Sofia.”

I pause, letting the words sink in for a moment before pulling away. His eyes follow me as I stand up from the fireplace. “Luka, I just fled from one mafia family. You want me to join another?”

“We’re different than they are.”

“How? Strip away the Zappia name and what makes their business any different than yours?”

He rises and bridges the distance between us. “You’re right. On paper, we both do bad things for bad reasons, but what happened today at the Zappia estate would never happen here. The Lutrova business is built by those who bear the name. That would include you and, someday, that will include our son. Your voice is just as important as mine and not a single person here will ever tell you not to use it.”

He lays a hand on my cheek and I feel a shifting warmth from his fingertips.

“And…” His thumb traces a line across the bruise under my eye. “I’d never lay a hand on you, Sofia. Not unless you wanted me to.”

I look up at him and his thumb falls to my lips. “Luka…”

His mouth brushes against mine and I nearly drop the grip on my blanket.

“What do you want, Sofia?” he whispers, pursing his lips to kiss the edge of my mouth. “Tell me your fantasies.”

The word trembles my spine. “My what?”

Luka kisses me and I pull closer to him like a magnet. His hands crawl inside the blanket and wrap around me. “Your deepest desires,” he says, leaning in to lay his lips on my exposed neck and I melt into his touch. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll do it. Whatever you need.”

I quiver, unable to think clearly as blooms of pleasure travel my skin.

He hugs me closer to his taut body. “Sofia...” He whispers my name again and I twitch, falling even harder into his kiss. His tongue parts my lips and my senses explode.

Luka leans down and picks me up so fast it makes me dizzy. He cradles me close and kisses me again. I cling to him, my head on air, completely devoid of any sense but my desire for him.

He lays me onto his bed and stands over me, staring down at my body. Never have I ever felt so needed or wanted than when he’s gazing at me. I can do nothing but breathe, gently twitching on his pillow as he unbuttons his shirt and discards it to the floor.

I pause, realizing that I have not seen this much of his skin before. That night together was so quick and wild. We never dabbled in sweet anticipation before. I bite my lip, seduced by his pale, tattooed torso. I’d only ever seen the ribbon curling up his neck on one side, but now I know it was just the tip of the black ink iceberg. Letters and symbols cover his body, each one telling a story of his life as a Russian mobster.

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