Page 49 of Maddest Temptation

Amusement flickered in his eyes, and he smiled. It was so beautiful like the setting of the sun over the sea. I’d forgotten how pretty it was. I had a feeling he didn’t do that often, not anymore.

“I want to fucking kiss you, Francesca,” he confessed.

I wanted him to fucking kiss me, but we both knew that was the wrong thing to do. This was the past all over again. We were playing with fire, and we would both burn.

“Why?” I whispered.

“Because I always want to fucking kiss you.” He cupped my cheeks, forcing me to look into his eyes. The green was almost gone, replaced by lust.

I wasn’t given a chance to answer him because there was a knock on the door keeping us from messing up. “Frankie, are you okay?” Marie’s voice sounded through the door.

Cassio slowly stepped away, giving me some space to breathe. He ran his fingers through his hair and ran his thumb under his lower lip.

“I’m fine,” I answered as my eyes met his. “I’ll be out in a sec.” I waited until I heard the clacking of her heels and let my shoulders sag. “You can’t do this,” I snapped pushing him back. “We can’t do this.” I pointed in between us.

I side-stepped Cassio, and unlocked the door, checking both ways before shutting it as I left. Cassio couldn’t play with me like that. I wasn’t his toy to be used whenever he felt like it.

13

FRANCESCA

Iwatered my last flower and then settled on the floor beside Reggie. “So, Reggie, what are we watching tonight? Reality show or Clueless?” Reggie hid his little muzzle under his paw. Okay then, his answer couldn’t be clearer.

After a few minutes surfing the TV channels, I squealed in content when I saw Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back was on. What could I do, I was a sucker for those.

“It’s you and me, Reggie.” I scratched his little ears and then reached for my bowl of chips.

A bag of chips and two more Star Wars movies later, my eyelids grew heavy. Even though I spent a lot of time in the hospital, it was oddly very tiring. I had hoped to get some sleep during the weekend but that didn’t go as planned.Not when Marie had dragged me to Vitelli’s place for lunch.

To say it had been awkward was an understatement. Cassio had avoided me like the plague, barely looking at me like I had offended him or something. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed or if he was relieved. Either way, that was the longest lunch I’d had in my life, and at the first chance of escape, I entered a cab and returned home.

Reggie rearranged himself on my leg and yawned deeply causing me to do so as well. Once he was comfortable enough, he resumed his deep slumber. My neck fell back against the sofa, and I looked toward the corridor that led to my room. Too far. I groaned inwardly and decided it wasn’t worth it. Slowly, my eyes began to close, and I finally lost the battle giving in to sleep.

A loud banging noise woke me up with a start. Reggie, who on my lap, jumped. Instantly, my heart began to speed up as I tried to situate myself. The first thing I saw were the boxes, which reminded me I was still in my living room. Still drunk on sleep, I knelt trying to get my bearings. I squinted my eyes as I looked at the television which was still on.

The loud banging sounded through the room again. Someone was trying to tear off my door.

I let out a yelp. This time it was louder, which caused Reggie to bark, his little frame trembling. With my heart beating fast, I stood up. None of my neighbors were loud, in fact, they were weirdly silent. My eyes darted to the clock on the wall. 3:45. Another bang. I jumped back knowing without a doubt the sound wasn’t coming from my neighbors. Quickly, I picked up Reggie, trying to make him stop barking. I stood there in the middle of my living room, my eyes glued to the door.

Inhaling deeply, I tried to calm myself but once the air got stuck in my throat, I knew there was no point in it.

Someone banged on my door again. I closed my eyes, caught between opening it or staying where I was. I knew my father was after me, that he wanted to drag me back home. What if he had sent one of his men?

The door trembled, and I knew eventually the person would break in, I searched for my phone trying to think of someone to call. The first person that popped into my mind was Cassio, but I refused to call him again. If it were one of Donato’s men then there was no point in pretending, I wasn’t home, he was going to enter either I wanted to or not.

“I’m coming!” I shouted once they knocked again on my door. No reason to delay the inevitable.

Before I could even open it completely, the door was shoved against me, and I stumbled back. I watched horrified as a man entered my apartment, more like fell inside. I didn’t even have the time to process what just happened, as he lay slumped on the floor his back facing me as he tried to stand up. An entirely new kind of fear took over me.

Who the hell was he?!

I took a couple of steps back trying to put some distance between me and the stranger. Reggie, who was far from a guard dog, was hiding somewhere by now. I looked at the man lying on my floor, he wore a black shirt and black pants, and his hair was dark, but I figured it was because he was soaked.

“Principessa,” I heard the whisper. He tried getting up again, placing his big masculine hands on the floor but failed miserably. “Shit!” he grunted.

Slowly, I watched as the man turned around lying on his back. It took me exactly five seconds to realize who was lying on my floor—bleeding.Then the endearment processed in my head.

“Cassio!” I cried out kneeling on the floor.

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