Page 85 of A Taste Of Darkness

I liked it when he called me cuore mio. It made me feel like I truly meant something to him.

“I hope your heart only beats for me; otherwise, that nickname doesn’t seem to make much sense,” I said.

At first, he looked a little surprised, but that quickly washed away, and instead, a smile spread over his face. Milo then grasped my jaw with one hand, leaned down, and pressed his lips on mine, kissing me deeply. “Day and night, cuore mio. Just for you.”

42

BACK WHERE IT ALL STARTED

Sterlie Adams

“Do they still own the place?” I asked as soon as Milo helped me off his motorcycle.

Just last night as we got back from the beach, I discovered that Milo knew how to ride a motorcycle. After asking him for a ride over and over again, he finally agreed.

Alright, I asked once, and he rolled his eyes, sighed, and said, “Yeah, okay.” So instead of taking the car to the jeweler this morning, we took his bike.

He didn’t wear this sexy biker suit, and neither did I because he didn’t have one here, but we made it to the jeweler in one piece. I only thought I was going to die about five times.

At least we wore helmets, which he was still wearing.

“I’m sure they do, but I don’t actually know,” Milo replied. He looked toward the building—at least, I assumed so because his head lifted slightly. I couldn’t see his eyes. “It looks the same.”

I turned around, taking a look at the jewelry store. It didn’t look like I’d seen it before, nothing about this place seemed familiar.

We’d been here for a little over two weeks, and yes, we might’ve barely been outside in daytime, but nothing ever triggered a memory inside of my brain. Nothing came back.

I reached for Milo’s hand, anxiously playing with his fingers. Why I used his, I didn’t know, but somehow, they were more comforting than my own. “Are you coming inside?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. But you’ll be with eight security guards. Even if someone recognized you, nothing would happen to you.”

“Eight?” My eyebrows drew together. “You only have ten. Why do I get eighty percent of them?”

Milo stopped my fidgeting and intertwined our hands instead. “Because you’re worth more than I am, my love.”

Tears instantly swelled in my eyes. “That’s not true.” How could he not see that?

I wish I could say that he held entire worlds in his eyes, but he was the whole universe. He was every single star out there. When he thought his heart was made of something worth less than a stone, I thought it was worth tons of Osmium.

He was worth so much more than he let himself believe, and I couldn’t fathom how that wasn’t obvious to him.

“To me, your life will always stand over anyone else’s, Sterlie. So, whether you want to believe me or not, your life is more important to me than my own. I’d send you in there with all ten of my security guards, but I know if I did that, I wouldn’t get killed by my family but by you.”

I grinned, even if I didn’t want to. “I mean, I do finally know how to aim a gun properly.”

His head cocked slightly. “Properly? I’m not so sure, but good enough.”

“Not everyone has perfect aim.” My eyes rolled as my hand collided with his chest as I hit him. Instead of getting upset, Milo covered my hand with his and held them captive right over his heart.

I felt his heart beating against my palm, so strong and yet so calm. To think that he insisted it was only beating for me was a little scary, but a thought I could come to terms with.

“Come back to me, okay?” He lifted his helmet to his forehead and leaned down to place a kiss on my lips.

I nodded softly, feeling a strange knot form in my throat. “You come back to me, marito mio.”

“Always.”

Taking a few steps toward the building, something in my head told me to stop and turn back around. It wasn’t a bad feeling, and I didn’t know where it came from, but there was suddenly a question in my mind that was screaming louder than anything else.

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