Page 59 of Capo

“Oh, Luci. After all these years. Finally found her?”

I sneer. I’m not comfortable with that question at all. “How do you feel about me? What did I do to you?”

“I love you,” she says simply. “And I hate you. You made me your whore and then forced me to work for you.”

“I crossed a continent for you,” I say. “You loved it.”

“Did you ever love me?” she asks.

I frown. “No, Elena, I never loved you.”

She looks away. I put a finger under her chin and turn her head back toward me. “It doesn’t mean I didn’t care.”

She scoffs and jerks her head away, her eyes flashing.

“Elena,” I growl. “Don’t fucking act up.”

She dashes to her feet. “You want to learn how to pleasure a woman?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

I don’t like the arrogance in her eyes, but I wait for her to go on.

“It starts in the mind, Luciano. Stop acting like an asshole, and the rest will come.”

I jump up and grab her arm, pulling her to me. Her eyes dart between my hand holding her, and my face.

“Are you going to hit me?” she asks.

I grit my teeth as I loosen my grip, holding up my hands in front of her in a gesture of peace. “Show me,” I say and sink back on the old rococo style chair.

She sighs and sits too. “I’m an old woman. I can tell one of the girls to co—”

“I don’t fucking want one of them. I want someone I trust. I want your old magic. You taught me to be cruel. Teach me to be tender.”

“I’m sixty years old, Luci. You don’t want me.”

“You fucking leave it to me to decide who I want and not,” I snarl. “You’re as hot as they come.”

A flash of genuine appreciation passes her eyes. “Well,” she purrs. “That’s a really good start. A well-placed compliment will get you far.”

Her voice is sugary, and all it does is piss me off. She’s acting. She just put on her fucking whore act. In front of me! Clenching my fists, I have to fight not to slam her into the wall. She is sixty. She’s stronger in her mind than many men I know, but she’s so thin that her hip bones protrude. I frown as I take her in, letting my gaze travel along her body. She was always lean, but I wonder if she’s taking care of herself.

“Elena,” I growl. “Watch it.”

She softens immediately, her submissive core obeying without hesitation.

“I’m sorry, Luci. I tend to go on routine. I’ll give you a real answer.” She reaches out and takes my hand, pulling lightly at my fingers until my fist loosens. Tracing the lines in my palm, she holds my gaze, as if she’s going to predict my future. “You already have it in you, babe. Physically, you know everything about how to make a woman go crazy for your touch. It’s the cruel streak in you that you must rein in. You give with one hand and take it back with the other. You drain people. Use that giving hand only, and then listen. Listen to her.”

I pull my hand out of hers and push my fingers through my hair. “I don’t fucking know how!”

“And this, I can’t tell you. There is no secret. It has to genuinely come from within. From your heart.”

I dart up and pace the room. “I don’t have a fucking heart!”

Elena lets her hands fall on her lap. “Therein lies your problem, dear.”

I stop and stare at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you need to allow yourself to become vulnerable.”

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