Page 42 of SINS & Temptation

“I have it on good authority he’s been shot.”

My legs buckle as the floor whips out from under me. The room spins to the point I can’t breathe.

Shot?

Emotions crash over me in waves—fear, disbelief, shock. Words are floating through the phone—“Kennedy? Did you hear what I said?”—but my heart pounds so loudly I can’t hear it.

Not again.

Not again.

Not again.

My fingers fumble as I disconnect the call and frantically dial Enzo’s number. It rings and rings. Fucking voicemail again.

I hang up, and call again, claws of anxiety ripping apart my insides. “Pick up, pick up, pick up,” I mutter, pacing like a caged animal, trapped in my own skin. “Damn it!” I shout, my voice cracking, echoing off the walls.

I can’t stay here, not knowing.

Maybe the guards know. There’s dozens of them circling the grounds. One of them has to know something.

I bolt for the door, not giving two shits that I’m practically in nothing but underwear and toe shoes.

Just as my hand reaches for the doorknob, it swings open. And I plow into the solid frame of Enzo himself, nearly knocking the mountain down.

A mix of concern and exhaustion are etched on his face. His eyes lock onto mine, and for a second, everything else falls away.

“Enzo!” I choke out through tears. The relief is overwhelming, a tidal wave that leaves me trembling and weak. I grab his face, cheeks, and run my hands along his shoulders. “You’re okay?”

He doesn’t answer.

Instead, he spins us, pinning me against the cold, unforgiving wall. His body, hot and unyielding against mine. “No. I’m not okay.” His lips graze my ear, his breath a mix of raw emotion and heat.

His thumb gently wipes away my tears. “Why are you crying?”

“I heard you’d been shot.”

Suspicion flickers in his eyes, then vanishes in an instant. “Yes.”

Confused, I let my gaze roam over his body, sculpted with precision. His broad shoulders taper down to a chiseled chest and taut abs, every inch of him seemingly invincible.

His right bicep is slightly bulged more than the left, but I see no trace of injury. My voice wavers, disbelief coloring my word.“Where?”

He motions to his arm, the gesture almost nonchalant. “Here.”

We lock eyes, a charged silence stretching between us. I don’t know if I can do this. Open my heart only to watch it be torn apart again. The fear of losing another man, of enduring that pain, feels like a vise tightening around my chest.

I look away, desperate to avoid his gaze. “You could’ve died.”

His fingers find my chin, lifting until I have no choice but to meet his eyes, now darkened with intensity. “How could I die when my sweet Bella begged me to fuck her?”

Oh, shit.

He saw that—saw me?

My heart races, the memory of last night flowing like molten lava beneath my skin.

Me. Making love to a camera like a porn star.

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