Page 29 of Ruthless Passion

"You really should learn to keep your hands to yourself," Luca growls.

"If I want to do something with this woman who's been nothing but a pain in my ass since she was fifteen, that's my business. There's nothing either of you can do about it because inside that house is my kid," Duke tells us. "As a matter of fact, get Jett back out here. He didn't even speak to me."

"Are you delusional, Duke? Why are you doing this? Let it go. Let us go and let me go," I tell him after realizing he still has his hand on my arm.

"Listen to Jo,” Luca says, his tone lacing a warning through every syllable to Duke. “Let her go and leave." A subtle reminder of this morning's events, but Duke can't get a clue if it was drawn for him by an animated dog.

"I do what I want. JETT! Come on out here, son." Duke grips me by the elbow in an attempt to pull me closer to him. A big mistake as Luca knocks Duke's hand from me.

Duke moves to punch Luca, but Luca ducks, dodging the blow. Luca's movements are swift as he comes around to hit Duke with two quick punches. A pained expression follows shock as Duke takes the brunt of Luca's blows to the gut. He bends at the waist, holding out his hand to get Luca to stop.

Duke growls. "I'm leaving, fucking?—"

"Don't call Josephine anything other than her name, you piece of shit." Luca turns away from me to usher me inside the house, closing the door behind us, and leaving Duke bent over on the porch.

Luca seems huge inside of the same entryway I tried to convince Jett to discard those lucky socks of his. White beadboard walls complement the wide plank, light oak floors which cover the stairs up to the second floor. His blue eyes scan the pictures along the wall as we walk a few feet into the hallway.

"Let me take a look at you," I tell him, grabbing him by the hand to lead him into the kitchen. It's at the back of the house with a door leading to the yard next to the garage which sits at the end of the driveway. "Sit."

"Back to the commands, are we?" Luca asks with a seductive smirk.

"You like it when I tell you what to do."

"I do." He smiles as I put a first aid kit on the small table. The L-shaped countertop holds a few appliances along with the remnants of dirty dishes from Jett and Collin dashing out of here this morning.

Luca takes my face into his hands, lowering his mouth to capture a kiss. Soft and gentle at first, it grows into something aggressive and passionate. His tongue enters my mouth, exciting my pussy with desire for a repeat of our earlier performance.

He pulls away, breaking the kiss at the sound of Jett barreling down the stairs.

"Duke the Puke left." Jett beams with a smile on his face. "What's for dinner? Luca, are you staying? Can you drive me to school tomorrow in your car? Where's Mom's car? Are we getting a new one?"

"Easy there, kiddo." Luca chuckles. "Let's talk about dinner first. How about I order us some pizza, if that's alright with your Mom?"

"Mom, please? I already finished my homework. Can I get pepperoni and pineapple?" Jett's now bouncing with joy at the sound of junk food for dinner.

"Pizza is fine, but I'll pay for it. You've already let me use your car all day," I tell Luca. He nods, but I have a feeling he's only being agreeable because Jett's here.

The sound of the back doorknob turning gets all of our attention and Luca out of his seat, ready to fight. I touch the inside of his arm to hold him back as Collin comes into the kitchen.

My brother's shirtless, sweating, and smeared with dirt.

"Ew, you look like you've been crawling through a sewer," I tell him before stepping aside to let him into the house. "Um, Collin, this is Luca Devlin, Luca this is my brother, Collin. What are you doing here?”

"I told you yesterday I was coming to clean out the garage apartment," he says and turns to Luca, giving him a brief handshake. He and Jett do their signature one before Collin stands still for a moment looking between everyone in the kitchen.

"Are you hungry? We were about to order a pizza," I tell Collin.

He continues to shift his gaze from me to Luca to Jett, and says, "How about I take Jett to grab something to eat?"

"Oo, Mom, can I do that instead?"

"Yeah, sure, be back before eight, Collin. Showered and in bed by nine, Jett," I tell them.

Jett darts out the kitchen as Collin follows, leaving me alone with Luca. My attention goes back to my soon-to-be boss, who's simply grinning.

"We can order food if you're hungry, Luca."

"The only thing I want to eat Jo, is you."

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