Page 67 of Charity's Redemption

“That was—”

“Let me speak.” He held up his hands, cutting off my sentence. “I know it was an accident. But listen to what I’m saying.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You come back to me, high with erratic behavior. Then, I hear he’s found dead, and his time of death is around the day you were there.” He waved his hand between us. “You see where I’m going with this?”

“Yeah.”

I shifted my weight from one foot to another, then from the opposite side of the counter, leaning in close to him.

“So when I put everything together, it’s safe for me to assume, between your lust for blood and the drugs, there was an actual possibility you did it.” He reached out and wrapped his hands in mine, his finger scratching the sensitive flesh on my palm. “I didn’t want to believe you had, but I’m not blind to the overwhelming evidence against you.”

“I see your point.”

“Next time Max tells you to leave, I’d suggest you don’t.” He brought my knuckles to his lips and kissed each one. “And never ignore me again. It feeds a monster inside of me you never want to see.”

“Okay, one… my phone died.” I watched transfixed, as his lips pressed down on the last knuckle. “And two… you know how much I like to entice the beast.” I bit down on my lip as his teeth grazed my skin.

“This one’s not a good idea,amore.”

Luca’s lustful gaze scorched my skin as he made his way up my body to meet my eyes. “One day, you’re going to teach me Italian like in the movie Billy Madison. You strip off a piece of clothing whenever I get something right.

He squeezed my hand and laughed, sending warm tingles dancing across my flesh.

“I don’t have to teach you Italian for me to lose my clothes for you.”

“I know,” I smirked, “it’s just a bonus.”

“Okay, your first lesson, and then you go back to bed.”

Heat slapped my cheeks as he patted my hand, still attached to his. But something deep in my core throbbed with intense attraction at the thought of him teaching me his seductive language.

“Okay, shoot.”

“Dammi il bacio della buonanotte.”

I rolled my lips and shook my head. As though he understood my confusion, he repeated his words, allowing me to recite them as he went. Once I felt comfortable, I butchered the sentence, causing him to laugh.

“Don’t laugh, it’s not that easy.”

“Trust me, I know.”

Italian wasn’t Luca’s first language, but Arturo made sure he understood both. You couldn’t have an Italian Mafia Don not speak the native tongue. That would be preposterous.

“What does it mean?”

“It means kiss me goodnight.”

“Ah, this whole time, you wanted a kiss while also forcing me to leave you for your mid-night alcohol binge.”

“I’d never force you to leave me, baby.” He walked around the counter, his hand sliding along the marble top. When he stepped toe to toe with me, he cupped my face in both his hands and forced me to look up at him. “Never again.”

I diverted my gaze as the conversation changed from lighthearted to sorrowful in a matter of seconds, forcing an unease to settle in my gut.

“Look at me, Charity.”

As much as I wanted to run away from these feelings and not face them as he wanted, I flicked my gaze back to his pinched brows, then to his heavy chocolate brown eyes.

“I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for the stupid mistakes I’ve made with you if you give me the chance.”

His eyes bounced back and forth as if they’d give him a glimpse into my thoughts—as if they held the hidden answers he sought.

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