Page 21 of Diavolo

With a gasp, Elyse's eyelids flicked open. She sat up in bed and, through a narrowed gaze, honed in on her tall, masculineintruder. The black hair. The brown and blue-gray eyes. The intricate tattoos.

Alessandro.

He stood before her, completely at ease, as though she'd invited him here. Instantly, Elyse's sleepy stupor grew more vigilant. The bastard looked like perfection in his white dress shirt and navy blue trousers. She felt underdressed in his presence. Alessandro didn't have any right to look so damned fine when she felt so damned annoyed with him.

Sharply, she demanded, "What are you doing in my room?"

His lips curved into an innocent smile. "In case you have forgotten, I live here, too."

The devilish look Alessandro gave Elyse sent a wicked, little flip through her heart. Her attraction to him kept flaring up at the most inopportune times. Bristling at her runaway hormones, Elyse protested, "But Malina told me that this room was going to bemy—"

He interjected, "She brought you toourroom."

Elyse's brow creased with more annoyance. Especially at Malina. The housekeeper's sweet, grandmotherly appearance had betrayed her. She would never trust the two-facedabuelaagain. Firmly, Elyse ground out, "If I continue working for you, Mr. Vitale, we must sleep in separate rooms and different beds. This is non-negotiable."

Alessandro remained unfazed as he drawled, "My house has multiple rooms with many beds. Sleep wherever your heart desires. With or without me. But—"

He gave a pause as his brown and blue-gray eyes locked onto her green ones. His amusement faded away. An entirely different kind of tension took its place. Slowly, Alessandro's gaze dipped from Elyse's face to the thin fabric of her T-shirt. His eyes grazed the outline of her braless breasts before darting up again. Breath caught in her throat. Elyse felt transfixed under a spell.

He continued in a low and intimate voice, "That will not stop me from wanting you. Or you from wanting me. Every time we cross paths, there is an undeniable pull between us. Why deny it?"

6

Despite Elyse's aggravation overAlessandro's brazenness, a shot of heat flared throughout her body. His question sparked between them like a live wire. But Elyse refused to let it catch. She hesitated to react, not daring to move a muscle as she stared at him from the bed. Alessandro strode toward her until he stood beside the mattress. His face was close enough that Elyse could make out every individual spike along his long, dark lashes. Elyse couldn't decide whether or not she wished for him to come closer. Their encounter from the day before replayed itself in her mind.

If you pull this shit again, I will be ready to fuck your brains out.

The man leered down at Elyse as though he might consume her. Caution told her not to make any sudden movements. He was the serpent to her Eve. Temptation sang through her veins. Sternly, Elyse reminded herself that nothing good would come from surrendering to lust. She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves.

It didn't help much.

A moment later, Elyse found herself teasing the sexy bastard. Even though it was a terrible and dangerous idea. "Rest assured, Mr. Vitale, if I wanted something bad enough, I'd never deny myself. I don't need you."

He scowled. "You… do not need me?"

“I have hands, don't I?"

To prove her point, Elyse decided to give him a taste of how self-sufficient she could be. She wore a knowing expression. Elyse's hands ghosted down her shirt, using both palms to outline the curve of her breasts and the hardening tips. He trailed her movements with a dark, piercing gaze. The black of his pupils soon swallowed all the color from his eyes. There was nothing sexy about her sleep shirt, but Alessandro remained fixated as though she was the world's most fuckable woman. Her fingers drifted south. Elyse traced her ribcage over the cotton fabric and slipped down her stomach as if she had no intention of stopping. Lower and lower she went. Teasing here. Touching there. She held his gaze the entire time. Right as her fingers were about to brush against her clit, however, Elyse smirked and folded both hands in her lap in a ladylike manner. "I'll leave the rest to your imagination."

Disbelief fell across his face as he rasped, "You are ruthless."

Elyse laughed darkly. With a tight smile, he confessed, "Now my mind is filled with impure thoughts. I may go to hell because of you."

She offered in breezy tones, “Want me to pray for your soul?"

Alessandro muttered with a wry expression, "Just let me burn.Dio. I would give anything to becomenecessaryin your life. What must I do to earn your love?"

"Don't hold your breath."

He grinned. "You are breaking my heart,angelo."

"Impossible," she quipped. "You have no heart."

"Not anymore. It is in a thousand pieces."

His shamelessness was getting out of hand, and she was behaving no better. Her conduct just now had nothing to do with the need to seduce him for information. She'd simply wanted to get a rise out of him.

Because she was attracted to him.

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