Page 30 of Beautiful Dangerous

“Javier’s mom, she was shot outside a grocery store. Rumor has it, it was Josephine Pino who took her down. Antonio’s wife. Family members – especially close ones – are just as much a target as the cartel bosses themselves. And now that youarea cartel boss, the danger is real, Liv. The game changed today, and we need to play it very carefully now.” He pauses for a moment. “Turn around, Olivia. Please.”

I do as he asks, but I stay where I am. “How am I supposed to feel, Lucca? Am I supposed to feel anger or sadness because all I’m feeling right now is numb.”

“You will be. For a while.”

“But I don’t want to be. I don’t want to feel nothing.”

He comes over to me, lays a hand on my shoulder, and he smiles, a genuinely warm smile. “Grieve, Olivia. You need to do that. And then we get angry.”

Olivia

He’s coming, hard and fast, I can feel him inside me; feel his fingers massaging my clit as he pulls me up, his cock still deep inside me, his heavy spasms only serving to intensify my own orgasm when it finally hits. And it’s all I can do to stay quiet as that beautiful wave washes over me, again and again, until it slowly subsides, leaving us both panting for breath.

He rests his forehead against the back of my neck, his hands on my hips as he pulls out of me, his breath warm on my skin. I’m exhausted now. I don’t think my battered body can take much more.

“You should go,” I say quietly, turning around to face him.

“Is that what you want?”

“Are you telling me you have nowhere else to be?”

“It’s two in the morning.”

I smile and lean back against the wall, stretching out, I’m so tired, but I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep. Not properly. Not tonight. “Then it probably makes more sense for you to stay where you are.”

“Do youwantme to stay?”

“I think I do. Yes.”

But only because I don’t want to be alone, not tonight. I want to be with someone. Anyone. And this is so fucking wrong, what I’m doing, I’m using this man as a way of helping me forget my pain, but this world we live in – this dark, fucked-up world, it has no rules. And even if it did, rules are there to be broken, aren’t they…?

Six

Olivia

I have no grave to visit. Javier was cremated, his ashes scattered over the garden that faces the ocean. He didn’t want any fuss, it was something he’d always stipulated – if anything happened to him he wanted a simple ceremony, no memorial plaque, nowhere for people to converge and mourn, that was the last thing he wanted. But I know he’s here, somewhere. I feel him, every single day, I still feel him.

“When did you start lying to me, Olivia?”

I look up as Lucca sits down beside me, outside in the courtyard. “Angel stayed the night.” I shrug and take a sip of coffee. “I’m sorry. I just – I didn’t think it was any of your business.”

“I need to know who’s in this house, Liv. At all times. I need to know, so I can keep you safe.”

“I don’t think I was in any danger with Angel, do you?”

“This isn’t a fucking game...”

“Then it’s a good job I’m not playing one.”

I stare out ahead of me, at the colourful flowers and well-kept shrubs, the vivid green bushes. This courtyard has always been one of my favorite places, hidden away in the center of the house, you can only get to it through one of the living rooms. I like it out here because it’s always peaceful. It’s a tranquil place. Javier used to sit out here a lot, when he needed to think. And now it’s where I come too, when I need some time alone. Which is why Lucca’s intrusion isn’t exactly welcome. Today isn’t a day for lectures.

“Did you sleep with him?”

“I think you already know the answer to that question.”

“Jesus Christ…”

“Does it matter?”

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