Page 32 of Wicked Games of Desire

I haven’t seen any of them since yesterday. After I took a swim in their freezing-cold pool, Ricky brought me a towel and helped me out of there. Then I headed up to my room for a steaming-hot shower and refused to come out again. Alessandro was ready to lose his shit when I missed dinner. I could hear him ranting about it from outside my room, but Ricky calmed him down, telling him I needed time to process it all, and he was right. It’s not every day you find out your family has ties to the mob, and you’re now being forced to marry into what looks to be one of the biggest underworld organizations in Ravens Hollow.

I shrug off his compliment, passing Ricky, hoping to catch a glance at his laptop, but he conveniently swivels the screen so I can’t see anything. I pass him and head straight for the cupboard where the coffee mugs are stored. Reaching for a mug on the top shelf, my booty shorts rise up my ass as I do. I’m sure giving them both an eyeful. When I turn around, I smirk, catching them watching me. These two are so damn easy. I spin back around to make myself a coffee, humming along to myself. As “Please, Please, Please” by Sabrina Carpenter plays in my ear. This song is so catchy. How could I not? I fetch a mug and warm up the espresso machine, popping in a pod.

Maddox moves to make another coffee, coming up to stand beside me with his empty mug. His shirt brushes my arm, as he inhales deeply.

I glance sideways, my eyes running from his shoulder up to meet his eyes, a sassy-as-fuck smile painting my lips in amusement. “Did you just sniff me, big guy?”

“Nope,” he mutters, looking bored, but he so did. And I have no idea why, but the idea that Maddox likes the way my freshly shampooed hair smells makes me all warm inside.

“Got to check something in the den,” Ricky mutters, distracted, leaving the room with his laptop still open. I would kill to know what he’s looking at on there. Particularly if it has something to do with what my papa was involved with.

After I finish making my coffee, I turn round and lean onto the counter. Taking a sip, I let the caffeinated goodness warm up my insides, while looking Maddox over with curiosity. What makes this dude tick? That’s what I want to know. “You stood up for me yesterday. Why?”

“Your brother was a friend of mine since grade school. I’d do anything for him.”

I take a step back, his honesty throwing me off kilter. What the actual… “What help are promises you made when you were young when Marco’s dead now?” Bitterness touches my words. Alessandro says they didn’t kill my brother, but my memory of that night can’t be so foggy from fear that I made it all up. I know Ricky was there with me, and I know I saw Maddox enter our home with a gun. Neither my brother nor papa came out of the building alive, so unless there is some massive clue I’m missing, it must have been him.

Hisexpression softens, and I see a hint of sympathy in his eyes. “We didn’t kill your brother, temptress.” This time, his voice is gentler and lacks the sharpness he usually reserves for me.

“What happened that night, then?” I challenge him. For once, he seems to want to chat, and I intend to zap every bit of information out of him while he’s being so compliant.

He lifts a shoulder. “Not my story to tell.”

“Whose story is it?” I demand, not wanting to play games.

“Ask Alex.”

My glare intensifies. “Alex won’t tell me shit. He just likes to snap his fingers and expects the world will fall at his fucking feet. But I won’t. And from what I heard yesterday, you don’t either.”

“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping, that shit could see you with a bullet in your head.”

I believe him, but it won’t stop me. “That doesn’t really explain. If I have this shit right, you’re all part of some underworld organization, and Alex is the boss. You normally disagree with the boss?”

He looks me over blankly.

I polish off the rest of my coffee, placing the empty mug in the sink. “Whatever.” I dismiss him with an eye roll. I can see this conversation is going nowhere fast, and I have better things to do with my time. Like snoop around the place while Alessandro is out. I push off the counter.

But Maddox has other ideas, quickly moving his oversized body in front of me, pinning me to the counter with his hip so I can’t move. “Whatever?” he growls back in question.

I let out a heavy sigh, over the macho shit. I get it, you fuckwits are huge and can immobilize me with one quick movement. How fun for you. I shove at him, trying to get him to move. “I was going to thank you, but if you’re still being a dick to me, then what’s the point?” Myeyes roll again involuntarily as I shake my head. This guy just infuriates me so easily. Here I am trying to be nice for once, and he instantly turns me back into a snarky bitch.

He peers down at me, making me feel way smaller than I know I am next to his giant, crazy-built body. I’m defenseless. And a fucked-up part of me gets ideas I shouldn’t be having about this man I can’t trust. What would it feel like to fuck a monster like him? I bet his dick is huge. “You can thank me, temptress. While we’re at it, I’ll have my apology for you being such a snippy bitch since you got here. Oh, and aiming your gun at me and Ricky when you broke into our compound.”

My eyes widen in surprise. “Me apologize to you.” I scoff, poking him in the chest with a long nail. Is he kidding me? “There’s a list as long as my arm of things you should say sorry to me for. Locking me up, scaring the shit out of me, thinking you can manhandle me on the regular. Should I go on?” I suck in a labored breath, our proximity getting to me more than I would like to admit. His hardened length is pressing into me, and he’s making no attempt to hide it. And I have just answered my own question. Yes, he’s got a monster cock.

He drops his head closer, his lips brushing my ear. “You like it when I manhandle you.” Right on cue, my nipples harden, pressing into his chest, just to prove him right. Fuck.

My heart races wildly. “Maddox, what are you playing at?” I whisper. But even I can’t deny the hunger now throbbing through me. My lady parts are alive and begging for his attention. I pull back enough to meet his hungry gaze, searching his dark eyes for answers I know he won’t give me.

His hands close around my waist, and he lifts me to sit on the counter, pushing between my legs casually. “You want the truth?”

I nod slowly, not sure what truth he’s about to give me but wanting to hear whatever scrap of information he’s willing to share while Alessandro is out of the house.

“I could see how much it was fucking you up. You didn’t deserve it after what you already went through with your mom.”

Confusion whirls through me. I would expect Ricky to care about my mental health, not Maddox.

I feel his hand gliding through my hair, relishing the sensation of the silky strands. He takes a deeper breath, making it more noticeable this time, then gathers the strands together at the back, using them to tug my head back so I’m forced to look up at him. For a long time, he just stares at me like this, and I wonder what the hell is going through his head. Then the tip of his tongue flicks out, wetting his lips, but it’s not in a showy way like he’s taunting me. It’s like he’s not even aware he’s doing it.

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