Page 11 of Lie to Me

He grins down at me, and I don’t even have time to register how freaking beautiful he is when he really smiles, because his lips meet mine. It’s only a chaste kiss at first, as though he’s testing the waters. It’s not until an involuntary moan crawls up my throat that he groans and bites down on my bottom lip. I gasp and he uses the opportunity to slip his tongue inside my mouth.

The heat between us quickly builds up as our tongues battle for dominance. His peppermint taste drowns out all other thoughts as he unravels me. I’ve been kissed, I’ve been with guys and messed around, but nothing has ever felt like this. This feels like he’s a part of me. He feels like home. He feels like forever. Which is a fucking ridiculous thought since we’ve only really known each other for a matter of weeks.

I place my hands on his shoulders and shift myself so that I’m straddling his lap before tangling my hands in his hair. His hard length presses against me and I moan into his mouth. He pulls back a little and presses a tender kiss on the corner of my mouth.

“Patience, baby,” he murmurs. “This is the furthest we’ll go tonight, we’re gonna take things slow. You’re not something I want to rush, little warrior. You deserve to be savored.”

Seriously?

“Marco,” I whine, and he chuckles, clearly not affected by my pouting.

“Have dinner with me? You can come to my place one night and I’ll cook.”

“Like a date?” I ask.

“Notlikea date. Anactualdate.”

The wordyesbarely passes my lips before his mouth is back on mine.

Chapter Six

Marco

Present

Maybe someday.

Those two words have haunted me for the last week. At first, I was resolved to wait until she decided to contact me again, but the schedule that Izzy had sent me was fucking taunting me day and night. I ended up taking a page out of Enzo’s book and watching her from a distance.

Just to make sure she was safe, of course.

I didn’t go to his extremes, though. Somehow, I don’t think that would get me back in Sloane’s good graces if she were ever to find out. But I did find myself watching her as she grabbed a coffee while she was on her break at the hospital, or when she went out for dinner with her friend from work. Skye, I think her name is.

There’s something fundamentally different about her. When we were younger, she had a spark in her eyes that drew me in and made me want to let everything else go, and just be free with her. But now that spark is gone. It’s as though it’s been dulled to the point that she has to put on those fucking fake smiles she always used to wear at functions.

Not many people would notice it, because no one ever really looked too far into it. But not me, I couldn’t help but notice every single little thing about her. I couldn’t help it; I couldn’t look away. She drew me in and has kept me there for almost eleven goddamn years. I’ll never be free from that pull, and no matter how much it has hurt over the years, I don’t ever want to be free, either.

My family have noticed that I’m distracted, too, though they have no idea with what. Enzo knows, I’m sure. Especially after what happened at the hospital. Luckily for me, Robyn wasn’t kept in the hospital long enough for another bump in with Sloane, because I’m sure Enzo would have been able to find a way to insert himself into my business if he came across the opportunity.

But now my father has called us in for a family meeting, and I have a feeling I won’t be getting through this meeting without having to explain everything. I suck in a deep breath as I park the car in front of our family home and slowly climb out the car, trying to do anything to delay the inevitable.

Only it’s impossible to stall any longer when Luca’s car approaches and I turn to find him raising a brow at me with a smirk on his face.

Asshole.

I roll my eyes and make my way inside, nodding to Beatrice—my father’s housekeeper—as I go and enter the office. Dad sits behind his desk, chatting away to Enzo who’s sitting in front ofhim, both of them discussing Robyn’s recovery and how she’s finding her pregnancy.

I’ve learned a lot about my younger brother in the last few months. From him not being quite as… insane as we all believed, to the fact that he makes a fucking good husband and is going to make an incredible father. If someone had told me a year ago that my little brother would be becoming a dad, I would’ve had them committed before strangling Enzo myself, but it turns out that all he needed was to meet his wife. As soon as he laid eyes on Robyn, he settled down. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still…different,but he’s nowhere near as unhinged as he was. He loves the fuck out of her, he’s happy, and that’s all we can really ask for.

“Hey, bro, you stopped avoiding me then?” Enzo asks. I glare at him before risking a glance towards Dad who’s sitting stone faced, staring at me. He’s the only one who can rival me for masking his thoughts and emotions. We’re a lot alike, and I look more like my father than my brothers do.

I look away and back to Enzo. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“No, no. I’d like to know why you’ve been avoiding me, too. And also why I was told by one of the guards that you visited Izzy last week, but she denied it when I asked.” Luca’s voice comes from behind me and I take a deep breath, ready to deny what he’s asking. But our dad speaks up before I can.

“We can discuss this shit later. Right now, I want to talk about who the fuck is messing with our shipments. I spoke to O’Brien last night. He’s had issues with his shipments, too, and when he did some digging, he found out that Munóz and Andrev have had theirs fucked with, as well. Someone’s coming after the four main organizations in our city. For now, they’ve kept it to small shipments and businesses where they know they can get away with it without being caught. I want extra men on everyshipment, on every business, on every fucking deal we have until we figure this shit out.”

We all nod our agreement.

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