Page 55 of Sweet Misery

I licked my lips, knowing the answer immediately and wondering what the hell was happening to me.

“I do,” I answered.

He tilted my chin so I was staring into his gray eyes. Massimo Saconne was devastatingly handsome. He knew it too. There wasn’t a bone in my body which could convince me otherwise.He could have anything in the world simply by snapping his fingers.

He leaned in and brushed his lips along my jaw.

“I like touching you too.” He pulled away from me and took my hand before leading me to the shower.

Once inside, he washed me like I was the most fragile thing in the world. Every now and then he’d plant a tender kiss on me.

We stood facing one another. He reached out and lightly traced over his initials he’d cut over my heart. It was still tender and was definitely going to be a deep scar.

“I like this,” he said. “My name carved deep into your flesh.”

“It hurt,” I admitted.

“I know.” He cradled my face. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I like it.”

He truly was a monster. But there was also something about him that was so damn appealing. It was just like the twins.

We were quiet again as he gently explored my body beneath the warm spray.

“What did you want to be when you grew up?” I asked.

“A cop,” he commented, meeting my stare as he thumbed one of my nipples. “I wanted to put my father away and never look back. I became a killer instead. Weird how that works. What did you want to be?”

His words hurt. They reminded me of Sever because countless times he’d spoken about what a nightmare his father was and how he wanted him dead and how he’d done nothing but ruin his life. I guess that was across the board with all his siblings.

“Free.” I looked up at him.

“Guess none of us got what we wanted, huh?”

“Guess not.” I looked down again, feeling sad. This might not have been such a terrible experience if the threat of death didn’t loom over me each day. If the violence didn’t.

He turned the water off and led me out of the shower without another word. I let him dry me and dress me in one of his white t-shirts this time. He led me to his bed and crawled in beside me after brushing my hair and leaving it to hang loosely around me.

“I like it like this,” he commented as he pulled me against his chest.

We were quiet for a moment.

“Massimo?”

“Yes, little daffodil?”

“I really won’t get to leave here, will I?”

He was silent for so long I thought he’d not answer me. When he did, his voice was low.

“No.”

I let out a soft sigh.

He reached out and lifted my chin and place a gentle kiss on my lips.

“It wouldn’t be safe for you outside our home now. Not with our father alive and knowing you’re currency. If we aren’t collecting, he will be. In the end, he expects us to have our fun and kill you.”

“Are you going to?” The words were acid on my tongue, hurting as I said them.

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