Page 20 of Tower of Temptations

"What are you?—"

"I wanted to spend a little more time with you. Before I left," I whispered in her ear.

We stayed together for a while. Pearl closed her eyes, and a soft smile crossed her lips. "I didn't know you had a sensitive side."

"A rarity, but sometimes it shows up."

Softness and vulnerability weren't aspects I liked people to see. But Pearl seemed to know just how to drag that side out of me. I heard her soft breathing against her lips. Just as sleep overtook her, she spoke.

"This…changes things between us, doesn't it?"

It sure did. Pearl wasn't just an object of my affection—she was someone I claimed and treasured. Giving her back to Vittorio was out of the question.

"It does. But do not worry. That is a discussion for later."

Pearl didn't respond. Deep breaths escaped her soft lips. She was asleep.

I stayed with her for a little longer. Part of me hated myself for what I'd done. Pearl's sweet innocence took hold of me.

Sleeping with a captive, especially the daughter of the enemy, was taboo. I'd crossed a line. But worrying about it now would do no good. Focusing on the present was the better option. Which involved the protection of Pearl.

My treasure. Mytesoro.

11

NICO

Ihesitated outside her door, the weight of the past heavy in my hands.

Fuck.

Every time I came here, it felt like crossing some invisible line. Like betraying a ghost. But I couldn't stay away, not today. Today, I had something that would make her whole face light up. The kind of smile that could make a man forget every promise he ever made.

She was too damn young. Not even old enough to know how the world really worked, while I'd spent more years as an enforcer than she'd been alive. Every time she looked at me with those trusting eyes, I felt like an even bigger bastard for the thoughts running through my head. Marco's daughter. His little girl. And here I was, wanting to find out if her skin was as soft everywhere as it looked, wondering what sounds she'd make if I touched her right.

Sometimes she was so much like Marco it physically hurt—that same unflinching way of looking at the world, that quietstrength. Other times... Christ. Other times she was all woman, making me forget every scrap of honor I had left.

She was humming when I entered, something soft and sweet that made her seem different this morning. Lighter somehow. Like a weight had lifted from those delicate shoulders that carried too much already.

I caught her smiling to herself as she traced the spine of a book, and something twisted in my gut. I'd seen Giuliano leaving her wing late last night, looking less composed than usual. Made me wonder what kind of game he was playing with her.

"Brought you something," I said, keeping my voice gentle.

Her eyes lit up when she saw what I held, making my breath catch. "Are those...?"

"Your father." I settled into the chair across from her, careful to maintain distance. "Thought you might want to see how he was, before everything changed."

She reached for them with trembling hands. "I have so few pictures... Vittorio—" She stopped, pain flickering across her face.

"Destroyed them?" At her nod, something dark curled in my gut. "Yeah, that sounds like him. Always trying to erase the past."

She traced Marco's face in the oldest photo. "He looks so young here." She shuffled through more, then stopped at one that made her smile.

There in the yellowed photo, Marco stood in Giovanni's restaurant, caught mid-laugh under the warm lights. Pearl's mother beside him, her face bright with pride.

"This one..." Pearl's finger traced the scene. "Mom's surprise party for Dad at Giovanni's. He knew about it the whole time but pretended to be shocked when everyone jumped out." Her smile softened. "He hated big parties, but he made such a fuss about being surprised... just to make her happy."

Another photo slipped free from the stack—this one sun-bleached but still sharp. Marco on the deck of his yacht, documents scattered around him, with a little girl curled against his side, both grinning in the Mediterranean sun.

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