Page 37 of Bones

I nod while I stroke her hand. “You can ask me anything, Butterfly. If it’s not dangerous for me to answer, I will.”

“Are you mad at Penelope?”

Chuckling loudly, I say, “No. I’m also not surprised. If I thought there was any chance she’d overhear my conversation with my father, she would not have been there. Penelope has never accepted where our father gets the ridiculous amount of money he gives to her. She thinks we are terrible men, and I have no doubt her heart was in the right place.”

She stares at me nervously. “So you’re not going to hurt her?”

I shake my head as I laugh again. “No. My mother would kill me. And there’s nothing more important than family. Had she not been my sister, the answer might be different.”

The waitress brings our food and we both start eating. In between bites, she asks, “If they call you Bones because that’s what you do, what about your brothers?”

“Do they break bones too?” She adds.

I chuckle. “No, Butterfly. Well, they have, but it’s not what they’re known for. Kage, well, let’s just say, had he found you breaking into his home, you’d still be inside that metal prison you hate so much.”

She swallows a bite of steak. “And the others?”

I’m honestly not sure she wants to know about the other two, but she asked. Rule number one with me is, don’t ask a question if you can’t handle the answer, because I will be honest.

“Psycho is known as Psycho because it describes him well. He tends to not consider consequences for his actions, and doesn’t think things through. Psycho could easily start a mafia war because of it, and get us all killed. He’ll go in guns blazing, without first getting information as to who, and how many, are in the room. He’s dangerous.”

“And Reaper?” She asks with a raised brow, and I swallow my food before responding. “Reaper is a serial killer. He doesn’t work with us, which is unfortunate, because he is both lethal and brutal.”

She sets her fork down and stares at me with complete shock. “A serial killer? Like he kills people who have done things to him?”

I chuckle lightly. “Sure. But not just that. There’s a certain thrill when taking someone’s life. You won’t understand. It’s powerful. Most of us restrain ourselves, and only kill when necessary. Reaper is not like the rest of us.”

Athena swallows hard as she tries to process this information. “Just women?”

I shake my head. “He’s an equal opportunist. Men. Women. The only difference is he doesn’t fuck the men before killing them.”

Taking another bite of steak, she chews and swallows slowly. “Interesting family, Luca.”

Shrugging my shoulders, I say. “Very. Now tell me about yours.”

Her eyes meet mine before quickly glancing away. “My father’s name is Alex, and he works with money. I don’t honestly know what he does beyond that.”

“Your mother?”

That’s really what I want to know about, because aren’t daughters normally close to their mothers? Why is my wife not on the news, with her mother frantically searching for her? Begging for her safe return. That would be a normal response, since she came to my property to rob me and never left. Until today.

“I don’t know her. She left when I was five.”

Athena swipes a tear from her cheek, as I ask, “Where did she go?”

She looks at me with such anguish in her eyes. “I don’t know, Luca. She just left. Her and my father were fighting about something. And the next morning she was gone. Then everything changed.”

I sit silently, waiting to see if she’ll give me more than that, but she doesn’t. Instead, my wife sits here eating and drinking in complete silence. She’s done sharing, I can see it on her face. It’s like she shuts it down, as she forces a smile on her face.

“Thank you for lunch, Luca. This has been wonderful.”

I scoot my chair back. “Come here.”

Without any hesitation, she gets up and walks over to me. I pull her onto my lap and run my hand through her hair, and she closes her eyes like it’s the most pleasure she’s ever experienced.

Pressing my lips to hers, she whimpers as I slide my tongue into her mouth, caressing hers slowly. With my hand in her hair, I tilt her head to the side and deepen our kiss. People walk down the busy street, but I pay them no attention. My wife is the only thing that matters to me at this moment. She’s quickly becoming the entire center of my world. If anybody tries to take what’s mine, I know I won’t simply break their bones. They would experience the most horrific pain they can even imagine. I’d burn the entire world to the ground to keep her safe. Domenic was right. Athena has destroyed everything I thought I knew about myself. I never wanted this, a wife, but now that I have her, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to hold onto her.

I pull back from our kiss, and she’s so beautiful. Athena looks slightly dazed, her lips plump from being kissed, her eyes wide with lust, and a slight blush on her cheeks. She runs her fingers down my face and sighs softly. Not from annoyance, but I think from contentment. “Luca,” she whispers softly. I could listen to her say my name like that all fucking day long. I’ve always preferred Bonesover my actual given name. Nobody, aside from my parents, has called me Luca in over twenty-five years. Hearing my wife say it does things to me I never saw coming. Athena, for me, is like someone has been holding my head under water for the longest time. She’s like finally being able to breathe again when I thought I never would.

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