Page 77 of Darkest Desire
I consider her words. It’s not a bad idea, returning to New York. I do have business to attend to there, like killing Mikhail. That bastard still needs to die after he shot me. Of course, that won’t make Sasha happy since she doesn’t want her brother-in-law dead. It’s a conundrum.
And there is the problem with the Irish I’ve been having. After I killed Cillian Kennedy a year ago, the Irish’s new leader, Liam, has been trying to kill me, though he hasn’t succeeded.
Rome was supposed to be a safe haven from New York. A place I could get to know Sasha. A place a could seduce her.
But none of it has gone according to plan. For Sasha, it’s obvious that Rome is the opposite of a safe haven. It’s a nightmare given everything she’s been through. Normally I’d brush her fears off and tell her not to worry.
But I saw the fear on her face when Giovanni was on top of her. The way she was frozen. Her eyes calling out to me to help.
Maybe this is my chance to make Sasha fall in love with me. If I give her a gift, she’ll give me one in return.
“You really want to return to New York?” I ask.
“I do. I want to leave this place and all of its bad memories. We could start fresh.”
“In New York? Where your uncle and sisters are?”
“Nico, this is important to me. Please give me this.”
I look into her sad, vulnerable eyes and my heart squeezes. I’ve never wanted to make someone as happy as I want to make Sasha right now. “Ok. Let’s go back to New York.”
Our honeymoon is officially over.
Sasha relaxes back into me and closes her eyes. I watch her fall asleep, heart pounding the entire time. Things with Sasha have been fun – a game of sorts. But everything has changed. She sought me out to comfort her. If she truly hated me, she never would have asked me to hold her after going through something so frightening.
Maybe my wife likes me more than she wants to admit. That thought makes me smile and I settle down beside her, holding my wife until her breathing steadies and she can sleep, knowing I’ll keep her safe.
Even when I’m the one to put her into danger in the first place.
Sasha
The New York skyline is the best sight I’ve seen in a while. It means I’m coming home. But that doesn’t mean I’ll get to see my sisters any time soon. Nico will not let me see Natalya, for obvious reasons, and Denis is the last person I want to see, so going after to his house is out, even though I want to check in with Irina and Ana.
Nico brings me to his large mansion in the suburbs. It’s even larger than his home in Rome and I thought that place was practically a castle.
“Home sweet home,” Nico says, dropping our bags in the foyer. “Should we christen the place?”
I shoot him a look. “I’m not having sex with you, just because you showed me kindness.” Though, the entire plane ride here, I couldn’t help but look at Nico in a new light. After he comforted me from the Giovanni incident, I’ve felt closer to him. I know what it’s like for him to touch me and show me pleasure.
The only thing keeping me from fully giving in to him is that I’m worried once I do, I’ll lose myself to him forever. I need to keep a clear head around Nico. He’ll consume me the first chance he gets.
And now that my heart has grown closer to him, I know sex is inevitable. I’m just trying to push it out for as long as I can, even if my body is desperate for him to touch me again.
“Christening a place doesn’t have to mean sex,” he responds, settling his hands on my hips. “We could share a toast, welcoming you into your new home.”
“A toast?:
“Yes. You know when two people have a drink in their hands and they clink their glasses together.”
I roll my eyes but I can’t stop myself from smiling slightly. “I know what a toast is.”
“Shall we?”
A part of me still wants to defy him but that part of me is getting smaller and smaller. I find myself drawing in to Nico more; in to his charms. And he is charming. Distractingly so.
“Ok,” I say.
Nico raises his eyebrows. “Not fighting me on this, are you? That’s a change.”
