Page 85 of Deceit
After whatseemedlike an eternity, Kai did somethingthatI never thoughtI’d witness. He held out his hand for Rafe to shake.“Sofia might be your sister, but she’s Miles’ wife. She’s family, and we protect our family. And by proving your loyalty, whether you like it or not, you’re now one of our family, too. We work together and we keep our girls safe.”
Rafe swallowed, and if I hadn’t been watching him as intently as I was, Iwould have missed the glint of relief flash in his eyes. He reached out and took Kai’s hand, the two of them shaking.
When they broke apart, I offered him my hand.“Welcome to our side.Now all we need to do is work out how the fuck we’re going to sort this shit out.”
Chapter 26
Sofia
It had been a week since we were freed from the bunker, and while I wasdamn glad to be home, I missed having Miles to myself.
I didn’t ask, and he didn’t volunteer what was going on, but from briefcomments he’d made, something big had happened within the Wolfe organization, which was taking up a whole lot of time to resolve.
Riley didn’t know either. I’d spent every day with her, volunteering at thecrisis center, and she wasjustas frustrated as I was at the lack of time Kai was spending at home. The difference was, I was fine with not knowing; I was used to not being in the know when it came to mafia business, but Riley despised being kept in the dark.
Each day, I returned home to an empty house, cooked myself dinner, andthenspent the evening getting acquainted with the piano. I didn’t mind being alone so much when I got to play; I was a little rusty, and every time I hit the wrong key, I was glad no one was there to witness it.
Muscle memory was a wonderful thing, though, and after several evenings ofconstantly playing, I was making it through full-length pieces with only one or two mistakes.
Despite Miles not being home much, my fearsthateverything would returnto how it was before we left the bunker were unfounded.
The first night after I returned home, I’d gone to sleep in my bedroom, only to be woken by him carrying me down the hallway to his room, where he demandedthatfromthenon, I was to sleep next to him, followed by him fucking me into oblivion.
Every morning, before he headed off to do God only knew what, I waswoken up with either his tongue lashing my pussy or his cock inside me. After he’d made me come at least twice, he’d kiss me goodbye and reassure methathe would be home as soon as he could.
It was usually the early hours of the morning before he came home, though,long after I’d gone to bed. But I can’t say I minded being awoken to Miles’ mouth kissing a path down my body as he whispered how much he’d missed me.
Like every evening for the past week, after I’d eaten dinner and cleaned up, Isat in front of the piano. I warmed up my fingers and vocal chords with some exercises before hitting the first few notes of the song I was learning to play.
The film,‘A Star Is Born,’had become one of my favorite movies from theveryfirst time I watched it. Maybe it was because I’d often imagined what it would be like to go from a nobody to someone everyone saw, or maybe it was the heartachethatcame with the filmthatmade me love it so much.
Or maybe it was because Lady Gaga was in it, and I adored her voice.
Whatever it was, I was determined to learn the song,‘Remember us thisway.’It was a songthatreminded me of my mama, and I didn’t know why, but I was missing her a lot of late. Perhaps because Rafe had reached out a few days ago to say his trip to New York had been extended by a couple of weeks, and I was missing him more than ever.
Reading the sheet music I’d had delivered to the house, I started playing thefirst few notes, my fingers gliding over the smooth keys, and the lilting music filling the living room.
I’d been practicing the song for hours at a time over the last three days, andevery time I played, my precision improved. I hadn’t sung while playing yet, but tonight, I was determined to sing the first verse and chorus without any mistakes.
Losing myself in playing, I lost track of time. I’d pulled all the blinds toblock out any distractions from outside and put my phone on silent so I could focus solely on the music.
It took several attempts to nail playing the first verse and sing at thesame time, but despite my frustration, I persevered until I’d perfected it. Once I was confident, I focused on the chorus, playing it over and over until I got it right.
Deciding to have a shot at putting them together, I started playing theopening notes and cleared my head of every single thing except for the keys I needed to play and the lyrics I needed to sing.
When I finished the last note, an enormous grin spread over my face. I’d hitevery note perfectly on the first go. If only the rest of the song would be as easy. But before I could think about turning the page to start learning the next set of notes, a deep, familiar voice spoke.
“That was incredible.”
I swiveled on the piano stool to find Miles standing in the doorway. The toptwo buttons of his shirt open, and his hair was ruffled where he’d been running his hand through it.
He’d decided to let it grow after I’d told him I liked him with longer hair during one of our rounds of chess, and my fingers twitched with the need to run through it.
“Thank you. I didn’t think you’d be home until later,”I replied, tracking himas he prowled toward me, a dark, devious glint to his eye.
“We got things wrapped up sooner than we thought. Besides, I tried callingyou about a million times, but your phone kept going to voicemail. I wanted to make sure you were okay,”Miles said, sitting next to me when I slid over on the stool to make room for him.“Do you always wear sexy pajamas when you’re playing the piano?”
His eyes traveled down my body, lingering on my chest where I wasn’twearing a bra under the tank top. Nor was I wearing any panties under the shorts. A path of fire spread through my body, heading straight to my pussy. Fuck, I loved it when he looked at me likethat.
