Page 32 of Skin Deep

Chapter11

Harrison

The sun was not far off on the horizon. Even though it was early, it was already burning through the parts of Sicily it had already touched. The air seemed thin and golden, and the temperature already blazed, which made it seem like the world was somewhat hazy.

It was an entirely different scene than last night.

My loss was concealed in the darkness. It was hidden behind laughter and drinks—a celebration of two lives becoming one that felt like the death of a dream to me. In the light, I was cut wide open, and in the silence, my heart sounded like a stone, falling too fast toward the earth’s floor.

My eyes scanned the property, trying to remember how we’d gotten to her casa from the reception last night. Georgina—Gigi—Dolce had led the way, but I hadn’t been paying much attention. I needed to reverse our steps.

Part of my struggle this morning was not only my sinking life, but the woman still asleep in the tiny casa set on this vast Sicilian property. She was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen—something from a magazine spread gorgeous—and apart from offering to help me win Mariposa back, she hadn’t said too much to me the entire night.

Men constantly looked at her, and she probably wouldn’t have had any issue getting any of them back to her casa, but for some reason she set her sights on me. I wondered if she was out to get the bastard married to Mari back—they seemed like a good fit—and had decided to help me.

Conversation was mostly one-sided, so she hadn’t offered up too much information. If she was willing to help me, though, it really didn’t matter, but last night things had taken a turn.

When she’d convinced me to play strip poker, what did I have to fucking win? Everything that mattered to me, I’d already lost.

The heartbeat of my list.

Because of that list, I was the owner of my dream house, dream car, living my best fucking life as one of the most infamous gangster’s lawyers, tethered to him like a punching ball.

The woman I’d done it all for was probably fucking her cold-eyed bastard of a husband in one of the other places—which I couldn’t seem to find. She had to be in one of them.

Yeah, my life had taken a dramatic turn, and I found myself in Sicily—a place I’d never thought I’d be—wondering how the fuck I even got there, and better yet, thinking about the woman I always thought I’d marryandthe siren I left asleep in her bed.

That was the biggest turn of all—I might as well be halfway across Saturn with all its rings.

She wasn’t my type. Not even remotely close. She was easy to figure out. All her worth seemed to sit on her surface, like the thousand-dollar jewels she wore. There was something about her, though, that made me hesitate before I left the casa. Yeah, she was gorgeous and all that, but it was that damn smile of hers, and the look in her eyes when she said, “use me to feel alive,” that refused to leave my mind.

For the first time that night, she was unguarded, and she almost seemed vulnerable. Much different from the woman who took my hand and told me to dance with her. That woman was overly confident, bold. The woman whose eyes almost seemed to plead seemed to be hiding behind the other one like armor.

The contrast kept fucking with my head. Was it because I drank too much and was creating shit where it didn’t exist? Or was I right?

Why did it even matter? It wasn’t like I was signing up for anything. This was just something I had to do to prove to myself that Mari truly wanted to be where she was. There was no chance for us. Even though Mari claimed to be happy, there was more to the story than she was telling anyone. And if seeing me with another woman sparked something in her, whatever I was doing with Gigi was worth it.

Though what we’d done last night had come close to crossing a line—more than once.

This wasn’t her battle, unless there was more in it for her than fun, and I refused to use her that way. If it wasn’t for the look in her eyes stopping me from going any further, though, I would have. I couldn’t remember the last time I wanted to fuck a woman so badly. I couldn’t remember the last time I spilled myself into a woman’s hand. I came close when she was stroking me. She hit all the right spots and drove me out of my mind.

A slow smile spread on my face when I thought of what she’d said.Il mostro.

My phone went off in my pocket. I wasn’t sure if I was up for conversation, but I answered right before Lachlan went to voicemail.

“What’s up?”

“We’re at the airport. Where the fuck are you?”

“Change of plans.”

I heard him say to someone else, “Go ahead of me. I’ll be there in time.” Probably one of my brothers or my sister. Then his voice came louder as he turned back to our conversation. “You’re not thinking this through, Harrison. Kelly warned you about that hard bastard, and you keep running behind his wife. Not his woman. Hiswife. He looks like he’d kill someone for much less than that, bro. A man after my own heart.”

“She’s never seen me with anyone else.”

Quiet met me for a second or two. “You think Mari is going to throw herself at your feet when she sees you with that gorgeous Italian girl? By the way, who is she?”

“I don’t know if she will or not,” I said. “Her name is Gigi Dolce. Another guest at the wedding.”

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