Page 37 of Sinner's Bond

Lexi takes the card and looks at it, then puts it in the pocket of her apron as she stands. She nods to both of us before heading back to the bar with a new lightness in her step that wasn’t there earlier.

Mateo looks at me. “What do you think? Should we go? Or do you want to stay and watch the dancers?”

“Maybe another night,” I say. “I think we can go.”

As we get outside, I say to Mateo, “So Luca fell in love with Gina. I didn’t know you guys could fall in love.”

“It’s not that we can’t,” Mateo says darkly. He pauses before opening the car door, then turns to look at me. “It’s that we shouldn’t.”

Our eyes lock for a moment, and I can see the pain, some internal battle he hasn’t shared with me. I think he’s about to say something else, to let me in a little more.

Mateo suddenly pulls me in close and kisses me hard. In an instant, I forget where we are and who might see us. Nothing else matters.

16

MATEO

I didn’t enjoythe past few days I spent not talking to Klein. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And now I can’t keep my hands and eyes off her.

I should be more freaked out after finding out that Luca fell in love. That love made him turn on everything about his life. Made him abandon his own family. That should confirm everything I’ve been worried about, that getting too involved with Klein could destroy my whole life.

But the woman in the club said that Luca was happy. Very happy. Luca’s never been accused of being happy before. Not since we were kids. I guess that’s why the one picture I have of him is the one I showed Klein. When we were both smiling for one night. It was Raine’s college graduation party, and she was so excited to be done with school that her energy was infectious.

It’s as if Lexi’s comment opened a window to a new world. The one I’ve been trying to imagine where Klein and I could actually be together. And be happy. Seeing through that window makes me feel like I can’t ignore it anymore.

Riccardo drives us back to my penthouse. It’s a short drive, but it feels endless. I hold Klein pressed up against me as she sits in the back middle seat next to me. It’s dark. But I can feel Klein’s hand running along my inner thigh. My cock starts to swell.

Klein sits facing forward. Her face shows no expression of what she’s actually doing or thinking. But she moves her hand up my thigh. She runs her finger along the bulge in my pants. Then she traces the outline of my cock back and forth through my pants.

It’s a light, teasing touch, and it drives me fucking crazy. It takes every ounce of concentration not to just throw my head back and groan. I grit my teeth as Klein continues. I squeeze her waist. Silently letting her know that what she’s doing is incredible.

We finally pull into the garage of my building. The lights inside the garage flood our backseat. Klein gives my cock a squeeze through my pants and then moves her hand away, so Riccardo won’t notice.

Riccardo pulls the car up to my elevator and drops us off. My legs feel weak and I’m relieved that I don’t collapse the moment I get out of the car.

“Thanks,” I say to Riccardo just before I close the car door.

He drives off and I swipe my key to the elevator pad. The elevator door opens. One of the nice things about having a private elevator is that it’s usually where I left it, and I rarely have to wait.

Klein and I fall into the elevator. I swipe my key again and the doors close. I can finally kiss her again. Another nice thing about a private elevator, we don’t have to worry about it stopping for other passengers.

I kiss Klein hard, pressing her against the back wall of the elevator. I want to devour her, to dive back in to that place where our bodies align and intertwine, and all the weight of my life disappears in the pure ecstasy of connecting to her.

I hear the elevator door open. I grab her hand and pull her out into the entryway. I can see her glancing around as I lead her inside. This one hall is almost the size of her whole apartment.

When we get into the living space, the ceiling opens up to the top of the building. There’s a set of stairs to the left that lead up to my private living spaces. To the right is the main kitchen, dining room, and my office.

Klein scans the stairs, the modern furniture, the fireplace, the ceiling, the chandelier. She finally rests her eyes on the view beyond the glass wall on the other side of the living room.

“I’ll give you the full tour later,” I tell her.

I lead her out through one of the glass doors and onto the balcony. This view looks east down Walnut Street. It’s the best place to watch the sunrise, if I’m ever up that early. Or that late.

“Your building is right behind that one,” I point out to Klein.

She scans the view, taking in the lights coming up from the other buildings and the far below.

“There’s something calming about viewing the city from up here,” Klein says.

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