Page 17 of The Secrets We Keep

She turned to face him, cheeks heating when his eyes dragged up over her bare legs, lingering on the bottom of the towel skimming very high on her thighs and over the swell of her breasts. She gripped the knot tighter against her chest, her nipples pebbling under his hungry gaze. He might hate her, but he still wanted her.

When he didn’t speak or bother to explain, she cleared her throat, drawing his gaze to her face. “Did you come all this way to gawk at me showering after a workout?”

His eyes flicked to the clock over the stove. “You exercise at midnight?”

“It helps me sleep. What do you want, Luca?”

“Who killed your family?”

The tone of his voice when he asked the question made it clear he already knew the answer, but she knew she couldn’t share her plans with him. He’d definitely try and stop her.

“You drove three hours at this time of night to ask me that?”

He took a step closer. “I think I have a right to know who stole you from me.” The statement caught her off guard, and her eyebrows shot up. “You’re surprised?”

“Am I surprised you were so disgusted by your impulse to kiss me you ran away from me at lightning speed only to show up here at midnight and demand to know who killed me? Yeah. You could say I’m a little taken aback.”

“Disgusted,” he repeated, taking another step forward.

“Look, I know you hate me for not trusting you, but I—”

His hand shot out to wrap around her waist and yank her against his chest. “I do not hate you, Sienna. You could gut a man in the fucking street, and I wouldn’t hate you. I hate that I couldn’t protect you. I hate that you didn’t think you could come to me. I hate whoever took you from me. But I do not and could not ever hate you. Do you understand?”

She nodded, unable to speak, her eyes dropping to his lips as his hand fisted in the fabric of the towel at her back, forcing it up over the rounded curve of her ass. He growled low in his throat when she wiggled against his hold.

“You still haven’t answered my question. Who killed your family?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you naked.”

He gripped the towel tighter in his fist, dangerously loosening the knot between her breasts. “You used to like being naked with me.”

“I never stopped liking it,” she assured him, watching his eyes darken. “But I’m still not discussing my family’s murderer with you while I’m wearing a towel.”

He seemed to debate with himself over getting her naked or getting the answers he came for. Reluctantly, he released her, and she scurried down the hall to her bedroom, slipping an oversized sweater over her head and tugging on a pair of leggings. Covered from shoulder to calf seemed a much safer way to have this conversation with him.

He was standing in the kitchen where she’d left him, and she might as well still be naked save for a towel with the hungry way his eyes traveled over her. It had been so long since she wanted any man but Luca. Time hadn’t faded her need for him.

“We should sit.”

She crossed to the living room and sank onto one end of the couch, tucking her legs underneath her while she waited for him to join. He sat at the opposite end facing her, the city lights at his back through the window. He looked at her expectantly while she debated how much to share with him.

“Well?”

“I think my uncle ordered a hit on my entire family.”

He swore under his breath, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. “I suppose you have proof?”

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing on his face. “I didn’t realize I needed any. I don’t answer to you, Luca.”

He scowled. “I never said you did. I always wondered if it was him. If someone had killed one of my brothers, I would have razed the island to the ground. And I don’t even like them that much.”

Sienna chuckled softly in spite of herself. “That was my conclusion. There was a reason I didn’t run to him after what happened.”

“And now you’re back to make him pay.”

“That’s right. I finally figured out a way to get close enough to do what I need to do.”

“Is that why you’re working at Gallo Industries? To get close to him?”

---