Page 131 of The Silence Lies

I slam my lips onto hers, not giving her the chance to say whatever it is she wanted to say. It’s feral, hungry, and just like our first kiss, it stokes the fire in the pit of my stomach. The one that has been burning embers ever since I lost my wife. She’s the first woman to make me feel like this in so long that it feels too right to ignore it any longer. I don’t care if she thinks our kiss last week was a mistake, because right now, I’m forcing every single emotion into devouring her mouth.

Our tongues tangle. Her hand glides through my hair as I back her up against the wall. I grip her waist, pressing my chest flush with hers until our breaths fill the space.

Sera tilts her head back, opening the kiss up so I can deepen it. A soft moan escapes her, the sound going straight to my dick. My entire body reacts to hers like we’ve been doing this our whole lives, and when she finally pulls away, the anxiety over this moment dissolves.

“What was that for?” she breathes out.

“You’re not just a job for me, Principessa.” I cup her cheek, stroking my thumb over it. The scar above her left eye catches my attention, reminding me of how precious life really fucking is. “I want you to know that.”

She nods, her bottom lips finding its way beneath her teeth.

“I don’t know when things changed for me, but ever since I walked into this damn room months ago, you’ve been more than a paycheck.”

“You mean that?” she asks, her voice breaking with uncertainty.

“I do.”

She takes a deep, choppy inhale, her chest fluttering under the weight of my words.

“I don’t just want to protect you, Principessa. I think…” I pause, deciding on what the best words are for this situation. I know exactly what I want. I think I’ve wanted it for so long that it isn’t even a question in my mind. The real question is whether Serafina will want me the way I want her.

“Do you want more?” She tilts her head, hope blossoming in those dark brown eyes of hers.

“Is that okay?” It’s my turn for uncertainty to settle over me like a blanket.

“Yes,” she smiles, pushing up on her toes to kiss me once more. Her hands wrap around my neck as she rubs her nose along mine. “But I’ll need to speak to Luca and Levi first.”

I suppose that’s fair enough. I can’t ask for much more than that. I just need to prepare myself for what comes next.

Luca

Levi bounces on the couch beside me as Sera enters the room with pizza boxes in hand. “Did you get my ham and pineapple?”

She rolls her eyes at him, but she’s unable to hide the fondness she feels towards him and his immaturity. “Of course I did,” she replies. “I don’t need world war three in my house, Marchese.”

We both grab the boxes from her, snapping open the lids of various ones to get a glimpse of the steaming pizza inside.

Levi snatches a slice of his ham and pineapple—an abomination for Italians everywhere—stuffing it into his mouth with as much grace as a starving dog.

“Don’t forget to chew,” I laugh, grabbing a slice of pepperoni for myself.

Levi punches me softly on the shoulder, his playfulness starting to shine through the more time we spend together. We haven’t discussed the kiss, or what happened here in the den last week, but he’s in good spirits, which tells me he isn’t ruminating over it as I am.

I mean, when you get your first blow job from another guy, it kind of sticks with you.

“Save some for the movie,” Sera chuckles, kissing Levi on the cheek.

It’s the first time in months we’ve been able to fully relax. Sera decided she wanted a pizza and movie night, and who are we to deny our leader some well-deserved downtime? Now that Giovanni has finally been given the all-clear and the twins successfully took out another of The Verdi’s compounds, we deserve to have some time for ourselves.

We’re not in the clear just yet. But since The Vultures have teamed up with Sera’s guards to shore up her defenses, we have room to relax a little.

“So what movie are we watching?” Levi asks, dropping lazily onto the couch and kicking his shoes off.

I slump down next to him, all too conscious of how close our bodies are to one another’s. He doesn’t seem to care or even notice, but Sera’s stare as I look up at her tells me she does.

She perches on the edge of the coffee table in front of me, placing the pizza box beside her. “We should talk,” she sighs.

“Uh oh,” Levi says mid-chew. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

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