Page 93 of The Silence Lies

Levi flattens his palms against my ass, spreading my cheeks wider as he starts drilling upwards into me.

My walls clench around him. I’m so damn wet that I know this couch will be stained after.

Sliding a hand into his dark hair, I ride out the precipice of my orgasm. Shockwaves of pleasure pummel into me, my whole body shuddering with Levi’s name on my lips.

He thrusts harder, determined punches of his hips meeting me in my climax, a thin sheen of sweat coating his forehead.

“So fucking beautiful,” he rasps, stroking away the strands of hair sticking to my face.

I slump against him, resting my head on his shoulder as hiccups of air break up the silence. When I eventually regulate my breathing enough to speak, I look up at Levi.

His beauty, his staggering vulnerability has always been a beacon for me, it just took me a while to realize I needed it. But even with his lightness, I can see the darkness behind his soft eyes. He’s still unsure about everything, but that only makes me more determined to prove I would never hurt him.

I couldn’t.

I stroke a hand over his sharp cheekbones, sliding a thumb over the cut on his lip.

Levi captures my wrist, pressing a kiss to my palm. “You wanna stay the night?” he asks.

I nod, still half dazed from my post-fuck high. I don’t need to do any more than that before Levi lifts me up and wraps my legs around his waist. He walks us to his room, slowly and carefully placing me on his crisp white sheets before disappearing into his bathroom.

Laying back, I stare at the ceiling, knowing this is the beginning of something new. Through all the shit I’ve had to deal with over the past few weeks, I know I deserve happiness. Levi is granting me the opportunity to seek that with both him and Luca by my side, and I don’t think I could be any happier about that. But there’s the niggling slice of guilt that seeps through the cracks I’ve tried to patch up after Enzo’s death.

My best friend meant more to me than I knew. His final words still haunt me, but they’re no longer serving as a reminder of what I lost, but of what I could have. I could have everything once again. I was that for Enzo and up until his death, I didn’t know he was that for me. Losing it all in a breath broke me, but whatever is blossoming between Levi, Luca and I, is destined to be everything I ever wanted. I can feel it.

“Here,” Levi says as he returns from the bathroom with a damp cloth, sliding a warm palm between my thighs before he cleans me up. “As much as I love the thought of my cum dripping from you, I’ve just washed the sheets.” He finishes his sentence with a cheeky wink. All at once I see the old Levi return. As if nothing happened, Levi is back to his charming self, and that mixed with his dirty words does something dangerous to my body.

I’m all pumped and ready to go again, but as soon as Levi finishes cleaning me up and tucks me into his side under the covers, exhaustion takes over. My breaths slow, exhaling in time with Levi’s chest rising and falling. His steady heartbeat is my lullaby, a soothing beat that calms every bone in my body.

I feel the gentle sensation of Levi’s fingers stroking circles over my skin. “How did you get here?” he asks softly.

“Gio brought me. I sent him away as soon as I got here.”

“So, it’s just us?” I don’t know if it’s just me, but in the dark I can sense more than Levi’s words tell. There’s a lingering doubt, a reservation about the man who he hired to protect me. I wish I could ask more, but for now, I’m enjoying this moment of liberation, the freedom to just be like this.

Eventually, I nod.

“It’s your birthday soon,” Levi whispers. “You thought I’d forgotten, didn’t you?”

In all honesty, I did.

Since Enzo’s death, it doesn’t feel right to celebrate a birthday without him. I don’t think I want to, either. He always made the day different; special. Every year he would find a new way to make the day significant and he never failed. Boat trips out of the marina, road trips up to the Valley, nothing was too much trouble. I took it all for granted. Celebrating this birthday would feel like I’m betraying him.

“I don’t want to do anything this year,” I whisper back.

“I know.” Levi kisses my head, combing his fingers through my hair. “Enzo always made a big deal of it.”

I bite back the tears threatening to take hold of me. They burn and sting, and as much as I fight them, they choke me up. They remind me of what I need to do, what I’m fighting for; not just for my happiness, but his revenge, too.

“He’d want you to be happy, you know that.” Levi’s attempt at soothing me only brings back more memories. Picnics at the beach, our first night out together, birthday parties as kids where we would escape and do our own thing.

“I know,” I manage to choke out. “It’s just hard to think about him not being here anymore.”

“Me too.”

Silence falls between us. We don’t speak anymore after that, but just revel in the moment, holding each other close. When morning finally arrives, the prospect of a new day rises with the sun, and gives me the insight I need to do what I have to.

I push past the doors that separate the club from the offices out the back. I’ve never been here before, but I know that he’s here. Luca is so predictable that I pinned him down to being in one of two places, and once Raf confirmed the location with me, I had to suppress the eye roll begging to come out.

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