Page 48 of The Gambler

Of course, the cat had no idea that Luca was a silver-tongued demon in disguise. The kind that would say anything to get a poor woman hand over her cat to him. It hadn’t even cost him a single dollar. He’d just told her a sob story. To be fair, he hadn’t lied to Carrie. In fact, he’d told her exactly why he needed the cat. Then they went back to Alfie to reunite the two of them. To him, Luca had told another story, this time from a slightly different point of view, about how important a good woman was. How he should worship the ground Carrie walked upon, because she wasn’t really interested in the cat. All she’d apparently wanted was Alfie.

He had surprised the hell out of her by saving both Loki and a marriage. Yes, he was filled with a hunger for vengeance, but there was more to him. Perhaps he wouldn’t choose the dark side after all.

She needed to put a firewall around her heart, stat. ’Cause she had no business falling for Luciano Detta.

“How long will it take for you to assemble your gear?”

“A few hours, tops. Once I have my programs working, the second Cruz shows his face in front of a camera, I should be able to trace him.”

“Good. Hopefully it won’t take more than a few days to find him.”

She was going to need every second of those days. First and foremost, she needed the time to cover her tracks, and keep Onyx off her back. Luca might not believe her about Onyx, but to Tess, he was very real.

Then maybe you shouldn’t have told him about Onyx, as if discussing a cooked-up conspiracy.

I was scared!

No, you wanted to come clean but you chickened out when you should’ve told him about your part in the story.

Truer words hadn’t been spoken. Thing was, she had a system of how she dealt with certain situations. When she was pissed, she playedCall of Duty. When she wanted to relax, she hopped on a bike onMario Cart. But this? How was she supposed to prepare for having to face the loathing and hate in Luca’s eyes? The worst thing was that deep in her heart, she knew why she couldn’t tell him the full truth. She wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere between her twenty-second hug and rescuing a cat, she had fallen for Luciano Detta.

Well, crap.

***

All good things truly came to an end.

Tess stared at the little red dot on her screen. It had been less than twenty-four hours, and already the map showed her Cruz’s last location. Her mini-vacation was over.

She put her mug of hot chocolate on her desk. Staring at the screen, her elevated spirit plummeted by the second. It was close to midnight. She still hadn’t mustered up the courage to tell Luca of her role in all the evil that had befallen him.

Another bleep followed. This time, it was on her phone.

King of Spades. Shit.

The last call. Onyx’s last warning to back off.

Tonight might be their last night. Onyx was closing in on her.

Be brave, Tess.

Be the Force.

Don’t live with regret.

Carmen’s words had struck a chord in her. Not being with Luca the way she truly wanted would make her regret it. Forever.

She took a shower and went over to his room. Even though she knew how the night was going to end, she felt nervous. Like she was going to take on the last boss inMortal Combat, and had only half her blood left.

***

Luca was already lying in bed. How convenient.

She took off her bathrobe, which left her totally naked. The smoldering heat that flashed in his eyes assured her he liked what he saw. Another thing she loved about him. He didn’t make her feel self-conscious at all. In all their make out sessions, he had adored her curves and especially her slightly out of proportion butt. According to him, her ass was her best asset.

He dropped the magazine he was reading and watched her sit on the bed next to him.

Her hands automatically went to his chest, then to his arm, sliding all the way back to his stomach. Never before had she considered a man’s body her property, but she did with him. And tonight, she decided to feast on him.

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