Page 108 of The Woman on the Jury

“The fuck are you doing?” Cosimo asked.

“Gravity…,” she started, squinting hard. “I don’t know, something about it being a bitch.”

“How the fuck much did you two drink?” Cosimo asked, shaking his head at us.

“A bottle,” I said.

“Each,” Lauren added.

“That explains it,” Cosimo said. “You want a hand?” he asked as Lauren made her way toward the guest room.

“I should help her,” I said, trying to move away from Cosimo, but the floor seemed to wobble, leaving me swaying. Cosimo grabbed me, pulling me to his side.

“She’s got it,” he said as Lauren made it into the room.

He walked me with him to the guest room, where we watched Lauren crawl up onto the bed, where she rolled onto her stomach.

“This… stupid…” she grumbled, reaching up under her shirt, trying to unclasp her bra. “Boobs are stupid,” she decided, giving up, and crawling up to the pillows.

She was out cold in less than a minute.

“The world spinning?” Cosimo asked as I leaned more fully into him as he pulled the door closed.

“You smell good,” I said, closing my eyes.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said.

The next thing I knew, he’d bent down, scooped me up, and carried me upstairs to his bed. Where he stripped me out of the dress, pulled the covers up over me, brought me a cup of water, and urged me to get some sleep.

The last memory I had before sleep claimed me was Cosimo pulling me onto his chest.

It might have been the best night of my life.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Cosimo

I’d never gone to sleep with a woman in my arms.

So I’d never woken up to one there, either.

Honestly, I’d been disoriented for a second, feeling the weight of her on me, the tickle of her hair over my chest, the warmth of her breath on my skin.

But as soon as sleep lessened its hold on me, I felt that strange sensation in my chest. The same one I’d felt each time I was getting close to Halle.

Only this time, I reminded myself that it wasn’t something to shun, to walk away from, to be afraid of.

I told myself that it was a giant ‘Fuck you’ to my father when I pulled her closer, when I pressed my lips to the top of her head.

Silvano had been right.

As much as a part of me hated to admit that.

But each time I acted opposite of how he’d trained me to, I was proving that I wasn’t like him, that I was better than he’d been.

“Oh, turn the jackhammers down,” Halle grumbled a while later, making my lips curve up.

“I’ll get you something for that,” I said, rolling her off to her side, and climbing out of bed.

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