Page 78 of Taming Seraphine

LEROI

Defiance blazes in Seraphine’s cornflower blue eyes, and I’m glad to see the flames. It’s a change from the sullen girl who stopped communicating with me in the shooting range.

She’s right. I shut down after her second orgasm, but I had to pull back. Since we left Fiori’s, I’ve been haunted by her panting breaths and her delectably sweet scent.

Everything about her draws me in, and it had taken every effort not to fuck her on that kitchen counter into a third climax.

“You owe me an apology,” she snaps.

“And I told you to lose the attitude.” Wrapping a hand around her throat, I run the pad of my thumb over the line of her jaw, where her skin is the softest velvet.

Her pupils dilate, and her full lips part with a gasp. Seraphine is so beautiful and breakable that all I want to do is lean in for a kiss. “Drop the attitude, angel. If anyone needs to apologize, it’s you.”

This little brat is testing my limits. I can’t forget that beneath her pretty exterior is an untamed serial killer. I’m playing with fire, knowing that I’ll get burned, yet I can’t resist the heat.

She rears back. “What for?”

“Jumping out of the car without permission and letting Fiori know you were alive. He could have raised the alarm. The little stunt you pulled with the lighter fluid could have set us all alight.”

She scowls, her chin rising. “You’re exaggerating. Gabriel can’t afford to wait around while we follow your convoluted plans.”

At the reminder of her brother, any excitement I had about taming Seraphine dwindles, and my gaze falters. I can’t let her think that her only living family member is being held in an unknown basement with no food or water. Hell, I’m already keeping enough secrets from her.

“What?” she asks.

“Your brother is safe,” I say, my grip on her neck loosening.

“How would you know that?” She clutches at my forearm.

“It’s something Joseph Di Marco said,” I mutter.

“Tell me.” Her fingers tighten around my wrist.

I exhale. “Di Marco said that Gabriel donated part of his liver to Capello.”

She gasps, her eyes widening, her bottom lip trembling, and her palm presses against my chest. “That’s not true. Gabriel wouldn’t. He’s terrified of needles?—”

“I don’t think your brother really had a choice,” I mutter.

“We have to find him.” She shoves hard, trying to push me backward, but I cup her cheek.

“Miko is already searching all hospitals in the area,” I say. “We’ll find your brother. Right now, you have to trust that he’s safe.”

“How, when they’ve taken his liver?” she wails.

“Seraphine.” I place both hands on her shoulders and squeeze hard enough to recapture her attention. When her gaze meets mine again, I continue. “The surgeon would have taken a piece of Gabriel’s liver to give to Capello. After a few weeks, it regenerates to its original size.”

Her brows pull together, and she gazes up at me with glistening eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I slide my fingers through her silken strands and cradle the back of her head. “I’m telling you this because Capello wanted to keep Gabriel alive and well for future transplants.”

“More?”

I nod, my throat clogging with regret. If I’d known, I would have kept that bastard alive for long enough to extract the stolen liver. “There was a second transplant two years ago, but Gabriel would have already recovered from that. He’s safe now. We just need to find him.”

Her eyes flutter shut, and she flops forward, her head leaning against my chest. I wrap an arm around her shoulders. Seraphine spent five years forced to murder men because her mother cheated on a cheater. Her brother paid the price with his liver, not once, but twice, because his father is a bastard.

The underworld is a cesspool of backstabbers, killers, and sorry motherfuckers who would sell their own grandmothers to fuel their personal demons. Despite this, I’ve never heard of two innocent people suffering so much for the sins of their parents.

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