Page 57 of Corrupted Deception

Was he asking for coffee? Or was he asking if I wanted coffee? Someone had brewed a fresh pot recently, it seemed.

“I’ll get it,” I said, rather than asking for clarification.

I filled two mugs from the cupboard labeled ‘mugs’, and set one down in front of him with the sugar bowl and cream.

“Grazie,” he said with a warm smile while his eyes watched me appraisingly.

“You don’t really look like you cut answers out of people for a living,” I mused aloud rather than in my head.Oops.

He chuckled and then took a sip from his mug.

“I’m sorry,” I said with a semi-apologetic shrug. “Sometimes my mouth runs faster than my filter.”

“It’s quite all right,Signorina.In fact, I’m glad to hear it.”

“You are?”

“Si. There is more than one side to a person, don’t you think?”

“Some people, I suppose,” I said, sitting down on the stool at the end of the bar. I’d seen plenty of people who were just evil through-in-through, in my opinion.

He nodded at the same time Cielo walked into the kitchen with Ray on his heels.

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he said to Aurelio.

“Of course,Signor,” Aurelio replied as he set down the coffee mug and stood up like he was ready to get to work.

Ray abandoned Cielo and made a beeline for me, hiding behind my stool and getting a little growly.

Cielo followed, but it caught me completely off guard when he put his hands around my waist and dragged me up onto my feet. He swept in so fast, my brain hadn’t yet caught up when his lips covered mine in a kiss that was like a brand, hot and possessive.

It was over before I’d decided whether to bite him or kiss him back and he was setting me down on the stool.

“Stay put,tempesta,” he said in a tone that brooked no refusal.

Ignoring the tingling lips and lava swirling around low in my abdomen, I cocked an eyebrow at him. “If you think I’m just going to mindlessly obey you, you’re out of your mind,” I told him quite rationally.

His eyes flickered with challenge as he leaned in closer. “You can promise me you’ll stay put or I can tie you up, if you prefer. I don’t mind spending the day picturing all the things I’ll do to your bound body when I get back,” he threatened, heedless of Aurelio’s presence.

“If you leave me tied up here, all you’re going to find when you get back is an angry woman with a very loaded gun,” I shot back even as the tingling sensation in my lips branched out and started running like current along my skin.

Cielo shook his head slowly as he leaned in more until his lips were right next to my ear. “I let you point a gun at me once,” he whispered.“Do it again, and I’ll have to cover your fine ass in my handprints to teach you a lesson.”

My hands curled into fists as my pussy pulsed with desire. I kind of wanted to hit him and fuck him at the same time. At the moment, I’d settle for savagely raking my nails down his back while he fucked me right here on the breakfast bar.

But since we had an audience…

“You were in a hurry to leave, weren’t you?” I asked in an offhanded tone.

His lips twitched. “Something like that. But you need to bring Aurelio up to speed, Charlotte. It is in both our best interests. The sooner we find out what happened to your father, the sooner you get him back and the sooner my family can seek out the vengeance we deserve,si?And right now, you’re missing something,” he said, all signs of humor gone.

“What do you mean I’m missing something?” I asked, sitting up straighter as the ember of hope in my chest sparked up. Fuck pride and self-sufficiency. If he had something that would bring me even one step closer to finding my dad, I was all ears.

Cielo shrugged.“Silva, Marín Lucianos,Los Cazadores Sangrientos…”He shook his head. “If Silva caught your father unaware, I’m sorry, but he could have put a bullet in his head and been done with it. He didn’t need the cartel to do his dirty work, and he’s well-insulated. It would have been difficult for you to get to him even if he shouted what he’d done from the rooftops.”

He had a point, one I’d been forced to consider and dismiss repeatedly because it led to an end I refused to contemplate.

“All these leaks and agreements and emails…” he said, tapping his fingers against his thigh. “It amounts to far too many cogs, too much noise obscuring the picture.”

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