He narrowed his eyes. “It was your bodyguard that had been killed? Maria, listen to me—”
Placing her hand over his mouth, she stopped him from voicing his concern. “I’m safe. At least I am right this minute, and that’s all that counts. I just don’t want to get into another fight with Lucca or my father when they tell me I won’t be leaving the house until One-Shot is found.”
“One-Shot?” His body tensed at hearing the name.
Her pain and being so comfortable with them had the words slipping out. “The person who’s trying to kill us, one Caruso and Luciano at a time.”
Kayne’s face turned tortured. “Maria ….”
She would be the one tortured if Lucca found out that she was spilling family secrets. Dominic would be right in line behind him.
“Please …,” she begged, shushing him and tiredly laying her head on his chest. “I can’t deal with anything else right now.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking, Maria.”
She raised her face from his chest to look at him. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yes,” he said huskily.
“Do you see us having a future together? Like a normal couple?”
“Nothing about you is normal, Maria Caruso,” he admitted to her softly.
“I could be.” Exasperated, she dropped her head back to his chest, trying to get herself to believe her words.
Kayne lifted her chin with his fingers until she was forced to look at him. “Then you wouldn’t be you.”
About to get off his lap, she had yet to hear the words she wanted to hear. Kayne kept her in place, though, not letting her leave.
“That doesn’t mean I couldn’t see us having a future together. I can see one for us too damn easily; that’s the problem.”
Now that was.
She relaxed back into him with a smile. “I can help you grade papers, decorate your house ….”
He laughed. “What’s wrong with my house?”
“We’ll discuss that another night.” Trying to sweet talk him into telling her that he was falling in love with her when she was half-asleep might not be the brightest idea. “Never mind. It’s very … cozy. And did I mention warm?” She kept her smile, still snuggling against him.
Kayne went back to stroking her hand. “Maria, you’re going to be a lot of work, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” She yawned sleepily, not feeling bad for him and his future one bit. “Now, be quiet. I want to pretend for the rest of the night, just for one night, that my last name isn’t Caruso. Can you do that for me?”
“Can I pretend to be someone else, too?” His whisper could only be heard as the pouring rain suddenly ceased.
“Yes.” She started to drift off. “Who do you want to be?”
“Me. Just me.”
Lifting her into his arms, Kayne carried her to his bedroom. Setting her on her feet, he took off her coat and her shoes, placing them to the side. Then he turned down his bed before lifting her to lay her down on the soft mattress.
Joining her on the bed, he covered them both, wrapping them up in warmth and the façade that they could stay forever like this.
Instead of kissing her like she expected him to do, to send their pretend perfect world into another dimension, he used an arm to hook around her neck, placing her beautiful head back on his shoulder. Quietly, they lay next to each other, motionless, their breathing slowing, the emotional turmoil of the last week easing so that she actually got a full breath that wasn’t filled with sorrow about Leo.
Maria had expected him to kiss her.
He didn’t.
She had expected him to seduce her.
He didn’t.
As night fell, she wanted to stay awake, but her body and mind wouldn’t let her. She wanted to make love with him, like she had in her dream, but with a better ending this time—her satisfied and without Dominic cutting in.
Tonight, it was just about them and new beginnings. A new beginning that she didn’t give a damn about what Lucca or Dominic thought about her relationship with Kayne. She was going to create a new world just for them, and neither Lucca nor Dominic would be allowed inside.
“This is nice,” she mumbled, rolling to her other side to give him her back so he could hold her tightly from behind. She was downright toasty and started falling asleep; it felt so fucking good. Promising herself she would be here like this every night, it was worth every Christian Louboutin shoe she had. Hell, it was worth giving up her walk-in closet.
Kayne twirled a lock of her hair around his broken pinky. “Tell me something you’ve never told anyone else.”
Maria thought for several moments, listening to the proud heartbeat behind her head. Lowering her voice to a mere whisper, she said something she had never thought she would say. “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told another soul on this earth ….”