I’ll take today with her, formulate the best way to break the news.
Tomorrow, I come clean.
With her and with Gio.
* * *
It’sa sound plan I fall asleep to within seconds.
Except the universe has other, unacceptable ideas because I wake up a mere hour later and my arms—and my bed—are empty.
Panic detonates in my chest as I jackknife out of bed and charge into the hallway.
It’s barely four a.m.
Gio couldn’t have found her so soon.
Besides, my men would’ve let me know.
They may be protecting me from overzealous realtors these days instead of busting kneecaps and burying bodies in landfills, but they are still loyal. I trust them with my—
My thoughts screech to a halt when I see her, fully dressed with her purse slung across her body, her shoes in one hand as she attempts to open the front door.
Thank God I didn’t share the security code with her.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going? You trying to run from me, little girl?”
She jumps and whirls around.
Then she shivers, staring at me with the rabbit-in-headlights look.
Her gaze tracks my body—my very naked, pumped-up-by-panic-and-adrenaline body—and her eyes darken with arousal before she can stop herself.
That reaction, tiny and fleeting, has a huge effect on me.
By the time I cross the room to where she’s standing, I’m fully aroused. Ready to ram home between those soft, firm thighs.
Ready to reclaim what’s mine.
What she just tried to steal away into the night with.
I grab her shoes and toss them away. Same with her purse, which I plan on burning at the first opportunity, it’s so disgusting.
There’s a massive shopping spree in her future, but for now, “I asked you a question. Answer me, angel.”
This close I can smell her sweet scent, just as she can scent the jacked up pheromones pumping high inside me.
Hell, she can probably smell my panic too.
“I thought we…we were done.”
I step closer and spear my fingers into her hair. I gently massage her scalp while I rub my nose against hers.
These tender gestures are in direct contrast to the chaos reigning inside me. To the force of my need for her.
But I’m reminded again that I can’t spook her. I can’t bear her to be any more apprehensive than she already is.
And my voice reflects those feelings when I say, “Oh, angel, we’re far from done. Besides, it’s the middle of the night. What kind of guy would I be to kick a lady out before I feed her breakfast?” Then another emotion twists through me. “Is that what you think of me? That I’m some asshole?”