Page 40 of Dark Consequences

Enzo’s phone beeps, and he glances at it before softly smiling. “Got to go. Duty calls.”

“Is that Evie’s nickname now?” I laugh while I walk over to the bench press.

As he leaves the gym, Enzo mimics my laughter in a mocking tone, telling me I touched a sore spot.

I’m sliding weights onto the barbell and getting ready to do a set when there’s a soft knock on the door.

“Lily,” I say her name with a smile when I see her standing in the doorway.

“Hi.” She’s been a little shy all morning, which is kind of cute in an endearing sort of way.

“Did you need something?” I consider reaching for my discarded shirt but throw the thought out when I catch her eyes running down the length of my chiseled and slightly damp chest. The gray sweatpants I’m wearing hide little, not that I’m little in that way, so when her eyes snag on the outline of my dick, her face explodes red as she bites on her bottom lip. Which only makes my dick jerk in my pants.

Jesus. The hold this woman has on me. I’m very sure that the moment she touches my cock, I’ll come like a teenage boy being touched for the very first time. It’ll be embarrassing as hell, but nothing I can’t fix with a mind-blowing orgasm. Or three.

“Um, I still have nothing for Christmas, and I don’t want to arrive empty-handed. Especially since your family has gone out of their way to buy presents for Mei and me…and then there’s your...gift from last night.” Lily shrugs, trying her damnedest to avoid my eyes and body. “I don’t know. I just want to do something nice after...I don’t know, something normal I guess.”

I can think of a few nice things she can give me, but I’ll keep those thoughts to myself…for now.

“How about this?” I wait until she looks up at me and smile reassuringly at her. “After I finish my workout, we can order whatever you want.”

“Are you sure? I don’t have any money to give you or anything—” She stops abruptly and wrings her hands together.

“If you are about to offer your body to me, I don’t want that either,” I tell her. “Not in exchange for a favor at least…as tempting as that is.”

She blushes hard. “I-I…Raphael, I—”

An idea comes to mind, and I interrupt her. “Actually, there is something you can give me.”

“Okay,” she says hesitantly.

“A kiss under the mistletoe?”

Lily smiles softly. “I can do that.”

“Good. Now, will you come over here and spot me?”

She raises a brow. “Spot you?”

“Yes. You stand behind me and be there in case I need help.”

Her eyes take in the number of weights on the bar. “Raphael, isn’t a spotter supposed to be able to lift the same weight? There’s no way I could help you if you needed it.”

She’s not wrong. And to be honest, I didn’t need a spotter. I’m lifting a weight I’m comfortable with, but it’s giving me an excuse to keep her near.

“Then how about you act as inspiration?”

Lily shakes her head with an exasperated sigh but pushes off the doorway anyway and approaches. I lean back and slide beneath the silver barbell as Lily comes around to stand behind me. She stares down at me, fighting back a smile, but I don’t because it feels like I’ve won.

Feeding off the energy between us, I wink up at her, which breaks through her defenses. The most beautiful smile stretches across her face, framed by her blond hair. From this angle, with the room’s light behind her, she looks like an angel.

“You’re trouble, aren’t you, Raphael?” She whispers on a breath. It’s there in the depths of her ocean-blue eyes that reveal the woman fighting to return, and I can’t wait to meet her when she does.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea.”

20

Lily

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