Page 116 of King of Omen

When I was done eating, I took my plate to the sink. Lorenzo stood up and rested a hand on the handle of my suitcase.

‘Ready, bella?’ he asked, his voice a deep, husky rumble that sent shivers down my spine.

I nodded.

Whatever came next, I vowed never to forget these last few days.

The weeks I spent cocooned with Lorenzo, Mauri, and Lupo stretched my experience and brought back love and family to my world.

He reached his free hand to me, and I took it.

Our fingers entwined as he led my luggage and me out of the kitchen and through the corridor to the open front door.

Outside, a late model SUV purred at the bottom of the steps, waiting for me.

‘Mauri will drive you home, and one of our Mancini capo hires will follow with your van.’

Lorenzo’s words were final, his plan irrefutable.

Sighing, I rolled my eyes, exasperated at how assertive and brash he could be.

I served him with a side-eye, and he raised a brow, amused. ‘My way is the only way, cara,’ growling, with a glint in his eye.

I shook my head in fake annoyance and slipped into the SUV.

Just before he closed the door on me, he leaned in and delivered a hard, bruising kiss. It shifted into a soft and tender brush of my lips as he whispered, ‘You are mine, cara, and I’ll go to the ends of the earth for you. Never forget that.’

LORENZO

When she was out of sight, I sucked my teeth, my soul despondent.

I tracked back inside to my office, where I pretended to work for a few minutes.

Finally, I gave in and searched upstairs for the one thing that calmed me.

I located my suitcase in a storage cupboard and rooted around its interior for the crushed bundle I had balled up and thrown within its confines.

I found it with a sigh, pulled the now wrinkled envelope to my nose, and breathed in deep.

It was uncanny how the faint scent of her soothed me.

Even after all these weeks, it still had the desired effect.

Like I’d done many times before, I smoothed the envelope and eased out the letter, reading it with hungry eyes.

Biting my lip, I stood, suppressing the need to call Mauri and order him and her back to me.

Fuck Mia.

I was so in love with her.

MIA

All the way back to my apartment, I drifted into a dreamlike state, filled with a sense of belonging and completeness that I had never experienced.

The high lasted to my front door.

With Mauri muscling ahead of me, I eased into the quiet entrance.

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