Page 91 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

Eventually he’d have to let me go.

“Watch me.” Gio turned to walk towards a door on the right side of the room and waved over his shoulder. “Sweet dreams.”

He waved over his shoulder. “Sweet dreams.”

“What the hell do you mean sweet dreams. I’m still tied up asshole.”

This mother…

My teeth ground as he disappeared inside and closed the door behind him.

Murder was definitely in the cards tonight. I just had to figure out how to get my hands free first.

GIOVANNI

Adrenaline rolled through my chest as my feet pounded on the pavement, giving me that exertion ache in my calves I craved so much.

I loved this feeling. The steady pulse of my heart beating against my ribs, while the cool morning breeze brushed over my skin. It was freeing and satisfying. But not quite as satisfying as torturing Novalee Ford. Watching her eyes fill with hate while she squirmed underneath me was quickly becoming one of my favorite past times.

Her frustration was addictive. I couldn’t keep my hands off her. Her pretty little pussy was personal play thing until well past midnight. She was pissed when I finally rolled over and went to sleep.

I didn’t know someone so small could growl that loud. If her hands weren’t bound, I probably wouldn’t have woken up the next morning. But I did. That was the disturbing part.

Not once did I wake up covered in a cold sweat from the horrors that haunted my mind. I slept through the night. I had a restful sleep. I never did that. I didn’t even know the meaning of restful. My dreams were broken images of the past. There was no peace when I closed my eyes. Just death and blood.

Until last night, when Nova was lying beside me.

I rounded the cypress trees at the end of the driveway and jogged up to the house.

All morning I’d been trying to outrun the warmth of her body curled up next to mine. I pushed past my five-mile limit, yet the soft scent of her fruity shampoo was still there. Following every step. No matter how hard I ran, I couldn’t escape the sweet flavor of her ecstasy lingering in the back of my throat.

Leaning my shoulder against one of the pillars by the front door, I took a second to catch my breath. I couldn’t bring myself to go inside. She was in there. Sleeping in my room.

She should’ve been in Atlas’s old room, but for some reason, I took her to mine. Instead of going left, I turned right. And I had no idea why? I didn’t know last night, and I didn’t know now.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. There was time. I could still break her in Atlas’s room. Yet every time I thought about moving her, she’d give me a sneer or open her big fucking mouth, and I couldn’t do it.

It was almost like I wanted to be around her or something? No, that couldn’t be it. I just wanted to punish her. That was it. And that was easier to do when she was right there.

It wasn’t like I wanted to keep her or anything. I just wanted to play with her. Novalee was nothing more than a means to an end. A fun little toy I could discard when I was done. Right?

My mind went back to the look on her face when I held up my knife. Complete and utter terror. I loved that shit. Fear was an aphrodisiac for someone like me. But the way Gio looked carved into her perfect skin…

I got hard just thinking about it. I branded her and I wanted to do it again. I wanted to put my name on every inch of her sweet body. May be I did want to keep her?

Fuck.

“Good morning, Gio.”

Are you fucking kidding me?

Sighing, I turned my attention to the blonde waltzing around the side of the house. “Carissa, what are you doing here?”

Typically she didn’t get out of bed until at least noon.

“I don’t know.” She twirled her hand dismissively. “There’s a meeting or something I guess.”

That would explain why Dominic Barone and Antonio Fiore’s cars were parked in the driveway. If I hadn’t been so lost in my own head, I might’ve thought more about it.

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