Page 36 of Undeniable

“How was your day?” I ask them, trying to lighten the mood.

“Good,” Alessandro says as he wipes his tearstained cheeks one more time before popping up and giving me a hug.

Tasha slowly stands up and looks at me questioningly, like she is asking if I heard what they were talking about. I give her a meaningful look that promises we will be talking later. She seems to understand and nods before heading inside.

I invite Tasha to stay for dinner, and by dinner, I mean takeout. After we finish dinner and I get Alessandro tucked into bed, I come down the stairs to find Tasha curled up in the corner of the couch messing with the edge of her sleeve.

“Hey,” I say as I walk over and sit a few feet away from her.

She looks a little startled, like she was deep in her thoughts before I came in.

“Hi,” she says with a small smile.

I clasp my hands together as I lean my arms against my knees. I am running through possible ways to talk about my dead wife when she breaks the silence.

“Your wife died protecting Alessandro?”

I sigh and nod. “It was almost 7 years ago. Alessandro was just a baby.”

“Do you mind if I ask what happened?” She asks tentatively.

I pause for a moment before I continue. “Some men broke in, shot her. Would have killed Alessandro too if she hadn’t hidden him.”

I hear a small gasp and look up to see her bright eyes glassy with unshed tears. Empathy is literally pouring off of her as she scoots over and laces her fingers with mine. I stiffen for a moment before I relax and squeeze her hand.

“Were they robbers, or…” She trails off, watching me patiently.

I decide to go for a partial truth when I say, “I think they had been casing the place for a while. I left for work and within 10 minutes my life was changed forever.”

“I am so sorry that you had to go through that,” she says passionately as she scoots in a little closer until our thighs are flush.

“I carry the guilt with me every day. The guilt that I didn’t protect my wife, the guilt that my son has to grow up without a mother, all because I wasn’t there.”

“You couldn’t have known-”

“I should have. I should have taken precautions, been more aware. I will never be complacent about my family’s safety ever again,” I say as I look deep into her eyes.

I know I meant Alessandro, but for some reason a small part of me thinks that I was referring to her also. Whatever comes from us is irrelevant, she is important to Alessandro…and I think to me too.

“That is all you can do, learn from your mistakes and make sure you are never put in a situation like that again.”

She speaks with a haunted look as she turns away. Telling me that there is a lot more to her than meets the eye. I squeeze her hand which brings her attention back to me and she quickly masks whatever deep emotion she is feeling right now as she gives me a practiced smile. Can’t bullshit a bullshitter though.

“I don’t know what this is, between us. But honestly, I am tired of trying to ignore it. I can’t. From the moment I met you I have felt this-”

“Pull,” she finishes with a nod. “I feel it too. I have a better understanding of where you are coming from now and it makes a little more sense about the other night. You don’t want to move on, and I don’t want you to feel like I am forcing you to do so. Honestly, I don’t know if I am capable of much more than this,” she says as she waves her hand around.

I breathe a sigh of relief that we are on the same page. Because I definitely don’t want to take a step backwards and go back to not being able to touch her or kiss her, but I also don’t know if I could ever be committed to someone again like I was with Izzy. But Luca is right, whatever happens down the road doesn’t matter, for now, I just want to be happy. And this woman does that.

“Good. Because I can’t keep my hands off of you a second longer,” I say as I grip her narrow hips and lift her up until she is straddling my lap.

She lets out a little yelp of surprise before her hands grasp my shoulders. I instantly grab the back of her neck and pull her down to me. I capture her lips quickly and she eagerly greets me, her tongue softly brushing against mine. I groan as I pull her closer to me and my cock springs to life under the weight of her.

Her full lips skim across my beard before trailing down my neck. My fingers dig into her sides as I try to refrain from stripping her naked right here and now. But as her pussy grinds up against my hard cock and she lets out a breathy little moan I know that there is no holding me back any longer.

I flip us so she is laying down on the couch before I snake her jeans off of her sexy hips. When I see that she isn’t wearing any panties my mouth waters before I lean down and let my tongue trail along her seam.

Tasha gasps as her hand grips my hair. “Oh my god. Again.”

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