Page 77 of Souls and Sorrows

“Well, I’ve just changed my mind. If you want more, so do I.” Toying with the hem of her top, I knead her soft hips, losing myself in the plush feel of her body. “Why didn’t you want an autopsy done on your father?”

She shrugs. “I just didn’t.”

Liar.I know there’s more to it. Therehasto be. She barely even reacted when they told her he was dead, and while I know every journey of grief is different, this one didn’t line up with Ariana’s personality at all. She was more upset when I shot Ronnie, whom she’s known a month, than she was about Rafael.

Then again, he did say he knew she wouldn’t care.

But I don’t press, unwilling to scare her off when I have her this close.

“The Tallericos?”

Those beautiful hazel eyes narrow just slightly. “No clue.”

My thumbs dig into her hips, and she squirms, trying to dislodge them. All it does is grind her pussy down harder against my cock, and the air constricts in my lungs, making me dizzy.

I try my third question, ending the trifecta of mystery surrounding my stunning, possibly clinically insane wife as she continues holding my own gun beneath my chin.

“And your mother?”

“Why are you so obsessed with her?” She cocks her head, her gaze hardening. “You’re too old for her, you know. Not really her type.”

My eyebrows draw in. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“If you’re interested in my mother the way you’re interested in me, she won’t be able to reciprocate. She likes them young.Reallyyoung and emotionally vulnerable.”

I don’t respond, searching Ariana’s face for a modicum of understanding. The gun is on the back burner now, and I try to remember the conversation about her that I had with Rafael Ricci, attempting to piece together a puzzle that I don’t even have a picture of to go on.

“Sometimes, I think she’s lucky she turned out the way she did, given the mother she was cursed with.”

“Ariana is not what she seems.”

“…couldn’t save her from her mother.”

Chest tight, I meet Ariana’s stare head-on, and for a second, she lets that guard down. A flash of heavy, burdensome emotion flares like lightning, revealing the bitter, broken girl hidden beneath the performer.

When she blinks, it’s gone, replaced once again by flames of stubbornness.

Her free hand falls to my lap, feeling around for the fly.

“I’m done talking,” she says, somehow undoing the zipper with a limited range of motion, keeping the gun on me. “Either fuck me or I’ll pull the trigger.”

A thin smile tugs at the corners of my lips.How the tables have quickly turned.

Again, I acknowledge the fact that she weighs nothing compared to me, and it would be insanely simple to shove her off. I’d have the clip unloaded and her pinned back on the floor before she could say another bratty thing, and we could go home. Put this entire shit night behind us and start new in the morning.

But she needs more, and I no longer want to be the one who denies her what makes her happy.

Even if it’s something I’m not sure how to give her.

23

“You want my cock, Little Nightmare?”My husband’s deep voice rumbles like shredded velvet through my chest, setting my skin on fire. “Take it out then. Get me good and hard and ready for that tight pink pussy of yours.”

Butterflies take flight in my stomach as I slide back to his knees, using my free hand to undo his pants. My breaths come in quick, short gusts, and my heart races like I’m afraid he might change his mind.

The gun is heavy in my palm, and it slips as I lose focus while pulling his cock from behind his zipper. I push the barrel into his chest, attempting to maintain a shred of the threat until he’s fully inside of me and I can be sure he isn’t going to withhold.

Outside, the sky is starting to turn a deep shade of pink, and part of me wonders what happened to Ronnie. I’m sure he’s okay, because we’d likely have heard from him if not, but I’m also not sure what to make of the fact that Cash actually shot him.

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