Page 25 of Born into Mayhem
“I think I’m probably healed enough,” she says, like the little temptress she is, but she’s not the one in charge right now, no matter how badly she wants to believe she is.
Resting my hand close to her head, I lean down and run my fingers very slowly up her stomach, dipping into the navel that I’m surprised she hasn’t pierced yet, and then up to where she’s still playing with her tit. I trace the small curve of her breast, joining my fingers with hers just long enough to tease her nipple until she lets out a needy whimper that nearly breaks through my resolve.
Her lips part when I lean closer. Her mouth is a temptation unlike anything I’ve ever known, but if I kiss her, then I’ll never be able to stop. Avoiding her pouty mouth, I graze my nose along her cheek, savoring the feel of her skin against mine, even if it is only the smallest of touches.
“You are going to be the end of me,” I tell her in Italian, feeling her breath hitch when the heat of my words hits her neck. I allow myself exactly three more seconds before I stand back up, putting space between us. “You can sleep here tonight. I’ll text Sasha and let him know you’re safe and that he needs to cover for you.”
I turn and start to walk away, only stopping at the door when she calls my name. Turning, I nearly groan at how gorgeous she looks. My bed nearly swallows her up, and the look she’s giving me is a mix of so many different things. She’s fighting the urge to yell at me for telling her what to do, she’s still so turned on she can barely think, and underneath all that is the lingering insecurity about what happened tonight in the warehouse.
She pushes all that aside and says, “Thanks for helping me and for taking care of my arm.”
I nod and switch off the light. Before I shut the door, I say, “Goodnight,streghetta mia.I’ll be here when you wake.”
Forcing myself to keep the door shut, I walk downstairs, every step putting some much-needed distance between me and the pierced, half-naked eighteen-year-old in my bed. I don’t waste time in grabbing a glass and pouring myself a drink as I text a message to Sasha, letting him know his sister is safe and sleeping here tonight.
I’m not all that surprised when his response is:Let me in. I’m standing outside.
Keeping my drink in hand, I open the front door to see Mia’s brother on my doorstep. I trained Sasha long enough to know a few things about the man, and one of those things is that you never let your guard down around him. I know he follows a strict set of rules for his life and that he sees me as being firmly on theyou’re not allowed to killside of things, but I also know that could change. Our families are united by the marriage of my cousin to his sister, so Sasha’s family ties to me are loose, and I’ve always been very aware of that.
“You want a drink?” I ask him as he walks into my house and makes himself at home.
“You know I don’t drink,” he says, grabbing a coke from my fridge and ignoring the whiskey. Instead of taking a seat, he sits his ass on my nice marble countertop. Sasha isn’t small like his little sister. He’s six-five with broad shoulders and a body that’s nothing but lean, hard muscle. It’s impossible for him to just slink into a room. He walks in and immediately owns the damn thing.
Taking another drink, I lean back against the island, refusing to be intimidated by the much younger man whose mind doesn’t work like anyone else’s I’ve ever met. I imagine this is what it feels like to be in a room with a lion. My gut is telling me to not make any sudden movements and to hope like hell he didn’t show up here hungry.
“Your sister is fine,”I tell him.
“I know she is.” He holds up his phone. “She texted me from your bed.”
His light blue eyes study mine, and it’s damn hard to not look away. There’s no way to tell what he’s thinking, so I don’t even bother trying to guess. I just wait, enduring his intense scrutiny until he finally says, “What’s going on between you two?”
“Nothing,” I tell him, watching as everything remains frozen aside from a slight raising of his eyebrow in an obvious show of disbelief. “Nothing has happened,” I say again, deciding he doesn’t need to know that I’d just been lightly tugging on his sister’s nipple piercing less than fifteen minutes ago.
“But you want it to.” The tone makes it clear it’s not a question, so I don’t attempt to answer it. His intense stare doesn’t let up, and I refuse to cave under it. Very little in life intimidates me, but Sasha manages to put me on edge when he gives me his full undivided attention like he is right now.
After several more tense minutes, I finally say, “I don’t know what you want from me, Sasha. I’m not going to hurt her.”
“If I thought for one second that was a possibility, you’d already be dead.”
My body grows tense at his casual response. “Don’t forget I’m the one who taught you. I won’t be that easy to kill.”
The corner of Sasha’s mouth lifts up again. “You’d put up a good fight, but I’d get you in the end. We both know it’s true.”
“You’re fucking crazy,” I tell him, but he just grins. It takes a lot to offend Sasha. He has the kind of confidence that comes with knowing he could kill every single person around him. It’s not a cocky swagger kind of confidence but more of a quiet one. I’ve learned over the years that he’s always in control. I’ve never seen him lose it, and I never want to. A truly unhinged and unchecked Sasha is not something I want to be around. I’m not so sure anyone would survive it. He has rules, but in order to follow them, it requires him to be in control.
“I don’t know what’s going on between you and my sister, but youknow as well as I do that Mia is a tenacious little thing. She’s decided she wants you.” He gives a small shrug like that makes it a done deal.
“I do have a say in this,” I tell him.
He laughs and finishes off his coke. “You keep telling yourself that. If you’re smart, you won’t let my dad find out. He already lost one daughter to your family. He’s not going to want to lose another.”
I don’t comment on what he’s just said, not wanting to acknowledge or think about what I’m feeling for Mia and how that might affect our future. Instead, I watch Sasha throw away his coke and then check his phone before he looks back over at me.
“Was she upset about tonight?”
“She was,” I say, and then add, “You could’ve eased her into that a bit more, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I sometimes forget she’s not like me. She’s never backed down from anything, so I push her harder than I should. She did well, though. Most people would’ve freaked out, but all she did was hesitate.”
