Page 29 of The Italian Reckoning
How is it that the same man has saved me twice? Is it terrible that I wish I’d met him sooner? If he’d been around five years ago, then maybe…
Motorcycle guy moves suddenly as one hand vanishes behind his hip, then he pulls out a black handgun that glints dangerously in the light. Despite every sensible thought in my mind screaming at how dangerous this is, I don’tfeelit. My heart is calming, albeit very slowly, and even the pressure in my head from the fall is easing. I don’t feel like I’m in danger despite how I’m in a secluded park with a man and his gun.
The safety flicks off with a snap, and the nerves across my shoulders jump in anticipation.
He lifts the weapon, and my heart leaps into my throat.
Motorcycle guy lifts his gun skyward and shoots out the streetlight above us, sending the world into complete darkness other than the lights blinking on his motorcycle. His helmet clatters against the ground near my feet and then suddenly, one strong arm winds around my waist.
Hidden beneath a blanket of darkness, warm, soft lips crash against mine as Motorcycle Guy kisses me.
11
ROCKY
It’s a risk. A stupid, spur of the moment, desperate risk half to distract her and stop her from talking and half to satisfy my curiosity about what she tastes like. It’s a stroke of luck that she didn’t try to arrest me the second I pulled out my gun.
But I’ve done it.
I’ve kissed her.
She stands frozen in my arms for half a second, and just when I’m considering that this might be a step too far, Sarah kisses me back. She has absolutely no idea who I am, yet she’ll stand with me in this dark parking lot with light sparks raining down from the light I shot and kiss me.
For the first time in a long time, my mind goes quiet.
There’s no noise, no rampant thoughts, no nervous energy bleeding out through the repetitive movement of my leg or my fingers tapping together.
There’s just… silence.
My pulse quickens as Sarah shifts against me, but she’s only tilting her head to better align our lips. Her soft breath rushes over my cheek as our lips part for just a second, then we’relocked back together and that deep sense of silent peace spreads down my body like a trickle of rainwater.
She’s shorter than me so it’s almost too easy to lean over her and use the kiss to force her head to tilt backward, but she doesn’t fight it. Soft fingertips caress my jaw, then sweep around to bury in my hair. Her other hand rests on the crock of my elbow, and as I dip her backward slightly, she steps into me by placing a leg between mine.
I tighten my arm around her waist until we’re perfectly aligned and deepen the kiss, running my tongue along the seam of her lips. She whimpers softly, a sound barely reaching my ears through the pulse drum racing around my body. Applying the slightest pressure, her lips part for me, and I lick slowly into the heat of her mouth. Cupping her face, I keep my touch away from her injured ear and caress her cheek as my tongue delves deeper and deeper into her mouth.
Sarah shifts against me and her grip tightens in my hair, sending a thrill of heat lancing down my torso where it settles in my lower belly.
Fuck.
In this moment, nothing else matters.
My mind and my world are at peace with her in my arms.
I kiss her until there’s no air left in my lungs, until I have nothing left to give but a soft, gasping press of my lips and a caress of her lower back.
We break apart and she gasps, lifting a hand to her lips. Then I leave her there, standing in the parking lot, and race away with my helmet in hand before her eyes can adjust to the darkness and show her who I really am.
If she knew I was Rocky Barati, she would never touch me, never mind give a kiss like that.
Fucking hell.
By the time I pull up the driveway to home, the noise is back and worse than ever.
The strange, peaceful silence Sarah granted me with a single touch seems to have amplified the loudness of the brain noise I contend with on the daily. I’m always alert, always running scenarios through my mind to keep my family and my people safe, calculating the next business move that my father will never let me take, evaluating our relationships with other families including those outside of the Italian circles. And on top of that, my mind is constantly noise about therightthing to do to keep on my father’s good side and I’m already pushing that with Sarah.
Matteo’s fist collides with my jaw the second I walk into the study with more strength than a man his age should possess. It floors me completely and ironically silences the anxious rush of thoughts in my mind.
“Ow.”
