Page 75 of Taken By the Mafia King
“No.”
He laid me in bed. I didn’t resist. The cool touch of the blankets made me shiver despite the heat rushing over my skin at his touch.
The room seemed to spin as I fought to keep my eyes open, the memory of the night already fuzzy.
“I’m going to feel like hell tomorrow,” I said to myself but flinched when a sound I’d never heard filled the room around me.
Killian laughed. A real, honest laugh. It was deep and smoky like his usual voice, but there was something else to it that briefly brought me back to reality. I vaguely felt him undoing the straps of my heels and the sheets being tugged from beneath me.
“Yeah, you will. Get some sleep.”
“Wait.” I held out a hand but met nothing but air. I lifted my head enough to see his shadowed figure lingering in the doorway. His eyes, that strange pale blue color that haunted my dreams, shimmered in the moonlight as his hand dropped from the doorknob. “Killian.”
“What, Sera?”
I tried to sit up to see him better but couldn’t. “Thank you for taking me out tonight. It’s been so long.” It hadn’t exactly been a date, but after being in captivity, the evening had been electrifying.
He gave a slight nod. “If you behave yourself, you’ll be awarded more privileges.”
The room started to spin, so I shut my eyes and let my head fall back on the pillow. “That was a lot of words.”
“Stick to wine,tesoro.” I heard the door begin to shut, his footsteps nearly silent on the carpeted floor.
“What do I do now?” I whispered. It was a silent question, one meant only for me to hear. I was on the cusp of falling into a gin and vermouth fueled stupor when I heard Killian take an audible breath.
“You’re a Bianchi,mia cara. That family was once a pillar of strength and unity. Warriors. Mercenaries. That’s in you. What you do with it is your choice.”
The door closed, and his words lingered in the air like some strange siren song that spoke directly to my heart as I drifted off to sleep. Maybe he hadn’t even said it. It felt too real, kind, and encouraging to have come from his lips.
I knew before my heart began to slow into sleep that I wouldn’t remember this night.
But I prayed I’d at least remember his laugh. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever hear it again.
CHAPTER 54
KILLIAN
Olivia lingered in the hallway as I left Sera’s room, her doll-like face slightly pale in the moonlight.
I hooked a thumb over my shoulder. “Leave some aspirin and water out for her, maybe a bucket.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “What did you do to that poor girl?”
“I took her to Diavola,” I said in passing.
Olivia’s faint curse drifted through the hallway before she disappeared into Sera’s room. I smiled and checked my watch as I walked through the near silent corridors of my home.
It was almost three in the morning. I should have just gone to bed, but Sera had effectively worked me up enough that sleep wouldn’t come easily. A cold shower was what I really needed, but I passed Tommaso’s room and noticed the door was slightly ajar. I looked inside, seeing his bed untouched.
After a quick look around, I found him in my office. “What’s keeping you up?” I asked as I sat down at my desk.
The crackling fire cast dancing shadows over Tommaso’s face as he sipped from a glass of whiskey near the hearth. “Alonzo called from the safehouse an hour ago. I didn’t want to disturbyou with it,” his eyes flickered with brief amusement, “if you were otherwise occupied.”
I arched my brows and leaned back in my desk chair. Tommaso shifted his weight in his seat, his brow knitting in pain with the movement. Still healing, I’d taken him out of the field for a while. I would need him at full strength—and likely soon by the look on his face.
“What did Alonzo find out this time?” I asked.
Alonzo was effectively out from underneath the De Luca family and had been absorbed into mine, but he had his ways to gather intel on his old boss.
