Page 87 of Auctioned Innocence
Her mouth under mine, desperate and perfect.
The way she’d said my name like a prayer, like salvation.
The feel of her body pressed against me, all heat and want.
Christ.
What have I done?
Marco’s voice echoes in my head:Keep her safe, even from yourself.
The promise I made.
The line I swore I’d never cross.
And last night I’d shattered it completely, taken what I had no right to take.
She shifts in my arms, unconsciously seeking warmth, and my body responds instantly.
Even now, with guilt eating me alive, I want her.
Want to finish what we started in that godforsaken motel room.
Want to taste her again, touch her, claim her in ways that would make Marco put a bullet in my head.
And he’d be right to.
She’s twenty-two.
Twenty-two.
I’ve been killing for longer than she’s been making her own decisions.
I’ve seen things, done things that would give her nightmares.
I’m blood and violence wrapped in expensive suits, and she’s…she’s everything good about the world her family’s built.
But the way she’d looked at me, the way she’d whispered, “Don’t you think we should live tonight?” like she was offering me salvation instead of damnation…
My phone buzzes against the nightstand, saving me from thoughts that lead nowhere good.
Reality crashes back.
I check the caller ID on the ultra-secure burner I’ve kept hidden for years—my deepest contact, the one no one close to me knows about.
This phone runs on a completely different network, purchased with cash under a dead man’s identity.
If Marco knew I kept communication channels he wasn’t aware of, he’d probably kill me himself.
But paranoia has kept me alive this long.
“Report,” I say in a low tone.
“Got something big.” His voice is tense, urgent. “This goes higher than we thought. Way higher.”
My blood turns to ice. “How high?”
“Council level. Maybe beyond. Someone’s been accessing classified files for months. Family security protocols, safe house locations, even old case files about the Calabrese operations.”
