Page 107 of Attraction (Mobsters + Billionaires 3)
“I’m not hurt. Are you okay?” he asks, pulling back, looking deep into my eyes.
Before I can answer, his brow arches as his hand comes to my face. “Look at these bruises. And is this superglue on your cuts?”
“Kinda? It’s medical grade and waterproof. Anthony brought it over. I think he did a pretty good job, don’t you?”
Luca hangs his head,and I pull him closer.
“I’m so sorry you got hurt,” he whispers. “You must have been so afraid.”
“Ciaran said he was going to finish the job.”
Luca steps back, looking off to the side, his jaw practically creaking from the tension.
“Luca, why are you pulling away from me?”
“I have brought nothing but danger into your life. Let’s be real. What happened in Brooklyn was child’s play next to what happened tonight.”
“Yeah, but O’Shea was somebody who’d been after me for a long time. That wasn’t because of you. You saved me from him.”
He shakes his head. “That might not have been my fault, but the Byrne brothers were the reason he was at the masquerade, and they’re definitely on me.”
“Have you been going after them? Are they getting you back for something you did?”
“No. They think I’m weak because I decided I’m going to be the kind of mafioso who helps people the way it was intended.”
“And where are the Byrne brothers now?” I ask, looking him in the eye. “Tell me the absolute truth. I want you to trust me with that.”
He swallows, then his eyes meet mine. Cold steel wrapped in warmth. “Shot in the head, rolled up in blankets, wrapped in duct tape, hiding in the back of a delivery vehicle parked in the garage below.”
I hum to myself. “So what you’re saying is…they were wrong. You’renotweak, every single one of their plans against you has failed, and that’s one more family who decided to try you and lost. It’s like you said. You’reruthlesswhen it comes to protecting the people you love. The rest of the families know it too.”
“Why are you okay with this?”
I shake my head. “I’m not okay with it—I just don’t have any control over it. I’m in love with a man surrounded by violence, and I depend on him and the people in his organization to keep me safe. All I know is that everything you do comes from the right place. I see it, and I want more of it.”
“But you’re so good.”
I roll my eyes.Ouch.“So are you,asshole. Do you know what I do for a living? I make money all day long. I play the stock market. I play digital coin. I have fun with the numbers. And the kinds of people who make the sort of money I make are worse than anyone I’ve met. This includes the Byrne brothers.
“O’Shea wasn’t the first man I had to dodge, nor was he, by a long shot, the last man. I wasn’t a virgin because I didn’t want to have sex. I was a virgin because I didn’t like what my pool of suitors had in mind for me. I waited until I found somebody who felt safe. The safest I have ever felt is with you, a Mafia don. And that’s the God’s honest truth.”
Luca’s expression clouds, and I pull him into my arms again. He squeezes me so tight, shoving his face into my neck. “Little bird, all my life, I’ve been treated like I’m scum. I’ve never had someone look at me the way you just looked at me. To hear you call me good…I never thought I could feel like this.”
I tighten my grip on him, and we stand there in his beautiful entryway, holding on to each other for dear life.
“Why don’t we get you into the shower?” I whisper. “Get some of this blood off ourselves, and then get into bed and hold one another.”
He nods and I lead him by the hand through his bedroom into his walk-in shower. I may have all the fancy gadgets, but his showerheads have all the water pressure in the world. Careful with my eye, I shed his robe and we come together under the water, holding each other while the evening swirls down the drain. Afterward, we dry off and go to bed, naked, wrapped around each other.
“Please touch me,” I beg, kissing along his jawline as I press against him.
“Are you sure?” he asks, palming me, warming my cock with delicious, broad-spectrum pressure.
“I need it.”
We kiss as he strokes me up and down, teasing at first before settling into a firm grip. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to come, but his soft kisses and strong hand tell me otherwise.
“The only person who’ll ever touch you like this is me,” he says, his whisper rough and ticklish in my ear. “All of your pretty little moans belong to me. I will always take care of you. You will never have to fear me.”
