A lone beam of light shines down from the antique wrought iron chandelier, illuminating a figure reclining on a rickety wooden chair in the middle of the otherwise dark room. His back is turned toward the door, but I know it’s Rafael. There’s no one else here. Except for . . . the bodies.
Five men, their clothes torn and bloody, are lying on the floor throughout the room. The stench of blood and bodily fluids is intermixed with the smell of smoke, making me gag.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, vespetta.” Rafael’s voice breaks the silence. He still has his back to me.
“How did you know it was me?” I choke out.
“You’re the only one who would dare intrude on my meeting.”
He takes a lengthy drag on his cigarette, then tosses it at the face of a dead man, where it lands with a disturbing muted sizzle. Then, in a blink-of-an-eye fluid motion, he slams his hand against the front leg of the chair, leaving a knife lodged in the wood. Right next to a glass jar filled with bloody lumps of . . . something. Something that looks like . . . severed human tongues.
Rafael slowly rises from the chair and turns to face me. The front of his shirt and sleeves are saturated with so much blood the fabric clings to his body.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” I mumble, still gaping at the crimson stains on his button-down. It’s the only thing that pops into my stunned mind to say.
“A nasty old habit I still indulge in from time to time.” He covers the distance between us in a few long strides and stops right in front of me. “Why are you here?”
“I . . . I’m not sure.” I swallow and meet his gaze. “Aren’t you going to yell at me for coming down?”
“Why would I?”
“Because . . . I don’t know. You didn’t want me to see this? If I would have walked in on my father doing anything like this, he would have tanned my hide.”
“Shielding someone you care about from harm is one thing.” He braces his hand on the doorframe and bends until our faces are at the same level. There are blood stains on his left cheek, as well. “Shielding them from reality is a completely different thing. Because, in our world, it could lead to death.”
I nod, my eyes wandering to one of the corpses. “Who are they?”
“Cosa Nostra. They came to Catania to find out what happened to the drugs they tried to smuggle through my port.”
“Did you have to kill them?”
“What would Bratva do if they found members of a rival organization dealing on their turf?”
Exactly the same thing. My eyes find Rafael’s again. “Is any of that blood yours?”
“Would it bother you if it was?”
“Maybe.” My voice is barely a whisper, as if I find that realization hard to process.
The corner of Rafael’s lips curls upward. Slowly, his bloody fingers pinch my chin, tilting my head up. “None of it is mine, Vasilisa.”
His mouth seizes mine in an instant. There is no softness in his kiss. Just ferocious claiming. I manage to gulp a breath as I grab a handful of his shirt for support and kiss him back. I shouldn’t. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t fight his spellbinding pull. I bite his lower lip, sucking it into my mouth. He growls, and his tongue invades me, too.
The fabric under my touch is wet and sticky, but I can’t make myself care. My mind is drifting, unable to process anything but the taste of him. His scent. His heat. The only skin-to-skin contact is our lips, but my entire body is buzzing like a live wire. No other man has ever made me feel like this.
When he finally releases my mouth, the air moves through my lungs in short, fast bursts. As if my respiratory organs suddenly remembered how to work. I stare into Rafael’s hard green eyes. They glow with unhidden desire while he towers over me, so big and sinister-looking, with smears of blood and dead bodies as a backdrop. As if he’s the dark ruler of hell.
“Your pretty lips taste like the pure essence of sin.” He brushes his thumb over my mouth. “I wonder if your pussy will be just as scrumptious when I devour it.”
A tremor runs down my spine, vehement from the tone of his voice, shaking me all the way to my core. It doesn’t sound like a question, but a promise. One I would gladly see him fulfill.
Turning around, I dash up the stairs. Running away from Rafael De Santi and the treacherous feelings he stokes within me.
Chapter 13
“Signor De Santi asked me to pass you a message, miss,” one of the maids says from the terrace threshold. “He’s waiting for you in his car. You’re to bring the laptop with you.”
“You can tell Signor De Santi to kindly go fuck himself,” I toss over my shoulder and look back at the horizon.
Jerkwad. It’s been hours since I found Rafael’s latest “present,” and I still haven’t been able to calm down.
I barely slept last night, too shaken by Rafael’s kisses and the messed-up feelings they evoked. Thrill and enjoyment, right along with contempt for myself because I liked the experience. I don’t go around letting random men kiss me senseless. Especially not men who keep me captive! I tossed and turned for hours, trying to eradicate the mental images of Rafael doing much more to me than merely kissing.
And then, when I woke up, even more confused than I was the night before, I found another velvet box.
I didn’t even need to see the gift to know that he’d been in the bedroom while I was sleeping. I could detect the traces of him drifting in the air. It’s not that his scent is strong, but it seems my nostrils are attuned to it, capable of noticing even the faintest whiffs.
A beautiful rope chain bracelet was lying in the box, the three braided strands of gold and embedded diamonds gleamed in the morning light. Next to the jewelry box was a lavish crystal vase overflowing with several stems of white orchids. Underneath was a check with my name on it, in the amount of three million dollars. One for each kiss we shared. I don’t remember the last time I felt so miserable and used, like some kind of whore. I kissed that jackass because I like him. Like him way more than I’m willing to admit. And he left me a goddamned check!
“Did you get my message, Vasilisa?”
An inappropriate but pleasant shiver rushes through me just from the timbre of his voice. I grit my teeth and keep my eyes focused on a distant spot before me. “Yup. I sent one back, but the maid was probably too afraid to relay it to you.”
Heavy footfalls sound behind me, getting closer. I can feel each thump reverberating in my chest while every nerve impulse hums inside my body. Rafael comes to a stop right in front of me, blocking my view of the deep blue sea.
“And you saw the present I left you?” he asks.
