Vengeance: DARK MAFIA ROMANCE

Twelve

Savio

Torture makes me hungry. After making sure that my men can stabilize the prisoner and deliver him to Vincente's doorstep, I stalk upstairs and hunt through the kitchen. Luca follows silently on my heels. "How does a steak sound?" I ask, pulling frozen beef from the freezer. I like to cook when I'm full of this kind of restless, driving energy.

As the steaks defrost in the microwave, I pour us some wine. It's almost a ritual between us, drinking together after a bloody day. I've actually completely forgotten about Natalia until I instinctively take out three glasses. "Natalia?"

No answer. Frustration building, I walk quickly through the dining room and into the living room, wondering what I will do if she's gone. To my relief, I spot her pale silhouette against the dark leather couch. Instead of flipping on the light, I take a couple of steps closer. "Do you want some wine?"

Without getting up, she turns slowly toward me like some kind of ghost in the near-dark. Her eyes are wide and glistening. I frown. I expected her to be annoyed with my absence, but this is something else, something stranger. Surprised at my own hesitation, I approach her. Her sudden eagerness in the garden the other day had thrown me off, tangling up my motives and methods of revenge. She's already taught me that her personality, her soul, which I thought I had mapped so clearly, is entirely foreign to me. My decision to create distance has helped clear my mind, but something else has clearly happened to her.

As if she is in a trance, she walks up to me without a trace of fear and takes one of my hands in both of hers. It's almost robotic, like a reflex, an action a broken person learned would keep them safe. She turns my hand over, stroking and probing the webs of skin between my rough fingers. My heart stops as she presses her cheek against the back of my hand.

"Luca?" I call softly. "Rain check."

My most loyal friend leaves without a question, returning the steaks to the freezer on his way out. We stand awkwardly in place, listening to him. "Natalia," I murmur as his car starts in the driveway. I feel like I'm trying to wake up a sleepwalker. I can't think of what to ask her, so I just say her name again. "Natalia."

Her fingers tighten around mine. She speaks so quietly I have to lean closer to hear. "Can you keep me safe? Are you stronger than him?" I try to make sense of her words, but my reason is melting under her touch.

"I said I'd protect you, Natalia. You're under my contract." To my shock, she pushes me. I'm not expecting it, and she sends me back a step. I don't recognize this girl in front of me, and I'm not sure she does either. There's a feral need in her eyes, and her hands are tensed into claws.

"A fucking contract is just a piece of paper. Does Vincente care about a contract? I'm asking if you, Savio Coretti, can swear to me that I will be safe." Vincente's name in her mouth sickens me. She's starting to put pieces together. But why does Vincente want her so badly? I haven't been able to get the answers I need. But I know one thing. I look straight into her eyes. "I, Savio Coretti, swear your safety. On my life, on my mother's life." Safe from everyone but me. Until the day I decide this is finally over.

She throws her arms around me, gripping my body as tightly as she can. I can't bring myself to touch her as her lips brush my collarbone and she tugs fiercely at the back of my shirt, moving against me in a way that shoots pleasure directly to my groin. But something doesn't feel right. She's still a sleepwalker, frantic and bewildered, trying buy something from me.

Practically climbing me, she wraps her legs around my waist. She's so light. Before I can process what's happening, her soft, inexperienced lips are pressed against mine, drinking me in. Her tongue strays between my teeth and mine instinctively moves to meet it. I can feel her hands raking through my hair as she kisses me more and more deeply, refusing to stop for air.