Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
RICCI
Grocery store? Date?
The foreign and ridiculous words hang in the air between us.
Me — Ricci Santori — offering to take her to the store as if we’re normal people.
Like I haven’t spent the last decade clawing my way up the ladder, spilling blood and piling up dead bodies.
Like I deserve to do something as simple as push a cart down an aisle and pick out bread with her.
I almost take it back. The instinct is right there on my tongue. But then I see the light in her eyes and that small, surprised spark that cuts through my doubts. I decide against it. It’s worth it. For that one look alone. It’s worth it.
Why shouldn’t I fucking walk down a supermarket aisle with her?
I’ve never lived a normal life. Not once.
Not as a kid getting beaten by the uncle who was supposed to protect me, not on the streets, not even after I tricked my way into Salvatore’s world.
Normal was always something other people got.
But right now, with Viola standing in front of me looking like she might actually give me that thing that was never mine.
Something ordinary. God, how I want it. I want this tiny piece of normal so much it hurts.
But it feels strange as hell when we head out together.
I’m quiet in the elevator, quieter still when we reach the garage.
Nervous in a way I haven’t been since I was a kid sleeping with a knife under my pillow.
My hand brushes the small of her back as I open the passenger door for her.
She slides in, her t-shirt riding up just enough to show a sliver of skin at her waist. I have to look away before I do something stupid.
It is just the low purr of the engine and the city sliding past the windows in streaks of light and shadows as I drive.
I don’t want to bring up Mario again. At least, not yet, but dammit, the question burns in my chest. Did he hurt her?
Did he touch her again? I grip the wheel tighter, knuckles white.
In the end, I decide it doesn’t matter what she says.
I’ll deal with him regardless. No one puts hands on her. Ever.
“He’ll never hurt you again,” I tell her, and my voice is low and rough. I keep my eyes on the road, but I feel her turn toward me. “So you don’t have to be scared.”
She’s quiet for a long moment, and the only sound is the soft click of the turn signal when I change lanes.
“He didn’t hurt me,” she says carefully. “It was just Mario being Mario.”
Her words sting more than they should. She’s defending him. Even after everything, she’s still trying to soften it. My jaw tightens. I hate that she still feels she has to protect him.
She notices. Of course she does. She always notices everything.
“I don’t want you to hurt him. I know it will only cause trouble for you. He has his band of loyal supporters too. I used to think Salvatore was invincible, but he was not. I just don’t want you to…”
Her voice trails off, but it’s enough. I feel the corner of my mouth lift with a happy smile. She wasn’t protecting Mario. She was thinking about me. Worrying about me. That alone does something dangerous to my chest.
“Viola, our entire business model is based on stepping on toes.”
She smiles at that, a small, hesitant smile.
Our eyes meet for a second when I glance over.
Fuck. She is so beautiful it knocks the air out of me.
The late sunlight catches her green eyes, making it luminous, and turns her blonde hair into spun gold.
This is what I imagined angels looked like when I was a kid.
I want her.
Not just her body — though Christ, I want that too — but all of her.
The guarded woman who’s starting to let me in.
The one who cried in my arms with fear, and still tried to protect me from the consequences.
Suddenly all I want to do is kiss her. Pull the car over, lean across the console, taste the salt of her earlier tears and the sweetness that’s just her.
My body reacts hard and fast. Heat pools low, and my cock thickens against my thigh. I’m so turned on it’s painful.
To calm myself, I force myself to focus on driving. I breathe slowly and deeply, counting the blocks until we reach the store. But the lust for her refuses to leave. It just simmers under my skin, hot and impatient, waiting for the moment I can finally have her again.