The Temptation (Stranger #4)

Chapter 1

Romeo

I’m lurking in the corner of the hospital room as my best friend and his family fawn over his newborn baby daughter. I’m the only person here who doesn’t share a scrap of DNA with anyone present, but I don’t feel left out, quite the opposite.

I feel included … wanted. This is why I love being part of the Famiglia (Family). It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever truly felt like I belonged somewhere.

It’s a reminder that family isn’t always about blood. It’s about love, loyalty, and showing up. Sometimes, the people who choose you and stand by you end up meaning even more to you than those who birthed you.

Dante Mancini—the Don of the Famiglia—is like a brother to me, so I knew the second his face fell as he glanced down at the screen of his phone that whatever he’d read in the text message he just received wasn’t good news.

He quickly schooled his features before anyone noticed, but it wasn’t quick enough to fool me.

Over the years, I’ve come to know this man better than he knows himself.

After sliding his phone back into his pocket and running his flattened palms down the front of his trousers—another tell—his eyes briefly meet mine as he stands and crosses the room, heading straight for Alexander, his biological brother.

My suspicions deepen when he demands Alex hand back his daughter, giving him some flimsy excuse that holds no merit.

A knot of unease twists in my stomach when he finally manages to herd us out of his wife’s room, following us into the corridor. That can only mean one thing … I’m right. And whatever it is, he doesn’t want Arabella to hear.

My eyes don’t leave him, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he’s now a father. He holds his little girl so effortlessly, so protectively, and with that unwavering confidence he’s always had despite her being so fragile and small.

It’s hard to believe the man he was before he became the Don—the carefree jokester, always ready for a good time, the ladies’ man—is now a devoted husband and father.

It’s hard not to envy him. Deep down, a small part of me has carried the hope that someday I might have a family of my own …

to be the kind of parent I never had. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part because people like me don’t usually get happy endings.

Despite that, the pipe dream still lingers.

Dante motions for me to come closer, pulling me out of my thoughts as I step forward. “Giuseppe Salvatori and some of his men just boarded a plane to Australia,” he whispers in my ear, his voice low and tense. “You need to get Lucia to a safe house immediately.”

That knowledge hits me like a punch to the gut for two reasons. The first is the paralysing fear that Lucia’s safety is now in serious jeopardy. I’d hate to see what would become of her if Salvatori gets his filthy hands on her.

That motherfucker will marry that woman over my dead body.

My second concern, and probably the most dangerous of the two, is being locked away in a house with Lucia Rossi for the foreseeable future. That’s going to be a different kind of hell. It’s a temptation I don’t want or need. I’ve been avoiding her for months now, with good reason.

I blow out a frustrated breath because it’s an order, and I have no choice but to obey it. “Okay, boss,” I say, with a nod.

“You’ll need to go to the house and grab some of her things. Take whatever food you want. I’ll make sure it’s all replenished by the time Arabella is released from here. I’ll come as soon as I can, but you may be in lockdown for a while.”

“Do you think Salvatori is bringing a war to us?”

He lifts one shoulder. “More than likely, I doubt he’s coming here for a leisurely holiday. For now, my first priority is Lucia. I guarantee he has his sights set on her. I’ll worry about the rest later. If you need to contact me, use the encrypted message app.”

“Alright.”

I wait until he disappears back inside Arabella’s room before I stalk towards Lucia. “You’re coming with me,” I say, grasping her elbow.

“I am?” she answers as her pretty brown eyes widen. “Where are we going?”

“We’re leaving,” I grumble.

“Why?”

“Because I said so.”

“No!” she replies, digging in her heels.

“What do you mean, no?” I growl.

“I’m staying here with my sister and baby niece.”

“This is not up for negotiation.” I bend my knees slightly, capturing her around the waist and hoisting her over my shoulder in one swift movement. She’s coming with me whether she likes it or not.

“Put me down, you … stronzo (Arsehole),” she yells, and despite her calling me an arsehole, I bark out a laugh. I’ve always found her fiery side appealing.

When she starts to beat her fists against my backside, Alexander steps in. “I believe Lucia asked you to put her down.”

“I’m just following orders,” I reply, turning to face him.

“My brother told you to manhandle her? I highly doubt that.”

“He told me to get her to a safe house.”

As soon as those words are out of my mouth, Lucia pauses her assault on my body. “A safe house? Why?” she screeches.

“We have a situation.”

“What kind of situation?” she and Alexander ask in unison.

“Giuseppe Salvatori is currently en route to Australia.”

Lucia’s audible gasp is the first thing I hear, followed by Alexander’s “Fuck.”

“He’s come to get me, hasn’t he?” she asks through a shaky breath. The fear I hear in her voice tugs at my black heart.

I slide her down the front of my body, and it’s not until she’s back on her feet that I realise my mistake. She’s close … too close.

There’s a quiet intensity in her gaze, vulnerable and unwavering, as if she is trying to read the truth in my face.

“I’ll never let that happen,” I answer, using the tip of my finger to sweep a lock of her long, dark hair from her forehead.

It’s a move that feels way too intimate, one I shouldn’t have made, especially now that those damn cartoon-heart eyes of hers—the ones Dante always teases me about—seem to have returned.

For the past few months, I’ve been lucky if I even get a smile from this woman. Since I pulled away, creating some serious distance between us to show her I wasn’t interested, she’s been scowling or turning her nose up every time our eyes meet.

I place my hand on her shoulder, turning her towards the lift. “Come,” I say as I start walking.

When she falls into step beside me and slips her dainty hand into mine, I freeze. I immediately shake it from her hold because I can’t let her get the wrong idea.

She needs to understand this isn’t a romantic getaway for two. She’s in grave danger, and there’s no room for mixed signals or distractions. If I’m going to keep her safe, I need to stay focused, which means keeping my distance.

“If I’m going to protect you, Lucia, you’ll need to get over whatever infatuation you think you have with me.

It’s distracting, and frankly, I don’t like it.

So, before this goes any further, you have to understand one thing.

” I gesture my hand between us as I continue.

“I’m not the guy you’re imagining, and this …

whatever this is … it can never happen.”

Her lips purse, and that damn scowl of hers returns as she crosses her arms over those perky tits that I’m trying so hard not to notice.

“Infatuation? Huh,” she huffs. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, hotshot. I can barely stand to be in the same room as you.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way,” I mumble, grasping her elbow again. “Now that we’ve got that settled, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“Oh my God, you have a puppy,” Lucia coos when we pull up outside the front of my place. “I always wanted a puppy growing up, but Papa was a bastardo (Bastard) and wouldn’t let me get one.”

“It’s a fully grown guard dog, not a puppy,” I growl, barely keeping my patience in check.

I’m already at my wits’ end with this woman.

We went to Dante’s house first to pack some of Lucia’s belongings, and I swear, I’d rather wrestle with an eight-foot fucking crocodile than deal with her antics right now.

She’s been teasing me all day, acting like she’s completely oblivious to the effect she has on me.

I had to stand there and watch her pack every skimpy piece of clothing she owned, including her underwear. Each garment was more revealing than the last, and by the end, I was struggling to act unaffected as my cock continued to swell in my trousers.

No matter how fiercely I resist visions of her in that cursed lingerie, they continue to claw their way into my mind. It felt like a sadistic game designed to break me, and I was the unwilling player.

They’re now filed away in my memory like the real-life image of her in that barely there bikini she came waltzing out of the house in months ago, when I was guarding her and Arabella while Dante was in Italy.

That memory still haunts me. Her flawless olive skin glowed in the sun, every delicious curve on display, and that damn flirty look she gave—like she knew exactly what she was doing—still plays on repeat in my head.

I’ve tried to scrub that day from my mind countless times, but it’s useless. It’s ingrained into my fucking brain.

I clench my jaw, trying to push those thoughts aside, but it’s useless. She has a way of getting under my skin and pulling at every thread of restraint I have left.

“If you value your hands,” I grumble, turning off the ignition and abruptly unbuckling my seat belt, “I wouldn’t attempt to pat him.

” I glance over at her, my tone dry but edged with warning.

“Since you woke me at some ungodly hour this morning to take you to the hospital, I didn’t have time to feed him, so there’s a good chance he might eat you. ”

I catch the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes as she looks at the massive guard dog pacing back and forth along the fence line, and I can’t help but feel a small surge of satisfaction.

“What’s his name?”

“Killer,” I growl.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“True story, Lucia,” I deadpan.