Brutal Desire: A Dark Mafia Standalone Romance by M. James

Author:M. James [James, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PNK Publishing
Published: 2024-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

Mila

For a moment, I can’t breathe.

“What are you doing here?” I whisper weakly, and Lorenzo raises an eyebrow.

“You texted me and said—” he breaks off, and I see his gaze drift over my shoulder. I don’t have to turn to know that he’s seen Niki. “Can I come in?”

I bite my lower lip, hard. Letting Lorenzo in my house is a terrible idea, for any number of reasons. He’ll meet Niki. He’ll be here, in my space, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to completely get him out. He tried to set boundaries between us, and this crashes through them all, devastating them.

“You can’t just show up,” I murmur, and Lorenzo nods.

“I know. I’m sorry, Mila. But as soon as I got your text, I was on my way. I had to make sure you were safe—” He breaks off suddenly, his jaw tightening, as if he realizes what he just said—hears the emotion in it as surely as I do.

For a moment, he wasn’t the cold, ruthless mafia underboss. He wasn’t the reserved businessman. He was just himself—the same man who let me go in Alfio’s mansion. The same man held me and kissed me so tenderly in the ballet studio that, for a moment, I actually felt safe.

There are layers to this man; so many different sides. I’m afraid of what side of him I’ll see if I allow him into my home.

“Why is that?” I whisper, looking up at him, into his unreadable green eyes. “Why did you need to make sure I was safe? Because I work for you?”

He breathes in slowly, his jaw working, but he says nothing. There’s no answer he can give me—and that’s an answer in and of itself.

“How did you know where I lived? I’ve never told you.”

Lorenzo gives me a narrow look. “Mila. My brother is the Campano family don. You think I didn’t know all the relevant information about you an hour after you told me your name?”

“I don’t think that makes me feel better.” My knees feel weak, wondering what else he knows. About my parents’ accident, surely—although it’s not as if I would have kept it a secret if he’d asked. It’s just that I know so little about him, and it’s clear that he knows so much more about me than I realized.

“Can I come in?” Lorenzo looks over my shoulder again, and my mind briefly goes blank. I try to imagine him in my small apartment, watching as I make grocery-store spaghetti for my brother and me. The image is laughable.

“I—” I start to say he should leave, that we can talk about all of this later—but then I feel a hand tug at the side of my tank top, and I look down to see Niki next to me.

I hadn’t even heard him walk up; I’d been so embroiled in my feelings about the conversation Lorenzo and I were having. Distracted. He tugs at my shirt again, and then gestures at Lorenzo.

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