I blew out a breath as I watched her breathing even out under the intermittent lights of the highway. "That was close," I whispered. Edi grumbled low in his chest. "I still don't understand why you couldn't just tell her where we're going. She's going to be pissed enough as it is. Why did you have to make it worse? That woman is violent."I smiled. "Yeah, she is." Heat curled through my body."I said violent. Not dressed in sex-me clothes panting for you. There is a difference." He looked at me like I was crazy. "Maybe to you." I turned to look at him. "Besides, you're gay. What do you know about women and sex-me clothes?"He smiled. "I was just assuming. Andrei has this little pair of sh-" He held his hands up mere inches apart, a gleam in his golden eyes that was just visible with the instrumental console lights. I held up a hand. "Don't want to know. You keep your sexual games to yourself and I'll do the same with mine."His laugh was big enough to shake his shoulde
I blew out a breath. "Damn."Turo nodded. "He was making bad decisions for the family. Professionally and personally. Some said he went crazy. Momma wasn't willing to stand for his mismanagement or assholic behaviors anymore. She shot him at the dinner table in front of everyone else when he hit my grandmother in the face for saying something he disagreed with."I blinked. "Damn, Momma is a queen." If it were humanly possible to love a person platonically and still want to carry her babies, mine was Momma. That woman was everything I aspired to be. Strong, loving, protective, stalwart, funny, a fabulous cook, had the respect of not only her family, but everyone under her, and was also the head of a seriously scary organization of crime and shady dealings. Okay, I could leave out the organized crime and shady dealings in my future, but damn did she make it look easy and appealing. She was my adult goals. I sighed. "That's beautiful," I said softly. Amato turned to me. I cou
Turo yanked the receiver from my hands. "Momma, we'll call you later." He slammed the phone down without looking away from me. "Explain. Now." His eyes were blazing, his brows lowered over his nose. I licked my lips. "Annie Pells. I killed her." Might as well burn all the bridges I'd made recently. He stared at me for a long moment. Ended up shaking his head. "I don't believe you. No. You're too strong for that. Unless she was somehow hurting you or something else heinous, you wouldn't have killed her. Not really. Not physically."I flinched. He stepped closer. Narrowed his eyes at me. "You did kill her. In your own way. Who is Annie Pells to you, Cricket?""It doesn't matter. She's gone. Has been for a long time." I tried to step around him. Tried to ignore the searching gaze that held a hint of tenderness in it. He braceleted my wrist gently. "Tell me, Cricket. Whatever secrets you're keeping are killing you," he said softly. "I can carry them for you."I shook my h
I nodded as I watched her. Her hazel eyes glinted under the low lights. I saw it when the knowledge hit her. "The surveillance." I nodded again. "That's what you meant that day. About having something to tell you." She slapped my chest. "That was none of your business. Still isn't."I leaned down, pushed my nose to hers. "It involves you. That makes it my business."She opened her mouth. I sealed my lips over hers. It was pretty effective. Until I remembered I couldn't stress her lungs. With a snarl, I moved to her neck. Nibbled my way up to her ear. "You're mine, Cricket."A low mumble floated from her lips as her hands lifted and she threaded her fingers through my hair. She pulled me tighter against her body. Pressed up harder against me. "As soon as you're healed, I'm going to take you so hard your entire body screams."She shivered. Laughed a low, sexy chuckle that felt like velvet against my skin. "As soon as I'm healed, I'm going to make you scream my n
I woke up after what felt like a week. But a glance at the alarm clock told me it was right around ten hours. This bed was amazing. And it was inside a freaking mountain. I was going to have to ask Turo what kind it was so I could get one for home. I did my full body stretch, winced as that sharp pain in my side attacked again. I grabbed up the spirometer as I slid my feet over the edge of the bed so I could sit up straight. I blew into the little device. Focused on keeping my breaths slow and even. That damn coaching indicator mocked me as it bobbed up and down in its little sleeve. I coughed after each rep. Thanked the universe when I made it through ten reps. The last cycle I actually got the indicator to stay between the two arrows. I considered that a win. I got up, walked to the natural stone shower. If I hadn't known this place was literally inside a mountain, I wouldn't have guessed it from the rooms. Done in a white stucco that was soothing and calm, it looked more li
I saw her push the statement away. Saw her twist it somehow in her brain. She either didn't or couldn't believe me. Not right now, anyway. But I would show her. I would tell her every day that I chose her. Let her see the evidence she relied so heavily on. She was mine. It was time I started showing her that. "So Lily Sterling ordered the hit on me?" she asked quickly. I let her have the small buffer for now. I'd pushed her far enough today. Nodding, I said, "Apparently so. Foster and Ryker found some emails on Bitchcock's system. They need your help for any deeper hacking, especially into the Sterling system."Like putting a well-watered plant out into the sunshine, she came alive. Her cheeks flushed slightly as her eyes twinkled. "Damn right they do."Smothering the chuckle, I wondered at this woman. Tough, but sensitive. Solid self-esteem, but still insecure. She was a kaleidoscope of surprising contradictions. And I intended to find each and every one. "So, we ne
His warm hand on the base of my neck should have felt stifling. Instead, I felt a curious sense of belonging. I wasn't going to tell him that. The contrary man would probably remove it. So I would enjoy it while it lasted. Headed back to the rooming section of the mountain facility, I let my eyes take in everything around me. It really did remind me of a seaside town on the sparkling edges of the Mediterranean sea. Soft-looking stone in blinding whites and beiges. Crisp blues and greens that had been painted or glazed to create visual interest and the appearance of the outside world. It was truly a wonder. "How the heck did you guys build this inside a mountain?" I looked up at the man who was taking me to the gates of Valhalla with the promises of coffee.He smiled, his white teeth bright in his burnished face. "According to family legend, the original Amatucci came here in the mid-1880s with the original familial migration. They bought land here in Upstate New York. Since the
"Shut it down," I snapped. I wasn't going to question her on it. The woman had probably forgotten more about computers than the whole of the people in this room had ever learned. Combined. I walked over to her. "Why do you think they're trying to hack us? We have no outside signal or terminal."She smiled at me like I was the stupid kid in class. "Turo, you've got a live feed camera that not only takes pictures, but uploads those pictures directly to your system. Of course you have an outside access point. And signal." She tapped the operator's shoulder. Jerked her chin at the computer he was working at when he looked up at her. "May I?"He got up without me having to demand he do it. I made a note to give him a bonus. I appreciated people who didn't create hassles for me. Cricket sat down at the computer. In moments, she was into a screen I'd never seen before and probably never would again. Her fingers flew over the keys like barracudas on fresh meat. At one point, sh