SeraWhile Killian and the guys scoured the grounds, Patrick guarded the girls and me at the mall. Penny clutched baby Michael tight. It was clear she wasn’t going to let him out of her sight if there was any kind of threat now, no matter who tried to convince her everyone was safe. And even though Patrick had a gun on him and was more than capable against any attacker, I still felt the need to look over my shoulder, feeling like I was being watched.If it was Mattia who put that mouse under my pillow, it only raised a dozen questions. How did he get into the mansion if there’s no security footage? Did he somehow find a blind spot in the cameras? How did he know which room was mine—or did he know at all? What if it was just pure coincidence? My gut instinct said no.Why would my father’s right hand target me? Did he know I was important to Killian, and Mattia wanted to avenge Andre’s death with revenge?I stopped the horrible thought in its tracks and banished it.The whole trip, incl
Killian“Found something!” Tommaso had called.The search party ran to where Tommaso pointed at the ground. It had been snowing on and off for a while, but they were there.Footprints.Someone did break into the house.I walked in a slow circle to scan the area. We were near the backyard, the wall only a dozen feet away. There were footprints there, too. I knew none of my men had been in this area until now, and they weren’t Tommaso’s footprints. I gestured for the guys to follow me to it.“Dustin, get on my shoulders. We need to see over the wall if there was a way for the intruder to climb up to get over.”Though he looked unsure, Dustin obeyed. With Tommaso’s help, he climbed up to stand on my shoulders and pulled himself up a bit. He was able to peer over the wall that was at least a foot thick.He gasped. “There’s a fallen tree!”Fuck.I set Dustin down and began barking orders. “Reggie, you go check it out. Alonzo, call Adrian and tell him to check the cameras on the eastern sec
SeraAfter my mother’s foreboding warnings and giving me a little more backstory on Mattia, who seemed like an entirely different person than I remembered, we did little fashion shows for each other with the new clothes we bought. Then she had to excuse herself to run an errand.“An errand?” I repeated in confusion.Mom laughed wryly. “What, I can’t have things to do around this place?”“Well, no—I mean, you can, but I just didn’t know…” I cut my embarrassed rambling off before I dug myself into a hole. “It’s just, I don’t want to be alone.”“Oh, sweetheart.” Mom hugged me fiercely. “I’ll still be around. Call for me whenever you need me. But there’s something I need to take care of. Why don’t we watch a movie with your brother when I’m done?”I brightened. “Okay. That sounds nice. Speaking of, have you seen him lately?”Sounding a little less happy, she said, “I saw him sneak out with the men. He wants to be involved in the search. I told him it’s too dangerous, and he said that he l
KillianThe day had been long and hard to get through, but when Sera slipped out of her pajamas, it didn’t take long to get hard in a different way.After trudging through the snow for a potential killer, after finding dead end after dead end, seeing, Sera’s face—her shining eyes, her smiling mouth, joy filling her every pore—was all I needed to melt away every stress.She was alive and warm and mine.I stripped off my clothes as Sera stepped into the shower and turned on the faucet. Steam from the warm water fogged up the glass, blocking my view of her perfect body.I stepped into the shower. I didn’t have time to react to Sera’s giddy laugh before the water stream turned ice cold.“Shit!” I snapped, stepping back just as Sera turned the water warm again. She was on the other side of the stream, biting her lip to stop from laughing. Something was making her mischievous. Instead of being mad at the playfulness, I played along. “You’ll pay for that, amore.”Like a switch flipped, Sera’
SeraI almost burst out laughing, but at the same time, I was a little hurt by the panic in Killian’s voice when the possibility of getting pregnant crossed his mind.“It’s been a while since we used one,” I reminded him softly, stroking the wet hair off his forehead to calm him. “I’m on birth control.”Totally oblivious to the girl world, Killian blinked. “What kind?”“The pill.”“Why didn’t you mention it before?” he asked me.I shrugged. “I thought you knew. I take my pill every night.” He had a doctor on staff. It hadn’t been hard to get a prescription.I kissed him deeply, feeling Killian harden inside me. Pleasurable warmth flooded my muscles and nerves. He started to grind his hips. Another round was more than welcome, but not on this uncomfortable ledge. “Bed,” I suggested in a murmur.“As you wish.”Sopping wet and clinging to him like a koala around a bamboo shoot, Killian carried me out of the shower, where he set me down to dry us off. Once we were dry, we headed to the be
KillianA few days later, Sera somehow convinced me to do mobster work in her favorite parlor while Caterina and her friends looked through wedding catalogues. It was difficult to focus on dividing territory with Andre’s records finally organized with all the giggling, but it made Sera happy, and I couldn’t refuse her. Tommaso happened to walk by when she asked me to help her choose linen colors—demanded, more like—and he threw his head back with laughter.“The Hand of Death being ordered around by a little girl. I never thought I’d see the day.”“Keep mocking me,” I growled without malice, “and you won’t see the rest of it.”“We have another training session tomorrow, don’t we?” Sera called to him.Tommaso sketched a bow. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, my lady.”Currently, the women were all sitting on the floor with catalogues scattered between them. Penelope was gushing over the collection of wedding dresses as she bounced baby Michael on her leg. Caterina watched them as if te
SeraI knew I sounded absolutely insane when I accused Killian’s mother of killing animals and putting them in my room, but I said it anyway. “Do you think she would?”I appreciated him coming to my rescue more than once today, but now Killian looked perturbed, both by my accusation and the situation. “My mother has her ways of doing things. But where would she find a bird?”Killian peered toward the drawer where the dead robin was, bloody and mutilated like the mouse, its red and gray feathers plucked. He curled his lip before tucking me into a hug. “Don’t look. Let’s go in the hall.”I let him guide me out so Tommaso could go in and take care of the poor thing. I caught his expression. He was as thoroughly confused and freaked out just as much as Killian and I were. How could this happen twice? What psycho was doing this, and how were they getting in?It was a person. No animal could do something like this.Killian held my face gently between his hands. “Are you okay? What happened?
Killian“How’s the Roxy situation?” Tommaso asked twenty minutes into the drive, voice raised over the racing rain of the odd February thunderstorm.I put my thoughts of Sera on the back burner to focus on the job. While this was just a cut-and-dried mission, it still required undivided attention. “Caterina and Rosemary are still monitoring her. They took her to a doctor’s appointment yesterday. I think they determined the gender.”“But she confessed to having no contact with Greco, right?” Patrick piped in. “How’s she keeping herself busy all by herself, especially without a phone?”“She doesn’t have many hobbies except sleeping and doing puzzles, apparently. Caterina’s bought her at least ten, and she’s finished eight of them so far.”“I commend that woman,” Patrick tsked about Caterina. “It’s a little sad that Sera doesn’t know. Olivia and Penny know about it but Sera doesn’t? It doesn’t really feel right.”“Oh, yeah,” Tommaso said with amusement as we turned onto the highway, “are