Eva’s delicate fingers trailed across my forearm, which slung across her waist, and the simple motion lulled me.
I’d been through this once before.
Kissing away tears. Letting her love bring me to life. Believing she’d accept my faults.
With Karina.
I’d considered myself her hero.
Never conceiving of the possibility of becoming her killer.
The curse may have made her run in the first place—I couldn’t save her.
Impossible to tell what she ran from that night. My attempts to sooth only scared her, “Karina, stop! You don’t have to take part in the initiation. We’ll work it out.”
I’d been naïve then, believing love could overcome anything. Even the secret rituals most women might find sick.
Exploitive.
I’d never been so hopeless in my life as when Karina climbed on the Redwood Bridge, and plunged like a beautiful, diving bird of prey into the knee-deep shallows below.
Headfirst.
The coroner’s report revealed toxic levels of opioids in her blood at the time of death.
That was no consolation.
Karina’s tragedy drove me to make sure Eva felt safe, protected, and adored.
Our family business grew legit, but the world was still full of people who did bad things.
Today, the shmuck in the flea market proved once again; the system was broken and didn’t protect the innocent.
Exactly why the Moretti famíglia took matters into their own hands.
Eva’s breath was soft and slow, and out of the blue she piped up, “I feel like I need some answers, pronto, Roberto.”
She giggle-snorted and added, “Hey that rhymes.”
She reminded me of a feisty kitten. It made me want to devour her; have her in my mouth again. The plan to get her out of my system by sleeping with her completely backfired.
Sleeping with Eva only whet my appetite.
“What’s your question?” I asked, brushing my thumb over her full lower lip.
“How come your dragon tattoo has a five-pointed star in its pupil? Don’t bother lying to me either, I looked it up. It means you’re a made man.”
She was cute when she was scorning me, but I didn’t dare say this out loud to her. My sisters taught me females didn’t find it funny when you laughed at their annoyance.
“It’s the evening star. The shining destiny of Italy.”
I reached over and plucked at her nipple. Was this thing I felt, the so-called “love-bite,” that was making her irresistible to me?
Her breath hitched at my touch and I tried to appear cool, calm and collected instead of fixated on tasting her again.
This won’t do. Her power over me exposed uncontrollable emotions and urges. “Are you the death star, Roberto? Are you going to blow me up with your super weapon?” she taunted, and I wondered what it would be like to be her man.
Would she accept my rules, my limits, and me looking after her and keeping her in line?
I’d found her running away on the side of the road, barefoot in a rainstorm. Without a powerful man to guide and protect her, Eva could go off the deep end.
I’d be that man.
It was way too early for such feelings.
I wanted to do everything on earth with Eva.
And I was tired of being alone.
Rubbing her hair between my fingers, I smelled the fragrance as it lifted in the air and wondered if she could teach me to remember all the ways I’d forgotten how to feel.
Trust was a two-way street.
I had to open up, and she needed to trust me.
“My family doesn’t dabble in death anymore, Eva. We don’t need to. They appointed me a made man in the family business after my father died. I’m duty bound to protect those closest to me.”
Pausing, eager to hear her response, she said nothing, so I continued, “My dealings aren’t illegal, Eva.” It was only a little lie, and an incorrigible way to win her heart.
A small white lie that might cost me everything.
Wait a minute.
Is that what I wanted?
Her heart?
She’d asked me to punish her, and we’d fallen into the spanking session as naturally as some people might kiss hello. For the first time since Karina’s death, I was dominant in bed, and I didn’t have to explain myself.
This wasn’t just a spark, it was an uncontrollable wildfire, sweeping through the forest.
My date with destiny was a long time coming. Let’s hope I didn’t get burned.
Let’s hope my families fucked up customs didn’t set fire to mine and Eva’s relationship. It happened once before. My long-term partner died, because the demands of Moretti tradition were intolerable.
I hoped like hell Eva was strong enough to bear it.
13
Eva
What came over me?
It was crazy.
Not like I was an innocent. But I couldn’t stop thinking about being spanked by the hottest, richest, and most mysterious guy I’d ever met.
I was still thinking about it when my phone rang.
It was him.
“Roberto?” I flinched at the quivery, needy sound of my voice, and cleared my throat.
“Jack is coming for you, Eva. He’ll bring you to the Enchanted Forest Inn to meet me.”
“Geez, are you going to feed me to an ogre?” I asked.
“No Eva.” He chuckled. “You’re going to feed my lust. I’ve rented us a terrace room.”
His gravelly voice landed a direct hit between my legs and inspired me to put on the sexiest dress from those Gia and Lucia helped me pick out. I threw on a concealing overcoat and waited for Jack. I hoped to God my grandma’s saying was right, sometimes you have to leap into the pond, even if you can’t see the bottom.
Roberto differed from any man I’d met. My heart became audible—ka-thump, ka-thump—thinking about how he tugged my hair to pull me to his mouth for a kiss.
I’d never met a man who knew how to treat me, gave me what I needed.
My heart raced to the point of combusting when he was around, and I only hoped that diving into his dark waters would soothe the burn.
Jack led me through the upscale lobby of the hotel, and down a hallway to a private elevator. He handed me a key card after stepping inside, as if I belonged there, even though I had no business in a place like this. I was a farm worker’s daughter and shopped the clearance racks. “If you need to take the elevator, use this card. No one else has access. Only Mr. Moretti.”
He gestured me to walk down the hall to a solitary door. “See you later, Ms. Montoya.” Was this was his norm, bringing Moretti a woman for the night?
The jealous snake of envy hissed in my heart.
Jack’s courtesy was impenetrable, but we both knew this was all about nookie. It wasn’t like he was escorting me to take a stroll in the garden with my male suitor. Even so, I said, “Thank you, Jack.”
Roberto pulled the door open when I knocked. The room glowed amber behind his silhouette. Crackling flames filled the fireplace, and the surface of the Eel River roiled out the window.
“Let me take your coat, Eva.” He hung it for me, and I admired his biceps in the tailored, dark blue, button-down shirt. What would he do if I ripped his shirt open and watched the buttons scatter across the floor? Before I found out, he pulled me to him. His hands warmed my lower back, which was bare in the ridiculous slip of a dress.