Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16236 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
I hadn’t seen him since the start of the summer, but I’d thought about him every day since he’d failed to show up for our weekly meeting. I’d tried to track him down. I might not know his name, but I had a lot of resources to help me find people who wanted to hide. He’d managed to elude me anyway. It was like he’d disappeared. I’d started to wonder if I’d dreamed our encounters.
Apparently, I hadn’t. The gorgeous man was very real and standing right in front of me. “I’m looking for Billy. Don’t tell me you’re with that son of a bitch.”
His nose wrinkled. “I made a fucking mistake, okay?”
“So why are you here?”
“He took something from me, and I came to get it while he’s gone.”
“Where is he?” I was only supposed to scare Billy, rough him up a bit, but when I thought of his hands on this beautiful man I wanted back in my bed, I longed to put a bullet in Billy’s brain. The idea of that scum thinking he was worthy of my man made my blood boil.
“I don’t know where he is, and I don’t care, I just need to get out of here.”
I shook my head. “You’re not going anywhere. Your boyfriend’s gotten himself in trouble with my family, and you’re going to help me find him.”
“He’s not my boyfriend. I told you that. Don’t insult me, and I don’t know your family. I don’t even know you.”
“Yes, you do.”
He scowled. “I can’t help you.”
“Maybe that’s true, and maybe it isn’t, but I’ve got unfinished business with you too.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Are you so sure about that?” He reached for the doorknob, and I shook my head. “Why are you running now? You sure as hell didn’t want to run away when you were underneath me.”
“When I didn’t show up, you were supposed to get the hint that I wasn’t interested anymore.”
“You’re lying, but even if that was true, you still know me very well. You know what it feels like for me to pound your ass until you can’t stand up. You know what it’s like to beg me for more.”
“It…It was temporary. I never meant things to last as long as they did.”
“But you haven’t stopped thinking about it since, have you?”
2
ELIO
“I…” Fuck why couldn’t I just deny it. A normal person could, but I’d never been able to hide my feelings. That’s why I was useless to my criminal family. Why wouldn’t they just let me go?
I’d tried running, but my brothers had dragged me right back. I thought I’d found the perfect way out. Blackmail. Then Billy stole the zip drive full of family secrets from me. He’d just wanted to use me like most men, but I didn’t care. He was hot, and I’d craved a man to hook up with. I thought I was using him, but he’d hurt me, then drugged me and slipped out with all my cash and the drive.
I been certain the drive would help me win my freedom, but even though I’d found it again, I was starting to doubt myself. Billy had taken it from me easily, and now I’d been caught by the one man who made me weakest, the man I’d almost confessed everything to and begged for help. But I’d found out he was a Trevisani, one of my father’s sworn enemies. I’d panicked and run, but I’d thought of him every single day.
Now, I had to find the will to walk away from him again. I had the zip drive, but not my cash, which was going to make running a hell of a lot harder. How much of a risk was I willing to take?
Tony Trevisani might be pointing a gun at me now, but he was the one man who’d focused on me and my pleasure rather than his own when we were together. Would he help me?
No. Trusting people had never gotten me anywhere. He might have been different in bed, but I couldn’t allow myself to believe he’d be any different when it came to helping me.
He spoke, interrupting my panicked thinking. “My name’s Tony. Now you know that about me.”
“I’d already figured out who you were. I’m Elio.”
We stared at each other. I considered making a run for it. Would he really try to stop me?
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway had me frozen.
“Is that your fucking boyfriend?” Tony asked.
“I don’t know, and he’s not my boyfriend. He’s an asshole. A mistake.”
A bullet whizzed through the kitchen window. With the light on, we were on full display. I ducked behind the kitchen island, and Tony did the same.
“He’ll have seen my bike,” Tony said. “Call him off. Tell him it’s you.”
“He’s not going to listen to me. I told you, I snuck in while he was out so I could get the shit he took from me. He’ll be just as likely to shoot me as you.”