Page 51 of Liberated By Sin
Her blue eye narrowed, a quirk of hers I’d come to know when she intended to mask slight discomfort or annoyance. I smiled and smoothed her cheek with the back of my fingers, satisfied when she didn’t pull away.
“Maybe I still need this job. And a dead boss and shot-up place of work would put a bit of damper on that. And let’s not forget the private jet.”
“Is that all?” I asked with a laugh.
Her eyes fluttered when my thumb grazed her bottom lip. And maybe it was wishful thinking, but I could have sworn she leaned into my touch.
“Yeah,” she whispered as she lifted her eyes to mine.
Never breaking contact, I slowly looped my arm around her waist and tugged her closer, my lips over her ear.
“Sei una terribile bugiarda.”You are a terrible liar.
I felt her shudder under my touch.
“Santino.” There was a vulnerability to her tone, but before I could decipher its meaning, a knock at the door broke the moment, and she pulled away.
Paris, a woman with a blonde pixie cut, fidgeted on a small screen above Amara’s head.
“Come in,” I said, eyes still on Amara.
“Sir, I—Oh! There you are.” A flash of confusion creased her facebriefly when she found who she’d been looking for. “Amara, a client has requested a private. Says he’ll pay double for themysterious woman in the mask. That’s you!”
She outstretched her arm, beckoning her forward, and a sickening bout of deja vu had me swallowing thickly. I stepped between them.
“She’s not available.”
Paris’s eyes widened as she looked from me to Amara. “But Mr. Andretti already paid. What should I tell him?”
“That she can’t—”
“That I’ll see him in fifteen.”
I whirled around in time to catch Amara slipping her mask back into place. It was suddenly difficult to hear my own thoughts against the raging river of blood pulsing in my ears.
The fuck she would.
23
“Amara,wait.”
Santino grabbed my hand and twisted me around as I reached my dressing room. It had been years since a man had struck fear in my heart. But the worry sitting like a rock in my chest wasn’t because I thought he’d harm me. It was far worse.
He’d managed to break through my defenses. And against every blaring alarm, I trusted him. Itrustedthis man even though I’d been conditioned not to.
My gaze dropped to where he held me, and no other proof was needed because had he been anyone else, I’d have fought him off and attempted to end his life. Instead, I felt myself relax, and with a feigned huff of exasperation, I motioned for him to say his piece.
“Refuse.”
“No.”
He gritted his teeth. “Why?”
“Santino, I don’t have the luxury of declining. The rent is alwaysdue.”
It wasn’t a lie, but certainly not the whole truth. Being a contract assassin for Ares had its perks. But those days and that money was long gone. Revenge murder? Well, the pay sucked.
But this was about more than money. Andretti was scum, the kind right up my alley. The way he allied with Luca and how he looked at Santi…