Page 67 of Liberated By Sin
Santino froze, and then erupted into laughter. His laugh was contagious. Fuck, he was so handsome. I would absolutely risk it all for another orgasm.
“You know I’m talking about your piercing,” I said, running my fingers up his chiseled abs and over his chest, where I felt a familiar disturbance—a light scar between his pecks.
His laughter quelled when he noticed and cupped my hand.
“What happened?”
“I had surgery when I was a boy. Passed out one day at nursery, and my mother was told I had a defect in my heart.”
My own chest tightened.
“Are you okay?”
Using his thumb, he smoothed out the worry lines along the bridge of my nose and smiled.
“I am. There are scars on my heart,preziosa. But maybe it was always meant to be that way.”
I rested my head over the rhythmic beating, seeking assurance thatit was indeed healthy. “We’re all a little broken.”
“Maybe,” he said, bringing my wrist to his lips and kissing the discolored skin. “But I’ve never felt more whole than this moment with you.”
28
Theelevator doors slid closed briefly before popping back open. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised to see Amara’s neighbor standing on the other side. He stepped inside without a word and leaned on the far corner rail. He was alone this time and seemed a little less…paranoid.
I watched him, anticipating the conversation I knew he’d planned. Something told me he’d been waiting for me to leave Amara’s apartment. That fact alone set my nerves on edge. She’d said he was insistent, asking too many questions and poking his nose where it didn’t belong. Friendly or not, having a cop as a neighbor was dangerous enough—a meddling one was even more so.
“So you’re a friend of hers,” he finally said as the lift descended.
“I am.”
The man was quiet for several moments when he suddenly shifted in my direction, and his eyes again dropped to the front of my shirt.
“Is everything okay?”
“Do you often interrogatestrangers?”
He chuckled humorlessly.
“Just making small talk. You caught me a bit off guard. It was a late night…or early morning, depending on how you want to look at it. The last thing I was expecting was a stranger with a bloodied shirt to be standing at my door.”
“Understandable. I got the unit number confused. My apologies.”
“Was this your first time visiting?”
Leaning against the back wall, I tucked my hands into my pockets and met the steel in his eyes.
“Might I remind you, Detective Braga, we’re not at the precinct.”
He pushed a button as the elevator reached the lobby floor, preventing the doors from closing, and my attention snapped back to the bold stranger with a sudden death wish.
“I’m very well aware, Santino Leone. Like I said, just having friendly conversation. Amara seems like a nice young lady with questionable employment, true, but I’m sure she has her reasons. I just hope those don’t include being coerced or stalked by her boss.”
My eyes slid to the surveillance camera mounted in the corner. Today was his lucky day.
“I have two pieces of advice for you.”
“And what’s that?” He tilted his head, attempting to look relaxed, but his body language and fidgety trigger hand betrayed him.