“So when Natalia offered you the job at the restaurant, you took it because you were done with your government contract and . . . what? You decided to quit being a vigilante, too?”
“I didn’t like the person I was, Maria. The path I was on was a dark one. And I knew Bianca wouldn’t approve, so yeah, I decided to quit and leave New York. My brothers agreed to quit as well.” He let go of my hands and shifted back, sinking onto his heels, remaining looking up at me like a man searching for forgiveness. “It’s not like we went around killing everyone we deemed a bad guy, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Well, I wasn’t, but I can’t get that horrific image out of my head now.”
Sure, I loved the morally gray men in romance novels who’d burn down the world for the woman they loved. But that was fiction. Could I handle it in the real world?
“I’m sorry.” He set a fist at his side and pushed up off the floor to stand. “I can tell this is too much for you, and that’s why I didn’t want to make love before you knew the truth. I knew that you—”
“Stop.” I rose to stand before him. “It is a lot, you’re right. And I’m processing, sure. But don’t put words in my mouth.” I grabbed hold of his shirt, and his jaw clenched as he lowered his eyes to my hand. “But I need to know if there’s more to your story. Or any other half-truths. Lies?”
“Maria.” His hand tangled in my hair, cupping the back of my head, demanding my attention. “I’ve only truly lied to you once.”
“What was it?”
Bending in, drawing his lips closer, he exhaled a jagged breath over my skin. “That I could only be your friend.”
He wound my hair around his fist and tugged, drawing my lips up like an offering, and he waited to see if I’d take it or refuse him.
His focus ran down between us, blazing a trail of heat over my skin as he looked at me. Finding my eyes again, he rasped, “I told you before, you hold the power over me, so tell me what you want, Tesoro. Am I letting go of you, or are we making love?”
TWENTY-THREE
Maria
“You know what I want.”
“What are you saying?” I felt the dark murmur of intent in Enzo’s tone all the way down to my toes as he let go of my hair.
“That I accept you for you. I’m not running.” My palm flattened on his chest, his heart beating as wildly as mine. “Be dark. Be the light. Be anything or anyone you need to be,” I rattled on crazily, but it was the truth. “Just be mine.” I innocently shrugged. “That was corny, right? I’m replaying it back in my head, and it was—”
His mouth closed over mine, stealing my words, breath, and, well, he already had my heart, so . . .
His kiss was soft. Delicate. No tongue. A bit unsure, even. Was he still nervous? Worried this wasn’t real?
“Maria,” he whispered against my mouth. “You know the truth, and you still want—”
“Yes, how many times do I have to tell you that? How else can I prove to you that you’re who I want no matter what?” I pleaded. “You have to let go of this guilt. It’s crushing you. Instead, see yourself the way I do. The way I know Bianca would if she were here. Please.”
His brows snapped together, his gaze softening as he considered my words. Then his lips crashed over mine. His tongue plunged into my mouth as the last bit of fight in him to stay away died.
Hoisting my legs around his hips without severing our kiss, I anxiously tugged his dress shirt free from his pants.
“Enzo,” I cried a heartbeat later. “I need to feel you inside me.”
Still holding me, he nuzzled his nose against mine. “You taste like wine, sweetheart. Have you been drinking?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Don’t you dare say you won’t make love to me because I had some wine. I might just lose my mind. Officially.”
“We wouldn’t want that.” His devilish smile had my brain turning to mush as he eased his mouth over mine.
“We do have a problem,” he remarked a beat later while gently placing me on the bed to peel off his shirt. “You’re not on the pill, and I didn’t bring condoms.” Unbuttoning his pants, he let them hang lower on his hips, showing the ridiculously amazing vee lines that I wanted to run my tongue over.
“I have them.” I smiled, focused on the tent he was pitching in his pants.
“Really?”
“Yup. When I went to get M&M’s at the airport, I spotted a package of condoms and on a whim bought ’em.”