Luca (I Love the Way You Lie #1) (19 page)

I was hidden in the shadows near Allison’s apartment.

A black limo pulled up.
My
limo. The driver’s side door opened and Evan jumped out. His steps were
way
too fucking cheerful for my liking. He went around to the passenger side, opening it slowly for her. The bend of her knee as she pivoted out of the vehicle was not lost on me.
Those would be over my shoulders soon,
I thought. My memories of her were vivid as they were voracious. She turned and leaned into the back again, saying a few words.
Maybe her friend, Melissa?
My eyes studied her feminine silhouette with vigor. Fuck, I had a hell of a time taking my gaze away from the most gorgeous pair of shapely legs. I was convinced those shoes would look perfect on the floor of my bedroom. The rush of blood into my cock was instantaneous. I reached down, pinching the head for some much needed torment. I shuddered, letting the carnal energy flow through my veins. A hand reached out, taking hers. I took a step forward, squinting for a better view. A pair of lips gently kissed the top of her hand. My heart raced—not because of excitement but out of rage. I told him to have Evan take her home. I strained to see if Melissa was in the car. She wasn’t. Motherfucking cocksucker. I moved under the lamppost and away from my shadowed sanctuary.
When the time is right
, I murmured.
Now is not the time? You’ll ruin everything for her.

Another step.

She slammed the door closed, turned, and ran up the stone steps.

Another cocksure step.

The limo drove off and I looked directly into the rear window. Archer’s expression was full of surprise. That’s fucking right, asshole.

Another step.

She unlocked the door and walked in, and then the lights went on. Good, she’s safe. And I ran like a demon after my limo. I caught up with it at the next light.
I’ve been training for this, fucker,
I thought.

My bare knuckles hit the passenger window with enough force to shatter it. It didn’t. Archer’s pale, wide-eyed face was the only indication he knew he was going to get his ass handed to him.

Slam
. My fist hit the window. Then I heard the pop of the locks unlocking. I jumped in as the light turned green. Evan nearly sideswiped a few parked cars.

“What the fuck, Luca?” they both yelled.

“Evan, eyes on the road.” I pointed. Then I turned my attention to Archer. I haven’t had a fistfight with him since we were sixteen. He didn’t back-peddle easily. He wasn’t one to run from a fight. However, I could almost hear the gears grind. We both sized each other up at breakneck speed.

“Are we really going to do this…here?” He looked around at the expensive décor. I knew he was trying to appeal to my business side. The side who wrote and signed the checks. I didn’t give a fuck. This wasn’t about Alastair. This was about
her
. He knew how it was when it came to her.

“I don’t give a fuck about this.” My hand swept the car. “What I do care about is…why your fucking lips were on any part of her!” I screamed.

He smiled. “She did taste sweet like candy, bro.”

I lunged. My hand grabbed his shirt while the other got off two punches: one to his jaw, the other hit him somewhere on the side of his head. He never lifted a hand to defend himself. I pulled back, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Feel better?” he asked, palming his jaw.

“Yes and no.” I did feel slightly better. However, the ache still existed deep in my chest. I rubbed it to relieve some of the tension.

“Bro, nothing happened. It was not like that. If you give me a minute, I’ll explain. Then we’ll hit the gym. See if I can beat some of the tension out of you.” He smirked; it was classic Archer. “Want to get turned-up?” He arched an eyebrow, pulling his vaporizer out.

“No.” I still had work to do. I needed to get back to the office and finish up.

“Want me to make a call? Threesome?” he asked, pulling a deep toke into his lungs. “You really need to get laid, dude…fucking wound tight.” He exhaled a thick plume of smoke. Fucking vaporizer. Now, it gave Archer the green light to smoke up all day. I shook my head.

“Definitely not.” I continued to brood, looking at the downtown traffic. I wanted to be the first to kiss her. Me. Not fucking Archer. It didn’t mean anything to him; whereas, it meant everything to me. It hardly fucking mattered if it was innocent or not.

“Seriously, Luca. It’s done. All this planning of yours will work out sooner or later. I say it’s going to be sooner if you ask me,” he said, pouring me a scotch. Fuck, I needed to eat. I haven’t eaten anything since this morning. Then his words hit me…

“What the fuck does that mean?” I shot half the glass in one smooth motion.

“It means she knows,” he said, reaching into the ice-compartment for a beer.
She knows? What could she know?

I placed my highball glass in the retainer and turned to him, crossing my legs. “And what does she know exactly?”

He relaxed into the seat, letting the stress of the day go. No doubt feeling those punches now. “It’s not that she
knows
—knows. It more a feeling like she’s aware you’re around. It’s the freakiest shit, but her eyes move to the shadows. She looks for you, man. I can’t really explain it better than that.” He shrugged, chugging the rest of his beer.

My palm met my overgrown stubble. “I don’t want to cause her any pain. I’ve done more than my share.” It was true, and it killed me to do so. I prayed like fuck she’d find it in her heart to forgive me one day. It was asking a lot. This I knew. I wasn’t big with forgiveness, and here I am, fancying it. Yeah, I was a cluster-fuck of contradictions. Sigh.

Archer leaned forward, yelling something to Evan. He shook my arm. Fuck, even my arm was numb. Numb and annoyed—that basically summed up my day. Add the fact that my half-hard cock was still rearing its ugly head, and I had that menacing me, too. “Hey, how about we drop you off at the office? I’ll run to pick up some eats and meet you there? You finish what you need to. Then we’ll go to the gym.”

“Sounds good.” I jumped out, slamming the door behind me. Before walking in the building, the sky caught my attention. There was a full moon. I thought back to my younger years when my mother would warn me to be careful during a full moon because the crazies were out. Now one of those crazies, I stood with my hands in my pockets, wondering how I fucking got to this place in my life. Born tormented and miserable…then changing into something appearing to be different.

~~~

It was a warm, sunny day in New York. People were flocking to the 9/11 memorial, picnicking in the park, and excising a day’s worth of communal stress from their beaten bodies. My mood was for shit, and it had been all week. I had a teleconference at noon, the event planner at two, two meetings back to back, and I get a call from my old man, asking for cash. If the windows opened, I’d consider saying fuck it all. However, they didn’t. And it was way too early to drink. How long can I jerkoff for…how fucking long? The man in me said,
don’t do it
. The virile animal in me said,
you need to take the edge off; it’s affecting you
. With my phone in my hand, I scrolled through my contacts warily. Sabrina. She’d do. I checked my watch quickly and made the call.

An hour later.

Sabrina’s
Mediterranean
lilt voice sashayed through my office door. I never picked my eyes up from the merger I was working on to address her. “You know the drill.”

“Are we going to fuck, Luca?” she purred from across the room.

“Do we ever?” My eyes rose to meet hers. No, we did not. My purpose for her was singular.

“You’re no fun. Don’t you get bored of me sucking your cock?” she asked, sitting on the corner of my credenza, spreading her skirt-clad thighs. She had no panties on. If I were a betting man, I’d say she never wore them, either. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t fucking her. Her thick, shiny black hair swept off her neck in a tight bun, exposing her neck to me. My balls drew tightly against my skin—painfully. The urge to mark…claim, sink my teeth in while sinking my cock even deeper… I swallowed that thought and opened my fly.

“Let’s not, shall we…” She wouldn’t refuse my cock—ever. It sprang free, jutting and proudly waving at her. Her eyes leapt, alive with potent sexuality. My cock twitched hard, bounding out of my hand.

She fell to her knees, one hand going under her skirt. “Do you want to taste?” She brought her fingers to my face.

“No,” I lied. I did. However, I was saving my tasting for someone else. I planned a night of feasting on Allison’s sweet pussy. She’d be lucky if she could wipe the next day. I smiled at that.

She frowned at me. “Oh well, more for me.” She extended her index and middle into her mouth sucking herself off with a loud pop. I stroked myself one time, garnering her attention once again. “Daddy, it looks angry. So red…and veiny.” She took me in her mouth in one fluid movement. That’s it. “You know how I love to trace those angry veins, right?” She went down again, this time faster. My hand was still firm around my cock, holding it steady. Her hands were too tiny to wrap around my flesh. As her motions became more fluent, so were mine…working myself root to tip. “I want to hold it, daddy. Please.” She pouted.

“I just need your mouth on my cock. That’s it. Now choke it down and ssshhh.” I grabbed a handful of black, threading it through my finger. “You want this cock?” I asked. Her rapid nods were almost childlike. “Then suck it like you want it.” I pushed her mouth up and over my thick crown. “If you want to be a princess…you have to bow to the crown.” Her now watering eyes filled me with male satisfaction. My cock hit the back of her throat with vigor. Her saliva coated my cock and balls. A few thrusts up and I spent myself, coating the back of her throat.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “You’re a fucking asshole.”

“Indeed. That is all.” I handed her a small envelope for her time, which she happily accepted after righting her skirt. I buckled my belt, zipped my fly, and went back to the acquisition on my desk.

Another sleepless night behind me. My body felt awkward, frozen, and stiff. Anxiety clawed at my skin. It was barely six AM and my alarm wasn’t set to go off for another thirty minutes. Bathed in darkness, my mind spun dizzily on a sole pair of shadowed green eyes—fiery and full of mystery.
Where did you go, Luca?
I pondered.

With a heavy heart, I sat up, fluffing the pillow under my knees, unable to leave the discomfort of my bed yet.
You’re a fucking sadist
, I thought. Instead, I used the time to study the cracks on my empty wall. I found peace in those tiny cracks of paint. Even after years of plaster and repair, they were still there. Touched up and painted pretty…yet they always peek through. Each crack was unique and refused to be covered—much like my own cracks within me that were threatening to crush me. The irony wasn’t lost on me. My own demons still chased me from sleep and through many of the days. I wasn’t in a good place. My career was taking off, dreams well within my reach, and yet…here I sit, alone in darkness, atoning for god knows what or whose sins. I laughed. Here, I thought I was living all these years. Denial. It was more like existing between two worlds unsuccessfully. I’ve kept that fact to myself. I blew out a breath, praying I could harness some much needed energy for the tasks ahead of me.