Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Open your legs for me, Nora.” It was a soft request that made my eyes shoot open.
I studied him for a moment. The shadows on his face seemed to have vanished, even temporarily, and I felt comfort that I’d been able to help. I opened my legs for him and felt him apply something cold and wet. It felt marvelous against my battered flesh. I sagged down with a relieved exhale as he soothed me. He was still looking at me, studying every breath and every expression my face made as he applied more. When he was finished, he wiped his hand on his leg and brought it to my face. He didn’t say anything as he leaned in and kissed me. It was slow and tender, and it broke my heart more than anything he’d done to me previously. When he pulled away, he searched my eyes one last time before turning me so my back was facing his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and rained kisses on my neck, across my shoulder, behind my ear, and on top of my head. Then he buried his face in the crook of my neck and exhaled.
“If you could go anywhere, where would you go?” I whispered.
“I’ve never really thought about it,” he said.
“Really?” I frowned, twisting my face to look at him.
“I’ve been to many different places and always go back to New York.”
“That’s home for you,” I said. It made sense.
“My home was stolen years ago. My family’s in New York, so that’s where I go.”
“You mean my brother and them,” I said.
“And my brother.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “Where would you go?”
“Colorado.”
He laughed lightly as he frowned. “Colorado? Why? To get pot? You know it’s legal in New York, right?”
“Not for pot.” I turned over so I was on my back and could see his face better. “It just looks so beautiful. The mountains, the snow. All of it. Like a postcard.”
“I guess.”
“Have you ever been?”
“Nope.”
“Really?” I felt my eyes widen.
“Why would I go to Colorado?” he laughed lightly, and even though it was at my expense, I relished the sound, content to have lifted some of his darkness, at least for a moment.
“I just told you why.”
“I’ll make a note of it.” His eyes danced.
“What about The Netherlands?” I asked.
“You sure this isn’t about pot?”
I laughed, pushing his chest. “Rocco.”
His mouth hitched. “I’ve been to the Netherlands.”
“And?”
“And I liked it. I would go back.”
“What about Greece?” I asked, suddenly wanting to know if he’d checked every single place on my bucket list.
“Never been.”
“I’m dying to go there.” I ran the tip of my finger down the defined line between his pecs. “What about California?”
“California’s huge.” He opened his mouth and lightly bit the tip of my finger when I ran it from his chest to his lips.
“L.A.,” I said first.
“Not my scene.”
“San Francisco.”
“Beautiful, also not my scene, and expensive as fuck.”
That made me smile for some reason. “Japan?”
“Love Japan.”
“Wow.” I smiled until I thought about my situation, and the daydream vanished. “All those places are on my bucket list, and I probably won’t visit them.”
“You will.” He said it with such conviction that I almost believed him. I turned in his arms, pressing my back to his chest again. “My perfect little Nora. I’d go anywhere with you,” he murmured against me.
For a moment, I let myself imagine that this was my life, wrapped in Rocco’s strong arms, planning trips together. I let myself imagine us in Paris, Japan, and Colorado. I pictured the scowl on his face when I did something he didn’t like and the smile he rewarded me with when I did something he enjoyed. I was smiling as I shut my eyes and drifted to sleep.
26
ROCCO
My heart felt heavy as I watched Lenora sleep. She was so fucking sweet. Too sweet. When I pieced together what her father had done, the only thing on my mind was vengeance and what better way to get back at him than through his daughter? It was what had been brewing inside me the last few days. I’d come up with ten ways to use her as bait. I’d done a lot of shit in my life, but never to a woman. It was what made me walk away from that high-paying government job. They sat a woman on the interrogation chair in front of me and expected me to do my worst, and I couldn’t. I’d already done my worst to grown men, to young men — some of whom had been guilty, others who I’d been told were guilty, but deep down, I knew weren’t. I’d done what I had to do anyway. I drew the line at women. There was no fucking way I was going to waterboard a woman. With Lenora, things were different. It should have been a no-brainer. I went to her room first to see if I could look her in the eye and still go through with what I had planned.