TommasoI glanced at Paige out of the corner of my eye, singing along to some rock song I’d never heard before. She seemed different; she had since she’d answered my question in my office. There was a lightness to her now. She barely stopped touching me, and she never stopped smiling. I couldn’t deny that I liked it. Her cheeks still had a little hollowness to them, and I knew from last night that she still wasn’t totally physically healed from her encounter with Zahur, but she seemed so much better. Like a woman I might meet in the real world and fall in love with, not one I pulled out of the worst depths of human filth.Still, I kept glancing at her like this, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like at any moment, she’d realize what she’d done and be afraid of me again.“Good therapy session?” I asked as the song ended, not really expecting anything.“The best,” she said.“Great.” I smiled at her. “That sounds good.”“It totally was.” She grinned at me, her hair bouncing as she bob
PaigeI stared down at Tom, looking for any hint of rejection in his green eyes. Desire threatened to overwhelm me, but if he didn’t want this, I’d curl back into myself forever.His own want warred with a gentle love in his face. My panic dissipated, and I grinned at him.“Scared?” I kissed a line down his bare chest. “I’m starting to think you should be. Last night was all about me, and I’m ready to repay the favor.”“Paige, we don’t have to—”I started unbuttoning his pants, eye-level with the massive bulge I’d been grinding against since the car. “Stop me if you don’t want this.”He bit his lip and stroked my hair.“Exactly.” I yanked his pants and underwear down and licked my lips. I’d only read about doing this with someone I actually wanted to be with. I’d refused to try it for Eric because he refused to do the same for me, but Tom deserved it. He’d been so good to me, so sweet.“I love you,” Tom said. “We can stop whenever you want.”The promise resounded through me, but I did
TommasoI gathered a sleeping Paige in my arms, twisted, and lifted her off the couch. My legs ached as I lifted her. Whatever had gotten into her today made her wild, and the sun had disappeared over the house, a sure sign we’d fucked into the early evening. I laid her gently in bed and tucked the covers over her, then scribbled a little note that I’d gone to get some work done. She’d understand.I tugged on my suit pants over my still-sticky dick and padded out of her room with the rest of my clothes in my arms. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. The little voice in the back of my head kept nagging that something had to be off, that she couldn’t have changed this much this quickly, but I ignored it. If I was going to follow Paige’s lead, I had to follow it wherever she led, not just when her lead made sense to me.I stopped in my room for a shower and another change of clothes. There’d been lots of dry cleaning this week, and more if she insisted on coming onto me like she did i
PaigeI stared back at Tom, who looked at me like I’d just grown a second head. Like I was crazy, just for wanting to help, wanting to do the thing I said I was driving toward all along.Somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice reminded me that I was crazy.“This is going to be extremely dangerous,” Tom said slowly. “I double-checked with all my guys, mafia lifers, that they were actually willing to take on something with this high of a chance of going wrong.”I crossed my arms. “Consider this your double-check. I’m in.”He cupped my cheek, and I resisted the urge to lean in to his touch. “These women are going to be moments out of captivity. You did fantastic with Beth, but are you sure you’re ready for that?”I pulled away from him. “I’m not some wilting fucking flower. I put you and Steve on your respective asses.”That same voice reminded me I’d almost gone catatonic when McKenna had talked about her experiences in captivity, that I’d almost broken down just making fake women to
PaigeAs I expected, Sera Bianchi’s number was not only programmed into the phone Tom had given me, but added to my starred contacts. I trudged into my room and shut the door behind me. Tom said she’d patched him up after a gunshot wound and saved his life. Dr. Martinez might do house calls, but I doubted she did them on short notice, so having Sera nearby would hopefully bridge the gap. I had no idea who the mafia men used for their doctor when Sera wasn’t around, but if it wasn’t a woman, it wouldn’t work anyway.I dialed and held the phone to my ear with my eyes closed.“Paige!” Sera picked up almost immediately. “I’ve been waiting for you to call. How are things?”“Good, good,” I said automatically. “So—”“So, I heard from Killian that Tommaso said you might be willing to think about going shopping soon!” she trilled. “I was so glad to hear you’re finally on the upswing. I was thinking you, me, Olivia, and Penny could really tear up the town.”“Totally,” I said mostly to make her
TommasoOn Friday morning after Paige’s therapy, I sat at my desk, tying up a few loose ends. I hadn’t heard anything from Tony yet, but if I had to guess, I’d say the bastard would keep me waiting as long as possible as some kind of punishment for making him show me his set-up in the first place. He definitely seemed to want the “product” I “had,” but he also seemed like a petty piece of shit.The door to my office opened, and I looked up, expecting Miranda with the espresso I’d requested. Instead, Killian stepped in, wearing the sort of scowl I knew meant he wasn’t pleased. Part of me, the part that knew I was sitting in my own goddamn house running my own goddamn operation, wanted to demand what the hell he was doing here. The rest of me just saw my pissed-off boss—former boss.Killian dropped into one of the leather armchairs across from my desk. “What the fuck have you gotten yourself into now?”“What?” The tips of my ears warmed.“I’m not stupid, Tommaso.” Killian plucked a pen
PaigeSomeone knocked on my door in the middle of my workday on Friday, so I stood to open it.“Hi!” Sera wrapped me in a perfume-scented hug.I tried to extricate myself. “Uh, hi. What are you—”She bustled inside with a large tote bag that didn’t match her perfect, deep red pantsuit and began laying things out on the kitchenette counter of my suite. “Today’s the day, right? I wanted to go over the plan.”“Oh.” I drifted over to the counter with her.“So, it’s a little short-notice, but I was able to get six of my friends—well, five and my mom—to offer their services.” She laid out a list of names, each of which had four or five bullet points underneath it. “I didn’t know exactly what kind of space we were working with, so I figured a list with everyone’s skills would be most useful.” She grinned at me. “In terms of other stuff, I put together this care package”—she pulled out a pink mesh bag that looked like it had been made for makeup—“for each of the women. I know you said you did
PaigeMy mouth crashed into Tom’s, and our teeth clacked together painfully. For a split second, I thought he was going to shove me back and keep arguing. Instead, he grabbed me and lifted me so I could reach his mouth more easily. I wrapped my legs around his waist and devoured him like he was food and I’d never eaten before. His tongue moved in rhythm with mine, meeting me stroke for stroke. I wound my hands into his hair and pulled. He hissed and nipped my bottom lip.The spark of pain mixed with the pleasure mingled, became something more intoxicating still. He wouldn’t hurt me worse than I wanted, than I could handle.All of Tom’s gentle restraint seemed to have disappeared. He shoved a hand up under my sweater with no warning, his massive palm warm against my stomach. I moaned and arched into him. He made a low, ravenous sound.I pulled back from his lips and began kissing the rest of his face, his neck. It took all my failing brain cells to remember not to sink my teeth into th