Laurella struggled to keep up with Calum as he strode into her apartment building. Another couple was just exiting the elevator. Calum urged her inside.

“What floor?” he asked.

“Seventeenth.”

Calum moved his body into hers before the doors had time to close. Pinning her to the wall with his hips, he gathered her hair into a ponytail and gently tugged. Her head fell back, and his mouth came down on hers with a groan.

She’d barely given in to his kiss when the pinging sound of the elevator arriving at her floor interrupted them.

“Couldn’t you live in a taller building?” he muttered.

Laurella giggled as she walked down the hallway, Calum’s arm clamped around her waist as if he couldn’t bear to let her go. Excitement began to build, pooling low in her belly. It had been far too long since she’d reveled in a man’s touch, although none of her previous lovers had set her skin on fire the way Calum did with the simplest touch.

They turned the corner, and Laurella stopped abruptly. Sitting outside her apartment, knees pulled up to her chest, arms curved around them, was her youngest sister, Alessia. Her face was tearstained, and when she looked up and saw Laurella, more tears fell.

She scrambled to her feet and came charging down the hallway. She flung her arms around Laurella’s neck. “Oh, Ella. Thank goodness. I thought you were never coming home.”

Laurella took hold of her sister’s shoulders and eased her back. “Alessia, what on earth are you doing here? You’re not due until Sunday.”

Alessia sniffled then wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I had a fight with Papa, so I caught an earlier flight. He wants me to go to college in Milan, but I won’t do it, Ella. I won’t. Gianni is going to Rome, and I want to go with him. You have to help me. You have to talk to Papa.”

Gianni was Alessia’s childhood sweetheart and the crush Papa hoped would simply fade away. From the desperate, pleading look in Alessia’s eyes, Laurella knew Papa’s hopes weren’t going to come to fruition anytime soon.

Laurella opened the door to her apartment. “Go inside, Alessia. I’ll be in shortly.” She gently shoved her sister through the door and pulled it closed behind her, a wry grimace twisting her lips. “Do you think the fates have conspired to keep us apart?” she asked, wrapping her arms around Calum’s neck.

Calum’s hand curved around her face, and he bent to kiss her softly. “Go deal with your sister.”

Laurella huffed. “I’m so frustrated.”

Calum laughed and glanced down at the unmistakable bulge in his jeans. “You’re not the only one.”

She grinned. “Cold shower?”

“Or a hot one,” he said, winking. “I’ve got a pretty good imagination. It’ll have to do for now.”

“I’m going to kill her,” Laurella said, more to herself than to him.

Calum kissed her again. “I’ll see you next week.”

Laurella watched him until he disappeared from view. She sighed, then went inside.

Alessia had already made herself at home—shoes cast aside, feet curled beneath her on the sofa. Her suitcase, bursting at the seams, was set on top of the chair by the window.

“He’s hot.” Alessia cocked her head at the closed door.

Laurella ignored her. “Does Papa know you changed to an earlier flight?”

Alessia shook her head sheepishly.

“Alessia!”

“I thought you could tell him. You know he loves you the best. If you talk to him, he’ll listen. I know he will.”

“Where does he think you are? He’ll be going out of his mind, as will Mama.”

Alessia shook her head. “It’s okay. They think I’m staying at a girlfriend’s house tonight. They won’t worry for a few hours yet.”

Laurella breathed out through her nose. “You are so irresponsible. You’re eighteen now, Alessia—an adult in the eyes of the world. When are you going to start acting like one?” She was being overly harsh with her baby sister, but that was because of the thwarted night of sex with Calum.

Alessia’s eyes filled up once more. “I thought you’d understand.”

Laurella sat beside her. “I do understand. I know that Gianni is important to you, but don’t you think Papa also knows what’s best? He probably thinks some distance will allow you to spread your wings before committing to Gianni for the rest of your life.”

In defiant mode, Alessia folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t need to spread my wings. I know what I want.”

Laurella stroked her sister’s hair. “Why don’t you go and get some rest? You must be exhausted after the long flight. I’ll call Papa and talk to him.”

Alessia’s face flooded with relief. She flung her arms around Laurella’s neck. “Love you, Ella. I knew you’d make it all better.”

Laurella kissed the top of Alessia’s head. “Love you, too. Now scoot.”

Happy now that she’d gotten her own way, Alessia grinned, grabbed her suitcase, and wheeled it into the one and only bedroom. Laurella shook her head affectionately. Alessia was incorrigible but adorable.

She put on a pot of coffee. Papa wouldn’t be up for a couple of hours. It was going to be a long night. She flicked on the TV, more for background noise than any interest in watching, sipped her coffee, and replayed the evening’s events. The Brooks were certainly a complicated lot, although her family wasn’t dissimilar.

She touched her lips, still able to feel Calum’s kiss in the elevator. If Alessia hadn’t arrived two days early, they’d be in bed together right at that moment. What would he be like? Proficient, certainly, but she also got the sense he’d be adventurous. His inappropriate touching of her at the dinner table was testament to his lack of care for rules or etiquette. Calum took what he wanted when he wanted it.

A delicious shiver crept up her spine. They’d had to delay, not cancel. It would make their eventual coming together all the sweeter.

On impulse, she grabbed her cell and sent him a text: How was the shower?

He didn’t take long to reply: Lonely.

She smiled to herself and was wondering whether she should respond when he sent another: How’s your sister?

His interest and concern surprised her. The more she got to know him, the more she realized she’d misjudged him initially, although he had more than his fair share of culpability for her original beliefs.

She texted: Hormonal. Alessia likes to overdramatize everything.

When he didn’t reply, she sent another: I’m sorry the evening ended the way it did.

She stared at her cell, willing a reply. When it came, she knew it was a text she’d keep forever: It might not have ended with me buried deep inside you, but you’re still mine, Ricci.

She hugged herself and tapped out a response: Noted. Goodnight, Calum.

Night, beautiful came the reply.

A couple of hours later, Laurella shook off her tiredness and dialed her father’s number. He answered immediately, and the moment she heard his voice, her homesickness became almost unbearable.

“Laurella, tesoro. How are you, my girl?”

“I’m good, Papa. You sound very chirpy this morning.” That won’t last long.

“Your voice would brighten the lowest of spirits. But it’s late there now, no? Why aren’t you in bed?”

She decided to plunge straight in. Delaying tactics would only make her dread grow. “Papa, when I came home this evening, I found Alessia waiting for me.”

There was a gasp down the line. “But she’s not coming to you until Sunday.”

“She changed her flight.”

“Put her on the phone,” he demanded. Her father’s tone had grown deep and serious, his earlier levity blown away like a leaf on a breeze.

“She’s sleeping. I’ll get her to call you in a few hours. She wanted me to talk to you about college.”

“Pah,” her father said. Laurella could imagine him slicing his hand through the air in a dismissive fashion. “She thinks she can’t survive without that boy, Gianni. But she hasn’t lived. How can she possibly know what she wants?”

“Papa, I know you want to protect us, but sometimes we have to make our own mistakes. Otherwise, how will we learn?”

“I allowed you to make your own mistakes. And what did that bring? Alberto Vorino. I couldn’t protect you then, but I can protect Alessia now.”

Laurella sucked in a breath and doubled over as if she’d been punched in the stomach. She squeezed her eyes closed, memories Calum had stirred up with his questioning in Chicago coming to the fore. “You can’t compare a young boy like Gianni to gentaglia like Alberto Vorino.”

“Maybe not,” he replied. “But Alessia isn’t ready to forge her way forth on her own yet.”

“Papa, she’s eighteen.”

“A young eighteen,” he said firmly. “You were born thirty, yet still things happened.”

“Papa, please,” she whispered. “I don’t want to talk about that time.”

Especially now, when I’ve found a man who might have a chance of repairing my shattered soul.

“And even if Alessia goes to college in Milan, you can’t be with her every minute of every day. Just consider letting her go to Rome. Maybe compromise on the first year until she proves you can trust her. You could get her to call you every night. If you smother her, she’ll fight. You know how headstrong she is.”

Silence greeted her, but then her father let out a soft sigh of capitulation. “Okay. She can go, but I don’t like it, Laurella. And you tell that girl to call me when she wakes. It’s a good job she’s staying with you for the next few days. It will give me chance to calm down.”

Laurella chuckled. “No doubt that was part of her plan, Papa.”

He grunted. “I miss you, tesoro. So does your mama. Come visit us soon.”

“Yes, soon,” Laurella said. “I love you, Papa.”

“I love you, too. Hold on. Your mama wants to talk with you.”

After she’d spoken to her mother, Laurella expected her homesickness to be much worse. But talking to her parents had given her comfort, peace. And her burgeoning relationship with Calum helped bring on a sense of belonging in her new home, in New York.

Exhausted, she crept into her bedroom. Alessia was fast asleep, her hair a dark, tangled mess, the sheets tossed to one side. Laurella quietly dressed for bed and slipped under the covers beside her sister. Alessia may have won this round, but no doubt, her ears would be ringing from the dressing down she’d get from Papa as soon as she called him in the morning.

Laurella entered her office the following Thursday with a spring in her step. She’d had an enjoyable few days with Alessia, and her batteries were well recharged. Her sister was heading back to Milan the next day, which meant that Laurella and Calum could carry on where they’d left off before Alessia’s untimely arrival.

Juggling a coffee, her laptop bag, and her purse, Laurella nudged open the door to her office with her hip. Inside, Calum was sitting in her chair, his feet resting on her desk.

“Morning,” he said, his wide smile tugging on her heart and flipping her stomach.

She kicked the door shut. “Out of my chair, Brook,” she said, setting her stuff on the desk. When he didn’t move, she knocked his feet to the floor. In an instant, she found herself sitting in his lap. He drew her head down to his and kissed her. He tasted of minty toothpaste and that morning’s caffeine fix.

When he flicked his tongue inside her mouth, she pulled away. “What if someone comes in?” she said, trying—and failing—to get off his lap.

“Unless it’s Zane, they’d better knock first, in which case, I’ll do the gentlemanly thing and let you go. If they don’t knock, I’ll fire their ass.”

She bent her head to the right. “And if it is Zane?”

Calum shrugged. “He’s seen worse from me.”

An uncomfortable feeling stirred within her. “I’ll bet he has,” she said quietly as she gripped his wrists and unwrapped his arms from around her. She stood, walked around to the other side of her desk, and removed the plastic lid from her coffee.

Calum chuckled. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” she said, a little too quickly.

“You are,” he said, laughing harder. “Oh, this is priceless.”

Laurella pretended to ignore him. Instead, she nonchalantly strolled over to her filing cabinet and took out a thick manila folder. She dropped it on her desk, but before she could open it, Calum got out of her chair and pulled her into his arms.

“I like this side of you.” He brushed his lips against hers. “It means you care.”

She snorted. “You think a lot of yourself, Calum Brook.”

“That goes without saying,” he said, grinning boldly. “The question is, what do you think of me? Based on that green tinge to your skin, I’d say quite a lot.”

“Don’t you have something you need to do?” she snapped.

He bent his head, his lips touching the shell of her ear. “Only you, Laurella. I need to do you, desperately.”

A hot flush rushed through her body. She’d never been so turned on by a man using words alone. As she remembered where they were, her professionalism made an unwelcome return. She twisted out of his arms and put some distance between them.

Calum laughed.

How has he figured me out so quickly?

“Did you enjoy your time off with Alessia?”

A smile came to her lips. “I did. We both had an amazing time, but it’s definitely made me want to plan a trip home to see the rest of my family. Speaking of family, I meant to ask you after the dinner at your place: what’s your issue with Indie? She seemed nice enough to me.”

His lips curled in a menacing manner. “She almost got Jax killed.”

Laurella’s skin tingled at his obvious malevolence. “What do you mean?”

Calum shook his head. “It’s a long story. Suffice it to say, she and her brother had a vendetta against my family, and Jax was the one they decided to target. Indie’s brother died. Jax didn’t. I’ll tell you the full story sometime.”

She read his abrupt end to her questioning as a signal to drop the subject, evidenced by the fact that he wrapped her in his arms once more. “When’s your sister flying home?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Tomorrow night it is, then.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Tomorrow night is when I truly make you mine.”