Crow dropped me off at the house, and I walked inside.

Cane was at the stove, working the hot pans as steam rose to the vent. He was in a black t-shirt and black jeans, looking exactly the way I pictured a criminal would look—just without all the scars.

“What’s this?” Cane and I hadn’t slept together since we’d returned from South Carolina. I’d been too emotional for sex, and Cane must have picked up on that because he didn’t try to make anything happen.

I was lucky that he even cared.

Cane turned the fire down low then wiped his hands on a towel. “Dinner.”

“You cooked?”

“Now that you’re a working girl, I had to step up.” He wore a playful smile when he looked at me, telling me it was perfectly okay that I was gone all day while he was working.

“What a nice surprise.”

He placed everything on two plates and left the pans in the sink. We sat in the dining room, in front of the large redwood window that looked over the vineyards in the distance. The sun was almost gone, and the birds were chirping outside. We drank a bottle of Barsetti wine as we ate.

Cane stared at me most of the time, chewing slowly with his eyes trained on me. He’d shaved that morning, so his chin was absent of hair. I liked the shaved look, but I also liked it when his beard was coming in. There wasn’t a look that he couldn’t pull off. “How was the winery?”

“Good. I helped Pearl with the tastings.”

“Get a lot of people in?”

“A ton. Mostly tourists.”

“I don’t think they’re big fans of the wine. I think they just love the property.”

“It is beautiful.” I swirled the glass I was holding. “But I do think the wine is delicious.”

“I guess I’m just used to it.”

“No. You just like to pick on your brother any chance you get.” I smiled at him, telling him I was teasing him.

He shrugged and kept eating. “You seem to be in a good mood today.”

I hadn’t spoken much since we’d come back to Italy. I’d needed a few nights of sleep before I could get back to a state of calm. Seeing my parents made me more emotional than I could handle. “It was nice to get out of the house.”

“Pearl keeps you company?”

“Yeah, but she and Crow are fighting right now.”

When Cane didn’t ask any questions about it, I assumed that meant he knew about it.

“She told you she talked to Tristan?”

He nodded then kept eating.

“I can’t believe she did that.”

“She’s an idiot. I won’t tell you otherwise.”

“I wouldn’t call her an idiot…”

“She a tough girl, but she thinks she’s stronger than she really is. Her overinflated ego has nearly gotten her killed a few times. I don’t blame Crow for being mad. I would feel the same way if my wife did something reckless like that.”

The idea of him having a wife suddenly made me sad. If he settled down and got married someday, I would be dead and gone—probably for years. He would love her, have children with her, and they would grow old in this big, beautiful house.

It was the kind of future I would never have. I would miss out on so many things, things I never had the opportunity to experience. My appetite was gone, but I kept eating, not wanting to make it obvious that statement hurt. I wasn’t jealous that he would be with someone else. I was just sad that he would move on with his life…and I would die in that cell with a cyanide pill in my stomach.

“Everything alright?”

Maybe I wasn’t as sly as I thought. “I just hope the two of them work it out.”

“Don’t worry about it. Pearl can do anything, and Crow will forgive her for it. Not because he’s a pushover, just because he loves her so damn much. He doesn’t say it a lot, but he makes it pretty damn obvious anytime they’re in the same room together.”

“That’s sweet.”

“I knew he loved her even before he did.” Cane wiped his plate clean, eating every single morsel like he’d skipped breakfast and lunch.

I ate a few more bites, but that was the most I could stomach.

Cane eyed my plate, which was still half full. “Can’t eat anymore?”

I knew he was trying to fatten me up on purpose. As soon as I went back to Tristan, I would be starved around the clock. Tristan wouldn’t like the weight I’d put on, so he would probably starve me on purpose. “I’m pretty full.”

Cane didn’t push it on me. “I’ll save this for you.” He took both of our plates and put my leftovers in a plastic container.

I moved to the sink and did the dishes.

“What are you doing?”

I glanced at him over my shoulder, seeing the stern look on his face. “Just trying to help out.”

“The maids will do that in the morning. Don’t worry about it.”

“You got maids? I thought my job was to cook and clean.”

“Well, you’ve been promoted.” He came to my side at the sink and turned off the faucet. “You only have one job in this house—and it’s not cooking or cleaning.”

---

He sat beside me on the couch, enjoying his scotch while he watched the Italian news. His arm rested around my shoulders as his knees sat far apart. His muscled thighs were noticeable in his jeans. He drank his scotch, glanced at me, and then looked at the TV again. “What would you like to see tomorrow?”

“Like to see?”

“Any other parts of Italy?”

“Cane, you don’t need to keep taking time off work for me.” He’d already done enough for me. “I’m happy going to the winery with Crow and Pearl.”

“I don’t mind. I haven’t taken a vacation in a long time. So tell me.”

“Uh…I’ve always wanted to see Siena.”

“Then we’ll go tomorrow.”

“Well…thanks. Maybe Pearl and Crow could come along.”

“No. If I’m not around, then Crow needs to be available to handle a potential disaster.”

“What kind of disasters do you face?” I asked.

He took a long drink of his scotch. “People who think they can undercut us or overrun us. Stuff like that.”

I nodded even though I didn’t understand at all. “What time do you want to leave?”

“First thing in the morning. I want to beat the tourists.” He grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. “Let’s go to bed.”

I followed him upstairs and entered the bedroom. It was a cool night, so Cane kneeled down and got a fire going in the hearth. He didn’t have a TV in his bedroom, but most of the other rooms had them. All of my things were stored in my bedroom down the hall, but I just assumed he wanted me beside him. I hadn’t been screwing him for the past few nights, but he expected me to sleep with him.

I changed out of my clothes and pulled on one of his cotton t-shirts from the drawer. I’d probably just take this off anyway, but at least I had one picked out. I pulled back the covers and got into bed.

Cane washed his hands in the bathroom before he returned. He turned off all the lights so only the crackling fire brought illumination into the room. The heat slowly filled the bedroom, reaching the four corners and chasing away the chill.

He stripped off his clothes, dropping his boxers along with everything else, and then got into bed. The light from the flames licked his skin, highlighting the definition of his arms and shoulders.

He got comfortable beside me but didn’t smother me with his masculine affection. His powerful arms didn’t form a steel cage around my body. He didn’t heat my side of the bed with his personal heating system.

I stared at him with the sheets pulled to my shoulders, wondering what he was thinking. His chiseled jaw was set firmly in place, and his green eyes didn’t give anything away. He stared at me without blinking, his dark hair repositioning as he lay on the pillow.

It didn’t seem like he was tired, judging by the pointed stare directed my way. But he didn’t start a conversation or touch me. He just stayed put.

I knew this had something to do with our trip to South Carolina. He assumed I wasn’t ready, was too much emotional to feel an ache between my legs. The restraint spoke to his kindness. I could be bleeding, but Tristan didn’t care about my feelings. He took what he wanted like he’d owned me my entire life. But Cane gave me power the second I was in his captivity. I could do whatever I wanted—and we both knew it. I didn’t even have to sleep with him, and he wouldn’t send me back.

I was a very lucky woman.

Cane sold illegal weapons to clients, had a secret power over Italy. He and his brother were mixed up with the craziest characters, men who were so evil the police couldn’t even retaliate. I’d seen that kind of barbaric cruelty, had been at the hands of it myself. Now that I knew what evil looked like, I didn’t recognize it in Cane.

Not at all.

He was my friend, my confidant. He was my safe place. I knew I would think of him when Tristan had his hands around my neck. When things got really rough, I would think about the way Cane would look at me—just like this.

And when I took those pills, I would think of him until the darkness came for me.

When I thought of the future, it dragged me down like a weight tied to my ankle. I still had a few weeks before I had to think of that terror, so I put it out ofmy mind. Right now, I was in a comfortable bed with a roaring fire—and a handsome man was staring at me.

A handsome man who wanted me.

I scooted closer to him under the sheets and pressed my mouth lightly to his. The second our lips touched, I felt the shivers run all over my body. His lips were soft and full, and the hair around his mouth gently scraped against my skin. I liked feeling that hair, feeling the masculine shadow that was prevalent on his face every morning.

My hand moved to his chest, and I explored his muscularity, feeling the way each muscle combined with the next one. His skin was soft, but underneath that gentleness was concrete. My fingertips loved feeling his strength because it made me feel safe. Cane was my personal gate, my personal protection against anything that could hurt me. For the next couple weeks, every single hair on my head was safe. No one could touch me, could get past this powerful man.

Once he felt my kiss, he moved his hand around my waist and felt the soft skin of my back. He explored the deep curve in the area between my shoulder blades. Sometimes his fingers felt my hair as it trailed down my back.

His kisses grew deeper, more intense. Sometimes he gave me his tongue, and sometimes he pulled my bottom lip into his mouth. He squeezed me, gripped me, devoured me. When his patience disappeared, he rolled me onto my back and held his mass on top of mine. “Are you ready?”

He gave me all the power and didn’t bother hiding it. He allowed me to make the decisions, to have the ability to override him. If I didn’t want this, all I had to do was say it. This kind of freedom was addicting, and the more he gave it to me, the more I wanted him.

The more I adored him.

“Yes…I want you.” I hooked my legs around his waist and locked my ankles together. I pulled him tightly against me, his cock pressed against my folds. I was already wet for him, my body getting ready to take his impressive length.

He spoke into my mouth, accompanied by a hot breath. “Bellissima…” He tilted his hips and pressed his cock inside me, slowly sliding inside as his length became coated in my desire. He breathed harder as he felt me, his body tensing in pleasure. He inched farther and farther until he was plunged deep inside me, our bodies connected.

I took a deep breath once I felt all of him. “Cane…”

He held his weight on his arms and burned his gaze into me, fucking me with his eyes as much as his body. He rocked into me slowly, getting used to me like he hadn’t had me in weeks instead of days.

I moved with him, matching his slow pace and pulling him into me by the hips. We were hardly moving at all, our thrusts slow and measured, but it felt better than it ever had before. My eyes were locked to his, and I felt my body already begin to betray me.

“Fuck…” He stopped when he was deep inside me, pausing as he closed his eyes.

“I’m gonna come too.”

He breathed another sigh. “How could I forget how good you felt?” He started to move again, this time quicker than before. He rolled his hips at the end of every thrust, grinding against my clit as he tried to drive me into a climax.

“Right there…”

He thrust harder, his chest heaving with the breaths he took.

“Yes…” My hands gripped his hips, and I pulled him into me more. “God…” I came around him, my body clenching and tightening around his length. My eyes closed, and I struggled to breathe because my body only wanted to scream.

“Jesus Christ…” Cane pounded into me harder, making my climax more intense as he reached his own threshold. His cock thickened inside me as he released, giving me a heavy load of come. His thrusts slowed down as he finished, riding his high just as mine ended.

It was the shortest time it ever had taken me to climax. It’d only been three days since we were last together, but apparently, my body was used to having him on a regular basis. Once he was gone, my body didn’t know how to handle it.

He stayed deep inside me, obviously having no intention of leaving anytime soon. “How do you expect me to last when you do that?”

“Do what?” I had no control over my body when we were together. When he kissed me, touched me, fucked me, I turned into a whirlwind of hormones. All I could do was feel, certainly not think.

He kissed me as he shoved his softening cock farther inside me. “What you’re doing now.” He rubbed his nose against mine as he stayed buried inside me. “Being beautiful.”