by Shanna Bell
“What do you want, Trev? How did you even find me here?”
Her ex cleared his throat. “The manager left me your forwarding info. It’s good to see you, love. We need to talk.”
“I’m not your love. We broke up. You don’t do quirky anymore, remember?” Yep, those words still stung.
So much for forgiveness from your side of the fence, T-girl.
Shut up, inner voice. I’m not talking to you.
“I was wrong, Tess. I came to apologize. I want you back.”
Then Trevor did something totally bizarre. He went down on one knee and pulled out a little black box.
Apparently, pigs could fly.
CHAPTER 12
LUCA
As Luca assessed the kneeling man on his doorstep, he didn’t detect an ounce of love on his face. The stuffy-looking wolf in sheep’s clothing had the same look he’d seen on Natasha’s face. Funny how now he could recognize it for what it was—manipulation. Whatever it was this guy was here for, it wasn’t out of love for Tess. This piece of crap didn’t even deserve to be in the same room with her.
“Too late, pal, she’s already engaged to me. Now, why don’t you put that ring back before I shove it somewhere the sun don’t shine?”
Tess looked perplexed. “I’m confused, Trevor. I thought you didn’t believe in the ‘retarded institution’ of marriage? Not that I actually considered tying myself to you forever, but I do remember those words. What has changed? What did I miss?”
Trevor got back on his feet. He did, however, put the box back into his pocket. Then he mustered a tight smile on his face, all the while ignoring Luca.
He didn’t like the claim this man made on Tess. He also didn’t like to be ignored, so he crossed his arms and moved to stand right next to Tess. So close, he could smell her. Damn, she smelled nice. How had he not noticed that before? It was a delicious blend of strawberry and something lemony.
Focus, Luciano, focus. The rat bastard is trying to steal your prize.
Shit, don’t think of her like that. That’s not what she’s here for.
“I made a mistake, Tess. Please, can we talk about this in private?”
Luca shook his head. “I’m not leaving.”
“You don’t have to,” Tess said. “Whatever it is you want to say, just get it over with, Trev.”
Trevor straightened his dress jacket and once again plastered a smile on his face. Damn, the man was a chameleon. Part of Luca just wanted to slam the door in his face, so Tess didn’t have to deal with him. Sadly, he knew if he tried that, Ms. Independent might kick him in the nuts.
“Like I said, Tess, I’ve made a mistake. We belong together. We are a great team. Working side by side, being side by side. I don’t know anyone else like you who’s at my intellectual level.”
Same intellectual level? Luca snorted. The prick was a pompous ass.
“I bet she’s loads smarter than you,” he taunted.
Trevor’s nostrils flared. “You stay out of this,” he snapped, obviously no longer able to ignore him.
Point one for Team Luciano.
“Am I right, Tess?” Luca asked, knowing she would answer truthfully.
“Actually, you are,” she conceded. “But I was told, numerous times, that it’s rude to point out that people aren’t nearly as smart as I am. Or when I insult their computer skills.”
“Ah. Like that time when you called me a dinosaur?” he reminded her.
She nodded earnestly. “Like that time. And the time when I called you Mr. Spoiled Boarding School.”
He scowled. “When did you say that?”
Her mouth formed an O. “Huh, guess I said that on the inside. See? I’m already learning not to voice every thought.”
Her faint smile assured him she was pulling his chain. Probably. Or not. He couldn’t help but return it.
Trevor watched the exchange between them like a hawk. Judging by his frown, he didn’t like it one bit.
Luca shrugged. “What can I say? I like a woman with brains. It’s the sexiest thing.” He almost lost his composure when Tess blinked. She really had no idea of her appeal. Granted, until now, he hadn’t really seen her much as a woman… well, that wasn’t entirely true. He hadn’t wanted to get mixed up with one. Not before his mission was completed, but he couldn’t let this opportunity pass by either.
Tess gave him an odd look as if she’d never seen him before. He leaned closer to her. So close that he could see the little gold flecks in her hazel eyes. He hoped his body language told her how he felt. It didn’t take too long for her to catch up. This was her chance to show this ass off. But it should be her choice.
“I’m with Luca now, Trev.” She put a hand around his neck, and the other one right on his ass. Then she kissed him.
It was a sweet, tender kiss. A kiss that gave Tess Gibson, whiz kid, away as an utterly inexperienced kisser. He didn’t know why he was surprised. Perhaps because she seemed so on top of everything else. Oddly, her sweet and innocent kiss warmed the frozen-over parts of his heart.
She then let him go and turned to the side, her back to Trevor. He could barely hold in his laugh when her hand indicated that the kiss was “so-so.”
Good old Trevor looked absolutely miffed, but not like a man ready to explode out of anger, because the woman he loved kissed another man. Why was he even still here?
“You’re making a mistake, Tessa,” Trevor said.
Then suddenly it dawned on him. “You need her for something, don’t you?” Luca guessed.
Trevor’s lips thinned. “Your program doesn’t work properly. For some reason, it has shown bugs that make the software unstable. The investors threaten to draw back their investment.”
Tess cocked a brow. “Oh, so now you admit that it’s my program, and you stole it?”
“This is a onetime deal,” Trevor said, his voice all businesslike. “You would do well to work with me on this. We are talking about a million-dollar contract here.”
Tess crossed her arms, looking defiant. “I’d rather eat bugs for a whole year than accept any money from Big Pharma.”
Luca internally rolled his eyes. Of course, Miss Make the World a Better Place would have an issue with pharmaceutical companies. Perhaps this wasn’t the time to tell her he’d invested in companies she obviously loathed.
“Have it your way,” Trevor clipped. “I wasn’t exactly looking forward to spending my life with a cold fish in my bed anyway.”
Luca hissed and barely kept himself in check. The fucker was a sore loser, but any second now, Tess would give him lip, and make him run for his life.
He looked at her expectantly. The hurt on Tess’ face caught him off guard. Then she stepped back, like a little kitten backing off.
His gaze went back to Trevor. The smug bastard held his head high as if he’d won a battle. With just one remark, he’d put down the most ornery, sassy, and confident woman he’d ever met.
This just wouldn’t do. “Say, Trev?”
“Yes?”
Luca turned to Tess. “Fuck, how did you stand that voice all this time? It’s like the sound is coming from his ass.”
Her gaze shot up, just as he’d planned. Right in time to see him plant his fist in Trevor’s face.
“My nose!” Trevor’s hands went to cover his face. “You broke my nose.”
“Yeah, I did. Consider yourself lucky I didn’t break anything else, you righteous bastard. Now get the fuck away from us.” With those parting words, he slammed the door in his face.
He followed Tess back inside and sat next to her as she dropped onto the recliner.
“He’s not entirely wrong, you know,” she said softly.
“I’m not sure what part you mean, but I doubt that he isn’t.”
She’d pulled up her legs and hugged her knees. As if she was bracing herself against something.
“The sex part,” she said. “I mean, I tried. Like, a lot. Watched movies, complete porn collections, read up on my sex
education, but nothing seemed to work. I just can’t seem to shut off my brain when I’m, you know. Trevor is actually my third lover, if I count the two one-night stands during college. Those two times before him weren’t exactly a success either.” She shrugged. “I kind of figured that it must be me.”
“Yeah?” He slowly pulled her over his lap. They were going into uncharted territory and what he was about to do was probably a mistake, but he couldn’t just let this go. “You really believe you know everything, don’t you?”
She shivered but didn’t pull away from him. “I don’t about this. I’m just not into sex. I probably miss a sex drive.”
“I highly doubt that.” While there were A-sexual people indeed, he didn’t think Tess was one. He placed a finger under her chin. “Sex is a team sport. If it isn’t working out, it usually isn’t one person’s fault. If it can be called a ‘fault’ at all. Sometimes people just don’t have that synergy.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “I just told you I’ve had three lovers in my life. That amount isn’t exactly enough to conclude an experiment within the sense of the social sciences, but I still think those numbers speak for themselves.”
Facts and numbers. He was starting to learn more and more about how her brain worked. “Fine. Let’s analyze this further. Tell me what happens when you were with Trevor. Though, honestly, one look at the prick and I can’t think of a single woman who’d get hot for him.”
She fidgeted in his lap, as if only now she was aware of where she sat. Right on top of his semi-hard dick.
“It’s getting late,” she said. “I should probably—”
“You should probably just be brave and not change the subject. Go where no man has gone before, or something like that, right?”
She scrunched her nose. “Please don’t go there.”
“Bad Star Trek impression?” he guessed.
“Not entirely, but I’m a Star Wars fan.”
“Aren’t those two the same thing?”
Her eyes widened in horror. “Wow. Just wow. I don’t even know where to start tackling that one.”
He laughed at her indignant look. However, he got what he wanted. She was lying, relaxed in his arms. There was no more talk about her going to bed.
Unless it’s with me.
Shit. Don’t go there. Remember why you’re doing this. You owe her. You can’t give her back her freedom yet, but you can help her out with this.
“So, Ms. Gibson, answer my question.” He wasn’t going to give her the chance to change the subject again.
“Fine.” She frowned. “I just find it difficult to relax. It’s like I’m always thinking of something. My mind works overtime, even when we made out. Then again, we usually talked about work, even when we had a supposedly romantic dinner. Guess this break-up was long coming. Especially after the last thing he pulled, selling my software to Big Pharma. That was the last straw.”
“Ah yes. Why the hate for Big Pharma, anyway?”
For a moment, her body froze, as if she was bracing herself. Then she started talking.
“They killed my mom. I mean, she got cancer and was in a clinical trial. And everyone knew she could be in the placebo group, but that wasn’t what happened with my mom. She received the so-called cure. It only shortened her life. Turned out, the manufacturer knew the high risks, but of course, didn’t tell anyone. By the time we found out, my mom was already a goner. She died the week after finding out about it.
The pharmaceutical company, of course, lawyered up. They went broke on paper. We didn’t receive a dime. And it’s not about the money. No amount of cash will ever be enough to replace someone you love. It’s the fact that they got away with it that ate at me. At the time, I was just a teenager. I didn’t have the computer skills I have nowadays. They just… played with her life and got away with basically killing her. Trevor knows all this. And still, he sold my program to Big Pharma, right under my nose.”
He was beginning to understand what drove Tess Gibson. “You’re the reason that program has a bug, aren’t you?”
Her ‘duh’ look made him smile. “Of course. Like I would ever leave the rebel base into the hands of the Empire.”
“And that’s not all you’re going to do, is it?”
A lovely blush covered her cheeks. “Well...”
“Tell me what evil plans you have plotted to make Trevor pay.”
“What makes you think I—”
“Tess…”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “As of tomorrow, I might have frozen his bank account. Deleted the dissertation he’d been working on for months. Sent him an eviction notice. Granted, that last part won’t hold for long, but it’s a bitch to get it sorted out.”
“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” he joked.
“You really shouldn’t,” she said earnestly.
He couldn’t help himself. His finger trailed over her upper lip, making a full circle on the plump bottom half.
“I’m going to kiss you now, Tess Gibson.”
She swallowed. “Okay.”
Her lips were as soft as he remembered. He would never admit it to her, but he had wanted her the first time he saw her in jail. There was this innocence combined with a fierce passion, and determination surrounding her. He found it utterly sexy. Tess Gibson might be a small package in ripped jeans and rock tees indeed, but that was just her outer shell. Her inside was burning, and he was going to prove it to her.
He slowly took the kiss over, using his tongue to open her lips and then dove in. After that, things quickly got out of hand. The next minute, he had removed her top and bra. She had small but perfect breasts. He dove right in between them, taking a pink nipple into his mouth. He sucked them hard until they turned into peaks.
Fucking. Delicious.
It was as if his fingers led their own lives because they took root between her legs. He pushed one inside her panties and closed his eyes when he found her wet. Damn. He was rock-hard, ready to break out of his pants. Fucking her would complicate things.
He slowly pulled out his fingers. “You’re burning, baby. Like I said, sex is a team sport. If Trevor couldn’t get you hot, that’s on him. Not you.” He planted a kiss on her cheek. “Never on you.”
When he pulled away from her, Tess had her eyes closed and she was panting. With every breath, her breasts went up and down.
Slowly, she opened her eyes. He tensed up. A part of him expected her to bolt. To get angry for stopping. Maybe throw something at his head, now that the moment was cooling down.
Instead, she cupped his cheek. “Thank you, Luca.”
Her smile lit up the whole room and made the gray areas of his world colorful. And he couldn’t use that. Not now. Not before he’d taken his revenge. He couldn’t allow himself another vulnerability.
He grabbed her shirt and put it back over her head. Those perky breasts were a damn distraction.
“You’re very welcome. So, now what, unicorn?”
Her tongue trailed her lower lip before her glazed over eyes regained their focus again. He expected her to get off his lap, but she seemed to be sitting just fine.
“I’ll start my research with the info you’ll give me on Cruz. It probably won’t lead to more than you already know, but it’s a start. And then we wait a week until I can buy the stuff I need from Alfie.”
Seven days. Inside, a week had seemed to last forever. Every damn minute, every day was the same, and had dragged along. He’d been like a ghost, a shell of his old self, just waiting for twenty years to pass. Waiting until the day he would wake up and find himself an old man when he looked into the mirror.
Freedom; something he never thought much about before. Then again, who did? Only a person locked up in a cage could ever understand the true meaning of the word. And the pain when it was taken away from you. He was going to make Cruz pay for it if it was the last thing he did.
CHAPTER 13
TESS
Being tipsy rocked. Tes
s wondered if anyone had ever discovered that before. It cleared your mind. It didn’t fog your brain at all. How else could she come to one of her most brilliant conclusions ever? One that solved one of the great mysteries in her life. Apparently, she wasn’t terrible at sex. She just hadn’t chosen the right man to have it with. She was so calling this a ‘eureka’ moment.
How could she have been so wrong about sex and intimacy all her life? The other night, making out with Luca Detta, had been the single, hottest experience in her life. Which was nice in a “he made my panties melt” kind of way, but it had also proved her lifelong theory about sex wrong. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Granted, he hadn’t rubbed it in her face that she’d humped all over his lap. Or that she’d greedily stuck her tongue in his mouth, his ear, had licked all over his jaw, but still. It made her question other life choices. Things she’d done that had seemed crystal clear at the time, but the memory was dipped in murky water.
As Tess took another cocktail from Tommie, she contemplated how her life had spun out of control like this. The guilt over her part in Luca’s incarceration weighed heavy on her. Every day, it seemed to drag her down more and more. It had been three days that she spent at his condo. Every morning, he greeted her right before he went to work. She wasn’t sure what he did for a living since becoming a free man again, but she was sure it was something more legal than she did.
Yes, he was still hell-bent on revenge, but he wasn’t a bad person. He was honest about what he wanted—info on everyone involved in his sentence—and what he was going to use that information for. Every day, he managed to squeeze in time to take care of her needs. A vegetarian breakfast, organic green tea, and every other whim he took care of. Not that she needed much, but he asked. Yes, this man, who was already paying her in dollars for her help, actually took the time every morning to ask if she needed anything else. So far, she hadn’t met the spoiled prince she accused him of being. He was actually very down to earth. Did he like the finer things in life? Yes. But who didn’t? And wasn’t she the same when it came to her computer gear? In fact, so far, of the two of them, he was being the most honest. And that, more than anything else, shamed her. He’d even given her pleasure as no man before him had. And how was she repaying him? With keeping things from him and not even reciprocating the hot, sizzling experience.
