“You were,” he agreed, but he didn’t stop. “We’ll talk about that more when we get home.”
“Are we going to talk about how your skanky actress with the roving tongue managed to slip through security and get into the employee lounge when we get home as well?”
“Don’t try diversion. It won’t work. Meredith isn’t my actress, and you can handle ten actresses like her with one hand tied behind your back. If we stopped her and not the other two, it would have possibly given away the fact that we were letting them slip through on purpose.”
She was a bit mollified that he believed she could handle Meredith so easily.
“We’re also going to talk about how you didn’t exit the room when you were supposed to, before the fighting started. I gave you enough time, but you didn’t take it. Worse, you threw your shoe at Tom so he’d come at you. Those MMA fighters could break your jaw with one punch.”
“I’m scrappy and fast. I had to be, working with cattle and horses.”
He sent her a look that said he wasn’t happy with her and she was going to hear about it so she thought it prudent to change the subject. She glanced at the front seat where Enzo drove and Emilio sat on the passenger side. “You said Ricco never loses his way. How do people get turned around in the shadows?”
“You’re moving very fast, the speed is insane. Especially narrow shadows. Some tubes are like slick rails. Everything is blurred because you’re moving so fast. The neighborhoods are unfamiliar. I know my way around Chicago, but I usually work in San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York. I’ve even worked overseas. Ricco trained in Japan. All of us trained in Europe or Asia. Sometimes, both.”
“Your life is fascinating.”
The car stopped, and Emilio opened the door for them. Giovanni slipped out first and then reached for her. Gathering her into his arms, he cradled her close to his chest. Sasha put her arms around his neck and leaned into him. Inhaling his scent. He smelled like home to her now. He carried her as if she weighed no more than a feather. As if she was a princess. She knew he carried her because her feet hurt. He was like that, paying attention to every detail.
He carried her through the house, right to the master suite. She loved the way the house was set up, and she’d already been adding her own touches here and there. She would be bringing treasures she had put in storage—thankfully—things that had belonged to her parents and brother. For now, it was little things, like arranging flowers in large vases and scattering them around the house. Her mother had loved flowers. She grew them in the garden and then cut them for the house. Sasha had always thought it was a little silly since the flowers were right outside, but now she really wanted to surround herself with the things that reminded her of her mother, and she wanted her own garden.
Giovanni deposited her in the armchair right in front of the fireplace and went on through to the bath to fill the square, oversized tub. She picked up the remote and started the flames so they flickered and threw out dancing shadows. Putting her head back she looked around the room with its high ceilings and beautiful appointments. She had never thought that she might be living in luxury. She still had a difficult time coming to terms with it. She wasn’t certain she would ever actually do so.
“Baby?”
She turned her head almost lazily. Her man stood in the doorway, watching her. She smiled at him, the feeling of love so strong her heart felt shaky with it. “Right here, Giovanni. I don’t know if I can move.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll undress you and get you in the bath. The hot water will help.”
“It’s strange to think that someone would try to kill us. Both of us. Not because we did anything to them, but because they wanted to hurt someone else. That kind of thinking eludes me. Do you think we’ve got it wrong? I mean, really, that’s so bizarre.”
“Unfortunately, people kill for all kinds of reasons, Sasha. They hurt each other and steal from each other. I’ve always found the useless robberies to be the thing I find hard to understand. Killing for five bucks. Or a candy bar. How does a person do that?” He shrugged. “I don’t want you thinking about it anymore. We’re home and we’re safe. I know your brother is because I just checked on him. We’ve tightened security there and no one is going to get near him.”
“Thank you.” She flashed him a small grin. “I was just sitting here thinking I could never get used to this, but that right there, being able to make a phone call and have someone actually talk to you and reassure you that Sandlin was in his room and sound asleep, an actual person reassuring you at this time of night, that I could get used to.”
He laughed. “I suppose I’m spoiled. I would expect it. In fact, if someone didn’t get their ass in gear and tell me immediately, I might get them fired. I’ve had that since I was very young.”
“You were spoiled.” She stretched lazily.
He walked over to her, and she watched him come, his muscles moving beneath his tight shirt, his dark features so beautiful to her. He scooped her out of the chair and took her into the bathroom. It was every bit as luxurious as the bedroom. The fireplace in there was lit as well. Flames flickered, licking at the logs.
Sasha kept her eyes on Giovanni’s face as he slowly pulled her club uniform off and tossed it aside. He kissed her. Slowly. So hot. Perfect. Taking her breath and her heart at the same time. His hands moved over her body, gentle. Tender even. All the while she could feel possession in his touch. He helped her into the large tub and then inspected her shoulder carefully. He pressed a warm cloth over the spot that was throbbing. “I added some salts into the water. They should help. Scoot down until your shoulder is underwater. I’ll put a pillow behind your head.”
She did so and then he joined her, pulling her feet into his lap. “I’ve got to wash that man’s touch off your skin.”
“It really bothered you, didn’t it?”
“I don’t want anyone touching you. Family hugs. There will be kissing on the cheek. But no one else. I don’t share what’s mine.” He looked around the room. “All this, Sasha. It doesn’t mean anything without you. Nothing I have in my life means anything without you. I live hard. The things I have to do are sometimes very difficult. I do them because it’s my duty, but I’ve never had what I needed to make it all worthwhile until I found you.”
She heard the sincerity in every word. No one had ever made her feel so wanted—or needed. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I worry you will. I practically railroaded you.”
She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Honey, I’m not someone who can be railroaded. I’m here with you because I want to be with you. I’ll always choose you. I had one moment of freaking out, and after I realized it wasn’t about you at all, or even your world, although no sane person wants to be in your world, I knew I wanted to be with you. I was losing my mind over things I had no control over, like someone trying to kill us. It was convenient to think it was about you or how you live, but it wasn’t. I’m ashamed I even had that moment.”
She knew he would dismiss it, and he did, with a single wave of his hand and the best foot massage of her life. After, he made love to her, so tenderly he stole her soul along with her heart. He woke her in the middle of the night and delivered her “punishment,” which just so happened to be the hottest thing she’d ever experienced, and their erotic tango turned so wild she was certain it might take weeks to recover. It was morning when she woke him for his “punishment.”
CHAPTER TWENTY