Sadie Kincaid

They walk into the room like the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

“I don’t want space. I want you,”

“You kiss away my nightmares and you fuck me like our bodies have known each other forever, but you refuse to give me any assurance about my future and what it might hold. You have never even once apologized for taking me from the only life I had and keeping me here like some pet for you to stroke and fuss over whenever the need strikes you. And despite all that, I still want you. I crave your affection, Dante, even though I know I’m a fool for doing it. So, if you don’t want me too, then please just tell me and let me go.”

“Within reason, Kat,” he says, his voice stern and commanding. “I will still need to know where you’re going and you will always have security with you.”

I frown at him and he narrows his eyes before he adds, “For your safety and not because I think you’ll run.”

“How can you be so sure I won’t run?” I whisper, unable to resist the challenge.

He takes a step forward until his body is pressed against mine. “Because you would never leave our child. And if you ever tried to leave with our kid, you know that I would scorch this earth to ash to bring you both back to me.”

Vita mia. Sei la cosa più bella che mi sia mai capitata .

She’s too damn beautiful and kind for my dark world, but she’s too much a part of my life now for me to ever let her go. So, instead, I will protect her and our child with every last breath in my body

“You’ve finally succeeded in convincing me that you’re not a good man. Not even close.”

Okay… That stings more than I thought it would.

I blink at him. “New trainer?”

“Yeah. Didn’t Dante tell you?”

Dante is my older brother. The chosen one. Head of the Cosa Nostra and, along with our oldest brother, Lorenzo, a giant pain in my ass.

I frown. “No. I don’t need a new trainer.”

“Trust me. This one is way better than me.”

“Nobody is better than you,” I blurt, and my face flushes with heat at my admission.

“Joey.” He narrows his eyes before taking a gulp of his water. “You sure you can’t think of anyone who’d be better at teaching you self-defense than me?” He’s teasing me now, but I’m not in the mood for his games. All I can focus on is the fact that I’m losing him.

“No.”

“Your half sister is an MMA fighter,” he reminds me with a satisfied smile, as though that makes losing him easier somehow. “After her fight this weekend, she’s taking a little break. So she’s gonna train you instead. Dante said he was going to tell you.”

“He and Kat were a little busy last night.” My nose wrinkles at the memory. “They were practically dry humping in the kitchen after they came home from their date.”

Max rolls his eyes.

You staying for dinner?” she asks, her eyes wide and shining. I spend a lot of time looking into Joey Moretti’s deep-brown eyes. The way they sparkle with flecks of amber when she’s happy or mad fascinates me.

Her eyes are a safe zone. Because if I were to let my gaze drift lower, I might let it linger on those insanely perky tits of hers, or the way the perspiration on her back runs down the channel of her spine, slipping beneath the band of her yoga pants and down to her juicy ass.

And then I would have to stand here with a raging boner. I swear, these workouts test my willpower like nothing in my life ever has before. I could say I have no idea why I agreed to them, because they’re pure fucking torture—but I’ve always been a sucker for punishment. Spending time with her is the most exquisite kind of torture there is. She’s the one woman I can’t have and the one woman I want more than any other.

“Max?” she says with a frown.

“Huh?”

I actually love taking care of my niece on Saturday mornings, and I was the one who suggested the arrangement. She’s five months old and I adore the beautiful little smooch. Plus, it allows Dante and Kat to sleep in and spend some time together, and that always puts my brother in a great mood. Which is a win for me because it makes him so much easier to manipulate. “It keeps Dante off my back,” I say, if only to avoid any more accusations that I’m boring. “And if we’re going to that new club tomorrow night, I need to keep him sweet.”