Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 248926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1245(@200wpm)___ 996(@250wpm)___ 830(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 248926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1245(@200wpm)___ 996(@250wpm)___ 830(@300wpm)
Then, I studied his bruised face, and my heart sank. His bottom lip was split and puffy at the corner. Swelling darkened his right cheekbone. A faint blueish tint covered his left eye.
“Damn it.” Sighing, I rose from the bed and hurried to him. “Are you hurt?”
“You think David can hurt me?”
“That is not an answer.” I got in front of him and raised my hands to his face. “Giorgio, how do you feel?”
“Perfectly fine.”
“I do not want you fighting over me anymore—”
“Why not?”
“Because when you get hurt, it breaks my heart.” I pressed my palms over his cheeks. His soft skin warmed against mine.
He closed his eyes and inhaled. “How could I not fight, Blue? It drives me insane that I cannot have you to myself.”
I drowned in guilt and moved my hands from his face. “I am sorry.”
“A wise person said that a man should never give up on something that he cannot go a day without thinking about.” He opened his eyes. Lust blazed through them. “For me. . .that is you.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Last night. . .I realized that I am being selfish—”
“That is fine for now.”
“What?”
“Louis told me that this situation could be karma. Payback for all the hearts I have broken. However, I plan to fix it.” Giorgio ran his gaze over me.
I wore a long blue shirt and nothing else.
He smirked. “Are you wearing panties?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Some crazy person has taken all of mine.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What did your cousin mean about this being karma for you?”
“In the past, I have had several women at a time.”
I blinked. A bit of jealousy prickled within me. “How many women?”
“As many as I want.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How did you figure out a way to handle so many women at once?”
“I didn’t. Either they stayed or left. Women’s feelings have never been my concern, until now.”
My throat went dry.
“Come on, Blue.” Giorgio gestured to the table and headed over. “Let us eat. I am sure the Lion and Mouse have a busy day for us.”
“Wait.” I followed him. “What do you mean their feelings were not important?”
“Why would they be?” He pulled out a chair and pointed to it. “Please, sit.”
I settled into the seat. “So, you are a ladies’ man?”
“I would not say that.” Giorgio went over to the next chair and chuckled. “I simply love to fuck.”
I opened my mouth in shock.
O-kay. It appears Giorgio has no problem with getting dirty at times.
He signaled the staff to serve us.
One-by-one they came over placing platters of food onto the table—flaky croissants and jams, bowls of fresh fruits and pastries, steaming scrambled eggs and several sizzling sausages. It was a fabulous feast.
Yet, I could not move my attention from Giorgio for too long. He had truly stunned me with that comment. I tried to imagine him with gloves on, hoping around from bed to bed and sleeping with tons of women.
Thousands of questions spun through my head. Did he make them shower first like he did with the men he tortured and killed? Did he take the gloves off during sex or keep them on? Condom or not? And what about his tongue? Did he like to use it? Or would going down on a woman be disgusting?
He looked at one man. “Bring two coffees.”
The man nodded and hurried off.
Giorgio put his attention on me and grinned. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I would think that you would not have a lot of sex with women due to being such a neat freak and needing everything so clean.”
He placed his gloved hands on the table. “Are you a little jealous?”
“Well.” I picked up a warm croissant. “A little.”
“When I return to France, I plan to dismiss all my women.”
“How many do you have in France?”
“Enough.”
“Giorgio, that is not an answer.”
“They do not matter now. I will be getting rid of them as soon as I return.” He threaded his gloved fingers together. “And of course you would be by my side.”
“No. I will be going back to Russia.”
“Why when you could be working with me?”
“Giorgio, I cannot just leave Harlem Crew and run off to France—”
“To the Russians, you are the Maid.” He touched his chest. “To me, you are a queen, and you would be treated as such.”
“I care about Emily.”
“More than yourself?”
I let out a long breath. “When the Mouse returns to Russia, she will continue her mission of cleaning up my neighborhood.”
Giorgio quirked his brows. “Tell me more.”
“Before her, drug dealers, addicts, rapists, and murderers packed the streets. Children and women were not safe. It was scary to walk the street at night and even during the day.” I picked up my fork to try the eggs. “Then, Emily arrived and became the boogeyman to all of those filthy, evil bastards. Now, they stay far away, too nervous to be in the path of her wrath.”