Page 201

“I only have a few minutes, but I want you to dig into Ben more. If you can get access to his place, go through everything you can. Something feels unfinished.”

“Got it. I’ll—”

Before he could finish, an agonizing scream echoed through the house. “I gotta go.” I tossed my phone down and raced for the stairs, sprinting up them. I’d left the door cracked, but before I could reach it, it flew open.

Dahlia’s eyes were wild, filled with so much sadness and agony. Her breathing was so rapid, I was afraid she was going to hyperventilate. “Theo.” She launched herself at me.

I caught her, carrying her back into the room. “What’s wrong? Bad dream?”

With everything that happened, and all she’d heard about Ben, I’d been expecting her sleep to be rough.

“They had you. They took you from me, and then in prison, Ben went in and… he…tookyou from me.” She made a sobbing noise against my shoulder which somehow turned into a low and fierce growl. “If he weren’t already dead, I’d kill him myself. Not really, but I’d yell at him and maybe throw something. No one fucks with us. No one takes you from me. You were gone in my dream, and then I was alone in bed, and I freaked.” She was panting, worked up and angry.

If I had a soul, it’d be heading for hell because I was rock fucking hard.

Knowing she was upset about the thought of losing me.

Seeing her riled up about someone fucking withus.

Hearing her being so possessive.

Even her cute threat was hot.

In every single fucking way, she was exactly what I needed.

“Gattina,” I whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed before shifting her down on my lap.

Even in the dim light, I could see her eyes go wide. “Hmm?”

“I need to fuck you now.”

“Okay,” she whispered back.

I moved her onto the bed, and she quickly undressed. I stood and did the same before crawling between her spread legs.

Running my hands up her inner thighs, I felt how slick they were the closer I got to the top. I held her legs open as I pushed in and bottomed out in one thrust. One palm on her thigh, the other went between us. I rubbed her clit in frenzied little strokes before putting my forearm to the bed and lowering my body against hers. My hand curled around her shoulder, keeping her in place as my speed increased.

Dahlia bit my shoulder, licking across the muscle and up my neck. Her nails dug in, pulling me closer as she moaned with each deep thrust.

I returned her bites, sucking and marking her like we were horny teenagers in the back of a car. There was no restraint and finesse in my movements as I fucked her savagely, putting as much force as I could into my thrusts in a vain attempt at getting somehow deeper. Closer.

We didn’t talk. There was a lot I wanted to tell her. Promises I wanted to make. Ben had gotten into my head about letting her go, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. It made me a piece of shit, dragging her down and keeping her there.

But I didn’t fucking care.

Until my last fucking breath, Dahlia was mine.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Batting Practice

Theo

Tapping my pen on the desk, I reviewed the fight schedule. “What’s the latest with Astaire?”

Sammy shook his head. “I dunno. Last fight shook him up, but you’d never know it. He’s at the gym more often than not. He asked for a raise, which I approved. If he wins, I think we need to double the prize.”

I nodded. Astaire was drawing massive crowds and bets, and he’d earned the compensation.