Page 97 of Dancing with the Devil

The muscle in his jaw ticked. “I don’t like men touching you,” he lowered his tone as I sat up. “You’remine. I already made that clear.”

“Always so possessive,” I dramatically said, and he lifted me onto my knees in front of him. He dropped his hands to the hem of my dress and gripped onto it.

“Lift your arms.”

I rested my hands on his shoulders. “See?” I smiled.

“Nirah—”

“No,” I shook my head. “What if I say no? Do you ever hear that word, Mr. De Luca?” I asked, moving closer to him. “I bet you don’t,” I gently cupped his face.

“I do. By you. Now lift your arms,” he once again instructed, and being too tired to argue, I do so. He pulled my dress over my head and dropped it next to me. His eyes traveled down my body, and I gripped onto his belt.

“What are you thinking about, De Luca?” I asked, trying to undo his belt, but he stopped me.

“You’re drunk,” he reminded me, trying to get me to lay back down, but I sat up again, tugging at his belt.

“So what?” I asked, sitting on my knees. For the third time, I reached for his belt as I tugged on it. With watery fingers, I tried to unbuckle his belt right, but he grabbed my wrists.

“You know this is called harassment, right?” he asked, looking down at me—his voice laced with humor—and my backside fell onto my heels.

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, looking down at my fiddling fingers, and he cupped the side of my face in the palm of his hand.

“Baby, can you please go to sleep for me?” he pleaded.

“Oh,” I hiccuped. “Going to sleep is thelastthing I want to do when you’re in the room,” I said, pulling him toward me.

I pressed the side of my face against his firm chest and felt his heartbeat. I lifted my hand, resting it by his heart, and smiled. “He does have a heart,” I softly giggled, and he helped me under the covers.

“Go to sleep,tesoro,” he said, softly kissing the top of my head.

“I’m not mad at you anymore,” I shook my head, and he nodded in understanding. “And, I’m sorry I lost the ring. I feel really bad because…” I slowly trailed off. “I really liked it,” I whispered, and a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“I’ll buy you a new one every time you lose the old one,” he humorously said, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“A ring pop will do,” I nodded before my heavy eyelids fell closed.

“Watermelon flavored. I know,” I heard him whisper with a final peck on my lips, and I weakly smiled.

CHAPTER 20

Nirah

WAKING UP WITH a pounding headache, I irritably groaned, turning over onto my side.

I laid still for a while before sitting up with a defeated sigh. Rubbing my forehead, I froze, seeing a glass of water, a glass of orange juice—my favorite—and two painkillers.Oh. How thoughtful.

I dragged my body out of bed and headed straight into the bathroom.

I got ready for the day and downed both painkillers before heading to the kitchen.

I plopped down on the kitchen stool and could smell Rosalia and the rest of the staff cook up a literal feast.

“Mr. Antonio wants you to eat before you go and see him,” she said, and my stomach dropped.

“He wants me to ‘go and see him’?” I asked, and she nodded, putting a plate of food down in front of me.

“Yes, ma’am. Upstairs in his office. He needs to leave, so he wants you there before noon.”