Page 63 of Deceptive Desires

I don’t ever want her to feel like she’s waiting on me. She’s my equal, not my servant.

“After the onion incident, I think it’s safest if you stay out of the kitchen. I’ll have to teach you how to properly dice one soon, though.” She flashes me a bright smile of encouragement. “It’s really not as difficult as you made it look, I promise.”

I laugh at the memory. Turns out vegetables are harder to cut than humans. Who would’ve known?

I walk behind her, wrap my arms around her waist as she stirs the delicious smelling dish and rest my head on hers.

“Anything you say, sunshine,” I tell her as I rock us to the music playing throughout her kitchen.

“It’s weird being here alone. I mean when you’re not here. With Gracie gone, the place feels so empty. So lonely. I don’t like it,” Cecilia confesses with a soft sigh.

You won’t be alone for long.

***

I get to my apartment a little past three in the morning. After we watched a movie, she was tired, so I left.

I made a pit stop at one of the clubs. There was a Mafia member causing some issues, bothering some customers. It’s unusual for the Mafia to cause us trouble, but new, young members can be difficult to control.

By the time I got there though, he had left. My men didn’t even get a name. A fight had broken out on the dance floor, demanding their attention. A jealous boyfriend or something. My men left the Mafia guy to break the fight, and he snuck off.

Since enough time had passed for Cecilia to fall asleep, I went back to her apartment for a few hours just to watch her. She’s so beautiful when she sleeps peacefully. It took all I had to leave.

And I needed to leave.

Because I have some cleaning to do.

I look around my penthouse and make note of what needs changing before she moves in.

I start with my weapons. Since I was the only one living here, I left guns, knives, and other unsavory tools lying around. The penthouse is heavily secured with an alarm system Bash built for Syndicate Enterprise, so I’m not worried about people breaking in.

I collect the weapons and put some in a large safe in the closet of a guest room that goes unused. I leave a few hidden throughout the apartment in areas I don’t think she’ll check. In my desk drawer. Behind a picture on the wall. On the back of the top shelf in the pantry. Above the fridge. In my nightstand’s bottom drawer…

Although my place is locked down tighter than Fort Knox, I won’t risk not being able to protect my Cecilia on a moment’s notice.

Once that’s settled, I look around my apartment. The living room houses a charcoal couch, a glass coffee table, glass side tables, black leather chairs, and black walls. The kitchen is full of stainless-steel appliances, black marble countertops, and charcoal cabinets. My bedroom contains my California king on a black leather headboard, with black bedding, a charcoal grey rug, and about as much personality as the rest of the house.

Room after room, my eyes are opened to how bleak my apartment is.

Oh my God. Am I goth?

I shudder at the appalling thought and look up interior designers. I need a place that Cecilia will love and feel at home in… and this dungeon is not going to cut it.

Once I’ve found a few I like, I send emails asking how soon they can decorate my entire penthouse. I’m thinking earth tones, dark woods, maybe some greens. The perfect mix of my sunshine and me.

As I get ready for bed, I look forward to a future with her by my side every night.

Chapter 43

Cecilia

CRASH!

I jolt out of my downward dog pose as my front door swings open.

My heart pounds. My hands shake. My breathing comes in quick pants.

None of it from the yoga, but because there’s a masked man entering my apartment with a gun in his hand.