Page 85 of Dirty Hearts

“You can make it up to me by helping me put out the wine.” I thought something more lighthearted was in order. I didn’t want to go down that road of thought with my mind so on edge.

Perhaps getting the place in order would alleviate some of the stress. And he was here.

He was here with me.

* * *

Claudius

* * *

I wished I could have been more at ease.

While I knew Ava wanted me to be here with her and we’d had a somewhat good day, I couldn’t be calm.

The guys couldn’t find David. Someone like him should have been easy to find. Particularly since he’d been waiting to hear from me on his proposal for the shipping company.

Unless…

Unless if someone told him things had changed.

Dante, Gio, Alex, Jude.

I was going out of my mind wondering who was against me. It was like my mind couldn’t accept it. Wouldn’t allow me to.

All damn day, I’d tried to imagine all the different possibilities of it being one of them. Probably a good idea that I’d spent the last two hours down in the wine cellar because I was going nuts.

On one hand, I wanted to go find David myself, and on the other, I wanted to protect my girl.

I looked at the wine list and sighed with pure frustration. There were over two hundred types of wine on here. Fifteen crates full. I’d gotten mixed up again because I’d zoned out.

“Hey, if you’re done, I could use your help on the spices.” Ava smiled. She stood at the top of the stairs holding on to the rail.

“I’m not done, but I can get back to this if you need me there more.”

Her face brightened. “What if I just wanted to look at you for the next two hours?”

“I wouldn’t say no.”

She sauntered down the steps and floated into my arms for a kiss. At least she seemed a lot calmer than earlier.

She lingered on my lips and brushed her nose against mine as if she were savoring me. I’d nearly lost it when I saw her with that John person this morning.

What made me feel worse was his prim and proper attitude and that clean look. He really was perfect for her. A man like that suited her sweet nature. Not someone like me who put her in danger.Again.

The kiss she pressed against my lips sucked the thoughts from my mind, making me selfish again.

I pulled back because I doubted she wanted to end up naked down here pressed against the wall. Or maybe she did.

“We need to go home.”

“Home?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Is that my place home or yours?”

“My place home. I need you in my bed, and we have a bigger house to get nasty in.”

“Okay, you win. I’ll just lock up the office and the back.”

Thank God, she agreed.