Page 128 of Joey

I swallow the hurt that unexpectedly bubbles up at his rejection, but he brushes his fingertips over my cheek before I can voice my annoyance. “I just wanted to check in with you,” he says softly.

I frown at him. “Check in with me? Why?”

“Because we killed a man today.”

I roll my eyes. More sexist bullshit! I’m about to shuffle off his lap, but he tightens his arms around my waist, holding me in place. “Just because I’m a g—”

“No,” he says with an exasperated sigh. “Because I fucking love you, Joey. You don’t think I checked in with your brothers the first time they took a life?”

“You did?”

“Of course I fucking did. Dante threw up all over my shoes the first time he killed someone.”

I blink at him. “He did?”

“Yeah. Had to throw them away and the fucker still hasn’t replaced them sixteen years later.”

I do that math in my head. Dante was only fifteen when he first killed a man? Sadly, that doesn’t surprise me. The fact that he threw up after certainly does though. He’s like ice when it comes to business, but I guess he wasn’t always that way.

“I’m sorry, Max. I guess the defensive thing is kind of my default response.”

“Hmm,” he murmurs as he presses his forehead against mine. “For the sake of your beautiful ass, I suggest you find another one soon, baby girl, or you’ll be spending a whole lot of your time wincing when you sit down.”

I cannot stop the soft moan that escapes my lips at the mere thought of constant spankings from Max, and it makes him laugh. “But you like the sound of that, don’t you?” His deep, velvety tone melts my insides.

“Yes,” I admit, rocking my hips against him and delighting in the delicious friction caused by the seam of my jeans and his hard cock.

He runs his nose over my jawline and an animalistic groan rumbles through his chest. “What the fuck am I going to do with you, Joey?”

I run my fingers though his hair, tugging his head back so I can stare into his dark eyes. “Spank me? Fuck me? Spread me out on this dining table and eat my pussy until I scream? I mean the possibilities are endless.”

Those dark eyes blaze with fire now and I can tell he’s considering all those options right now. But the man has way too much self-control for my liking. “Tell me how you’re doing, baby girl?”

“I’m okay, Max. I promise,” I assure him. I may not have killed a man before, and technically I didn’t today—although that doesn’t make me any less responsible for his death—but I was born and raised a Moretti and this life is in my blood as much as it’s in my brothers’. As much as it’s in Max’s.

He brushes my hair back from my face. “You sure? Because it’s okay not to be. I’m right here for whatever you need.”

“I know that, but I’m okay. Are you?”

He frowns at me.

I arch an eyebrow at him. “I’m allowed to be concerned about you too, aren’t I?”

“Of course you are.” A smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

“So, are you okay? You need me to do anything to make you feel better?” I whisper.

“Oh, there are many things, baby,” he says with a groan. Standing, he sets me on my feet. “But not right now.” Then he gives me a soft kiss on my forehead. “We should join the others before your brothers come in here to check on us.”

“You’re such a tease.” I giggle as we walk out of the room, earning myself a hard smack on my ass. God, I am the happiest girl in the freaking world right now.

ChapterFifty-Four

MAX

“Max? You have a minute?” Dmitri asks me quietly as we head out of Dante and Lorenzo’s study.

“Sure.” I step aside with him while the others disappear down the hallway.