Page 144 of The Spare

I pout.Well, damn.

He tsks. "Aw. Come on, don't give me that face. Unfortunately we all have to make concessions."

My brow arches. "And what'syourconcession?"

His eyes go to the ugly ceramic rabbit and turn a bit sad. "Giving up on having true happiness."

Everyone goes a little quiet before the tense silence is broken by the guard coming from outside and leaning down to whisper in Luca's ear. He nods dismissively. "Thank you, Blane. You may go."

"AmIfree to go?" Mason asks in his usual bored tone.

Luca sniffs and stands up, brushing his hands together. "If you must, friend. Thanks for going over the numbers with me. I'll mull over your advice and let you know what I decide tomorrow. Go. Enjoy the night."

Dad and I stand up, and Mason tosses Luca a look before his eyes slide to me, showing me the lust in them.

My cheeks warm, and I look away sharply, avoiding Luca's knowing stare. Yup, they were talking about us fucking.

Great.

Chapter forty-five

Consiglierie

Melody almost killed me on our five o'clock morning run this morning. On the fuckingbeach.

The soft sand tore my ass up.

I'm typically pretty in shape, but not right now. Right now I think I'm going todie,and Luca's ridiculously fucking amused face makes me want to lunge across the table at him and fuck him up for looking so smug. Except Ican't,because Melody made it her personal mission to shred my quads for some reason.

She's embraced Cali life like a champ; her hair is lush, and her skin is glowing because she's always outside doing something, like picking fruitin her father's gardens or taking his two dogs for a run along the coast.

And the sex we've been having has been better than it was in New York, somehow.

Luca chuckles and twirls his pen, throwing it up in the air and catching it. "Oh, man. I feel so bad for you, actually."

My eyes snaps to his."I couldn't imagine why,"I say as sarcastically as possible.

"Because you look like dog shit." His eyes raking down my body judgmentally. "Seriously. What the fuck's wrong with you?"

"My daughter."

My head snaps to the side before I can answer, seeing all six-foot-two of Maximus striding through the door. If I didn't know his age, there's no way in hell I'd guess he's fifty-five.

"Uncle!" Luca drawls, chuckling. "Your daughter, eh? You mean my sweet, innocent cousinMelly?"

Though they're cousins, I narrow my eyes at his new nickname for her.

"Innocent?She might be sweet, but innocent she isnot,and don't let her fool you," Maximus laughs, patting me heavily on the shoulderbefore lowering himself in the seat next to me.

"Hey, Max," I greet him, my hands going back to my thighs.

Luca gets up and then walks to the door to the right of us and slides the glass into the wall, opening the space up to the outside before taking out a tin of cigars. I reject it, pulling out my cigarettes, packing them quickly and lighting one even quicker.

Fuck, I might needtwosmokes.

Luca raises a brow, trading a look with Maximus before bringing his eyes back to mine, but I don't care. I suck in a deep drag and let out a long, low groan."Fuuucck,that's good."

Luca snorts. "Anyway, I need to talk to you, Mason."