Page 387 of Under Her Skin

Ama heard his words, but could not shake the guilt anyway. “Omar, could you take dad back to the hotel? I need some time withEnda.”

Omar kissed her cheek. “Of course, darling. I will be just a phone call away if you needme.”

Enda looked tired,but when she joined him in the kitchen, he kissed her and smiled at her. “Inca’s coming out of her coma,” he told her, and Ama felt her heartlift.

“Really?”

“Tommaso just called. She’s still critical, but it’s a good stepforward.”

Ama slumped against him. “Some good news, at last.” She felt like crying, but this time for good reasons. Could this be the tideturning?

“Have they found anything out about Selima’swhereabouts?”

Enda hesitated, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, baby. Chase is still unconscious, and the California team has had no luck. Look, we have the house to ourselves tonight. Just for one-night …let’s try and relax and spend some time together. I know it will be difficult, but I’m worried that if we—and I mean you,Piccolo—keep this level of stress up, we’ll make bad decisions. Forget why we didthis.”

Ama was silent, considering his proposal. Could she relax, knowing what was happening to her sister? Even if it wasn’t happening—and she didn’t think there was any chance of that—she still had the visions of what Jackson could do to hersister.

But she looked up into the eyes of the man she had sacrificed everything for and knew she would make the same decision over and over again. Enda was right. They needed to reconnect properly, remember that they were in this together, and that there were more people on their side than onJackson’s.

She nodded up at him. “Yes, okay …for tonight …me andyou.”

“Good.” He kissed her forehead. “Let’s start by getting some proper food into you. You haven’t eaten fordays.”

They cooked a meal together, a hot and spicy curry that they washed down with a cold beer each, then sat watching TV. Ama couldn’t help her mind drifting to her sister, and at ten p.m., Enda looked around at her, studied her expression, and sighed. “Miss Rai …I think I need to distract you more …” He stood up and pulled her to her feet. He nuzzled his nose to hers before pressing his lips against hers. “The house is empty except for us. We’re totally alone …listen how quiet the nightis.”

He led her to the window and pushed open the shutters. The stone window sill was wide enough for them both to sit on. “Look at that,” Enda said softly. The moon was full over the Bay of Naples, Vesuvius casting a long shadow. The cities of Naples and Sorrento lay beneath them. The lights of the fishing boats bobbed out at sea, the soft glow from the cities’ streets. “There is only one thing I consider more beautiful than this view,” Enda said in his low, growly accent, “And that is you,Piccolo. You are the love of my life and the reason for my being. There is absolutely no way I would give you up for anything. I know what you think—that you hold Selima’s life in your hands. You don’t. But you hold mine, and I hold yours. There is no you and me. There is only us. And we, together, will fight this and we willwin.”

Ama had tears in her eyes and they spilled down her cheeks as he finished speaking. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t tell this wonderful man just how much she loved him. Instead, she kissed him, her mouth hungry against his. He pulled her onto his lap and began to peel her dress from her shoulders until he could dip his head and take her nipple into his mouth. Ama sighed and closed her eyes, not caring if any of the security guards patrolling their grounds could see them.This is what matters, she thought.Love. Enda picked her up and carried her to the couch, pushing up her skirt and snagging his fingers in her panties to pull them off. Ama pulled her dress over her head and then helped him strip, running her hands over his broad shoulders, wide, muscled chest, and flat stomach. He covered her body with his, seeking herlips.

“Ama …” he murmured, in the way that always made her weak, and as she curled her legs around his hips, feeling his erection nudging at her, she opened up to take him in as deep as she could, wanting and needing thatconnection.

Enda moved in slow, measured strokes, kissing her, murmuring her name over and over, and sending thrills through her entire being. Ama gazed up into his green eyes and wondered how she had ever existed without this man. She could believe him, in moments like this, that everything would be okay—that everything would turn outright.

He was so controlled that her orgasm built and built, and every time she thought she would reach her peak, Enda would hold back, until she was quivering mass of anticipation. When her orgasm hit, it made her mind whirl, her skin vibrate, and all she could see was him, smiling down at her, groaning as he too came, his seed shooting deep into herbelly.

“I love you. I love you,” she whispered, and he laughedsoftly.

“And I’m not even halfway donetonight…”

They madelove until dawn began to spread its fingers across the sky, then fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms. When they woke, Ama felt stronger than she had in days. Then, in the evening, the news came that Inca wasawake.

Inca awoke sometimein the afternoon, and of course, it was in the five minutes that Raff, who had been at her side constantly, went to take a coffee break. Alone, Inca blinked, trying to get the smeary glaze from her eyes, moving her limbs, feeling the stiffness of her body, and the numbness that she recognized as morphine coursing through her system. It was a heavy dose too, she knew of old—from thelasttime she’d been stabbed. How the hell had it happened again? Here, in her beloved Naples, where all she had found was love. Had it been part of a robbery? Somehow, she couldn’t see it. It was personal. She remembered the man who had stabbed her so viciously …he had looked her in the eye as he plunged the knife into her. The expression she would never forget …enjoyment. He meant to killher. Inca was sure of it. She wasn’t a randomvictim.

Could it have been Edgar Winter, her husband’s psychotic father who had tried to kill her twice before, just to make Raffaelo suffer? He was rotting away in prison now for his crimes, but he could have just as easily hired someone to do it. After all this time, though? It had been years that he had beenincarcerated.

Inca moved, and then moaned in pain. Agony screeched through her body, but instead of upsetting her, it just made her angry. Who the hell were these people to decide whether she lives or died? Luna, Kevin, Knox, Edgar …two of them were dead; Kevin was, like Edgar, in jail. And now those two assholes in her beloved teahouse…

The anger made adrenaline shoot through her body, and she struggled to sit up, ignoring the agonizing pain in her abdomen and gripping the breathing tube to rip itout.

Only the appearance of Bo stopped her from doing it. “Hey, hey, hey, hey …no, no, no,baby. Don’t do that.” Bo dropped the coffee she was holding and dashed to Inca’s side, holding her up with one strong arm and gently pushing her hands away from the tube. “Nurse! Somebody helpme!”

Two nurses and a doctor came racing in, and between them, they managed to calm Inca down. She gestured furiously at the breathing tube. The doctor injected her with a sedative. “Mrs. Winter, if you calm down, I can do some checks, and if you’re breathing on your own, I’ll consider removing the tube. But you have to calm down for me …your abdomen is recovering from serious wounds and the resultant surgery. If you tear an artery, you will bleed out and die.Okay?”

Inca saw Bo wince. The other woman looked back at her and tried to smile. “Welcome back, gorgeous.” She kissed the back of Inca’s fingers, and Inca felt her tears on her skin. “Sweetie, while they look after you, I’m going to get Raff—he’s only getting some coffee. I’ll be rightback.”

Inca nodded, the effects of the sedative kicking in. The doctor and nurses did their tests, but a few moments later, Inca could only seehim– her Raffaelo. The look of relief and love on his face was overwhelming, and she thought, as she had done once before, that his smile was better than any painkiller they might giveher.

Ama wasnervous about walking into the hospital room and seeing her friend so hurt and brutalized. She had not been to see Inca when she was in a coma. Raff had wanted to limit Inca’s visitors because of the risk of infection, and Enda and he had agreed that it would be too hard onAma.