Page 88 of Veiled Amor

“I went to grab coffee, I know you need your caffeine in the morning. Thought I’d be back in bed before you woke up.”

Oh.

He was so sweet.

Lucia grinned shyly, feeling every inch of inexperience for the morning after as he stared at her. Two takeout cups were sitting on top of the nightstand closest to him.

“You gonna stand there all day,nena? Get back over here.”

How funny that seeing his face washed away all her doubts. Lucia didn’t hesitate in closing the gap between them when she carefully kneed up onto the tall bed while trying to hold the towel in place. Capone watched her with a half-smile. “You can lose that.”

She wanted to, but first, she snagged a coffee. The container was still hot, and she sipped appreciatively with her eyes closed. “Thank you for the coffee.”

“I didn’t like seeing you out of my bed, Lucia.” He stated, shocking her eyes to ping open. “I wanted to climb back in with you.”

“I thought…”

“You thought I’d regret last night, so I took off.”

Heat touched the upper parts of her cheeks as she sipped again, looking at him over the rim of the cup.

“Do you regret it?”

“No,nena.”

Relief stung her nose to hear he had no regrets, it was her biggest worry.

Was he ready to let the past go so they could give this a try? She hoped.

She nearly missed him saying. “I still feel like a fucking shit for what I’m doing to Santiago,” Lucia’s forehead puckered, and she paused with the coffee to her lips. “Capone… don’t, it’s…”

“But I’m enough of a bastard to be okay with it, because I want this. You. Us.”

Air vacated her, and she had to put the cup down, or it would have decorated his bedding. “Really?”

“You’re too far away. Get the hell over here, huh?”

She started to sit at his side, but Capone had other ideas when he pulled her on his lap. “You want to lose this?” He motioned to the towel, and she shook her head, “not yet.” He quirked a brown eyebrow but didn’t push, but brought her closer until she was sitting directly on his crotch. He grunted, and she cuddled in. “Did you mean what you said?”

“Sí. Told you last night I was done forcing myself to keep away from you. It might feel as though I’ve pushed you away,nena, but I swear, it was me holding myself back. It’s been torture.”

A savage blooming of heat filled Lucia’s chest cavity to the point it almost robbed her air as she leaned forward into his lips, where he pressed them to her bare shoulder. “Fuckingtorture.” He murmured, nuzzling his face into her neck, scratching her skin with his stubble. “Every day, I hated it. I was stupid to think I could put distance between us and get over you.”

Yes, stupid, she agreed.

The heart didn’t recognize distance.

Lucia may not have had Capone in her life in any relationship kind of way, but it never stopped her from wanting, wishing, hoping to have that. Pining was a bitch.

Her heart filled with hope like it was helium, and she smiled at his misery. Shouldn’t a woman want her man to feel some misery in wanting her? Yes. Scratching her nails around the back of Capone’s neck, she brought him in closer. “I missed you too, Giancarlo.”

“I fucked up.”

“We should talk now. About Santiago.” His head came up and his eyes looked like two black disks, unreadable. “There are things you don’t know.”

“Not now,” he said with roughness, bringing his mouth down to her shoulder again, and his hands caressed her waist. “Not while we’re in bed,nena.”

That was fair. She wasn’t too eager to bring another man into the bed with them either, not when they were finally making progress.