Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,318

brown hair. My eyes dipped lower to his perfectly shaped backside. I’d never seen a man like this, but I couldn’t imagine that anyone could compare to Romero. He was all muscle and tanned skin. Strong and tall.

He began to turn. I should have left then, but I kept staring, fascinated by his body. Was he aroused? He tensed when he spotted me. His eyes captured my gaze before they slid over my nightgown and naked legs. And then I found an answer to my question. He hadn’t really been aroused before. Oh hell.

My cheeks heated as I watched him grow harder under my unwavering attention. It was all I could do not to cross the distance between us and touch him.

Romero slid the shower open with unhurried movements and wrapped a towel around his waist before he stepped out, all naked glory and dripping wet. The scent of his spicy shower gel, peppermint and sandalwood, wafted into my nose. Slowly he advanced on me, long legs sure of every step. “You know,” he said in a strangely rough voice. “If someone found us like this, they might get the wrong idea. An idea that could cost me my life, and you your reputation.”

I still couldn’t move. I was stone, but my insides seemed to burn, to liquefy into red-hot lava. I couldn’t look away. I didn’t want to.

My eyes lingered on the edge of the towel, on the fine line of dark hairs disappearing beneath it, on the delicious V of his hips. Without realizing what I was doing my hand moved, reaching for Romero’s chest, for the Famiglia tattoo over his heart, needing to feel his skin beneath my fingertips.

Romero caught my wrist before I could touch him, his grip almost painful. My gaze shot up, half embarrassed and half surprised. What I saw on Romero’s face made me shiver.

He leaned forward, coming closer and closer. My eyes fluttered shut but the kiss I wanted never came. Upon hearing the creak of the door, I peered up at Romero. He’d only opened the bathroom door wide. That’s why he’d moved closer, not to kiss me. Embarrassment washed over me. How could I have thought he was interested in me like that? He was a Made Man.

“You need to leave,” he murmured as he straightened. His fingers were still curled around my wrist.

“Then let me go.”

He released me without hesitation and took a step back. I stayed where I was. I wanted to touch him, wanted him to touch me in turn. He cursed and then he was upon me, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other on my hip, the touch hot, warning and promise. I could almost taste his lips they were so close. His touch made me feel more alive than anything ever had.

“Leave,” he rasped. “Leave before I break my oath.” It was half plea, half order.

CHAPTER ONE

Four years before:

Liliana

I still cringed when I remembered my first embarrassing attempt at flirting with Romero. Mother and my sister Aria had always warned me not to provoke men, and I’d never been as daring with anyone as I’d been with Romero. He’d seemed safe, like there was no way he could possibly hurt me no matter the provocation. I’d been young and stupid, only fourteen and already convinced I knew everything there was to know about men and love and everything else.

It had been in the days leading up to Aria’s wedding to Luca and he’d sent Romero to protect my sister because he didn’t trust Father’s men to do a good enough job—which was ridiculous, considering that Umberto had guarded my sisters and me since our births. It was a big deal to choose a bodyguard for your future wife; only someone who was deserving of your absolute trust could be allowed that close, but that knowledge wasn’t even why I trusted Romero.

Romero had looked terribly handsome in his white shirt, black slacks and vest that hid his gun holster as he stepped into the suite my sisters and I shared in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. And for some reason, his brown eyes had looked kinder than what I was used to from men in our world. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. I wasn’t sure what I’d been thinking, or what I’d expected to achieve, but the moment Romero sat down, I’d sauntered over to him and settled in his lap. His body was muscled, strength hidden beneath a sophisticated