“Ugh.” I grunted, dropping my face to Nora’s shoulder. She chuckled, stroking her fingers through my hair. It felt so fucking good. My dick jumped to attention, desperate to be alone with her. Especially after last night, watching her come undone. It would have been easy to fuck her into oblivion, but I hadn’t wanted to take advantage. The truth was, I needed a second to catch my breath, overwhelmed at all the new and fucking scary feelings I had wrecking me.
“I think it’s cute.”
I snorted. Cute and me weren’t two words ever supposed to be in the same sentence. But that was Nora. Unapologetically honest. She didn’t mince her words or hold back what she was feeling. She was the complete opposite of me in every way possible.
I gripped the back of her neck and touched my head to hers. “Why don’t you give me and my cousins some space?”
“Anything you have to say, you can say it in front of us.” Her brows knitted.
“I know and I’ll tell you everything you need to know, I promise. But I really need to talk to them, and I would rather do it where I can keep my eye on you.”
“Fine. Have you eaten?” she asked Arianne, who shook her head.
“We came straight here.”
“Let’s go make you some breakfast then.” Nora stood up and bent down to rake her fingers against my jaw, kissing me softly. “You get ten minutes.”
“I only need five.” I slapped her ass, relishing the little yelping sound she made. I’d have to see how many ways I could make her do that later, when we were alone and she was naked.
Nora led Arianne over to the kitchen and the two of them began getting ingredients out of the refrigerator.
“Matt’s right, you’ve got it bad.”
“Seriously, that’s what you want to talk about?”
“Just take it slow. She’s… and you’re…”
“Yeah, I got the memo. She’s too good for me.” My eyes found her again. I’d never noticed it before—or I’d refused to notice it—but we were like magnets, always searching the other out across a room. Like right now, I felt the pull to her, the invisible thread tethering us.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Nicco’s voice pulled me back to reality.
“The package was left outside the main entrance. Security picked it up and alerted Maurice. He called me. I watched the security footage and it’s definitely him. He was kitted out in a black hoodie and he didn’t make eye contact with the camera, but it was him.”
“He didn’t leave a note?”
“Nothing but Gino’s bloodstained chain.”
Nicco let out a thin breath.
“He’s toying with me, Nic. Showing me he’s got the upper hand. Who the fuck is this guy?”
“I don’t know but we’ve got everyone working on this. You sent the package to the local PD?”
I nodded. “Maurice delivered it to our guys personally. But they won’t find any prints. This guy is a professional. He’s a fucking ghost.”
“We’ll get him, I promise.”
Something hit me. “Not that I don’t appreciate you being here, because I do. But where’s Uncle Toni?”
“He’s sick.” Nicco’s expression fell.
Dread snaked through me. “How sick?”
“He says it’s a bad case of heartburn, but—”
“You think it’s something else.”
His lips flattened into a grim line as he nodded. “Listen, I think Nora should move in with us until the worst is over. I can have Luis and Maurice on guard around the clock. The apartment has been modified with a state-of-the-art security system.” He wasn’t wrong. Their place was like Fort Knox.
But I didn’t want Nora out of my sight, and somehow, I didn’t think the invitation was for both of us.
“I already told Ari, I’m staying here,” Nora called over.
“And I told her we should talk about it.” Arianne pinned me with a hard look as if I had any sway over the choices Nora made.
“I can stay here with her,” I said.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Matteo reappeared.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
“To the bathroom, why?”
“Nora wants to stay here. I’m inclined to agree it’s probably the safest option right now.”
“He has a point, Nic,” Matteo agreed. “There’s security plus our guys, plus she has the friendly neighbor over the way who would jump in to defend her honor at any given chance.”
A low growl rumbled in my chest, and Nicco shot me a strange look. “Do I need to be worried?” he asked.
“Not unless he comes knocking again to stir the pot.”