she stood next to him. “Get out of here and go see your woman,” Luka told Kona, ignoring him when he stepped forward. “We can manage.”
Kona shifted his attention from his brother, to Gia and she didn’t miss the slow stretch of his mouth as he smiled. “I bet you can,” he told them.
“Get out of here,” Gia told Kona, moving Luka’s chin again. The bottom lip had started to crack again and a small pebble of blood had begun to leak from the side. Luka looked tired and worn, but she could tell he’d healed. The bruises were dark but like Kona’s they’d already begun to yellow.
“Gia,” Kona said, calling from the other side of the room. She glanced up, shooting him a glare that made him laugh. “Thanks for looking out for my brother.” She flipped him the bird, ignoring Kona and his teasing laugh as she opened Luka’s door and led him inside.
10.
LUKA
He wanted to say a lot of things to her. To make excuses. He wanted to make promises that he’d never hurt her. Never lie to her again. But Luka Hale was not a fool. When happy accidents like this one came to him, he took them.
Gia Jilani was no accident. She was purpose and intention and all the things he had no idea he needed.
“I lied for a reason,” he tried, hoping she took pity on him. He felt better after the thrashing his twin gave him, pointless though it was, but he was still tired.
“And that was?” she said, nodding to the bed like an angry night nurse who just caught her patient roaming the halls with the back of his gown wide open.
“Shit, nani,” he started, reaching out for her as he leaned back against his pillows. “I just didn’t want you to see me like this.”
“So…you lied out of vanity?” Gia followed him, not settling against his chest like he wanted, keeping her distance, though if Luka had to guess, he’d say she didn’t much like that. “Because you were embarrassed of the bruises?”
“No. Not embarrassed.” He reached for the Kleenex she held in her hand, then gave up taking it from her when she pushed him further back against his pillows. She smelled good. Like lilac again and the scent made his mouth water and his stomach tighten. God, he’d missed her.
“Are you in pain?” Gia inched closer, gently wiping the corner of his mouth, glancing at him when he shook his head. “You sure?” A nod and Gia was satisfied. “Good.”
“You were worried about me?” When she frowned instead of replying, Luka used the uninjured side of his mouth to smile at her. “Because you love me?” Gia shrugged, her expression sweet, teasing, the same flirtatious look she used whenever she wanted to appear less lethal. He knew better. Gia Jilani was dangerous. A sexual predator disguised as a beautiful, sweet woman. But she wasn’t harmless. She was fierce. She was fearsome and she was his.
“Why would he think that about you and Keira?”
He didn’t like the small worry he saw in her eyes, or the way she held her breath, as though there was some expectation that he’d hurt her and Kona had discovered it first.
“Don’t,” he told her, covering her mouth with his fingers. “Never for a second think that I would do that. Not to you. Not to him.” Luka pulled her on top of him, adjusting her legs so that she covered him, so that he felt the heat of her close to him. He moved his fingers over her hips, watching the darkening of her eyes as he moved them up her ribs to her shoulders. “I couldn’t want anyone more than I want you.” Luka lifted his knees, pushing Gia forward, bringing her face to his and her body flush to his. “I meant what I said, and I never say it easy. I love you, G. Only you.”
Her breath came out in a breathy pant, her words choppy, but firm as she looked down at him. “Show me.”
Luka never needed an excuse to touch her. If Gia was near him, he couldn’t keep his hands from her. Now they were alone, no interruptions. No excuses to hurry or race away from each other. He was going to take his time.
“Sit up,” he told her, loving the flush that turned her cheeks pink. “I want to see you when I strip you bare.”
She brushed the wild tumble of hair from her eyes, pushing