Page 18 of Heart of Sin
“Cheesecake in bed at two a.m.,” I say with a disbelieving smirk. I cut into my slice with my fork and use it to point at him as if directing blame. “After you showed up at the club and made me your deal. After you actually made me come. This might be one of the weirdest nights of my life.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” He’s devouring his own slice, a huge and brawny presence sitting upright against the headboard, his plate in his lap.
Louis Civella might be a teddy bear on the inside, but damn if I’m not seeing him in a whole new light after tonight.
He made me come!
I… enjoyed myself with him. His size poses some issues, but we’re on the same page and he’s attentive about it.
For years I’ve programmed myself to separate feelings, even attraction, from encounters with clients.
Here I am after sex with Louis once, and I’m already a house of cards folding. Practically dickmatized.
He. Made. Me. Come.
But then I give myself a reality check. I’m still me. I’m still a man eater. I don’t do relationships, nor do I want to.
Men are for money only. One thing I’ve learned to always be true.
This is strictly business. All I care about is the ten grand I’m making. Louis making me come and making me laugh are bonuses.
“Damn, that was good,” Louis says. He sets aside his empty plate and pats his stomach. “Hit the spot. The chefs at the Vittoria are unmatched.”
“They are really good. No wonder it costs so much to stay here.”
“Gio only has the best of the best.”
“He must pay his soldiers well if you can afford me,” I tease.
Louis takes me up on my opening. He grabs my hip and drags me across the wide bed, closer to him. Positioning us so I’m halfway under him, he plants a kiss on me and then says, “You’re worth every dollar.”
“Ten Gs an encounter. Maybe I can finally fix the AC in my car.”
He laughs. “There was a time when I dreamed of having ten dollars let alone ten Gs.”
“You? Poor?”
“Dirt poor.”
“But, wait. I thought… didn’t you grow up with Gio?”
He shifts his large, brawny body so he’s lying on his side next to me. His head he props up with his hand and bent elbow. “That’s sorta complicated. I did grow up with him and Giancarlo. At first. My dad was a soldier in the family too.”
“And?”
“And,” he says grimly, “he left my mom. The thing is, he was a bastard. So when he walked out, he walked out. Basically, the deadbeat screwed us. My ma, she didn’t have many skills at no real fault of her own. She couldn’t find any jobs that paid enough that she could do. Let’s just say times were pretty rough.”
“I never would’ve guessed.”
“We lived in our car for a while. That wasn’t fun, especially in the winter months. But my ma, she did what she had to do—she made sure me and Nikki always had food and clothes. Even if it was a can of spam and some t-shirts from the church donations box. She did her best given the fucked up situation.”
“You must take care of her now. I notice you mention her a lot.”
The corner of his mouth tips up. “Yeah, I do. That was one of the first things I did when I was made. I put her and Nikki up in a nice apartment. Nikki was still in junior high at the time.”
I’m returning his smile without realizing it. A happy warmth fills me as I lay staring up at him and listen to the happy outcome. My mind wanders to Zara and how great it’d be if I could do the same for her…
“What about you? What was your childhood like?”