To a degree, she’d almost seen herself as a food delivery service. She’d come when called, drop off a Tupperware of the good red juice, and leave. No biggie.
But the thought of having that arrangement with Luis made her shrink a little, like her muscles and bones wanted to get as far from it as her mind did.
Trying not to sound pathetic, she asked, “When will you be back?”
Luis ran his hands down to her shoulders. Digging his thumbs into the taut muscle, he gave her a deeply satisfied smile. “You gonna miss me, kitten?”
“If you give me massages, yes,” she answered, letting her head loll to one side.
His smile turned into a thoughtful frown as he found a mean little knot in her trapezius. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, but it’ll probably be around midnight. Depends on how long Felix yells at me.”
She nodded weakly. Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she tried not to wince as he did his best to eradicate the knot.
“Twelve hour days,” he muttered darkly. “I bet you sleep on a shit mattress, too. When was the last time you had a break, Frankie?”
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “Six months? I don’t take days off. Time gets weird.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Easing off the knot, he grabbed her chin and gave her head a tiny shake. When she opened her eyes, he sternly commanded, “Rule number two: When you’re in our home, yourest.I don’t want to see you pick up a rag, organize a drawer, or lift one pretty finger to do anything other than relax. Do you understand me?”
Blinking a little sluggishly at him, she answered, “Sure.”
“Mm, no. That’s not how you answer.” He raised his dark eyebrows. “When I give you an order, you sayyes, sir.That way I know you heard me, and I can punish you if you break the rule.”
A tingle rushed down from the tips of her ears to the ends of her toes. Mouth drying, she rasped, “Yes, sir.”
A flash of fang was all she saw before he swooped down on her for a hard kiss. “That’s a good girl,” he whispered, nipping her gently.
Her hands met nothing but air when she reached for him. He’d stepped back almost as quickly as he came down on her.
Smoothing his fingers through his hair, he muttered, “I’ve got to get the fuck out of here or I’ll never leave.”
Francesca rolled her lips between her teeth. There was a feeling of unspeakable power in seeing a man like Luis Amauri flushed and bothered from something as simple as two words and a kiss.
Patting his pockets, he told her, “I got you food. Dahlia sent me a list of things arrants eat, so hopefully it should be good. If you need anything else, I’ve left a credit card on the coffee table. Buy whatever you want.”
“Food?”
Walking toward the doorway, he waved a hand over his shoulder. “Food. Diamonds. A TV. Whatever. My money’s your money.”
Our home. My money’s your money. Us.
Francesca sent her warped reflection in the chrome refrigerate across from her a confused grimace. “We’re not married, you know!” she called out.
From somewhere in the hallway, Luis hollered back, “We’ll see.”
TWENTY
It turnedout that Francesca had forgotten how to sit still — and also that while Luis had thought to get her an entire grocery store’s worth of food, he hadn’t provided her with a stitch of clothing.
She tried watching the television feeds, but the news stressed her out too much. A part of her still felt like she was back at the mansion, as if another terrible, violent thing was about to happen, and another part didn’t understand why she wasn’t getting ready to go to work.
She was restless, bored, and desperate to find something to take her mind off the many deaths she’d witnessed.
So it was with considerable relief and dread that she answered the knock at the door.
Not wanting to reveal the robe to a stranger, she peered cautiously around the partially opened door. Two women stood waiting for her. One was a petite blonde dressed all in red and the other was a curvaceous, dark-haired beauty in a silk coat and tight white leather mini dress. And her hair, like Luis and Milo’s, was streaked with a single band of white.
“Um… I’m sorry, Luis isn’t here.” Francesca cringed, her mind spinning with all the possibilities of who these womencould be. One was obviously related to him, but the other… Well, it wasn’t the first time she’d seen him with a blonde.