“I know,” she breathed, a smile forming as she parted her legs. “But you don’t have to worry: I never would have slept with him.”

“Why not?” he asked, begging for her to join him in his vulnerability, moving his hand infuriatingly close to the center of her. “I want to hear you say it.”

There was a pause, as she decided just how much she wanted to admit. She had calibrated every action on this trip to maintain power, and while it was okay to lose some of it, she still had to keep a few cards to her chest.

“Because he isn’t you,” she finally conceded, thrilled with the honesty of it.

He groaned with pleasure, fingers just beginning to touch her from the other side of the delicate lace fabric. It was just as good as she’d imagined it would be when the constant friction between them finally caught fire.

From just outside the door, she heard the movement of someone coming downstairs.

“Alex?” Bee’s voice called out, followed by the sound of what was almost certainly Dev, ushering her back into the salon.

As if she’d been doused with a glass of water, Alex used her hips to push him from her.

“Stop,” she whispered. “You have to stop.”

“What?” He looked stunned, more confused than angry, his hand still between her legs. “I can’t stop now.”

“You have to.” She smiled, shaking her head. “I don’t want someone walking in on us.”

“I don’t give a shit about that,” he said, pressing himself into her to prove the extent of his desire. He moved one of his hands to the doorknob, turning the key to lock them in.

“I know you don’t care,” she freed her wrists, bringing them down to remove his hand from between her legs. Without breaking eye contact, she reached for the knob and unlocked the door. “But I do. And you can come with me to the ruins tomorrow, We’ll be together all day.”

“Are… are you serious?”

He looked so distraught, so desperate, that she could only feel an overwhelming tenderness at the sight of him. She smiled, reaching behind her neck to unclasp the necklace her mother had given her for the trip.

“Here.” She took his hand and gently placed the chain in his palm before closing his fingers around it. “You keep this. Collateral, okay?”

He blinked, squeezing the necklace before nodding, slow and resigned.

“Okay,” he said. “If that’s what you want.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” she reached behind her, turning the knob without looking and cracking the door open. “But it’s been ten years. One more day won’t kill us.”

15. Taormina, Sicily

15

TAORMINA, SICILY

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