Twisted Cravings (The Camorra Chronicles, #6)

by Cora Reilly

I’ll be the hero in my story.”

Sometimes it was harder to live with a lesser version of what we missed than to lose it altogether.

I didn’t want this to end. Not today, not tomorrow, maybe never.

Adamo made me want to lose control to him. He made me feel as if I could lose control to him without fear.

“I wonder when you’ll decide I’m not worth the trouble?” “Oh, I have a feeling you’re worth every trouble you might put me through.”

Every day I spent with Adamo, he grew more on me. I missed him when he wasn’t around and I kept thinking about him and how it felt to be with him. I wasn’t sure where my path was taking me but I hoped Adamo would join me on it, at least for a little while longer. I didn’t dare look too far into the future.

“Sex with you has nothing to do with a safe option, it’s a wild ride that completely rips any semblance of control from me.”

Sometimes I lost myself in the warmth of his eyes. They made me feel as if I could entrust him with every dark secret I harbored. My pulse spiked at the flood of emotion this realization brought on and looked away. I

“Dance with me. Help me forget tonight,” she rasped, her eyes almost feverish with despair. “Let’s just be us tonight. Not anyone’s daughter or brother. Let’s be in the moment. No past, no future.”

“There’s no place I’d rather be than at your side, even if it involves brutal revenge.” Dinara sighed. “What about after? When the revenge part is over. We are who we are.” “You’ve said it before,” I murmured. “How about we take one day after the other?” “Deal,”

“Why do you want to help me? Why do you do this for a girl you have sex with?” “You’re not just a girl I have sex with.” “And you’re not just a guy I have sex with.” Adamo smiled crookedly. “One day one of us has to be brave and put a name to what we have.”

I didn’t care if it made me look weak or needy. Adamo made me feel as if it was okay to not be strong once in a while.

Dinara smiled strangely and kissed me. “To think that I’d ever fall for an Italian mobster—” She snapped her lips shut, eyes going wide. The high from the torture was nothing to what I felt now. I opened my mouth but Dinara clapped her hand over my lips. “Don’t say anything. Not now.” My eyes crinkled in amusement. Kissing her palm, I nodded my agreement. Slowly, Dinara lowered her hand. “I never thought I’d fall for a Bratva princess either,” I rushed to say. Dinara kissed me hard. “Shut up, shut up. I don’t want to talk emotions, not now. Not yet.”

“After everything we’ve done, and everything we plan to do, you’re scared of emotions?” I teased. Her eyes begged me to shut up and this time I did. Instead I pulled her against me and showed her with my body what I felt. No words needed.

“She was a monster and never deserved to be your mother. You are lovable and I love you.” I froze against him, sucking in a shaky breath. I lifted my face. I must have looked a mess with blood, tears, and snot on my face but Adamo’s expression was full of love. “You love me?” “Yes, even if I’m breaking our keeping it casual pact. I don’t care. I won’t hide my emotions. I fucking love you and you better deal with it.” I let out a strangled laugh. “I love you, too.”

“I really missed racing. I never thought it would grow on me so much.” “You never thought I’d grow on you so much either,” I joked, wanting to lighten the mood further. Dinara rolled her eyes but then she leaned over and distracted me briefly with a kiss. “You caught me by surprise. That won’t happen again.” “I already have your heart.” “You do, now you’ll just have to keep it,” she said teasingly. She sank back against the seat, her shoulders relaxing for the first time since yesterday. “Now that I have it, I won’t give it back.”

“We belong with each other. It’s where we found happiness. I won’t give you up and I know you don’t want to give me up.

“You can’t keep me away from your daughter, unless you stop my heart from beating.”

“I waded through blood for your daughter, and I’ll do it again, even if it’s my own, because Dinara is worth shedding every last drop of my blood for. I won’t give her up, no matter what you do or what you say. And if it takes torture and death to prove my feelings for your daughter, then that’s what I’m willing to do. I love her and no force on this earth can shake that, so if you don’t want me to be with your daughter, if you want me to give her up, then you’ll have to end my life today.”

“I’d do anything for her.” I squeezed Adamo’s hand. Words like those had always seemed a meaningless promise to me but now I knew he meant them absolutely.

“What Dima and I had wasn’t really love, I realize that now that I’m with you.” “Because you love me.” Dinara gave me a strange smile. “You really want me to say it more often, don’t you?” I kissed her. “Oh definitely.”

“Now I know why you chose her.” I stifled a pleased grin. Adamo gave me a shrug but I could see the tension leaving his shoulders. “It wasn’t a choice. Dinara is a force to be reckoned with. I didn’t have a choice but to fall for her.”

I’d always wanted someone at my side who knew I could handle myself, who didn’t treat me like a damsel in distress, and I’d found that person in Adamo.

“In the past, I would have needed a smoke to really enjoy the moment,” Dinara murmured. “I don’t even miss smoking anymore.” “Me neither. You and racing give me the highs that I need,” she said with a teasing smile. I touched her cheek, unable to believe how lucky I was, how ridiculously happy.