94

LORENA

My eyes indulged, traveling over his ink and inventorying each visible tattoo. From the ones on his face, the ink peeking above his starched white dress shirt, down to his tattooed hands and knuckles.

Fuck, he was beautiful. I never cared much for tattoos until Alessandro. But this man took ink to a whole new level. The ink on this man, it packaged the cruelty etched on his face, the art and ruthlessness, into one fine, deadly specimen.

“Lorena, you have come back.” The interruption came in the form of my mother’s cold voice.

My mouth pressed into a thin line, and something in Nico’s eyes told me he understood exactly where I was coming from.

My heart rate sped up and anxiety kicked up a notch, but I kept it hidden. After all, I got really good at hiding my emotions since I started living under my mother’s roof.

She offered me her cheek to kiss in greeting. I leaned in stiffly to kiss the offering and felt like Judas. Because I came to kill her.