Believe Read Online Free Page A

head into his chest.
    His cell rang. Lorenzo pulled it from his pocket, recognizing his father’s ringtone. Might as well start now. “Yeah.”
    “Meet me at the club at one this afternoon. We need to talk.” His father coughed.
    “Right.” Lorenzo ended the call.
    “Something wrong?” Lita caressed his back.
    He kissed the top of her head, her hair soft. “No. Meeting my father later.”
    “How is he?”
    Lorenzo shrugged. “Same as ever.” Some people were changed when they got a life-threatening disease like cancer, but not Lorenzo’s father. He was the same cold bastard he’d always been.
    “Can we have this morning?” Lita moved against him, gazing up at him. He held her tighter.
    “Yes.” He fingered her hair. Cupping her chin in his hand, he returned her gaze. He brushed his lips on hers before he took more, drinking her in like a 1979 Vin Santo di Coltibuono. After a few minutes, Lita broke their embrace. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him a tiny smile.
    “I’ll be right back.” She brushed her hand along his arm as she walked past.
    His body prickled, as if it’d been asleep. He had been—in a waking nightmare with no end. Lita was his dream. He could live it today, give her the morning. He wanted to take forever.
    He stretched and paced from the kitchen to the coffee table, cracking his neck. Uncle Enzo would yell insults in three languages if he found out Lita had spent the night here. And Lee…His best friend was mellow, but not about Lita, his baby sister. Lee had taken on the father role with Lita for the first fifteen years of her life, still was a fiercely protective brother, and that didn’t disappear—love wouldn’t leave like that, not real love.
    Lorenzo shrugged. He didn’t know much about real love. His mom’s family—they’d showed him what love looked like…but they’d also shown him how it betrayed. A lesson he’d already learned over and over from his father.
    This wasn’t about his father. This was about Lita. He could give her the morning she wanted—maybe the morning of some of his fantasies.
    Lita rushed out of the hall, grabbing her coat off the chair. His stomach shimmied into his throat. “Lita.” His voice croaked, as if someone strangled him. He swallowed.
    “I’ve got to go. Lee texted me. If he finds out I spent the night here…it’ll ruin your friendship.” She waved a hand and hurried toward the front door.
    He shot forward. He grabbed her. He held her close. Her hair brushed his chin. Her scent—still sweet and fresh—made him tighten his hold.
    “Let me go. I can’t let this ruin your friendship.” Lita wriggled against him, her curves caressing his chest, his arms, his thighs.
    Heat blazed up, like the fires he built in the fireplace at the family house in Carmel on a cold night.
    “No. He won’t find out.” Lorenzo folded Lita in his arms, her back to him. She stilled. Her purse and coat dropped to the floor. The subtle rise and fall of her breath pressed her stomach on his hand. Someday…He shook his head. They would have this morning. Even one morning with Lita would be worth any price. And love always had a price.
    “Please, Lorenzo…” Supplication softened her tone.
    His veins coursed with the possibility of her giving herself to him, completely. Control, he had to keep control.
    He kissed her earlobe. “Please what, kitten?” His voice was low, hoarse.
    She sighed, a tiny sound he wouldn’t have heard had he not been so close. “I can’t…You can’t…”
    His spine straightened. In this moment, he’d do anything for her—except let her go.
    “I can’t be here, with you.” She softened into him further.
    “You already are.” Lorenzo laced his fingers into hers. He hadn’t held hands with anyone since college. He’d thought he was in love then. He’d been wrong.
    “I don’t want to be just another woman to you. I’d rather be nothing—”
    He turned her to face him and held her cheeks, warm