By Virtue I Fall (Sins of the Fathers #3)(59)

“Yes,” Santino said. “Your father would kill me.”

“So we both agree this can only go on while we’re in Paris?”

“Absolutely.” I didn’t mention that I’d resign as her bodyguard the moment we were back anyway. When I’d asked Dante for this favor it had been for other reasons, but now I was glad I’d have the option to bring distance between Anna and me once we were back.

Anna bit her lower lip in a way that made my cock twitch. I raised one eyebrow.

She leaned forward, whispering, “Maybe I could go for another round if you do what you did the first time we got naughty.”

“You have to be more specific.” She couldn’t possibly mean me fucking her mouth because her reaction after that hadn’t really screamed for a repeat performance, which was why I hadn’t let her go down on me again since then.

Anna stroked my chest then lower, her nails teasing the ridges of my abs and my inner thighs in a very distracting way.

“It was kind of hot, to have you over me like that, taking my mouth, being all dominant and angry.”

Blood shot into my cock as the images from that first night flitted through my brain. “Don’t say something like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it gives me all kinds of ideas you’re not ready for.”

“I’m more than ready. I told you. I thought it was hot.”

“You disappeared in the bathroom afterward to cry.”

“You don’t know that I cried.”

“Your eyes were red and puffy. I sure as fuck won’t do something that gets that kind of reaction from you, cherie.”

Anna looked surprised. For once I hadn’t said cherie to piss her off. I’d heard the difference too.

“I like it when you call me cherie as if you mean it.”

I meant it. Had meant it before too even if I’d hidden it behind taunting and sarcasm. Anna had annoyed me a lot in the past, and still did most days, but over time I’d realized I kind of liked it.

“I mean it. I thought it was hot. I ran off into the bathroom afterward because I wanted to be more than an angry fuck.”

“You could never be just an angry fuck and you know it.” Our eyes met, and suddenly this felt too intimate. I wouldn’t have put up with as much as I did with anyone else. I cared about Anna, too fucking much, which was the main problem of my existence. Adding sex to the mix was a risk. I’d never fallen for a woman I’d slept with but I had a feeling Anna might change that, and I shouldn’t risk it. Liking her for her spunk was okay, but anything that went beyond that would be fatal.

Anna shrugged. “You’re more than an angry fuck too. I kind of like you, Santino. You give my life the necessary spice.”

I chuckled. “Ditto, cherie. Ditto.”

“So what about a repeat performance of that first naughty night?”

I shook my head with a growl and pulled her toward me for a kiss. “How could I say no?”





Now that Santino and I had stipulated certain rules I felt much better. Of course, no one knew better than me that it was one thing to have rules and another to follow them.

Yet, I was willing to take the risk because being with Santino felt too good to give it up. And not just in the physical sense, though that was absolutely mind-blowing. I still got goose bumps and a pleasant tingling between my legs when I thought of our sex life in the last few weeks. The one time Maurice had tried to contact me, I’d told him that I was no longer on the market. Being with Santino was more than fulfilling. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else at this point.

It was the end of March and the weather had been sunny and warm the entire week, which allowed us to discover more of the city on foot when I wasn’t busy with my studies.

Santino and I strolled past small groups sitting on the grass with the Eiffel Tower rising above their heads. Almost all of them were tourists or exchange students. Most Parisians avoided the area around their city’s landmark.

I hadn’t yet grown tired of taking a stroll down here, but even I often sought the more secluded places of the city.

I had my phone in my hand, seeking inspiration in everything. I rarely took photos of the sights themselves. I’d done that the first time I’d seen them, but now I was looking for the particular in the ordinary.

Movement on the ground near a bush caught my attention. I immediately started taking photos. One of the cities, several pigeons were picking at a fry when a rat poked its head out and attacked, wrangling the piece of food from the befuddled bird and rushed back into its bush. I lowered my finger from my phone screen but remained vigilant in case another oddity happened.

It took me a moment to realize Santino was watching me. “Other people take videos of the Eiffel Tower, you of a rat fighting a pigeon over a piece of baguette,” Santino muttered, but despite his grumpy expression, I could tell he was amused.

“One thing gets you to the most watched TikTok videos, the other not.”

Santino narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re using this useless platform. There are only half-naked teenage girls dancing to shitty rap music on there.” He shrugged with a smirk. “I suppose that’s your crowd.”

“You know, Sonny, TikTok is algorithm-based. It says more about you than TikTok if the only videos that are suggested to you are half-naked girls.”