Twisted Luck

by Mia Downing

  I didn’t see myself as a puzzle. I saw myself as a girl who refused to succumb to the dark side for very good reasons. “Leo…you sold your soul and gave up. You felt you had nothing to live for, just like every other human.”

  “Not you, though.”

  “I have to live for my mother. Remembering her advice, her rules, honoring her pure soul…it’s what I have to do or the guilt will kill me.”

  “I understand all too well.” He hugged me close again and kissed the top of my head. “We have one more stop to visit.”

  I nodded under his lips, but a part of me feared what he’d show me next.

  ****

  Our last stop took us to a green hillside overlooking farmland. Below, an old city sprawled along a stream and a medieval castle rose in the distance. The view was breathtaking, and I shaded my eyes to glance at Leo.

  Backlit by sunshine and cloudless blue skies, he was just as stunning. His strong jaw clenched a little, his lips caught in a strange twist.

  “The view hasn’t changed much,” he observed after drinking in the entire horizon bathed in afternoon sunlight. “Here is where my life changed. Cosimo Fetti sat on this hillside and taught me how to blend colors to cast the sky in a perfect sunrise.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Too young.” The pained expression blended with a faraway stare that bespoke of ghosts of the uneasy kind. “I came here to…escape.” He pointed to a small section of village near a copse of trees. “My father died when I was young. My mother took in mending and laundry from the village to feed us.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as his gaze shifted back over the valley below. “Sometimes, there would be extra chores for her, and I…couldn’t bear hearing them. Her.” He looked at me then, his gaze pleading. “She had to bed them, or we’d all starve.”

  Oh, the pain in his eyes. My heart pounded louder as his words hit home. My skin prickled with goosebumps at what a little boy had to overhear. It was one thing for Leo to joke about sex, but quite another to experience his shame and heartache in those simple words. Heart in my throat, I took his hand.

  Leo stared out over the countryside again, that faraway look returning. “That morning, two brothers had come to drop of their laundry at dawn, and they laughed as they sent me off into the darkness with a coin. I stumbled out into the cold mist, crying, hungry…determined to take that coin and run away to find something better for us.

  “I stumbled upon Cosimo instead. The gruff old man said, ‘Gio, wipe your face. Come learn to mix paints.’ And as the sun came up, I did.

  “Cosimo had also been one of my mother’s ‘friends’ as she called them. But he never visited her again after that morning.” His hand tightened in mine.

  I could picture him as a little boy, serious as he sat at an old man’s feet in the haze of dawn. What a gift that man had given him, the prestige of learning a trade for the village whore’s son. Shame flooded me for my woes of a few weeks ago. A cheating ex and missing money was pathetic next to what he’d suffered.

  “Beatrice had been my first, because my mother had said love was worth more than anything. Somehow, I’d thought Beatrice would love me and all would be saved. When I realized love was futile...” He shrugged. “The money I sent them wasn’t enough. I wasn’t famous enough, fast enough. They needed more to keep from selling their bodies. All I had was my soul to sell.”

  “Leo…” I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tight, rubbing his rigid back with my shaking palms.

  “Olivia.” He pulled away enough to cup my face in his palms. Pain had darkened his eyes, and he closed them as he lowered his face to mine and kissed me.

  His lips seared mine with a desperation that echoed down to my toes. I kissed him with all that I had to give, accepting every twist of his tongue and nip of his lips with an abandon that went beyond desire.

  The world shifted, and I held on tight, afraid to open my eyes. He walked me back, one step then two, unzipping my dress. I expected to go down in a near-naked heap on the grass, but as the fabric pooled at my feet, something firm hit the back of my calves.

  I broke the kiss and opened my eyes to a simple room with white plastered walls and exposed beams. My breath caught as he laid me back on a feather bed with crisp sheets so cool against my heated skin. He claimed my lips again as I yanked at his tie, his shirt, and finally spreading my hands out on his gloriously naked skin.

  That bull crap about time standing still…yeah. Desire melded with the emotion brought on by his gift of humanity, freezing time into the span of a heartbeat. Every caress of his mouth and hands left a trail of ecstasy-laced shocks from nipple to core. I wanted more of him, my tongue sliding along his salty skin, tasting where sweat met my tears.

  The bed creaked as his weight settled on top of me, his weight resting on one elbow as he stared down at me in the dim light, wordlessly waiting for the command I’d uttered every night since our first time.

  “No condom.”

  His eyes widened and then closed at the trust I’d handed him.

  I welcomed him, pulling him down, sinking his length deep inside my wetness. Branded by the heat of his damp skin, the sear of his kiss, each thrust of his hips against the arch of mine…

  I swallowed my fears and offered myself in that frozen heartbeat, and in return, accepted all of him. From the depth of my toes rose the sweetest orgasm, one that dragged him over the edge as well.

  I don’t know when time unfroze, but it did, with my head against his chest rising in even breaths, his hand playing with a length of my hair. I gulped down the emotion that bottled up in my throat. I wanted to say everything and nothing, needed to scream for justice.

  His heartbeat thumped under my ear…so human, just like the gifts he’d shown today.

  Was he human enough to love me?

  I hoped so…

  Because God help me, I loved him.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Our last stop on the magical tour was a garage filled with expensive cars…one that seemed very familiar.

  What wasn’t familiar was the blast of cool evening air under my dress. I smoothed the skirt around my legs, chalking the sensation off to the admission I no longer wanted. “Where are we?”

  “In Samuel’s garage.” Leo rounded to the passenger’s side of a ’65 bright red Ford Mustang. He opened the door for me, sweeping low in a bow. “I’m driving you to dinner.”

  “I’m surprised he’s allowing this.” I slid into the leather seat, admiring the pristine black interior.

  Leo climbed into the driver’s seat and adjusted the mirror. “Well, he’s not happy. And neither am I, since I’d prefer to drive something European. But alas, I can’t drive a stick yet.” He shot me a very suspiciously dirty grin as he held something black and lacy in his hand. “Missing something?”

  My panties. That explained the rush of cool air up my nether bits, but it didn’t explain all of it. I’d had a Brazilian once, and this breeze over my sex felt similar. “How—”

  “I made a wish. You should be all bare down there, too. Show me your waxed pussy, Liv.”

  And just like that, Demon Leo was in the house. My cheeks heated and had to be a scarlet that would complement the car. That he’d do that—steal my panties and my pubic hair—disgusting. And so just like him.

  And unfortunately, this was something he needed to do to regain himself. A good demon didn’t have dinner with their creator while feeling all human and emotional.

  I wrapped my dress tighter around my thighs. “You don’t drive well enough to get to look.”

  “You’ll show me later.” He winked and shot me a dirty grin. “When I fuck you over the hood of this car in those pumps.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  He winced as the car lurched out of the parking space. “Seems like a good way to stick it to dear old Dad.”

  “Let’s just worry about surviving the drive, okay?”

  We were both worried about this dinner. Oh
, Leo didn’t say so. In fact, this was the most we’d said since the cottage.

  He’d carried me to the antique claw tub fitted with a shower head, which had led to another round of tender lovemaking under the spray. We’d silently dressed each other, the whisper of fabric along tight muscles speaking volumes. He’d given me one last kiss filled with longing, his expression one of gratitude mixed with sorrow before we wordlessly departed under the steam of magic.

  We did make it to the restaurant in one piece because Leo had taken all back roads, unwilling to negotiate the highway, pissed when I told him he was a chicken shit. His parting shot when we arrived at the restaurant was to wave my panties at me as he pocketed them with the keys.

  I rolled my eyes and hesitated on the front steps, the light catching my new ring as I adjusted my purse.

  Breathe…

  One breath, then another, my chest tightening as I contemplated the lie that loomed.

  “You can do this,” he whispered in my ear, his hand at my elbow to keep me walking. “What you felt in my home, my bed…that was real. The gold on your finger is real.”

  His home, his bed… The breaths came in shorter pants as I hyperventilated. It was real. I loved him. I couldn’t love him.

  “Fuck.”

  Surprise had me choking as his hands framed my face, and his lips covered mine in a sweet yet hot kiss that heated my skin. The scent of sunshine and wind from the Italian countryside enveloped me. His mouth left as quickly as it had descended, and I gasped in much-needed air.

  “That’s better,” he murmured as he wiped lipstick from my puffed lips. “Smile, and remember I have your panties.”

  “Oh God.”

  “Stop that,” Leo muttered. He nodded to the familiar hostess guided me into the dining room.

  “Oh God.” I forced a smile as my mother rose from her chair, Samuel rising a mere heartbeat behind her.

  “Swear again, and I show them to your mother.”

  I couldn’t help the laugh bubbling up inside. I had no clue if horror laced the amusement, because numbness had washed over me. The real me burrowed into a safe place, auto pilot clicking on as we descended the few steps to Samuel’s favorite table.

  We greeted them, and I drew my mother to my right side and flashed my left hand at her. Leo’s beautiful ring sparkled from my finger, the blue of the stone vibrant and rich despite the dim light.

  My mother gasped and grabbed my hand in her shaking ones. “He didn’t,” she whispered in awe as her gaze shifted from my hand, to my face, and back again.

  I looked up at Leo and recalled his expression of gratitude and warmth he’d worn during our lovemaking. That was real. Like it or not, I loved him. I channeled all that into my smile, for once owning a real feeling. Divine warmth enveloped me, and I hoped I radiated that outward.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “He did.”

  “Thank God.” She dabbed her tears with one hand as she clutched me close with her other trembling arm.

  Both men winced behind her, and I closed my eyes, shutting them out, enjoying this moment with my mother.

  “I’m so happy for you, Olivia. He loves you so much.”

  I flinched at that lie but hid it with a shift of position that put Leo at the center of my focus. He leaned in to talk to Samuel, handsome as ever in my favorite suit. He had shared so much, had shown so much emotion, and was well on his way to humanization…

  Leo smiled at me, his eyes softer as he raised his glass in celebration. He turned back to Samuel, that softness diminishing as he morphed into his hard, demonic self.

  My smile faded as the truth hit me. Seeing him with Samuel…well, I’d lost. Leo had to feel enough for me to go up against his father. And I didn’t have enough time or luck for that.

  Over dinner, I sent Annie a text, updating her, thanking Babu, and asking one last time if there was anything else I could do. One last Hail Mary pass before I boarded a plane to Hell.

  “Who are you texting?” Leo asked as he sipped his champagne.

  “A friend, telling her my good news.”

  My phone dinged.

  His brows rose. “And what did she say?”

  I glanced at my phone and faked a smile. I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “What does one say to a happy bride-to-be?”

  Leo smiled. As he turned abruptly to answer to Samuel, I sucked down a gulp of champagne to steel my nerves.

  I glanced down at the damning text again.

  Babu says to pray.

  ****

  Later, on the eve of my mother’s wedding, Leo and I lay with our legs intertwined, my head on his chest, my fingers laced through his, his heartbeat a lie against my cheek. That steady thump, thump said he was human…and I knew better.

  I couldn’t believe I’d fallen for him. That in itself was the biggest kick the twisted luck could give me. I couldn’t have him and be happy and save my mother. I wasn’t even sure if he loved me back.

  Somehow, I had to try to save my mother. I’d never lose her love. His love…well, I’d never had it to begin with.

  Leo’s ring still sparkled on my hand even in the dim candlelight. I turned my wrist, and the flicker danced off the stone in a flash that seemed to own a little of Leo’s magic, just as my heart did.

  Over the past three weeks, I’d become more whole. Braver. Stronger. Maybe confessing my love would be enough for Leo to side with me against Samuel to save my mother. Maybe.

  I turned a little. He wasn’t sleeping from the pattern of his breathing and the way his thumb stroked over my forearm now and then. I sat up enough to lean onto one elbow, sucking in a trembling breath. “Leo.”

  “I know. We need to discuss tomorrow.” He sighed. “I can’t lure you to the bathroom for mile-high sex.”

  I rolled my eyes. “If Samuel weren’t a cheapskate, he could have gotten us a jet, and we could have done it.”

  Leo grunted. “I don’t think money was the issue.”

  “Then what was?”

  “He’d hoped by booking regular flights that he could somehow get out of flying and use magic instead.”

  I cocked my head to see Leo better. “Seriously?”

  Leo nodded. “He’s tried all week to get out of this. Your mother refuses to fly without him.”

  “Well, I’ll have something to look forward to—him squirming.”

  “Squirm is not a part of Samuel’s vocabulary.” He arched a brow and smoothed my hair. “Squirm is a part of your vocabulary, though.”

  I thanked the darkness that hid my blush. He was filthy dirty in all the best ways, and he knew every inch of my mind, my body, and soul. We had more in common than I had with any human male from the suffering we’d experienced to appreciating art.

  He stroked my skin. “What’s wrong?”

  Yes, he knew me too well.

  Somehow, I bit back those damning words of devotion and instead asked, “Is there anything you can do to help my mother?”

  His jaw flexed in that stressed way of his. “No.”

  “Are you sure there isn’t some deal we can make with Samuel or some offering or—”

  His lips pursed as he pressed a finger to my lips to quiet me. “You need to stop.”

  I whisked his finger away. “How can I? She means everything to me. You sold your soul to save your family. I sold mine for a bit of good luck. I want my soul to be worth something. You’re my friend, Leo. Friends help friends.”

  “There’s a limit to friendship and contracts.” His jaw became harder, and his eyes took on the sparkle of hardened onyx. “Just let tomorrow play out.”

  Limits… My heart clenched in my chest. That whole love thing rolled to the tip of my tongue again, and I swallowed it down. I didn’t want to be like the others at the end of their contract term, begging and pleading to be saved. But the pain that clutched my chest and stole my breath became too much. “Leo…”

  He shook his head. “Look. The deal is this—Samuel claims your mother’s soul or she dies
. Samuel is willing to make the sacrifice and feels watching her die will be payment enough. There’s nothing I can do without putting both of us in jeopardy.”

  “You mean putting you in jeopardy. My soul is already sold.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve worked too hard for too long to risk everything. I won’t start over.”

  Hope crumbled before me in the dust of failure. I couldn’t fail. “You’d said before you wished you could have offered me a choice—die or sell my soul to you. Can you somehow at least offer her a choice?”

  He said nothing, though a flicker of emotion crossed his face, ending in a shift of his jaw.

  At that fleeting change in expression, my mind scrambled in a different direction as I wet my lips. “You never told me the ending to your story. Giovanni’s story. Do you know what happened to your mother? Your sisters?”

  Heaving a huge sigh, he admitted, “My sisters married good men for love. My mother eventually remarried as well and knew happiness until she died of old age.”

  “Was it worth it?”

  “Yes.” He didn’t even blink.

  “I want that, too, Leo. I want my mom to die of old age and be happy.” Surely he understood.

  But his jaw set again in that determined way of his. “I’ve done all I can do for you.”

  Where the hell had the waxing poetic man disappeared to, leaving me with this heartless, cold dick? I barked out a bitter laugh. “And what have you done besides steal my virginity and eat me out of house and home?”

  He turned to me with an indignant rise of his brows. “As long as I keep my place, you’re safe. I made it clear to Samuel that I wouldn’t call in your contract. Ever. He’s agreed to that term in exchange for your cooperation even if he doesn’t gain Muriel’s soul. He said to consider it an engagement present.”

  My mouth gaped as I tried to wrap my brain around his words. “What the hell does all that mean?”

  “It means you’ll live to a ripe, old age and die of something mundane.” From the look on his face, I was supposed to be excited about this. Maybe grateful.