Free House Rules by Christa Wick Page A

walk across the edge of my front teeth then curls under my top lip to suck it into his mouth.
    Stopping, he waits until I open my eyes then drills into them. "I know what you're thinking."
    I lift a brow, my throat too tight to talk.
    He smiles, the line of his mouth almost sad. "To feel, you have to trust, and you're certain you can't trust me until you have had a chance to think through every possible angle."
    "Baby, you're wrong on this one." He brushes the hair from my face then strokes my cheek. "You have to feel your way to trusting me. Can you do that?"
    I look away for a second. When I look back, I see too many things in his gaze to process: heat, desire, kindness, something that looks like affection or maybe even--
    Cutting the thought short with a nod, I give him half the answer he wants.
    "I can try."
    ********************
    Thirty minutes into dinner with Tommy, my cell phone rings. Luke is absent from the room and has been since the start of the meal to give Tommy and me privacy to discuss the events of the last few days. At the first ring, he reappears.
    Knowing the call is being recorded and traced by Luke's team, I try to keep Solandro's man on longer. I ask to speak with Rose before he can really start talking. I misstate the instructions so he must take the time to read them to me again. He still hangs up before we can get a trace, telling me to get the details right or Rose is dead.
    Hearing the threat, I want to collapse in a panicky heap. I take one look at Tommy and know I can't. He needs me to be strong -- Rose needs it even more.
    "You've got this." Tommy rubs my arm as I put the cell phone down on the table. "I know you do."
    I nod, unable to offer him stronger assurances. He thinks I can tackle the world. But, really, what does he know? I am twenty-six fucking years old, uneducated, scrambling from one pay check to the next, lying to get jobs, always too busy reacting to the latest crisis to get a better handle on anything and the list of how incompetent I truly am just goes on and on. My opponent? Solandro is a hardened criminal -- worse than my father. He is a psychopath who has other psychopaths working for him.
    Luke gently takes my arm and leads me back to the table. "You have two hours before you need to pick up the lenses, Marie. The two of you should finish your meal while I get things ready."
    Seeing something guarded in his expression, I study Luke for a moment. He doesn't hide his expression, doesn't mask the tension lines lightly etching the sides of his mouth or eyes. His places his hand on my arm, the position so much like that first night in the casino when he busted me. Only this time he lightly strokes his thumb against my elbow, a silent request for me to trust him.
    I nod and sit down, but I can't fight the feeling that everything is about to go sideways. I watch Tommy pick at his food. We are both too nervous to eat and give up. We spend the last few minutes with our arms wrapped around one another, our foreheads touching.
    As Luke returns to lead me away, Tommy reassures me one last time. "You've got this, sis."
    ********************
    Whether I have the situation under control or not, Luke Masters has no intention of letting me leave his casino.
    "What do you mean I can't go?" We are back in that underground room, the one with the couch and television that Vincent deposited me in after I returned from Solandro's warehouse the first time. I stand in front of Luke, our bodies touching as I glare up at him.
    "Marie, you don't know the monster you're dealing with." Both hands on my shoulders, he tries to walk me to the couch to sit me down and reason with me.
    I shake free, plant my hands on my hips and continue glaring at him. "You or Solandro?"
    "Solandro's boss." With his cheeks flushing an angry red, Luke closes his eyes. "The man is a sadist."
    "So I should just leave Rose with him?" Too furious to contain myself, I reach out and push at Luke's chest. "Just when did you decide you