Chapter 11
After sharingthe information Carmela had given me, Massimo immediately went into action. He contacted Miguel Angel, who helped move Ryker and his wife into hiding. Dallas, Archer, and Drake had also retreated to Atlanta, leaving the Anastasis to clean up the mess with promises to let them know when it was done.
Reaching down, I tossed Falcon a French fry. I’d ordered room service, needing a few moments to myself. Lipovsky was planning an event just outside of Vegas in one week. According to Sofia’s contact, some of the heavy spenders were scheduled to attend, and the exhibition event was just a guise to get them all in one place at a time.
My cell phone vibrated across the coffee table’s glass surface. Dropping the remnants of my burger onto the floor for Falcon, I snatched the device and pressed it to my ear.
“What?”
A deep chuckle filtered across the line. “Someone’s panties are in a bunch.”
I blew out a breath. “Massimo, sorry. I didn’t look who was calling. What’s up?”
“Sofia has somehow landed an invitation to Lipovsky’s event, so he clearly doesn’t remember her being in Columbia.”
“Or he does and is planning something. I am surprised he hasn’t recognized me or Lorenzo.”
“He wasn’t there. The more I researched him, the more I learned he was never on site. Lipovsky paid the man in the helicopter to bring her to him, promising to sample the goods first. Unfortunately, that man is no longer living because I would have liked to dole out my own brand of torture, but for his failure, Lipovsky tortured him himself. He believes that Carmela perished in the crash. According to Sofia, he does not know the connection between her and the Angel of Mercy.”
“How is it he had not recognized her? Even with the blonde hair, I knew the minute my eyes landed on her who she was.”
“He bought her based on a photo.” Massimo clicked his teeth. “But we need to assume there is a chance he knows the woman on Andrei’s arm is Carmela.”
A soft knock at my door had me pushing to my feet. “Is Sofia going to the event alone?”
“No… Miguel is going with her this time. Lorenzo as well, as well as another player she hasn’t revealed. She claims he will shake up things in a way Aleski didn’t see coming. I don’t know. I think you might be right about this being a trap.”
Glancing through the peephole of my suite’s door, my breath stilled at the sight of the woman standing on the other side. “I need to take care of something, Massimo. Can we meet tomorrow to plan this out?”
“My sister is there, isn’t she?”
“Goodbye, my friend,” I said, casually farewelling Massimo before slipping my phone into my pocket. Standing there, Carmela’s presence was a happy surprise.
“I didn’t think you’d come.”
“I didn’t think I would either.”
Stepping back, I opened the door wide, motioning her to step inside. Carmela was still wearing the same scrap of gold material from the event.
“Can I borrow your shower?”
Her request caught me off guard. “Um, sure. Any particular reason you didn’t shower before coming over?”
She gave a half-hearted shrug, the weight of the night clinging to her. “Andrei left after—” Her words trailed off as she closed her eyes, a brief shudder passing through her. “I just needed to get out of that room. But I can leave if this is a mistake.”
“No. It’s not a mistake. Come on, I’ll get you a towel.” My voice was steadier than I felt, suppressing the tumult of emotions that her proximity stirred. Carmela followed me through the sitting room and into my bedroom. Stopping at the door, I waved her through. “Help yourself to whatever you need. I’ll grab you a towel and something to change into.”
As she turned, there was an attempt at gratitude on her face, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Thank you.” Her voice was a whisper of her usual strength, making me wonder what had happened between our encounter in the elevator and now.
The distance between us felt like a chasm, but I closed it with a touch, my hand cradling her cheek softly.
“You never need to thank me, Carmela. Just having you here—safe and breathing—is enough.” With a reluctant step back, I let her find comfort in the shower’s solitude while I rummaged for something comfortable she could change into.
Whatever had happened tonight with Andrei obviously left her feeling vulnerable. I found myself dreading the truth, unsure if I could bear the full weight of her pain. Towel and t-shirt in hand, I knocked lightly on the bathroom door. Silence. I nudged the door open and peered inside, only to have my heart splinter at the sight.
Carmela was curled up on the shower floor, her posture small, knees hugged tight. The tremor in her frame, the silent sobs that racked her body—it was a picture of raw anguish. Without a second thought, I shed my clothes down to my boxers.
Kneeling on the cool tiles, I pulled her gently into my lap, wrapping her in my warmth. “I got you, baby,” I murmured.
Her cries cut through me. How had this fierce woman been brought so low? The thought of Andrei’s hand in this was a dark cloud over us—even though I knew it was a necessary evil in her mind. She’d been dancing dangerously close to the fire with him, and now I feared she’d been burned. The vulnerability she showed was raw and unlike the Carmela I’d seen in the elevator. It had to be him.
“Carmela, honey…” My voice was rough with barely contained rage as I spoke into her hair. “Did he hurt you?” The question was laden with the promise of action if she answered the way I feared. I’d sacrifice my own life if it meant freeing her from this twisted dance she was doing. Whatever game she’d been caught in, it had obviously taken a turn tonight, and I needed to know how far it had gone. How far he pushed her.
“I hurt myself.” The admission fell heavily between us. Her voice was muffled against my chest, her tears beginning to ebb as she sought refuge in my embrace. Her lips brushed against my skin, sending a shockwave through me, a stark contrast to the cold dread that had filled me moments before.
My response was instinctive. I gently pressed my lips to her hair, silently reassuring her. “What do you mean, baby? How did you hurt yourself?” The worry in my voice was barely contained. The need to understand, to fix whatever was broken, was pressing.
She moved then, deliberate action to meet my gaze, her eyes searching mine for something I couldn’t quite fathom.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?” Her question was heavy, loaded with facts that might be difficult to bear.
But I needed to know, to understand—whatever her pain, it was mine to share now. I wouldn’t let her carry it alone ever again. Affirmation was necessary, not just for her but for me as well. The vow I had made to her, to us, was not conditional.
“Yes. When I said nothing would change how I feel about you, I meant it, Carmela.” Closing my eyes, I gathered the strength needed to face whatever confessions she had. The intake of breath was my way of bracing for the impact I knew her words might have. “I might not like what I hear, but I have to believe you love me. And anything that happens with Andrei is part of the game and nothing more.”
She held my gaze, the deep chocolate of her eyes burning into my own, as she seemed to be searching for truth in my words. When she seemed to have found what she was looking for, she dipped her chin and sighed. Her next words were laden with the weight of what she was feeling.
“Usually when I let him use me… I feel nothing, but tonight… for the first time in months, what I was doing made me feel dirty. I wanted to end his life with each punishing touch he gave me.”
Her skin bore the evidence of depravity from the night, a harsh reality inscribed in angry red against her usually flawless skin. My fingers traced the mark gently, a silent question asked through the touch. “Did he do this to you?”
“Yes. And I let him. I let him degrade me as if I was some weak woman. And normally, it doesn’t affect me because I know it’s part of the fucked-up game I’m playing. But tonight, while he was taking what he thinks belongs to him… all I could think about was you. How I was dirtying myself up more and more, how I was turning myself into something unworthy of you.”
I needed to know, even though the thought nearly sent me into a psychotic rage. “Is he putting you at risk?”
“That’s the only thing I can thank Andrei Sloski for—his diligence in using condoms. His abhorrence of children is my only saving grace. But, Alex,”—she shifted her body so she could straddle my lap—“I’m letting another man use me when I belong to you. How can you look at me and not be repulsed?”
My grip on her was both tender and firm, my fingers woven into her hair with purpose. I gently tilted her face up, ensuring there was no escape from the intensity of my gaze.
“When I look at you, I see a woman who has done whatever it takes to come home to me. I see a fierce warrior, one who doesn’t back down from things that would make anyone else tremble. But most of all,”—my thumb swept across her cheek, an affectionate stroke meant to soothe as much as to affirm—“when I look at you, I see forever.”
My mouth covered hers with an intensity that was meant to be a declaration. A collision of lips spoke of battlefields endured and the fierce love that had survived the onslaught of malice. It was a promise and a claim, a vow that whatever evils sought to break us, this love, our bond, would endure, unyielding and everlasting. I’d lost her once, and fuck if I was going to lose her again—even if it was to her own demons. Her darkness was my darkness, and I was not going to give in and crumble due to the depravity of what she’d done to survive.
Shifting her so I could stand, I pushed us off the tile floor. Carmela’s legs naturally wrapped around my waist as I hauled her out of the glass enclosure. If she didn’t believe my words, she’d have no doubt how I felt after I worshiped her body the way I should have earlier.
I dropped her soaked body onto the bed and stepped back. Shoving my boxers off, I moved to the edge of the bed and gripped her ankles in my hands. Pulling her to the edge of the bed, I dropped to my knees on the carpeted floor.
“Andrei may use your body, but I’m going to worship it. I’m going to erase his touch from your memory, leaving my imprint on your soul. When I’m done tonight, Carmela, you’ll know exactly how I feel about you. You’ll know exactly who you belong to.”
I shoved her thighs apart and buried my face between her legs. My tongue licked the entire length of her slit, feasting on the tender flesh that belonged to me.
“Tell me, baby. When he uses your body, does it feel like this?”
“God, no.” Carmela’s hips came off the bed as I sucked her clit into my mouth.
Her mewls of appreciation drove me mad with desire, making me slurp and bite the tender flesh. It didn’t matter to me if she’d fucked a hundred men over the last year—her pussy was mine.
Shoving a finger between her folds, I drove my hand like a jackhammer into her core as my mouth worked her tender flesh. Sucking and licking, I fingerfucked her until her body tightened and her walls clamped down on my digits.
“Alex!” My name on her tongue made my dick painfully hard as I swallowed her sweet essence.
Once the quivering stopped, I pushed up and stood.
“No one matters after tonight, Carmela. This game you play stops once my cock is buried inside you. I don’t care if you have to fake being on the rag—Andrei doesn’t fuck what belongs to me.” I swirled my thumb around her sensitive button. “Do you understand?”
Nodding her head, she whispered, “Yes.”
“Because after tonight, your past is erased—we move forward together. In fact, you need to leave him, Carmela. End this dangerous game before he takes you away from me.”
“Alex,” She leaned up on her elbows as I folded my body over her and silenced any argument she had with a kiss.
“No arguing unless you don’t want this.” I fisted my dick and ran it through her drenched folds. “Because I can tolerate a lot of things, but his cock in my pussy isn’t one of them anymore.”
“I’ll leave… just give me some time.”
I thrust forward, burying myself to the hilt, making her hiss.
“Yes. Oh my God.”
In that fierce embrace, our lips met with the intensity of our pent-up emotions, colliding with a raw urgency that left no room for gentleness. There was no holding back; it was a contest, a fierce battle of need and desire, each kiss a claim laid, each touch a territory won. This time it was more than just fucking—it was the fusing of souls that had been split apart, now desperate to become whole again.
The act was supernatural, an elevation above the mere physical. We moved together in a dance as old as time yet as fresh as the pain and longing we’d endured while apart. At that moment, the past, with all its shadows, seemed to dissolve, and the reality of those lost months faded into insignificance.
In our stolen moment, there was no outside world, no threats lurking in the shadows—there was only us, two people reclaiming what was theirs, reawakening a connection that no amount of darkness could extinguish.