Chapter 28
Paolo walked back and forth,and I didn”t take my eyes off of him. He”d been on the phone all day and when he wasn”t speaking in rapid fire, sometimes broken Italian, he was playing with the girls. Together they”d made such a mess that I knew I would be the one to have to clean it up, but it was better than them going completely stir crazy. Still, I couldn”t keep my eyes off the man who insisted on walking around the place in those tight black shirts that stretched over his arms and abs. I hadn”t realized how truly fit Paolo was in clothes. I”d seen him naked, but being here, I appreciated the sight of him clothed just as much. The black cargo pants were no better. They stretched over his juicy ass and I kept imagining him grinding on my crotch as music pumped in The Apple and the smell of liquor filled the air.
My cock stiffened.
I squirmed uncomfortably, adjusting my pants to try to ease the discomfort. Last night came back to me as soon as I tried not to think about it. Yes, I”d enjoyed my time with Paolo. Well, that was an understatement. He had been feral, and I had pushed him to the edge just to see that side of him. What was wrong with me? It was like I couldn”t get enough of the dangerous man. But I wanted to answer that danger with my own. I wasn”t some wimpy willow resting to the side and waiting to be dominated. No, I still loved my hand in his hair, my cock down his throat, and his eyes going wide when I exerted my strength over him. It was undeniably hot that Paolo could do both.
And I hated it.
”Why are you staring at me again?” Paolo asked, panting as he came back from running down the hall. The way his chest rose and fell made me want to see him naked again, and I shook the thought right out of my head. ”Something on my face?”
Not my dick, unfortunately.
I cleared my throat. ”Nothing.”
Paolo”s brow ticked up. ”Are you sure it”s nothing? You”re looking at me like you want to eat me.”
I glared. ”Maybe I do.”
The bastard had the nerve to grin. ”Feel free, sweet cheeks.”
I stuttered over my words, unable to get in the final word as he winked, laughed, and raced back down the hall, screaming, ”Ready or not, here I come!” I continued to stare after him in shock. The asshole really got under my skin.
My phone rang and buzzed on the coffee table. Gianpaolo had a new one delivered to me this morning. It came along with a threat not to contact the team, but I didn’t need him to tell me that. We still hadn’t figured out who the other mole was. There was no telling who was safe. I’d given my number to my boss, but even he didn’t know my location. Everyone else would have to wait to hear from me.
As the phone headed for the edge of the table, I snatched it up on instinct and pressed it to my ear.
”Yeah?”
”York, this is Casey.”
I paused. Casey. I hadn”t heard that name in some time. We”d worked together back when I first entered the Bureau and had become fast friends. These days, we were both busy men; FBI agents, fathers, and he was a husband as well. I didn”t fault him for being tied up, hell, I was too. Still, it felt good to hear a familiar voice that wasn”t screaming in Italian.
”How are you?”
”Great, great,” he said. ”Listen, I know you”ve wanted minimal contact on this thing after what happened with your daughters. I”m sorry about that, by the way.”
”It”s fine. Everyone”s alive and safe.”
”That”s all I need to know. Don”t tell me more.” He was quiet for a moment, and I felt the hesitation.
”What is it?”
”I found out where the Triads are holed up. I know the last raid didn”t go well, and I”ve been given command of your team while you”re out. Well, one of my contacts was able to come through with some information and I wanted you to be the first to hear it. I”m not even releasing the location to the team or the backup that will be going in with us.”
”Yeah?” I shifted in the oversized chair I sat in. ”What do you want me to do?”
”I know you”re in hiding, but I also know you have a score to settle. Do you want to lead the charge on this? We could get you out of hiding without anyone knowing and get you back after it”s done.”
My heart sped up. I had the chance to go out and put away the men that had taken part in threatening my children? Just knowing that, my body tightened. Logically, I knew I should probably stay. However, the truth was that I was the best at my fucking job. Yeah, I had been railroaded and screwed over lately, but my track record before dealing with the Vitales was spotless.
I was the man you called when you wanted shit to go right.
”Where is it?”
”They”ve been holed up in a set of abandoned office buildings on the west side of town. I”ll send you the address and delete it off my phone. I trust you, York, and only you.”
My chest puffed out hearing that. ”Thank you. I trust you as well. Let”s get these bastards.”
Casey chuckled. ”That”s why I only mess with you, York. No one likes putting away the bad guys the way you do.”
He was right about that. Every asshole I got off the street was one less innocent person that would be killed because of some crimnal”s wild desires. My Dawn had needed that protection. I couldn”t save her, but I could save others. I had to. For her, for me, for my girls.
I couldn”t stop.
”Are you in?” Casey asked.
”Let me put some things in order,” I said as Paolo wandered back into view. He stared at me a little too hard. ”I have to go. I”ll call you back.”
”Okay, let me know as soon as possible. This is a disposable phone so just contact this one.”
”You got it.”
I’d been after the Triads and Aceto’s for so damn long. Qiang was already on my radar, but I’d started researching a man named Tasso as well. From what I could tell, he was the new head of the Aceto’s. There was something about him that I hated, something I couldn’t put my finger on. Whatever it was, I would figure it out when I dragged him into custody right along with Qiang.
We hung up. As soon as we did, Paolo was in my space. He reached for my phone, but I quickly hit the side button and hid the screen. Paolo looked at it before he leaned down.
”Who was that?” he asked. His voice was calm, but there was malice in his eyes.
”Nobody.”
Paolo”s eyes narrowed. ”It didn”t seem like nobody, and you hung up on them awfully quick.”
I blinked at him. ”Are you jealous, Paolo?”
He grabbed my shirt, yanking me toward him. ”Who is he? I”ll cut off his dick and feed it to him.”
My heart skipped a beat. I immediately lectured myself. It was not okay that I got turned on by the way Paolo acted. He was violent, and he acted like a Vitale, but for some reason when that jealousy and concern was pointed at me, it was almost comforting.
What the hell is wrong with me?
The wild look in Paolo”s eyes said he meant every word of what he said. Slowly, I reached up and removed my shirt from his grasp. He breathed through his nose, like a bull that had caught sight of a red cape.
”That was my old colleague and friend. He”s found out some information on the Triads, namely where they”re holed up. They”re going to be conducting a raid and he wants me to be part of it.” I grinned. ”Actually, he wants me to take the lead.”
”What?” he asked.
”Yeah, he said he wants me to take the lead. We both know that”s a big deal. Most agents don”t want anyone taking their spotlight. But he knows I have something to prove.”
”You don”t have anything to prove.”
I scoffed. ”When someone tries to kill your kids, you can try telling me that again.”
His grip tightened on my shirt once more. ”Someone did try to kill the people I give a fuck about, remember? And I was the one you called to clean up the whole mess. Don”t act like I don”t get why you want to do this, but it still doesn”t change the fact that you”re not going to.”
”What?”
”You”re not leaving this apartment. Get used to it.”
I stared at him. ”Are you serious? Who the fuck do you think you are, Gianpaolo,” I spat, saying his name with every bit of the ire I felt coursing through my blood. ”I can do this if I want. Casey has already arranged for me to be safely escorted out and back.”
”Are you forgetting there”s a mole?”
”It’s not Casey!”
Paolo grabbed my cheeks, his grip tight. ”I don”t give a fuck what he says or what you think! You are not leaving. What if I lost you, York? What if you were just gone? I can”t—” His words cut off as he choked on them. I watched tears line his eyes and he bit them back. ”Navy and Nyra can”t live without you. I know you”re living for them, for Dawn. Can”t you live for me, just this fucking once?”
”I don”t even know you,” I whispered. ”And that”s not me being a dick, it”s the truth. How can you ask things of me when you lied to me for so long? Am I supposed to just go with it?”
”Yes,” he whispered back, his lips close to mine. ”I am begging you to trust me. When have I hurt you? Yes, I lied and I will apologize for that on my knees the rest of my life. But you can”t go out there and risk your life. I”d rather die for you.”
That thought made my blood run cold. I tried to push it away, the idea of Paolo lying on the ground, covered in blood, his eyes open and unblinking, unseeing, ever again. Revulsion settled in the pit of my stomach.
”Don”t say that,” I bit out.
”The truth?” he asked as he ran his hand over my cheek. ”Let me handle this for you.”
I stiffened. ”I know what your version of handling it looks like. I can”t have you murdering in my name.”
Paolo shrugged. ”It”s already happened. And it”ll happen again. That”s what it means to love someone like me.”
”Who said anything about love?”
His gaze darkened. ”I know you love me.”
”You”re mistaken.”
Paolo grabbed me up so quickly, the phone dropped to the floor as I stared at him with wide eyes. He dragged me to his room, shut the door, and threw the lock. Before I could get a word out he pressed his lips against mine. My breath was stolen away as I closed my eyes and kissed him back just as urgently.
Our hands grabbed, tugged, and pulled away clothes until we were both naked. We didn”t speak, just groaned and moaned and muffled our sounds as best we could. Paolo grabbed the remote off his nightstand as we fell into bed and turned on music. It blasted, cutting us off from the outside world as we went back to devouring each other.
”I”m going,” I finally panted. ”This isn”t negotiable.”
”You”re right, it”s not,” Paolo said as he rolled us until I was on bottom. ”I”m not letting you leave this house. From now on, you”re on lockdown. Don”t think you”ll see the sun again outside of this building if I can help it.”
”I”ll find a way.”
”You”ll be putting someone”s life in jeopardy and their family. Is that what you want, York?”
I tightened my grip on his arms. ”Don”t threaten me, Paolo.”
”Too late for that, sweet cheeks. I”ll do more than threaten if one of these idiots lets you die.”
A shiver worked up my spine, but I didn”t have time to think about it as Paolo kissed me again. I sank against the mattress, wanting nothing more than to have all of him. As if he”d read my mind, Paolo worked his way down to my cock. His lips wrapped around it, the unforgettable feeling of his tongue lashing it, sending me into a frenzy. He worked his way down to my balls, sucking one and then the other into his mouth before he came up panting, saliva dripping down his sculpted chin.
”You wanna fuck me or I fuck you?” he asked.
My brain short-circuited. He asked that question so casually, as if we were deciding what movie to watch. My brain and body were pulled in two different directions. After he”d fucked me last night, I was craving more of it. He”d even refused me a condom, something that made me cum even harder. As much as I loved burying my dick deep inside his holes, I craved a round two. I had since my eyes opened and he was still passed out, naked, and snoring in my arms.
”Neither,” I said.
”I see you made your choice.”
Paolo reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a bottle of lube. This time, he didn”t shove me onto my knees. No, he spread my legs and squirted lube on my hole and his already hardened cock. He didn”t say a word as he pressed against my ass. I tightened, but he ran a hand down my chest.
”Open up for me, York. Come on, I need you to feel me right now.”
Butterflies erupted in my stomach. I was a forty-six-year-old man, and Paolo made me feel things that I had never felt before. His fingers ran up my body and pinched one of my nipples. I groaned, my resistance next to nil before we even started, but now I really couldn”t stop.
”Fuck me already,” I snapped.
Paolo grinned. ”Yeah? You need me?”
”Is that what you want to hear?”
”Only if it”s the truth, baby.” He groaned as he impaled me on his cock. Pain laced up my spine as he rocked into me and leaned down to hold me. ”I know, baby. I know it hurts. Take it for me, okay? Fuck, just keep letting me screw your tight hole. I need it so bad right now. I”d die without you, York.”
Heat swept over me from head to toe. How was I supposed to function when he talked to me like that? I had never felt so deeply before; not with love, hate, or lust until I met Paolo. He was everything I craved in a man and yet he came with sides that I didn”t know if I could ever accept. But when he held me like this, moved his hips like they were water, and kissed the shell of my ear as he muttered that I was his repeatedly, I wanted to lose it.
Last night had been a mistake. I knew that as soon as it was over. I still couldn”t fully trust Paolo. And yet here I was in the same situation today. Only now he was staring me in the eyes, a crazed love-sick expression reflected back to me in his dark eyes. He pinched one of my nipples roughly and my back arched, a gasp leaving my lips as he rocked into me harder.
”Fuck, you look so good laid out for me like this.” He groaned as he licked up my neck and bit me right after. ”And you taste so fucking good. I want to devour you, York. Just so no one else ever even gets to lay eyes on you again.”
My heart tripped, but my cock continued to be hard as hell. What did that say about me?
”Just... move faster,” I groaned, trying to keep my wits about me. ”More. H-Harder.”
Paolo grinned. ”Whatever you want, baby.”
I braced myself, my hand against the headboard as Paolo pulled back and slammed inside of me. The man was determined to drive me crazy. My head fell back, my free hand reaching out for him.
And then he slid his hand into mine.
Our fingers locked, warmth and comfort radiating from such a simple touch. I glanced up at him, and his expression, while still fiery, had softened. His lips were parted, a slight flush to his skin as he held onto me for dear life. As I stared, he lifted my hand and kissed it. He kept it pressed against his mouth as he fucked me with wild abandon.
I couldn”t take anymore.
”Cum in me,” I growled. ”Now, right now. I need it.”
”Whatever you want,” he repeated. ”Anytime you want it.”
Paolo slammed forward hard, the smack of skin against skin echoing in the room, only contained by the music that blared around us. All the while, he kept my hand locked in his. I lost myself, writhing and groaning as he throughly took me apart. When he came inside of me, hot and wet, I lost any semblance of remaining calm.
I snatched our hands against my mouth, bit into his hand, and came so hard I nearly blacked out. When I came back from the brink of death, panting and sweating, Paolo was lazily licking my cum from his fingers. He smiled at me.
”You bit really hard. Am I bleeding?”
I blinked at him and looked at our hands that were still squeezed together. Sure enough, there was a huge bite mark there and blood.
”Sorry,” I said.
Paolo pushed his hand against my lips. ”Taste me.”
”What?”
”Taste. Me.”
I tentatively licked my lips. Blood graced my tongue and dragged a groan from my throat. I shouldn’t like that. What was wrong with me?
”See?” He grinned. ”We ain”t so different, sweet cheeks. A little darkness tastes so damn good, doesn”t it?”
I glared at him. ”We are nothing alike. Get off me.”
”Don”t you mean get out of me?” He slammed forward and I grunted. ”Nah, no chance in hell. Let”s go again. I”m not stopping until you need to sleep for the rest of the day.”
I stared at him. ”The girls?—”
”Are fine,” he answered. ”I texted Shelly to put a movie on for them. We got another hour and a half. I plan to use up every second.”
I swallowed hard.
This bastard was going to kill me.