Power (The Santini Assassins #1)

7. Irresistible

7

IRRESISTIBLE

LUCIANO

L uciano parked his jet-black McLaren Bespoke in Simone’s driveway. No way in hell was he street-parking this baby. With the garment bag draped over his arm, he made his way to Simone’s front porch. It was almost eleven.

After sitting on the wooden bench, he texted her.

Simone

A few seconds passed and she replied.

Luciano

Are you busy?

No response.

Well, this would be more of a challenge than he thought.

The front door opened. Still no Simone, but he would take the open door as the green light he needed. Into the home he went. After he closed the door, he snapped the dead bolt in place.

She slinked over from the dark living room, her sublime body wrapped in a silky robe.

“Plan on staying?” Even in the darkened foyer, he couldn’t miss the heat in her luminous eyes. In true form, she brushed past him, sashayed over to the stairs, walked up a few, and glanced over her shoulder.

Then, she smiled at him before continuing on.

Another green light he couldn’t ignore.

Up the stairs he went, a maddening desire driving him onward. This wasn’t just about sex. He didn’t just want to see her. She was becoming his obsession. A raging, infuriating, ravenous need had sent him there, had forced him to send that text, to enter her home.

“You’re taking me off my game,” he growled.

Down the dark hall she continued, stopping in front of an open bedroom door. Turning to face him, she said, “Enter at your own risk.”

“Is that a threat?” His voice came out in a husky groan, the need to ravage her taking control.

“It’s a dare.” Her words came out as a whisper, but they sounded like a promise to him.

She vanished into the room and he followed. He opened the door to her walk-in closet, hung the garment bag on the rod. When he exited, she’d dropped her robe.

A nude Simone was an intoxicating invitation of everything right… and everything wrong. He shouldn’t be this interested, but he was. In the silence of the night, he would take care of her. And then, he would leave her because that’s what he had to do.

To protect himself, but more so, to protect her.

She slinked close, helped him strip off his clothes. The only sound was their breathing, already in sync. To his surprise, she was in control. Maybe because she was home. Maybe because she wanted this. Whatever the reason, he was ready to give her all the pleasure for as long as she wanted him.

He stood naked before her.

She trailed the back of her soft fingers down one cheek, then his other. Despite the dark room, her blazing eyes sent him flying high. With a delicate touch, she ran her fingernails down his chest, slowing on each defined mogul of his eight-pack before her fingers curled around his saluting hard-on.

“I brought you something,” he rasped.

She ran delicate fingers over the head, wetness sprang out. “I can tell.”

“The gowns, Simone. I brought you the Santini Originals.”

She stilled, surprise widening her eyes. “All of them?”

“Yes.”

She was lightly running his hard shaft back and forth in the tunnel of her hand. Streams of pleasure streaked through him, his cock aching for a release. But he had tremendous control. He would wait until she’d been fully sated.

“I’m not here for a late-night fuck,” he said.

She leaned close, pressed her mouth to his cheek and kissed him. As she broke away, she whispered, “Then, why are you here?”

“To watch you come undone when I make you writhe with pleasure,” he said, his voice strained with desire.

“I’ll let you suck my toes—” a groan shot out of him—“and I’ll rub my feet on your cock if you tie me up and take me.”

Naughty, naughty Simone Redding.

She started to break away, but he snaked his arms around her, drawing her against him. Skin against skin, her warm breath coming faster now.

“Are you wet for me, Simone?” A moan ripped from her chest, the vibration landing in his.

They came together in a kiss that surprised him. Light and lingering, she dug her fingers into his hair, slipped her tongue into his mouth, and arched her back, pushing her breasts against him.

He dropped one hand to her ass and squeezed while their tongues tangled, their moans coming faster. She ended the kiss, nibbled his jawline all the way up to his earlobe, then she bit it.

The harsh sting of pain sent a jolt through him. He liked her aggression.

“I’m drenched,” she whispered. “But you shouldn’t take my word on that.”

Stepping back, she guided his hand between her legs. He palmed her pussy, the heat from her core warming his hand. Time to tease and torture.

Moving slowly, he slipped a finger between her folds, caressed her dripping sex. The pull to taste her sweet, sweet juices had him dropping down in front of her. She widened her stance and he paused to stare into her eyes.

“I’m shaking so hard,” she purred. “I could pass out.”

“I’ll catch you.” He placed his face into her shaven pussy and ran his tongue over her opening. Her throaty cry sent a shock of energy pounding through him.

She pulled back the hood of her clit, exposing the most tender flesh and he polished it with precision. Light flicks back and forth, around and around until her moans turned to mewls. He palmed her ass, pressed her flush against his mouth, and devoured her with a ravenous intensity.

“Ohmygod,” she cried out. “Luciano, fuck, I’m gonna come.” She started bucking and shaking, the orgasm shooting through her, while fisted fingers clung to his hair.

When she stilled, he licked her gently, then stood. “Taste yourself. Taste your sweet pussy that I can’t fucking get enough of.”

She threw herself into him, kissing him, biting him, clawing his back while her guttural groans ripped through him. “So good,” she rasped out. “More, I want more.”

Panting, her chest rose and fell as she stared into his eyes. Without another word, she opened her closet door, returning with black ropes.

Unexpected, and extremely hot.

After handing him the soft ties, she seared him with a kiss that teased and tantalized every cell in his body. Electricity shot through him at a maddening pace.

“I can’t wait for you to punish me with your cock,” she murmured as she caressed his erection.

“Jesus,” he bit out.

She was on fire, the swirling energy taking him higher and higher. The anticipation of being with her had turned him into a beast. He wanted her, wanted to drive himself inside her. Wanted to take pleasure, give pleasure, and get lost in everything Simone.

She pulled an unopened pack of condoms from her night table. After opening the box, she set one on the bed.

“Lie on the bed, in child’s pose, so you’re on your knees and forearms, with your arms over your head,” Luciano commanded.

She did as told. Seconds later, he’d secured her wrists together, shoved the rope under the mattress to hold it in place. “Ass up, spread your legs.” She obeyed him. He looped the rope around one ankle and tucked the rope under the mattress, then repeated it on her other.

He covered himself with a condom. His balls had already drawn up, his throbbing cock ready to release inside her heat. But he was addicted to her sounds, to the way she squirmed and bucked, and the way she screamed his name from the ecstasy he could bring her.

Bringing her pleasure helped keep his demons at bay.

She tugged at the rope around her wrists, but she was trapped. Then, she tried moving her feet. He’d secured those as well.

“Simone, what’s your safe word?” he asked.

“I’ll use yellow if I need you to back off and red to stop you. Black is if I’m spiraling.”

“Spiraling to where?”

Her lips curved into a smile. “To hell, of course.”

“Should I stop?”

“No, you should go harder and faster,” she replied.

I won’t last two minutes with her.

He climbed on the bed, ran his hand down her long, lovely back, then slipped a hand beneath her and fondled her breast, teased her already hard nip with his finger. Back and forth, back and forth before he pinched it.

She whimpered.

“You’ve been a bad girl,” he said, “and you need to be punished.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” He was surprised at how different her voice was. Her dry sarcasm had been replaced with a soft innocence, like a submissive.

He cupped her other tit, massaged it harder, then teased the nipple until it too turned to stone. On his knees behind her, he ran the head of his now sheathed cock over her pussy and up to her anus. Slowly, he teased her with his erection, but she stayed silent.

“How does that feel?” he asked.

“Not good. I don’t want you to touch me. You’re a bad man. An evil man.”

A smile tugged at his lips. He was all of those things.

“I’m going to fuck you to remind you that when you disobey me, you will get punished. Hard and fast and very, very deep.”

“Please no,” she whispered.

“Simone,” he said checking in.

“Green, green, get me to black.”

He loved the eager desperation in her voice, the begging that only he could appease. He positioned at her opening, pressed inside, her wet pussy widening to accommodate his thickness. Pleasure slithered through him, igniting every muscle, every cell, every atom. He felt alive, he felt like he could fuck her to the moon, but he didn’t deserve the pleasure.

She was right. He was a bad man, an evil man.

The deeper he tunneled inside, the more garbled her sounds. When he was all the way inside her, he paused. Then, he withdrew. He held her hips in place and he started fucking her. In and out, again and again, while hit after hit of dopamine drowned him in pleasure.

Pleasure he didn’t deserve. Not now, not ever.

“Yes,” she cried out, snapping him back to now. “I’m a very bad girl and you should fuck me harder. So much harder.”

He thrust to her end and did it again. Her groans and grunts sliced through the night while he fucked her hard and fast.

“Black.” Her insides clenched around him, she started bucking against his shaft, and then she cried out shaking through her drenching release.

Her orgasm triggered his and he climaxed inside her, groaning through the ecstasy.

And then, they stilled. The calm after the storm.

After several seconds, she said. “I’m going to get you off with my feet.”

I’ve found the perfect angel, even in the depths of hell.

SIMONE

Simone loved fucking. Wild, ravaging, hard fucking. She loved being tied up, loved being punished. It had been years since she’d allowed someone to restrain her, and she never wanted their fun to end. But it would end. He’d find another plaything and move on. Rather than scold herself, or kick him out, she was all-in.

He withdrew, but he didn’t head to the bathroom. He stayed. Kissed her back, dropped a trail of worshipful kisses from one shoulder to the other. Then, he untied her wrists, rubbed the skin, kissed each palm.

Why is he being so tender? He doesn’t have to romance me. This is about screwing, nothing more.

With nimble fingers he untied her ankles. “Roll over.”

He placed a pillow under her head, sat on the edge and lifted her leg.

“Such shapely legs,” he murmured as he stroked her calf, kissed the crown of her foot.

His touch quieted her mind, the gentle caresses a remedy for everything that ailed her. His calming effect quenched her like a crystal-clear lake in the middle of the scorching desert.

She didn’t know she needed this, but as he ran his long fingers over her toes, a peace came over her. He had this magical way of whisking her away to his own private sanctuary.

When he finished, she sat on his lap, wrapped herself around him, and kissed him. One soft kiss turned into another while the passion swirled around them, their connection an undeniable magnet. The build was slow, luxurious, and all-consuming.

“You zhuzhed me up again,” she murmured. “I’m out of control around you.”

His smile—his perfectly evil, breathtakingly beautiful smile—sent her rocketing into the night sky. Hurtling through space, she felt like she would get sucked into the black hole that was forever Luciano Santini.

Look away.

But she could not.

Get out of bed.

She didn’t move.

I can’t keep doing this with him.

Yet, she couldn’t think of a single reason to stop.

Confidence rolled off him in tsunami-style waves. His gaze never left hers… and hers stayed anchored on him. Nothing else mattered but the way she felt in his strong embrace, the way his fingers combed through her hair, then sent electricity whizzing through her when his fingers brushed over her heated skin. The air sizzled with untamed energy, their eager bodies and their minds hooked on the rush of endorphins.

Everyone woman deserves to have sex with an Adonis. Even if it’s only once. Mine just happens to be Luciano Santini.

“You’ve turned me into a beast,” he said.

She inhaled another deep breath, hoping to calm her palpitating heart, but it was pounding out a maddening rhythm in her chest. She placed two fingers on his carotid.

“Your heart rate is slow and steady. Mine’s gotta be over a hundred.”

“Let’s slow you down, belleza.” He captured her face in his hand, kissed her, softly. She melted at the gentle way he pressed his lips to hers. Tender touches and soft kisses while she floated on a silver cloud.

His phone rang, piercing their intimate moment. He disentangled himself from her, retrieved it from his pants pocket, looked at the screen, and silenced it. Then, he returned and kissed her forehead. “I have to go.”

Her heart fell. Their fairytale moment was over.

She wasn’t going to ask him to stay. She wasn’t going to bring up the foot job. That would make her sound needy. If nothing else, she had her dignity.

Into her bathroom she walked, him close on her heels. She wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t angry either. She was a realist and, despite the couture gown delivery, this was a booty call.

And she’d been the booty.

Truth was, his speedy exit stung a little. Rather than attempt to make small talk or to stand there like a lost puppy, she turned on the shower. Steeling her spine, she said, “Lock the front door on your way out.”

Surprise flashed in his eyes. Had she not been full-on staring at him, she would have missed it.

“Of course,” he replied.

She pulled her hair up, secured it with a giant clip, then stepped under the hot spray. Time to move on. As she was lathering up, he pulled open the shower door. “Dinner sometime?”

The obligatory question.

She didn’t want to reject his offer, but she didn’t want to pin him for a date and time. Better to play this one chill. “Sure.”

Rather than lean in to kiss her, he took one of her hands, kissed it. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks for the gowns.”

Again, less was more.

He left the bathroom and her guts knotted. Maybe hooking up again with him wasn’t a brilliant idea, but she didn’t have to do it again.

And I won’t.

She washed off. While rinsing, she turned up the heat, let it scald her back. Off went the faucet and she dried off, moisturized her skin, and slipped into her silky robe.

Sex energized her, so there was no way she’d be able to sleep. Rather than crawl into bed, she made her way downstairs. In the foyer, as she rounded the corner, movement caught her eye and she startled.

Luciano sat on the sofa in the living room, looking damn near perfect in his suit and white dress shirt. As expected, his just-sexed hair had fallen back into place. The front porch lights streamed through the windows, bathing him in a soft glow. When he turned, the sadness in his eyes surprised her.

“I wanted to thank you for tonight,” he said.

She walked into the front room. “No need. It was fun.”

“I’m talking about the entire evening. I liked that you met Elsa, that you know Slash. My life is very compartmentalized. The overlap is different.”

She offered nothing more than a simple nod.

He rose. “I want you to know something about me.” He walked to her, clasped her hand in his. “I meant it when I asked you to dinner.”

Did he feel guilty that he was leaving? He didn’t strike her as someone who would.

Ahh, I know.

“This doesn’t have to be awkward if we run into each other’s at Carrera’s.” She tucked her hair behind one ear. “I’m a grown woman who invited you into my house, into my bedroom, and into my body. I have no expectations, especially when it comes to you.”

He furrowed his brow. “What does that mean?”

“Look, you’re a playboy. A no-strings man. I’m good with that, but I’m not gonna repeat this.”

“I understand,” he replied. “That’s why I asked you to dinner.”

“Like a date?”

He kissed her cheek. “Yes.”

“I don’t date,” she blurted.

“Why not?”

“I’m not on any dating sites and I don’t go to bars. I work a lot?—”

“I would imagine that your spy job and your personal shopper career take up all your time.” He smiled.

Her lips tugged upward, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a full-blown smile. She had every confidence Slash and Carrera had told him about her actual career, but she wasn’t saying a word. Not one damn word.

“Do you date?” she asked.

“No,” he replied.

He was stroking her hand with his thumb sending delicious sparks soaring up her arm. He kissed her, leaving his lips on hers for several glorious seconds.

His phone rang.

To her surprise, he silenced it, kissed her again.

She ended the kiss, but she did kiss his cheek, then his other cheek. That made him smile. “Let me walk you out.”

She started to pull her hand away, but he kept a firm hold on it. Together, they walked to the front door.

“Goodbye, Luciano.”

“Buona notte, Simone.”

She waited on the front porch while he walked toward his car, the cold night air swirling around her thin robe. His confident swagger kept her glued to his every move. He glanced at his phone, slipped inside his very expensive sports car. It roared to life and he backed out of her driveway. On the street, he turned on the headlights, tapped the horn, and sped away.

“Wow,” she murmured.

Luciano Santini was the most compelling, complicated man she’d ever met.

LUCIANO

Luciano returned Teddy’s call.

“Yo,” Teddy answered. “I got a hit on the Fuller brothers.”

“Nice,” Luciano drove out of Simone’s neighborhood, her beautiful scent still surrounding him.

“They’ve been flying below the radar for months,” Teddy continued. “One of them made the bonehead move of stealing a wallet and using a credit card at his favorite strip club. The card got flagged and I found ‘em.”

“Where?”

“DC apartment.” After a beat, Teddy said, “The credit card got turned off. I’m concerned they’re gonna bolt.”

“Neighborhood surveillance?” Luciano asked.

“Everything is cued up to turn off.”

It was one-thirty in the morning.

Luciano accelerated, and the McLaren flew down the road. “I can be home in twenty.”

“Twenty at your house, another thirty to DC,” Teddy said. “That puts us there around three.”

“What about building surveillance?” Luciano asked.

“I turned off the exterior cameras,” Teddy replied. “I’ll take down the power in the building.”

“Let’s do it.” Luciano hung up.

Twenty minutes later, he pulled up to the gates of his mansion, acknowledged the night guard in the booth, and drove inside. Up the tree-lined driveway he flew, parking at the fountain out front.

Dressed in all black, Teddy waited on the front steps. As he rose, Luciano extended his hand. Teddy clasped it, pulled him in for a hug.

“Who were you with?” Teddy asked.

“What makes you think?—”

“Why don’t you ever just answer my question, you know, like direct?”

“Simone Redding,” he said. “She was at Carrera’s.”

“How does she know Carrera?”

Luciano plugged in his six-digit code on the electronic lock, then stood in front of the retina scanner. The light turned green, the lock slid open, and he walked into his home.

“Z had her watching me, but Carrera pulled her.” Luciano walked down the hallway, stopping in front of a closed door. Again, he paused in front of a retina scanner, then stepped away so Teddy could move close. The light flashed green and Luciano opened the door.

Once inside, movement tripped the light sensor. Both men walked over to the back closet. Luciano plugged in a ten-digit code in the electronic lock, the door opened, revealing over twenty weapons of various sizes.

“I have to change.” Luciano exited the room, rode the elevator to his bedroom. There he changed into skintight black pants and a black pullover sweater. On went his Kevlar vest, a black knit cap, and his leather boots. In his walk-in closet, he left his wallet and phone on the marble table, pulled the burner from its charger, confirmed it was on silent, and slipped it into his pocket. He shouldered into a double holster before grabbing his black leather gloves.

Down the stairs he went, returning to find Teddy admiring his gun collection.

“Do you like her?” Teddy asked as Luciano handed him a double shoulder harness. Teddy pulled his Glock from behind his pants. “I’m good.”

Luciano shook his head. “Two weapons.”

On a grunt, Teddy shouldered into the harness, tucked his Glock into the right one and slid one of Luciano’s SIG SAUERs into the left.

“Well?” Teddy asked as he pulled on his black gloves.

“Well, what?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Teddy bit out. “Why has talking to you become so damn difficult. Do you like Simone?”

“I do. She’s different, but it’s complicated.”

“What have you told her?”

“Nothing,” Luciano replied. “I wanted to, but I took off instead.”

“That’s not good,” Teddy said.

“I fucked up.”

“Maybe if she knew?—”

“Her knowing won’t change anything.”

“Maybe it will,” Teddy pushed back.

“I don’t deserve to be happy?—”

“Lulu, you gotta forgive yourself. I mean, hell, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Enough,” Luciano murmured.

“I’m here if you wanna talk.”

Luciano draped his arm around Teddy’s shoulder. “You’re a good brother.”

“If you’re gonna get all mushy on me, go back to not answering my questions.”

Luciano slid a Glock into one holster, a SIG SAUER into the second. Then, he attached an ankle holster and slid a third weapon into that. After shoving a mini lock pick set into his pocket, he said, “Time to take out two monsters, Santini style.”

They grabbed their night goggles, left the weapons room. From there, they took the elevator to his underground garage.

“Do you have on body armor?” Luciano asked.

“Hell, yeah.”

“Range Rover,” Luciano said.

They slid into the vehicle, buckled up. As Luciano was pulling out of the garage, Teddy said, “maybe it’s time you forgave yourself.”

Searing pain sliced through his heart. “Never.”

“What about loving again. Can you do that?”

“I love them physically.”

“No, Luciano,” Teddy said. “With your heart.”

“I don’t have a heart. That’s why I’m an assassin.”

“It’s a job, like any other.”

“Is that how you see it?” Luciano drove down his long driveway, pausing to wait for the gates to open.

“Someone has to thin the herd. We’re like lions chasing gazelle.”

“They hunt to eat.”

“We do it to protect the innocent,” Teddy replied. “We do it so that good people can live their lives. We do it to stop these monsters because law enforcement can’t.”

“Well said, Theodore.” In the darkened car, he glanced over at his brother. “Are you ready to take out two serial rapists?”

“Every damn time.” Teddy gave him the address and Luciano sped toward DC.

At three-thirty in the morning, Luciano stopped a block away from the DC apartment building. Teddy got busy on his phone and the entire block went black.

“That’s gonna cause a shit-ton of problems,” Luciano bit out.

“I can’t take out just the one building. They’re all on the same grid.”

They exited the car. “Silence your ringer,” Luciano instructed.

“Yeah, yeah, I do that now without having to be told.”

They pulled on their night goggles, exited the SUV. Luciano opened the hatch, handed Teddy a silencer from the duffle bag. He took one for himself, attached it to his Glock. With stealth, they strode toward the back of the DC apartment building. The door was locked. Teddy aimed his weapon, but Luciano pulled out the lock pick set.

He couldn’t get the bar to release, and Teddy kept grumbling under his breath. Over a minute later, the bar gave way and Luciano opened the door. They bolted up the back stairs to the third floor.

To his relief, the hallway was dead quiet. With his weapon at the ready, Teddy led him to the apartment, located in the middle of the hall. This had to be the worst location. They weren’t near an exit and they were surrounded by tenants.

Teddy tried the door handle. It turned, and they slipped inside the apartment. They had to be swift and they had to be exact.

“Please, no,” a woman whimpered from one of the bedrooms. “You’re hurting me. I’m begging you to stop.”

Bile rose in Luciano’s throat while hatred filled his soul. He swept the living room. No one was there. The kitchenette was also empty.

“STOP!” screamed the woman.

Luciano pointed to the second bedroom and Teddy took off past the first. Luciano strode to the doorway. A woman was shackled to the bed, her bruised, bloodied body the evidence Luciano needed to take down the monster.

One of the brothers stood nearby. He whipped his head toward Luciano, but the room was pitch black.

“You have too much power.” Luciano raised his weapon, fired a single shot.

POP!

The bullet pierced him between the eyes, the man dropped to the floor.

The woman screamed.

Ah, fuck.

“Shh,” he said to her. “Police are on their way.”

“Please don’t hurt me,” she murmured.

He covered her with a blanket. “I’ll get you help.”

She started sobbing. “Thank you.”

BANG!

POP! POP! POP!

Luciano bolted into the other bedroom. The other Fuller brother lay crumpled on the floor. Teddy stood there like a statue. Luciano strode over.

“Jesus, no.”

The brother had shot the woman he had chained to the bed. She was bleeding out, a gaping hole in her chest.

Luciano grabbed Teddy by the arm. “Let’s go.”

As they passed the first bedroom, Luciano paused to speak to the surviving victim. “Help is coming.”

They exited the apartment and were blinded by phone flashlights from people in the hallway. The sound of the gunshot had caused tenants to scurry out of their homes. He and Teddy flipped up their goggles, kept their heads down, and strode down the hall toward the back entrance.

“Grab those guys!” someone shouted.

Teddy bolted, Luciano close on his heels. They flew down the stairs and out into the night, not stopping until they’d returned to the vehicle, parked on the street. Breathing hard, they got in, Luciano started the engine, and they left.

On the main road, he turned on the headlights, hit the gas. After he removed his night goggles, Luciano extracted the burner phone from his pocket. With the exception of a few at ALPHA, Luciano couldn’t stand law enforcement. And he trusted them even less.

But he needed to ensure the victim got the help she needed, so he made the call.

“Hey,” Carrera answered. “You okay?”

“Fuller brothers had prisoners,” Luciano said. “One living, one murdered by one of the brothers.”

Teddy rattled off the address.

Luciano normally didn’t do business over the phone, but in this case, he had no choice.

“I’m on it.” Carrera hung up.

Luciano glanced over at his brother. “How you doing?”

“I couldn’t save her,” Teddy murmured. “I fucking couldn’t do it.”

His heart broke for his younger brother. He would hold on to this for a long time and blame himself for even longer. No matter what Luciano said, it wouldn’t make a difference. Teddy was very hard on himself. Always had been.

“What can I say to help alleviate your pain?”

“Nothing, brother,” Teddy replied. “It is what it is. We went in to take out the monsters. We got it done, but there was collateral damage.”

Luciano knew about collateral damage better than anyone. Those most precious to him had been just that.