Chapter 34
CHAPTER 34
ALISON
I woke up to a strange commotion coming from downstairs. Soon after sitting up in bed, trying to listen and figure out what was happening, Max was barging into the suite, practically kicking down the door and marching straight towards the bed.
“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away from me.”
“I will. After tonight.”
Max dismissed my question completely. In the dim light of the room, the only thing I saw was his figure charging towards me. Even though I couldn’t see his face, it was clear by the rigidness of each step he took that he was beyond pissed. There was only one other time I’d seen him in this state — back at the bar when that douchebag tried to assault me.
Was it danger that brought out the beast in Max? Going by the loud noises in the normally quiet hotel, something seriously threatening was up. Max was here as my bodyguard. My brother’s mafioso soldato to whom my safety had been entrusted without space for fuck-ups, or else. Some stupidly resistant part of my broken heart sunk a little at the realization.
The other part shivered as I watched him come for me. I sat in the middle of the mattress, away from the side he approached from. Max didn’t even bother to go around the damn bed. He reached over the king-size mattress, wrapped his big hand around my ankle, and pulled me to the edge.
A yelp escaped my mouth at the sudden tug. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Without a reply, he picked me up, unceremoniously slinging me over his shoulder. It didn’t matter how much I thrashed, hit, and punched him. His grasp was unrelenting.
“What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing? Put me down right this second.”
“Don’t swear, Miss Battaglia.”
“Fuck you,” I hissed, punctuating my rage with the pounding of my fists on his back.
“Might as well stop fighting me on this. You’ll just end up hurting yourself. There’s no scenario where you’re not coming with me. Got it? Princess?”
“I can walk, you idiot. Put me down.”
“No can do. I don’t trust that you’ll do what I say right now.”
“How fucking perceptive.” The colorful language was added as a creamy topping of acid to rile Max up further. He didn’t like it, for whatever reason, and if I couldn’t hurt him with my fists, I was more than inclined to use any other weapon I could grab. “Where the hell are you taking me?”
“Home.” He stated in a monotone.
“Says who? Have you forgotten you don’t call the fucking shots here?” I blurted before muttering under my breath, “Or anywhere, for that matter. ”
“That’s where you’re wrong. And you don’t have to take my word for it. I’ll fucking show you. You’re gonna do exactly as I say.”
Max walked out into the hall and then into the elevator, my ass in the air. Just the flimsy silk of my short pajama shorts covering my behind, but ultimately doing a poor job and riding right up the crack of my ass.
“What’s your plan? Cross the lobby with me slung over your shoulder, the shape of my pussy clear for any bystander to see?”
“They won’t look. Besides, we’re going to the underground parking lot.”
“What about my stuff?”
“Less crap to bring over when you marry that fucker.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Fine. I’ll have Jimmy pack your crap and bring it. We have a stop to make anyway. That will give him time to get all your shit together.”
“My shit? Since when are you such an asshole?”
Abruptly, Max placed me on my feet, cornering me against that mirror again, the metal bar pressing into my ass as I backed into it. Max’s eyes came down to meet mine, his hand gripping the underside of my jaw, half holding my throat.
“We haven’t discussed that passionate little kiss you shared with your fiancé,” He grunted, once again ignoring my question altogether and deflecting like a pro.
“What? You’re not making any sense.”
“You’re already his. Is that it? You’re ready to run into the fucking sunset with that parasite?” His blue eyes had gone gloomier, shadowed by the darkness running free inside of him. “I get that you’re taken, that you’re promised, and that your honor binds you to that damn deal. Believe me, I get all that crap. I swore on it myself. But you know what? Fuck honor. I’m gonna smear that perfect little picture you have in your head and maybe show you how fucked up that vision is.”
Aside from the unruled anger in his words, I couldn’t understand what he meant.
The elevator dinged as we reached the parking lot. Max punched in a code to a metal box on the far wall, retrieving a car key before tightening his grip on my arm and pulling me towards a black car.
“Get in, Alison. You know fairly well by now that it will be my pleasure to make you if you don't get in voluntarily.” He whispered straight against my ear from behind me, and I realized I’d been stuck staring at the damn reflection in the window.
If this were anyone else, I’d be shivering in fear, but not with Max. Those shivers couldn’t be blamed on fear. They were of pure excitement. A strange exhilaration. Stupid anticipation.
What the hell is wrong with me?
“What are you even doing? You’re kidnapping me now? Is that your move?” I got no response, just a nudge on my lower back after he opened the door for me. “How chivalrous. Could have fooled me with the barbaric, over-the-shoulder sack of potatoes move before.”
“Get. In.”
“Oh, I know what this is.” I turned around to face him, knowing there was nothing I could say that would deter him at this point, but I’d make it every bit as difficult as I could. “You know how much I’m into movies and decided to recreate one with me to lift my spirits? I’m sorry to break this to you, but it’s coming off like a discounted, poor mock-up version of Tarzan. Me Alison. You Shithead. ”
“Get. In.” He repeated, only this time his voice had dived into the depths of darkness and came back drenched in menace.
I got in, and Max closed the door behind me with a gentleness that didn’t match his current mood.
He rounded the car and stepped into the driver’s seat, revving the engine to life and driving out of the underground lot and straight into the street.
The tension in the car was just as loaded as I was sure his gun was, and as much as I’d prefer to slice through it with a stupid joke just as before, I couldn’t find space in my head as I tried to figure out what the hell was happening and where he was taking me.
I watched the lights and trees go by, and before we got to our destination, I realized where our mystery stop was. I didn’t know California at all, but I’d driven this exact same route twice in the last few days.
My brother’s rant about being aware of my surroundings came to mind again. Apparently I’d done exactly as he’d instructed, because I knew each turn Max was about to make before he did.
Left.
Left.
Right.
Gates that suddenly opened, no questions asked.
A roundabout with a damn fountain.
The Massimo Mansion.
Those opulent columns with ominous lighting came into view as he turned into the property. My breathing quickened, and for the first time ever, fear coursed through me. What were we doing here, and why?
“Why are we here, Max?” I warily asked. Max seemed to have changed skins just as I’d seen him do when he went into his mafioso mode. Only today, every edge on him was sharp and cutting. Erratic and dicey.
There was no way out of that state of mind that didn’t imply bloodshed, pain, and a fuckload of tears. Whose was he collecting?
He put the car in park and marched around it before opening my door and stretching out his hand for me to take. He wasn’t expecting I’d just place my hand in his and follow his damn lead, was he?
I looked at his hand like it was an infectious disease and then up at his face, one single brow lifted in contempt.
“You pull me out of my bed in the middle of the night, drag me here of all places, and expect me to just...what? Go along with whatever madness is going through your head right now? Think again, Maxy Max.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shifted in my seat, facing the windshield in a defensive stance I hoped he understood. There was absolutely no good reason to be here at this hour of the night.
“Okay, fine. Suit yourself.” Max dipped his head into the car and pulled my arm over his head before yanking me out and over his shoulder, just like before, and turned to strut right into Vincenzo’s mansion. Trespassing wasn’t on my bucket list, but I could most definitely scratch it off now.
The air inside the mansion felt heavier than before, thick with the scent of polished wood and blooming lilies. Just hours ago, this place had been a glittering shrine to wealth, power, status, and lies, hosting our engagement party. Now, the long corridors stretched silent and empty, the shadows pooling in every corner like they were watching me.
Watching us.
Because they were. I saw maids scurrying around, their eyes falling to the floor as we passed. Two men patrolling those eerie shadows turned and marched away as if there was nothing to see.
“What the fuck is wrong with you people?” I yelled at them.
No one tried to stop him. No one muttered a single word.
No questions, no security alarms, no nothing . Just blank and uninterested faces, practiced indifference, as if a stranger marching through the house with a woman slung over his shoulder was just another freaking Tuesday.
Max didn’t so much as hesitate as he carried me through the grand entrance, his steps deliberate and echoing in the huge foyer.
I caught sight of the main staircase before Max started climbing those steps, the gilded banisters shining faintly in the dim light of the full moon. I’d found them intricately beautiful before, but only now did I notice the thorns of each rose stem. It seemed to mimic the gilded cage I voluntarily entered — promising and alluring, those features shining brightly to conceal the thorns and rusty bars.
The staff must’ve cleared out the decorations by now. No strings of lights or floral arrangements, just the echo of a party no one wanted to remember. They worked fast!
As we reached the landing, Max stopped and took a deep breath. For a moment, I thought some sense had made its way through that darkness of his, and he’d turn around to leave.
But no. He adjusted his grip on me and carried on, straight ahead through a hallway with closed doors on either side. His steps were wider now, as if conviction had materialized into his shoes.
“Are you gonna kill Vincenzo and make me watch?” The words tumbled from my mouth before I could hold them back, and yet another shiver of fear ran through my body, my hands gripping Max’s shirt tighter .
“Something like that.” His voice was stable as if that semi-confession had no weight.
With his shoulder, he pushed a door open. One of three at the end of the hall. The hardwood floor creaked softly as we crossed the threshold, adding that extra layer of tension to an otherwise loaded situation.
Max clicked the door shut with his heel, and while a part of me was relieved at the sight before me when he turned around, the other part was frozen with disbelief.
A bedroom.
I expected to be pushed into Vincenzo’s study while he sat in a leather chair on the other side of an oak desk, watching Max pull out his gun and hold it to my future husband’s head.
But no.
It was a goddamn bedroom.
Gently, Max put my feet on the floor, and I spun on my barefoot heels, taking the place in.
Aside from the huge bed, a chest of drawers, and a desk, there was nothing else inside this place. On the opposite wall was a shut door that I could only figure led into an ensuite bathroom. I scanned every inch of this place, my eyes catching on the only personal item. A picture of a woman, in her thirties, maybe. It was grainy, which told me it wasn’t taken recently, either.
“What are we doing here?” I asked as soon as I’d done my three-sixty and was facing Max again.
He didn’t bother to answer, just as before. I couldn’t even ask a second time or demand an answer before his lips were crashing onto mine, his tongue forcing its entry into my mouth and tasting every inch of me.
For a minute, my head was light from the onslaught, my body responding to his touch like it always did. There was something about being the object of his desire that had me caught in a power trip that blurred everything.
Max’s finger skimmed up my arm until it hooked on the strap of my pajama top, pulling it down my shoulder while his lips devoured my sensitive neck. The loose and flimsy tank top fell over my breast, exposing my perked nipple. As soon as it was free, Max captured it with his teeth, biting hard enough for a tinge of pain to work its way through me, only to settle on my pulsing clit.
“No. Stop.” I blurted, pushing him back and putting some space between us. “What the hell are you doing, Max? What is this?”
“This is me showing you that, even in his house, your moans belong to me.”
“Is this Vincenzo’s bedroom?” I asked, incredulous. And how the fuck did Max know exactly where it was?
“What if it is?”
“You have to be kidding.”
“Why?” He sauntered closer as I stepped back until my legs hit the bed. One light push on my shoulder, and I was tumbling onto the mattress. “Too worried your screams will be absorbed by these walls? I don’t think they’ll be able to rat on you, Princess. You can scream my name all you want.”
“In your dreams. This is not happening. I am not fucking you on my future husband’s bed.”
“That’s right, because I’ll be doing the fucking and you’ll take it like a good girl.”
“Not a fucking chance. Not here and not anywhere. I told you to stay away from me.” I tried to steady my voice and sound as convincing as possible, but those damn blue eyes were disarming.
“And I will.” He assured, gripping my chin and tilting my head up so that I was looking straight into those ice-cold traps. “Right after making you pass out from coming so many times on my cock in your future husband’s house.”
His other hand buried into my hair to grab a handful right at my nape. The way he knew all the things that made me lose sight of right and wrong was disturbing. The slight pain on the back of my skull as he yanked backward made my pussy hum with a need for attention.
But the fire that burned in him each time I fought back was too addicting not to keep pushing. Until I couldn’t anymore.
“I wouldn’t touch your dick now if it were bedazzled with gold studs and rubies.”
“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned pierced cocks before I’m about to fuck you. Is that a thing for you, Angelo? Besides, you already have more rubies than you should.” He picked up my hand, my engagement ring weighing a ton as he looked at it and then me with disgust.
“Fuck you, Max.”
“With pleasure, Baby.”
His lips were on mine again. All consuming. Demanding. Punishing.
All I could breathe was him, even though I knew he was toxic and I was about to suffer the consequences. Having sex on Vincenzo’s bed was just sick. But somehow my body hadn’t gotten the memo, allowing a needy moan to escape from my throat and into his mouth.
“That’s it, my angel. Sing for me.”
Max pulled both the straps of my tank top down, making my arms go through them, the fabric hunched around my waist. He pushed me back onto the bed, the cold sheets making my skin erupt into goosebumps.
Or maybe it was the way he ravished each nipple at a time. Sucking. Biting. And then sucking again. When he hovered over me, breaking connection, my back arched trying to find more of his warmth.
All the questions about the absurdity of this situation had gone silent in my mind. All except for one. Why ?
Max took his shirt off and set himself between my legs, his bare skin on mine as he kissed me again like he had the sole right to my lips. I imagined what we looked like from above. Those tattooed wings spread, engulfing me whole like they owned me. Like divine protection when, in reality, I was in much greater danger lying beneath those black feathers than anything that could affect me from above.
“I’m going to cover you and this damn bed in my cum. You might never be mine, Alison, but you don’t belong to him, either. Not him.” He kissed me painfully hard. “Never him.”
My breath hitched in my throat. His words told me exactly where this was heading. He was lost and out of control again, but in the end, I’d be the one picking up the pieces of myself.
Defuse..
Defuse.
Defuse.
“That’s cute. Did you practice that in the mirror?”
A small smirk settled on his lips before Max set his legs on either side of mine and flipped me onto my stomach in one swift move. He yanked my shorts down my legs until they were scattered on the floor, his pants and boxers following.
“I’m glad you mentioned mirrors. Those are always fun.” He nudged to the other side of the bed, and alas – a damn mirror. Our eyes locked through the reflection, and I almost flinched at the sight of me. My eyes were hazy with lust, my cheeks tinted with the expectation of what was to come. My mouth agape in pleasure as soon as his hand collided with my naked ass.
I sucked in a sharp breath, the sting easing as the pain connected with my pussy. Never in my mind did I think this was something I’d enjoy, but fuck did it mess with my brain and my body.
“Now you can watch me claim every inch of you before I stain these sheets with our combined cum. I’m wiping you clean with fine linen tonight.”
Everything about me screamed, “fuck me, please,” while even my ass perked up against Max’s crotch, wanting to feel if he was hard.
Jesus! Fucked up much?
Before I could mentally answer my own question, Max was burying two fingers into me. My legs were tightly shut, the pressure only adding to the heavenly sensation. I shouldn’t be so turned on by this. It could only be the forbidden element or maybe the fact that Vincenzo could catch us like this in his own bed at any minute.
But my depravity was showing. I could see it in the damn reflection. I could feel it in the way I pushed my ass out further to meet the thrust of Max’s fingers. There was a boundary in my mind that forced me to try and do the right thing. Reign in this dirty side of me that I dare not show it to a single soul.
Myself included.
“Max, stop.” I was sure my voice wasn’t at all convincing, especially since Max picked up his pace in response. “We shouldn’t do this.”
“Look how pretty you are, Alison. Look how fucking well you take my fingers.” He added a third one, and my eyes rolled to the back of my skull at the feeling of him stretching me. “That’s my good little slut. We need you nice and wet before you take my cock like the queen you are.”
I could see his free erection, tall and so damn hard, bouncing each time he pushed into me. He tucked his lower lip between his teeth at the sound of my breathy moan just before pulling his fingers out abruptly.
“Na-ah. You don’t get to come so easily. I need to feel that pussy squeezing my cock while you scream my name. This is me owning you tonight, Alison.”
Max hooked his arm around my waist and pulled until my knees were holding me up.
“Look at the mirror, Alison. Look at that beautiful face of yours as you take my cock like you’re made for it.”
The warm head of his dick poked at my entrance, first burying just a little to give me a taste before Max lost his grip on control and pushed all the way inside.
“Oh my God!” I hissed, Max stilling as I felt his cock pulse inside me.
“How can you be so fucking perfect for me?” It was a whisper, a confession I don’t think I was intended to hear. Slow, steadying breaths fanned my back as Max tried to regain composure. For some reason, my chest filled up with pride knowing that it only took one thrust to have him so out of control that he needed a minute to collect himself.
“Eyes on the mirror, Baby, while I punish you for kissing that motherfucker sooner than you had to.”
Hard thrusts pushed us to the edge of the mattress. To the edge of bliss, too. But every time I was about to go over that damn rainbow, Max pulled out. It was pure fucking torture.
He edged me to the brink of madness. I didn’t care what I looked like in that damn mirror anymore. I didn’t care what he saw as he fucked me from behind .
Frustration was bringing tears to my eyes and a strange rage to my heart.
Max flipped me around again, my head dangling off the end of the bed. He placed one ankle over his shoulder before thrusting back inside of me, reaching deeper than before. His groin grazed on my engorged clit every time he was balls deep inside of me. That circular movement of his hip meant to torment me even further.
I was losing my control again, even though I’d promised myself I wouldn’t allow him to bring me that close to release only to be denied. I tried controlling my arousal, taking away his power over me, but I was failing yet again.
“I’m going to fill you up so fucking good. You’ll have my seed leaking from you until you reach New York. You’ll smell like me. Taste like me. Feel me inside you even though the only thing left is my boys.” He fucked me harder with long, punishing strokes. “What if they took root inside you, hmm? What if I filled you with my baby?”
I shut my eyes as tight as I could, trying to erase that picture from my brain. He couldn’t. I wouldn’t allow it. I’d take fifteen Plan B’s if that’s what it took. Right?
“Would you like that, Angelo? ”
“N-no.” I stuttered.
“Such a bad fucking liar.”
Max’s hand wrapped around my neck, first feeling my rapidly increasing pulse only to squeeze just as I was managing to hold back.
He pushed into me harder. Again and again. The sound of his skin slapping on mine mixed with his groans of pleasure and the lack of oxygen was definitely doing all the wrong things to me. Making me lose control.
“Say you’re mine, Alison. I don’t fucking deserve you, but I want to hear you say it. Just once. Just once.” Max was so lost in his own rapture that I wasn’t sure how much he meant those words. But I couldn’t say them. Not even under this haze. I just couldn’t.
It would break me knowing I’d said it with all the damn fucking words, and still, he wouldn’t fight for me.
“I can’t. I won’t.” Tears were gathering in my eyes, my heart sinking to the pit of my stomach. Because I was his, but he could never fully own me. “Please don’t make me.” I plead, my tears fully streaming down my face.
“Come for me, Angelo. Fall for me, because tonight, I can catch you.”
Max squeezed my throat tighter, my mouth falling open, trying to suck in a breath a mere second before my orgasm came crashing into me from absolutely nowhere. I came harder than I ever had in my whole life.
Before I could come down from the brink of insanity, everything went dark and silent.
Control was a damn illusion.
Satiated. Sore. Serene.
That last one lasted two damn seconds until I realized I was sitting in Vincenzo’s jet, wearing a shirt I didn’t own.
I looked around only to find Jimmy sitting a few seats ahead, his back towards me, tapping away on his computer. I searched again, but it seemed like we were the only two people on this goddamn flight.
“Jimmy?” I called, my voice hoarse and dry from the air conditioning.
“Oh! You’re awake. We have about another 2 hours before we land. Do you want to eat or drink anything?”
“No, I’m fine. Where’s Max? ”
Jimmy swallowed hard, and I knew Max wasn’t here.
Bile rose through my throat and all I wanted to do was scream, cuss, and punch him in that damn handsome face of his.
Instead, I swallowed my wounded pride and signaled the flight attendant. “Rum, please. Havana Club Máximo if you have it.” I needed a good punch if I intended to hold back the tears.