Chapter 20 Rory
Rory
“Easy,” Gio coaxed as I hobbled into our bedroom suite, his arm around my back providing support.
Everything hurt, from my head to my toes, a combination of sensations ranging from a dull throbbing to a sharp sting.
When we bypassed the bed, I whined, “I want to lie down. Please.”
“Let me draw you a bath. You told the doctor you were sore.”
Ooh, that sounded nice enough that any further protests died on my tongue.
Turning the faucet on the massive soaker tub and adding lavender bubble bath, he gently peeled away my clothing. There was nothing sexual when it came to him getting me naked; his motions were purely functional.
Gio tested the temperature of the water, making sure it wasn’t too hot or too cold, before offering me a hand to step inside. A moan slipped past my lips when I sank beneath the bubbles, my eyes falling shut as my head dropped back against the edge.
When I felt fingers comb through my hair, tugging gently, my heavy lids lifted to find my husband affixing my long red tresses atop my head with a claw clip from where he was kneeling beside the tub.
I must’ve hit my head really hard, because I was convinced this was a hallucination. The all-powerful Gio Bellini didn’t deign to take care of others. That was something more suited to his alter-ego, John, whom I still missed desperately every single day.
He rolled up a hand towel and tucked it behind my neck to act as a cushion. “How’s that feel?”
Avoiding eye contact, I dragged a path through the multiplying bubbles. “Good.”
The awkward silence was deafening once the running water was turned off. And when I couldn’t take it a single second longer, I turned my head to the side, asking the question that had been plaguing my mind since I woke up in that hospital bed.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
His forehead wrinkled, and he cocked his head to the side. “What are you talking about?”
Frustrated, I huffed, “Don’t play dumb. Earlier today, you could barely stand the sight of me. And now—” I released a heavy exhale. “Now, you’re going out of your way to make me comfortable. I’m not complaining. I just want to know why.”
Gio’s eyes dropped to where his fingertips skimmed the water’s surface. Voice thick, he rasped, “Enzo got that call, and for a minute I thought that bomb thrown through the store window had blown up my entire world.” His swallow was audible. “I thought I lost you.”
Now it made sense. “You thought you lost your heir.”
“No.” He gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his tortured brown gaze.
“The first person I thought about was you, Rory. Don’t ask me to explain it because I can’t.
All I know is that you were my primary concern, and when I thought for even a split second that you were gone, I didn’t want to live anymore. ”
My mouth dropped open, the shock of his statement rendering me speechless.
Gio Bellini, valuing someone else’s life more than his own? Had Hell frozen over?
Almost like he needed to drive the point home, my husband said, “We can make another baby, but you are irreplaceable.”
My breath caught in my lungs. Was it possible that John was more than an act? That maybe that persona was a suppressed part of Gio? The flip side to the ruthless mafia don?
I wanted to believe that the man I loved was locked deep inside the one staring back at me so badly that my heart ached.
His hand fell away from my face, and he grabbed a washcloth, wetting it before dragging the terrycloth over my skin.
The move was so tender, so loving, that my defenses lowered.
And before I knew what I was doing, the confession I’d been holding inside for weeks came pouring out, “The night I left . . .”
Dark eyes snapping up, Gio shook his head. “There will be plenty of time for talking later.”
I placed my hand over his beneath the water. “Let me get this off my chest. Please.”
Lips turned downward, he agreed, “Okay.”
Pulling in a steadying breath, I explained, “The night I left, there was an envelope slipped under the bedroom door with my name printed on the outside, stamped URGENT. Inside, it contained documents—passport, driver’s license, birth certificate—bearing my new identity, along with detailed instructions on how to leave the estate undetected by using the blind spots in the cameras.
It almost felt like a trap, if I’m being honest. Like you were testing my loyalty.
So when the time came to make my escape, I hesitated.
But only for a minute or two before I decided that the chance of freedom was worth the risk.
“Everything went off without a hitch. Alarms never sounded, and I made it to the rendezvous point, where a car was waiting. Since it was dark and he didn’t turn around, I never caught a look at the driver’s face.
I think it was intended that way, because if I’d have known Dario was working against you .
. .” My eyes drifted shut. “I would have shoved my personal feelings aside and warned you about the potential insurrection. I swear.”
He cupped my cheek. “I believe you.”
“After a few hours of driving, I was handed a boarding pass and dropped off at a tiny airport in Sheboygan.”
“Where did he send you?”
Wry laughter burst from my lips. “Believe it or not, my first stop was Dillingham, Alaska, which is only accessible by small aircraft.”
His eyes widened. “Did you say Alaska?”
“Bet you didn’t look there, did you?”
Shaking his head in disbelief, Gio scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “No, I certainly did not.”
I shivered, despite the hot water surrounding me. “It was so cold and dark for most of the year. Even in the summer, the temps dipped so low that I had to wear a winter jacket at night. But it was extremely isolated with a small population, and my comfort took a backseat to my need to stay hidden.”
“And that type of existence was preferable to the life we shared in Chicago?”
My chest heaved with a heavy sigh. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
“Try me.”
Cradling my belly, I said, “From the moment I was born, my entire life was already decided for me.”
Gio reared back, eyebrows raised. “And you think mine wasn’t?”
“It’s different. Your birthright meant world domination.
Mine meant marriage to a powerful man. The minute I took my first breath, I’d already been stripped of the ability to choose anything for myself.
I would never have a say in whether I wanted to pursue higher education or a career; my value was reduced to what I could bring my family through an alliance with another family.
I was viewed as a possession, not a person. First by my father, and then by you.”
My husband ran a hand through his hair, the wetness on his skin slicking the strands back. “Fuck, Rory. I—”
“It’s not your fault,” I cut him off. “You’re a product of the world you were raised in.
I can’t blame you for that. But in turn, you can’t blame me for pushing back, for trying to hold onto a scrap of my autonomy when it came to starting a family.
Especially when I spent my childhood watching my mother’s health take a backseat to my father’s pursuit of an heir.
Do you have any idea how traumatizing it was to be brought to her bedside while she was bleeding out to say goodbye?
Only to find out, six months later, that your own marriage has been arranged, and you’re staring down that same fate for yourself? ”
His palm covered mine on my stomach, his voice soft. “Why didn’t you say anything before now?”
I scoffed. “Would you have listened?”
Gio shook his head sadly. “Probably not.”
“When I got that envelope, it felt like a lifeline. But I knew the day I left that I was on borrowed time. I spent years looking over my shoulder, waiting for the moment you would show up to drag me home. John was . . . unexpected, to say the least.”
My husband’s eyes slid shut as he confessed, “I might have been a monster on a mission, but raping my own wife was where I drew the line.”
“You didn’t force your way between my thighs, but you did force me into a pregnancy I didn’t want.”
His lashes lifted, and his gaze stayed locked on the rounded swell of my bump that housed our son.
“At the time, I couldn’t see any other way.
And I was so fucking angry at you, Rory, I wanted to hurt you.
Maybe not physically, but I wanted to punish you for leaving me.
Today forced me to step back and reevaluate.
What I did was wrong; I always knew that.
I just didn’t care until now. It’s probably too little too late after all we’ve been through, but I am sorry. ”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive you,” I replied honestly.
He nodded in understanding. “That’s fair.”
“But I’m open to trying. For Luca.”
“Luca,” Gio breathed, his fingers flexing over my skin.
I arched an eyebrow. “Second-guessing the ‘whatever you want’ you spat at me earlier when I mentioned baby names?”
“No. I like it.”
A giant yawn split my face, and I covered my mouth with a muffled “sorry.”
Gio stood, extending a hand to help me out of the tub. “It’s been a long day. You need to rest.”
I didn’t argue, letting him dry me off with a towel and accepting his offer of an oversized T-shirt to sleep in.
But when I settled onto the mattress and darkness descended as Gio turned out the lights, I couldn’t shut off my brain. More than once, my restlessness caused me to turn onto my right side, and I hissed in pain, having forgotten about the extensive bruising on my belly.
“Ugh!” I beat my fists on the bed as my frustration boiled over.
“Shh, come here,” Gio whispered, pressing his hard body against my back. “Is that better?”
He was a human furnace, and the heat radiating off of him soaked into my sore muscles, providing relief. “A little.”
“Tell me what else I can do.” His lips brushed against my neck as he spoke.
I squirmed, trying to find a more comfortable position, only to feel my husband’s cock hardening against my ass.
Now that wasn’t a half-bad idea.
Grabbing the hand that rested on my hip, I dragged it between my legs, making what I wanted clear.
“Rory,” he warned, withdrawing his touch.
“Please. I need a release.”
Gio groaned into my shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you. Either of you.”
Hope lit up inside my chest at those words, the proof that Gio had the capacity deep within him to be a decent human being.
“You won’t,” I promised, pressing his palm to my belly where our son gave a little kick, and Gio sucked in a sharp breath. “See? We’re both okay.”
His touch shifted over my stomach, chasing our baby’s movements. “Incredible,” he murmured.
“Make me feel good, Gio, so I can sleep.”
The heavy breath he released fanned my cheek. “Okay.”
Carefully, he lifted my thigh over his hip, spreading me open and allowing his hard dick to notch at my entrance.
“Fuck, you’re so wet already.” He teased me with just the tip. “Is this all for me?”
“Mmm.” I arched my back in an attempt to take him inside me. “I need you. Now.”
“Not yet.” His palm skated up my side until he reached my face, turning it so he could capture my lips in a kiss.
With a fluid roll of his hips, he filled me, his mouth swallowing my cry. Holy shit, I’d almost forgotten how intense the stretch could be, and that was before you took into account the piercings that never failed to hit the perfect spot.
“How’s that?” he panted against my mouth.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, demanding, “More.”
“Yes, my queen.” He withdrew before slamming home again, this time with more force.
“God, that feels so good,” I moaned.
He set a steady pace between my thighs, rasping, “My brain is telling me that I should give it to you soft and slow, but it’s been so long, and your cunt is gripping me so tight that I don’t think I can hold back.”
“No holding back,” I breathed, straining against him. “Give me everything.”
His grip shifted to my hip, holding me in place as his thrusts grew brutal, the head of his cock ramming against my G-spot, sparking pleasure that coiled tighter and tighter, the pressure so intense it bordered on painful.
“We might have messed up a lot of things before, but this”—Gio bottomed out, grinding against me so I could feel the drag of every barbell against my sensitive inner walls—“this we always got right.”
He wasn’t wrong. Sex had been the only bright spot during the darkest days of our marriage. Every screaming match ended with us tearing each other’s clothes off and fucking like the world was ending. And for at least a few minutes afterward, in that post-orgasmic bliss, we found peace.
But physical release alone wasn’t enough to satisfy me; I wanted intimacy, an emotional connection that went deeper—what I’d shared with John.
Right now, it was Gio behind me, his slick body sliding against mine as he fucked me from behind, his grip on me tightening as his thrusts faltered.
Voice strained, he gritted out, “Not going to last much longer. Tell me you’re close.”
My nails raked a path along his scalp. “So close.”
His fingers dropped between my open thighs, rubbing furious circles over my clit, and my orgasm detonated. Buckling furiously against Gio, I writhed uncontrollably as endless waves of ecstasy rolled through me, my cries echoing throughout the room.
“Fucking perfect,” Gio grunted. “Fucking mine.”
“Yours.” I clung to him, needing an anchor to survive the storm.
A few more ruthless pumps and he stilled, my name on his lips as he spilled inside me, the warmth of it leaking out around his cock.
Boneless and sated, I relaxed in his hold, only vaguely aware that his softening length was still buried deep as sleep beckoned.
Warm lips pressed against my shoulder was the last thing I remembered before this nightmare of a day was finally over.