Chapter 29 – Amanda
The computer screen flickered. I jerked upright in bed, reaching to make sure the cord was in the side.
It was. I refreshed my inbox. Still, there was no explanation from my job.
The HR department at the law firm hadn’t reached out.
Neither was there any correspondence from the senior attorney.
St. Just said he would try to fix it, but I wasn’t going back to work tomorrow morning. I was officially unemployed.
And that wasn’t the worst thing that happened to me this weekend.
With a beep, the lights turned off. Every single one.
The pixelated glow of the screen cast an eerie blue shade over the space.
Heart in my throat, I shut the laptop, plunging the room into darkness. This wasn’t my teenage bedroom. That house had been sold a couple of years ago. But I was familiar enough with this space from the times I stayed here that I crept to the window without bumping into anything.
The neighbors’ houses were still lit.
“You monster.” I shook my head and stepped back.
Anticipation coursed through my veins, and my nipples hardened in response. I shoved my hands through my hair, tugging at the strands. I was freaking Pavlov’s dog. Vincenzo played these twisted games, and my stupid body responded with an embarrassing eagerness.
Why the hell didn’t he just come over like a normal person to interact with me? I ruffled my hair and then dropped my hands. Straightening my shoulders only made the sleeper shirt brush over my breasts, which were far too sensitive.
“It had better be you,” I hissed, facing the partially open door.
It was entirely possible that my father had other enemies who’d be brave enough to break into his house. But my money was on a particular mobster of Italian heritage.
That left me with few options on how to deal with this.
Why didn’t I have pepper spray? If it was someone else, a gun might be handy, but…. I rubbed my chest. I didn’t want to hurt Vincenzo. Not like that. Whatever he’d done, I didn’t hate him. Not enough to wish him dead.
Despising the feeling of being at a disadvantage, I crept to the door. He probably used the blackout to sneak into the house. I was almost positive that the alarm system was linked to a battery for backup.
I listened. No beep. No sound of the door being forced.
The hallway was quiet, as was the foyer below.
I can hide somewhere. Crap. Why didn’t I have a spot picked out for that? “Because normal people don’t have hiding spots for when a monster in a mask comes over.”
At the thought of him wearing a mask, my nipples tightened to painful nubs.
“I’m not enjoying this,” I told myself firmly. That was not excitement sparking in my veins.
This would not be a repeat of the sauna.
Stopping at the top of the landing, I called out, “I’m not running this time, Vincenzo. This isn’t funny!”
“Who’s laughing?” The words were right there. Hot breath skating down the side of my throat.
I jumped—and would have fallen down the steps.
If those hard fingers didn’t wrap around my wrist.
He wasn’t even in the garage where the breaker box was. He was right here. He’d probably been watching me through the door as I worked. Prickles broke over my skin, and a shiver slid down my spine.
“You should be sleeping,” he growled, tugging me against his body. “It’s late.”
“You’re not,” I pointed out. “No, you’d rather just creep through the dark and break into people’s houses—”
“Enough.” He crushed his mouth to mine.
My teeth found his lip, and I bit.
Forcefully.
A feral, ragged sound rumbled in his chest. He only kissed me harder.
I was breathless. I tried to push him away, but my fingers curled around the cotton of his shirt.
The moment I tasted copper, though, I reared back, spluttering.
Maybe spitting a little. Vincenzo swallowed thickly, taking my kiss and his blood down his throat.
My pussy clenched. “Why are you even here?”
“I’ve missed you.” His thumb swiped a bead of blood off his lip. “I couldn’t stay away.”
I was not cracking under those words. I wasn’t caving! “You’re delusional.”
His chuckle was dark. Humorless. Frightening. “I like being around you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t like you.” I had to say it. I had to put it out there, or else it was quite possible that it wouldn’t be true. “I don’t even know you!”
Vincenzo surged forward with a growl. His fingers wrapped around my throat, and he partially lifted me off the ground, his body forcing me back. My feet scrambled for purchase, but a second later, I was bent over the top banister.
“Since you think I’m a monster.”
I gasped.
“Yes,” he snarled. “I heard that. Let me show you what monsters do.”
With his other hand, he tugged the soft sleeper shirt down my shoulder, ripping it at the neckline. The material scraped against my nipples. I would have moaned if there was enough air. As it was, the little I had was trying not to scream as the wood rail dug into my spine.
The moment my chest was bare, Vincenzo cupped one of my breasts. He roughly kneaded the flesh, letting up on the pressure around my throat at intervals to allow me to breathe. Control—iron, dominating control. He had it. He was in charge.
The mixture of pressure from his hands was intoxicating.
Pleasure thrummed through me as spots danced across my vision.
Vincenzo bent over me, forcing me to lean further off the edge. “I’m going to remind you what it means to be mine. How good we are together.”
His fingers let up, and I scrambled to hold onto his arm, so I didn’t fall back.
“Don’t,” I choked. “I don’t want to remember.”
“Yes, you do.” His lips skated along my jaw. “I wanted to give you space, but it seems you’re actively working against that. So here I am. You played your cards. You showed up in my city; I’m not going to let you escape.”
He spoke with certainty. As if I’d summoned him.
Had I?
No. He’d been the one lurking in the shadows. Haunting me, following me. I didn’t even know he was around. I couldn’t be the one who initiated this.
I tried to shove his arm, but he held my throat more firmly.
My pussy clenched in response as the oxygen was cut off.
Grabbing my sweatpants, Vincenzo tugged them off. He used his knee to push them further, stepping on the crotch seam to remove them completely. Lifting me, he turned me onto my stomach.
The railing hurt.
But not enough to distract me from the sudden loss of his touch around my neck. I gasped and jerked as the dizzying sight of the dark foyer, the inky, bottomless pool of shadows, swam before me.
With his hand around my hips, he took some of the weight, which only pushed me further over the banister. Before I could scream, his hand slid between my legs. “Look at that. You knew I was coming for you. This pretty, bare pussy is soaked.”
“I did not,” I grumped, holding very still.
Two thick fingers scissored against my clit, pinching and tugging. “Your body is ready for me, fiore.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snapped. “I hate flowers.”
A dangerous chuckle hummed against my skin. “No, you don’t.”
My protest was cut short as he swatted the swollen bundle of nerves. My clit ached for more, but I would be damned if I told him that.
Vincenzo slid a finger inside me.
Everything else vanished. I bit back a moan at the feeling of him. I didn’t like this.
Yet at the same time, I wanted more. One finger wasn’t enough.
He curled it deep inside, making me arch up. I gripped the banister tight and bent like it was a gymnastics bar.
“Bellissima,” he murmured and pressed a second finger inside.
Those fingers worked in and out of me, thrusting with a relentless pace.
“You say that you don’t want to be mine, but then why are you fucking yourself on my fingers?” he taunted. “Look how greedy you are. Look how badly you want to come.”
It’s my traitorous body! I wanted to scream at him. But I couldn’t find the power I needed to form the words. There was no force on earth strong enough to make me hate this.
“What if I don’t let you come?” He slid his fingers out of me, resting them against my clit. Not moving, just touching. I rocked into him, trying desperately to find some friction. “No, no, little one, that’s not how we do things.”
I let out a strangled groan of frustration. I wanted him, and the bastard knew it. The noise whistled through my clenched teeth.
Vincenzo slapped my pussy. A sweet sting shivered over the bare skin.
“The sooner you understand that I am in charge, the sooner you can come.”
Desperation made me sob. Yes…yes, he was. Always able to make me melt.
I was weak for this man. Desperate with want.
Vincenzo let go, and for a second, I thought I was going to fall forward. But that strong arm was there, wrapping around my waist to catch me. He tugged me back, holding me flush against his body.
Mine wailed with want.
Carrying me as though I weighed nothing, he walked across the hall, kicked into the bedroom, and dropped me onto the mattress.
Before I could scramble away, he caught me, ripping the tee off my body, and shoved me back into the comforter.
He pinned my body with ease. I twisted my neck so the bedding didn’t smother me.
His hand cracked across my ass, sharp and stinging. The contact reverberated through my pussy.
“Enzo!” I shrieked, struggling hard. I was no match for his hold.
The next slap made my insides clench. Heat spread between my legs, and I felt the moisture trickle down my thighs.
“That’s it, fiore.” He reached to rub my aching pussy. “Mmm, you feel so good. I wonder how you taste?”
My core squeezed.
The monster bent and—
His teeth sank into my ass.
He bit me. Bit!
I yelped, thrashing and wriggling, but it was no use. He bit the other side. I could’ve sworn he laughed, but I was making too much noise.
Vincenzo was playing rough. Exactly what I needed.
When his fingers reached to stroke my pussy, I sobbed.
It was cathartic. Yes, he was rough, but he wouldn’t break me.
I was safe with him. A ridiculous thing to say, given that he’d broken in here, plus the numerous other things he’d done to me. But I was. It was as simple as that.
As my breathing evened, he pulled his fingers out. Splaying a firm hand across my lower back, he held me in place. The click of a belt was followed by the rip of a zipper.
I wanted him, more than anything. And if he held back, if he left without delivering on the promise of release, I might die.
Before I could sort out the tangle of thoughts, his palm cracked across my ass again. Back and forth, each cheek burned while the other stung. I choked on a whimper, my drenched pussy rubbing against the mattress, but not enough to give me any kind of relief.
His voice pulsed through the dark. “Admit it, you’re desperate.”
I wasn’t going to tell him that. But there was one thing I did want to know.
“What’s the safe word?” I choked.
That dark laugh was smoky. Sinful. “You don’t need a safe word.”
Looking back at him, I hoped he saw the glare. “You sure about that?”
A shaft of light from the window cut across his face. No mask, but the monster didn’t need it. He was savagely handsome, towering over me.
“I am.” He gazed down at me, intensity blazing in those dark eyes. “Your body knows me, and it’s going to take everything I give it.”
Those fingers gripped my hips. With a tug, Vincenzo tipped them up. I stared at him as he fitted the tip of his cock against my entrance. It was thick and hard.
“Mine,” he growled and shoved.
I moaned in pleasure as he stretched me. Filled me. Pleasure sizzled through me. The sting, the sensation of being so full, felt amazing. The sight behind me was the other half of the experience. Watching the flex of his jaw, the glint in his eyes.
There was no teasing, no time to adjust. Vincenzo took me fast and with a raw desperation.
“Harder,” I panted.
That made the beast smirk.
It was breathtaking to see him hanging on by a thread.
Vincenzo reached around and tugged on my clit. I squirmed, bliss shooting through every part of me, far and near.
We were both breathing hard, racing to the edge. Together. My muscles tightened around his cock, and he thrust into me without mercy.
“Fucking come for me, Mandy,” he rasped, words shards.
I did.
With a cry, I tumbled into the abyss. A violent surge of pleasure washed over me, wave after beautiful wave.
His own release followed in a blink. Vincenzo bellowed, snapping his hips hard and holding me tight as he spilled into me.
I shuddered as I took everything.
Bending over, he brushed back my hair.
“I came to take back everything that was stolen,” he growled against my ear. “You’re the final piece, fiore. The crown jewel. The center of it all.”
For a moment, I allowed myself to bask in the shimmer of energy, enjoying what it meant to be the center of this black empire of sin.
“You’re going to give yourself to me. Every piece of you.”
I’d done that once before. Memory slammed into me.
“No, I can’t—” It hurts too badly!
“You can, and you will.”
He didn’t know how it nearly killed me. How being in love with him destroyed a part of me that I trusted him to care for. I swore I would never let another human have that again. And it protected me thus far.
Now, I was truly in danger of my soul being resurrected once more. And if this man took me—all of me: mind, body, heart, and soul—I was never going to survive.
That was why we couldn’t be together. The real reason.
But if I had to use some other excuse, then so be it.
Moving back, Vincenzo pulled out of me. A hot mess slid down my thighs. But he returned in a moment with something warm and wet. A cloth. He cleaned the mess.
I lay in a limp heap. It felt so good, I couldn’t bring myself to hate him. To fight this. Later. There was always later to insist that this wasn’t happening. We weren’t together, and if he filed the marriage, I was going to serve him a divorce.
Turning and lifting me, Vincenzo brought me back to the top of the bed. He lowered me onto the mattress. The covers draped over my body, and with one more caress of his hand over my hair, he left.
“Sleep now, fiore,” his voice whispered from the dark. But I was already falling again. This time into the embrace of a dream. One where he stayed—one that would never be more than a sleepy wish.