Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Marchello
The small plastic stick on the counter felt like a live grenade, ticking down the seconds to an explosion I couldn’t predict. My chest tightened, and a swirl of panic and something almost like hope clawed at me. A baby wasn’t just life-changing—it was life-defining.
My mother being killed when she was pregnant triggered a whole new set of fears when it came to keeping Lissia safe. I wasn’t prepared for a baby. My business didn’t allow me the luxury of becoming a father. Not with all of the threats surrounding us.
I glanced at the test. Regret dominated my emotions, but the heaviness in my soul wasn’t meant for me.
“It’s negative,” I said.
“It is?”
When I showed Lissia the test, she nodded and looked away. I placed it back on the counter and hugged her. She held me back with such need.
I would always be there for her. No matter how crazy she made me, I would never abandon her.
“It’s going to be okay.” I rubbed her back. “We’re going to be okay.”
“It wasn’t meant to be,” she said.
“That doesn’t mean that will always be true.”
“I suppose.”
“You’re disappointed.”
“You’re not.”
Her tears came quietly, but the way her body shook in my arms told me everything. This wasn’t the woman who threw cookies at my head or stared down my enemies with defiance. This was someone raw, stripped of her armor, and she was trusting me to protect her in a way I wasn’t sure I could.
“Listen to me.” I kissed her. “I have to tell you something, and I need you to hear it.”
She wiped her cheeks as more tears fell. Seeing her in so much agony shattered my heart. My mission in life was to give her anything she desired.
The words caught in my throat. I wasn’t ready to say them, but the thought of her believing otherwise twisted something deep inside me.
“I want to have babies with you,” I said finally, the truth leaving me exposed. “Lots of them.”
“You do?” Her gasp was soft, but it echoed louder than any gunshot.
“Are you kidding?” I placed my hand on her stomach. “I can’t wait to fill this belly with my heirs. I want to see you grow our children inside you while we protect them and love them.”
“I didn’t know how much I wanted to have a baby with you until you told me that test was negative.” She sobbed. “I want to have your babies.”
“You will when the time is right.” I kissed her salty tears away. “I promise.”
“I don’t have to go back on birth control?”
“Not if you don’t want to.” I would give her a baby if that was what she wanted, despite my worst fears. Hell, I would give her anything. “But I don’t want you to stress over this. It will happen when it happens.”
“I won’t.” She curled up in a ball on the floor and rested her head in my lap. “I really thought the test was going to be positive.”
Even though the test was negative, the weight in my chest remained. The memory of my mother’s laughter—so full of life before it was stolen from her—haunted me. I’d been a boy, powerless to stop it. Now I was a man, and the thought of watching Lissia suffer the same fate left me paralyzed.
But as she rested her head in my lap, tears streaming silently, I realized something: my fear couldn’t dictate our future.
“Why did you think you were pregnant? You haven’t been off your birth control that long.”
“But we do have a lot of sex.”
“That’s true.”
“I’ve been feeling so off. My stomach has been queasy, I’m hormonal… I haven’t been me.” She rolled onto her back and stared up at me. “I haven’t gone shopping in days.”
I tried to conceal a smile, but as usual around her, I failed.
“I’m serious,” she said.
“I know you are.” I stroked her hair. “You haven’t been yourself because too much has been going on lately. It’s understandable that you’re not yourself.”
“You’ve been with me every step of the way. Through my tantrums and my uncertainties.”
“Where else would I be?”
She was certainly herself when she stepped between me and Collins tonight, and she didn’t miss a beat when she challenged me about going to Miami. I’d say she was more like herself than ever.
“You really want to have kids with me?” she asked.
I thought about my answer for a few seconds. Despite my torment over what had happened to my mother, I couldn’t let that stop me from living my life. I had already overcome so much by falling in love with Lissia. I wanted everything that came with that love.
“I want it all.” I traced my fingers along her lips. “A full and happy life with you.”
“What if we have a girl and she turns out like me?”
“I’d be very lucky.”
She crawled into my lap and straddled me. “You mean that, don’t you?”
“Call me crazy, but I do.”
“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“I’m absurdly in love with you.” I tangled my fingers in her hair and kissed her throat, breathing in her strawberry-scented skin.
“You’ve come a long way.” She ran her hand over my shoulder and down my chest. “You’re still that sexy, scary mob boss, but I see your softer side.”
“Don’t tell anyone.” I trailed my lips down her neck as I lowered the zipper on the back of her dress. “I have a reputation to protect.”
“My lips are sealed.” She unbuckled my belt, and I pushed her dress to her hips.
“You have the sexiest tits I’ve ever seen.” I leaned back against the wall, taking in her bare breasts. I traced one of her nipples. “It makes me so hard when we go out and you tease me by not wearing a bra.”
“Who says I do that for you?” She bit the corner of her lip. “Maybe I like the way it feels.”
“You like the way it makes me feel.”
“Hard and ready?” She slid her hand inside my pants and wrapped her fingers around my cock. “Like right now?”
“I’m always ready for you.” I touched her cheek. “Do you want to do it right here on the bathroom floor?”
“I don’t care where we do it as long as we’re together.” She ran her hand along my shaft. “Being with you is what I need. You center me. You make me feel safe and wanted. No matter what has happened these past few weeks, I know when I’m with you, nothing can hurt me.”
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”
She pumped me in her firm grip. Back and forth, faster and tighter.
Fuck … I closed my eyes and let her take control. Something I didn’t do often, but tonight she needed to feel the power.
Without releasing me, she brushed her lips across my mouth, licking the seam of my lips with the tip of her tongue. I twisted my fingers in her hair, yanking her thick mane as we kissed one another with desperate need.
In my free hand, I cupped her breast and palmed it in time with the quick motion of her wrist inside my pants. The cold tile didn’t feel as frigid as it had when we first came into the room.
Our quick pants turned into low, feral moans.
“I’m going to come in your hand.” I sucked on her bottom lip. “But I know where I’d rather unleash on you.”
“Where?”
“Do you want to hear me talk dirty?”
“You know what your filthy mouth does to me,” she whispered into my ear. “Where do you want to come?”
“Deep inside your soaking wet pussy.”
She released me, leaving me swollen and aching for her. She tugged my pants and boxers down my thighs before standing in front of me.
“Take your pants off,” she said.
“Are you telling me what to do?”
“Do you like it?” She stepped out of her dress. “If you say yes, I’ll take my panties off.”
“They’re coming off whether I say yes or not.”
“Marchello…” She slipped her hand inside her panties and rubbed herself, throwing her head back and licking her lips.
I took my pants off but didn’t let my gaze leave the goddess pleasuring herself in front of me.
“I’m so wet for you.” She peeked at me through hooded eyes. “You didn’t answer my question. Do you like it when I’m in control?”
She shimmied her panties down but stopped before revealing all of her sex. I almost came just staring at her smooth mound.
“No.” I grabbed her hand and brought her fingers to my lips to lick her arousal from them. “That response cannot shock you.”
“It doesn’t.” She pushed her panties down the rest of the way, holding onto my shoulder as she stepped out of them. “But I like telling you what to do.”
“Don’t get used to it.” I guided her center to my face, breathing in her erotic scent. I rested my hand on her ass as I turned my head and kissed her slit.
“Ah…” She ran her fingers through my hair as I licked her. “That feels so good.”
Tasting her was the ultimate pleasure. Making her quiver and moan drove me insane with desire.
I squeezed her backside as I tongue-fucked her. She spread her legs, granting me full access to her clit. I licked and sucked, kissed and fucked until she exploded into my mouth.
Her screams echoed off the walls. If any of my guys came storming in to check on us, I swore to God, I would shoot them with no regrets.
Without hesitation, she lowered herself onto my cock, taking the lead again. I could relinquish this small bit of control if it helped her get through whatever was going on.
“Hell.” I breathed out when I was completely inside her. “Set the pace, princess. Fuck me.”
I pressed my hand against her back and grasped her hip in my other.
“I can do that.” She braced herself against my shoulders and lifted her hips, riding me slowly and deliberately. Arching her back, she heaved her breasts toward me and gazed into my eyes.
“You’re amazing.” I caressed her breasts with my mouth and blew on her nipples.
She clenched around me as she kept up her slow, steady tempo, taking her time loving me. This encounter was so far from our usual forceful and hurried rhythm, but it was no less intense. The connection between us grew stronger every day, but moments like this defined who we were.
We could be harsh and brutal. There were times when I wanted to kill her, but that wasn’t who we were at the core. Deep down, neither of us could survive without the other. We were one. We always would be.
“You get me,” she whispered.
“I was just thinking that about you.” I took her face between my hands and pressed my lips to hers, kissing her long and patiently.
After a few seconds, she rocked her hips, lifting up and sliding back down faster. Her body strained against mine as she contracted around my dick.
It was time to unleash. I grasped her waist in my unforgiving hold and thrust upward, changing the dynamic between us. She crushed her hands against the wall while I plowed into her, moving her rigorously but still keeping her close so I could feel her need.
“Marchello…” She let out a long, slow breath.
I lost myself in her beauty and released inside her, filling her with everything I had. Pushing my lips against hers, I kissed her fiercely, claiming her as mine.
Our wild hearts strummed against one another, bringing us even closer.
“I feel better.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “You always make me feel better.”
“I’m always going to be here.”
“Not when you’re in Miami,” she whispered.
“You can’t help yourself.” I shook my head. “Why can’t you control yourself?”
“I’m not trying to ruin the moment.” She sat up and smiled. “I’m just going to miss you. But I have your credit card, so I’ll be fine.”
“There’s my spoiled brat.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “How about a hot shower before bed?”
“Can we have sex again?”
“I think that’s a safe bet.” I gave her my hand and helped her off the floor.
Once I got up, I gently kissed her before turning on the faucet. Water flowed from the showerheads on the sides of the walls, and the overhead one rained down a warm stream. I guided Lissia into the center of the stall.
The slick heat of her body pressed against mine and the rhythmic thrum of the shower filling the air made the rest of the world fall away. For a moment, there was no Miami, no Collins—only us.
“I love how big this shower is.” She rested her arms over my shoulders. “There’s enough space for six people.”
“We don’t need six people.” I draped my arms around her waist. “Just us.”
“I love living here,” she said. “I like having Milo around.”
“He likes having you around.”
“When your dad gets back, we’ll be one big, happy family.” She giggled. “I can’t wait to drive him as crazy as I drive you and Milo.”
“He’s a much harder target.” I kissed the side of her neck as the hot water flowed over us. “But I have to admit, you’ve already gotten to him.”
Once my father was home, we could regroup and get our business back on track. All of us under one roof, living like a true family, was exactly what we needed.
Lissia circled her fingers along the back of my neck as she stared over my shoulder. Her sudden quietness unsettled me.
“What is it?” I held her face, bringing her attention back to me.
“Nothing.”
“You’re thinking about Miami.”
“Maybe just a little.” She held up her hand. “But not because I’m plotting or trying to undermine you.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“I know you so much better than you think.” I pushed the wet hair from her face. “I know when you’re scheming or when you’re demanding you get your way.”
“I said?—”
“Shh…” I brushed my fingers along her lips. “I also know when you’re trying.”
Her vulnerable state weighed heavily on me. She wasn’t exactly the needy type, but she was trying to get her message across. She didn’t want me to go without her because she belonged to me, and she wanted me to know that. How could I deny her?
“I’ve given Miami some thought.”
“And?”
“I’ve decided you should come with me.”
“What?” She launched herself into my arms, latching her legs around my waist. “I knew you would come around. I mean, I hoped that you would come around.”
“Hmm…”
“You won’t regret this.”
“I doubt that.” I leaned her against the wall. “But you do tend to keep things interesting.”
“We’re stronger together.”
Her smile lit up the shower like sunlight through storm clouds, but I couldn’t shake the shadow of dread curling in my chest. Miami wasn’t just dangerous, it was personal. The ghosts there weren’t easily laid to rest, and bringing her into that battlefield felt like playing with fate.
She ran her fingers through my hair as she tilted her head and brought her lips to mine. The slow and long connection rocked me to my core. Her breath radiated life into me.
There was a time when I would have dragged her to the house and locked her in a room, all in the name of keeping her safe. Now, as I held her in my arms, I realized that the only way to protect her was to let her stand beside me.
I have to keep her breathing.