50. Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Forty-Nine
Luca
Dropping out of civilization is always a dangerous plan. While it takes us out of the eye of our enemies, it opens us up individually since we have no backup. And I have been growing anxious over the past few days as I wait for the moment we are to strike.
It’s always dangerous to go after a government entity. We are lucky in this instance, however. These are rogue agents who are acting out of loyalty to people who were clawing their way to power. No one will miss them when they are gone. In fact, they will likely help with the cover-up to keep out of the public eye how deep the corruption goes.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when I hear the glass door opening. Elise and Enzo step into the backyard, smiling as they converse. I shift my attention to Elise. Things between us have settled for the most part. It’s like the situation with Alexander forced us into a reset. She’s even gone as far as asking about my past. If not for the circumstances of us being here, it would feel almost normal.
I hate that I have to leave her. I hate that there’s a possibility that I won’t be coming back from this. But I can’t tell her that. Not when she’s still having nightmares and holding cryptic conversations about her future with me.
I look away from her to the blueprints supplied by my newest man, Wyatt. I’ve been coming up with a plan to take these agents out so that when we get into contact again, it will be to relay the information and meet up. It’s given me little time to spend with Elise. But once this is all over and things go back to normal, I will be able to spend all the time I like with her. I will be able to focus on more than just protecting my family. I can focus on building it.
I laugh to myself as the thought crosses my mind. I never thought I would grow to feel this way about Elise. I was angry with my father for arranging this marriage and resentful of her existence. The resentment grew when I discovered her father’s betrayal, but hearing him say the things he did to her in his final moments, watching her scream and cry as she realized she was alone in this world, made me feel something for her I never thought I was capable of feeling.
Pity.
I wanted to be her protector from that moment on. And I always will be. It is my driving motivator at this moment. I can’t imagine anything happening to her because I let my guard down. That’s already happened once; now she’s teetering on the edge of sanity. I won’t let it happen again. I won’t let her become like either of our mothers. That part of history repeating itself will stop with me.
My attention shifts back to the blueprints. To ensure that happens, this will require all of my focus. I can’t let anything distract me, not even the sight of my wife looking happy for once.
When I finally emerge from my office, the sun has set. The house is quiet, and I find Enzo in the living room, reading a book. He looks up when he hears me, standing.
I motion for him to take a seat, sitting in the chair adjacent to him.
“How is she settling?” I ask.
He thinks for a moment, closing the book.
“She’s good. I think the fresh air and quiet are good for her,” he says.
I nod.
“I’ll be leaving in a few days. And I don’t know if I’ll be back. My bringing you into my family was ill-intended at first. But I see how much you and Elise care for one another. If I don’t come back, I’m trusting you to take care of her. There is a file on my computer that she will have access to that will tell her everything she needs to know. Show it to her if I don’t return,” I say.
Enzo’s eyes widen as he sets the book down.
“Can you not take me with you? I can be a big help, I know I can—”
I shake my head.
“This, being here, is more important. I’m trusting you with her life, Enzo,” I say. “Do what your father failed to do—to protect his blood.”
He nods slowly, lowering his eyes as he finds the strength to speak.
“In case you don’t come back…Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, regardless of who my father was. I would probably be dead in the gutter by now if you hadn’t stepped in. And now, I have more love in my life than I ever did before. So thank you,” he says.
I laugh, standing. He and Elise are so similar. Eli would be livid to see how gentle his son turned out. And how much he loves the sister who was supposed to die for his reign.
“You’re family, Enzo. We protect our own,” I say.
Enzo nods, and I make my way out of the living room in search of Elise. Tomorrow, I will contact Romelo and Nicolai again. And from there, the plan will be put into motion. We’ll have a small window to get together and execute it before eyes are on us again. And when that moment comes, I will have to leave her, possibly forever. So tonight, I’m going to enjoy my wife, as if nothing is going to tear us apart.
As I reach the top of the stairs, I call to her.
“Elise?” I call out.
I make my way into the bedroom when there is no response, and I note that the bathroom door is cracked. I open my mouth, about to call to her again, when I hear a soft melody coming from the bathroom.
I move quietly across the room, desperate to hear more of that sound. It’s soft and delicate, and the echo of the bathroom makes it sound even more ethereal as I approach. The closer I get, the more I realize that it’s humming. And I recognize the song instantly. It’s the song she was playing the first time I ever met her in person.
Her soft breaths in between cause chills to form over my arms as I take in the lovely melody pouring from her lips. I never knew Elise could sing. Her talents in the past made me feel threatened. I felt that they existed purely to pull me in—that they were honed by her father to lull me deeper into the beauty and grace of his daughter, only to strike when I wasn’t expecting it. As a result, I never bothered trying to figure out what else she could do.
Irritation at myself grows as I think of how many things I don’t know about Elise because I kept her at an arm’s length. I am desperate to learn more and have no time to do it.
I quietly push the cracked door open a little wider to see her sitting in the tub, her eyes closed as she leans back, humming the song.
The heat from the water causes her skin to flush across her cheeks, shoulders, and on top of her breasts, which are barely visible above the water. Blood instantly rushes to my cock, and my pants feel uncomfortably tight as I take her in. I am lost in the haze she created just by existing as I open the door wider, pulling her attention. She looks at me wide-eyed, sitting up slightly in the tub.
“Luca—ah!”
I’m in the water with her before she can finish her sentence, the sound of it splattering covering up her shocked moan as my lips cover hers. Her lips are soft, and she instantly melts into me as my hands roam over her body, feeling every curve before settling on her breasts.
My thumb rubs her nipple gently, and she shudders against me as she pulls in a sharp breath, her skin beading beneath my touch.
She’s always been so responsive to my touch, and this time is no different as I lower my other hand between her legs. I push my tongue into her mouth, tangling it with her own, and the heat from the water intensifies the strain of my cock against my pants as the ache slowly shifts to a throb when I feel her wet between her folds.
She releases a moan as I brush against her clit, rubbing rhythmically as I know to do. Her legs shift higher in the tub, spreading slightly as I slip a finger inside of her.
“Ah!” she moans, her inner walls spasming around my finger. I slowly pull it out, adding another when I push back in, and her hands fly from the water, gripping my shoulders as she moans.
My fingers pump rhythmically in and out of her, forcing her moans to echo off the walls. I feel her tightening around me, her cries shifting to pants as she grows closer to her release. And just when I know she is about to go over, I pull out of her.
I bite back my laugh at the flustered groan that escapes her lips, but I have her out of the water before she can complain any further. I don’t care that my clothes are wet as I move us to the wall, holding her against it. As her legs wrap around my waist, the heat from her sex rubs against my cock behind the fabric, and I can’t take it anymore.
I quickly free myself from the irritating restraints of my clothes, thrusting into her. I almost cum immediately as her inner walls grip me so tight, slick with her arousal and even hotter from the heat of the bath. I groan, my lips finding her throat as I pull out, thrusting back in to jar her against the wall.
She moans, her fingers finding the hem of my shirt as she drags it over my head, tossing it to the side. I immediately find her throat again, pulling her flesh between my teeth as I thrust. Each thrust is accompanied by her moans and the deep dig of her nails into my back. It sends waves of heat through me, intensifying my pleasure. Her heels dig into my lower back as my thrusts grow more fervent, and I feel myself growing close.
But Elise tenses in my arms, her inner walls spasming around me. The consistent pulse is so intense that it forces me to go over the edge along with her. My cock throbs in pleasure, as I release inside of her, burying myself deep as my groans mingle with her cries of pleasure.
And as her body grows limp in my arms, and I pull away, looking at the flush of her skin, and the soft glaze of pleasure in her eyes, my arousal once again comes at me full force as I lift her off the wall to carry her to the bedroom.
I gently lower her onto the bed, enjoying how her eyes search my face, as she reaches up to push my hair away. Her touch is soft and hesitant. But she does it anyway. And as I thrust her mouth opens in pleasure, he eyes fluttering as she moans.
“I fucking love you,” I murmur.
I lower my lips to hers before she can respond, so that I can spend one last night of bliss with my wife.
“There are eight agents total if you count the two that run it. The two in charge are hardly in one place. It will be easy to infiltrate since it is off-grid, but getting to the guy in charge will be the difficult part,” Romelo says.
“It needs to be a small team, then—just the three of us. I don’t just want them dead. I want to fuck them over before I do it. I want all the information possible,” I say.
Romelo, Nicolai, and I have been on a call for the past hour to plan and execute our remaining enemies. Chatter has been quiet involving the Pasquino family, and the surrounding threats have lowered as a result. Once we pull this off, no one will dare touch our name again. Everyone will understand that my inheriting my father’s position prematurely was never an opportunity for them to screw us.
Once we put this plan in motion, it’s going to be a bitch to execute. Time is a luxury we do not have. Hiding means not being able to do business. With each passing day, I’m losing money.
“So we kill this guy, then what? Our lives suddenly go back to normal?” Nicolai asks.
“More or less. These people have been working under the table with Ariana and her husband. They’ll cover up their existence rather than let the truth out. And we’ll have them by the balls because of it,” I say.
“How soon?” Romelo asks.
I shift my attention to the window as Elise walks past. She’s glowing—her skin, hair, and even her cheeks have a soft glow to them. We spent most of the night making love, and I can still feel her in my arms as if we never stopped.
“I’ll be on the first flight out tonight,” I say.
“See you then, Boss.”
Just as I hang up, I notice Elise standing in the doorway. She’s watching me hesitantly, as if she were caught doing something she shouldn’t be. And I am sure it has something to do with our conversation.
“You’re leaving,” she says. Her tone indicates it isn’t a question. But I nod anyway, standing.
“It’s time. You and Enzo will be safe here. No one knows about this place. Not even Romelo or Nicolai,” I say.
Elise looks out the window, gathering her thoughts before speaking again.
“So…you might not be coming back?” she asks.
I close the distance between us, pulling her into my arms as I answer.
“I’ll come back, Elise,” I say.
Her eyes search my face, and I can see that she is fighting tears. It’s a bitter irony that she feels this way now. All this time we wasted going against one another when this could have been our reality from the beginning. But we hated each other in the beginning without knowing who our real enemies were. Their showing their faces has forced us to see that all we truly have is one another. And just when we’ve grown comfortable with that information, the possibility of us being separated forever looms.
I lower my hand to the hem of her shirt, slowly lifting it to find my name etched into her flesh. I trace it lightly, my mind flashing to that day. So much has changed since then. Especially now that she stands before me with tears in her eyes at the possibility of my death. I can count on my fingers the many times she tried to kill me herself. It’s like I said, it’s ironic.
I place my hand against her jaw, pulling her in for a kiss. Her lips are soft against mine, her body flush against me. I reach around her waist, my tongue tracing her bottom lip as I deepen the kiss. When I finally pull away, her breathing is deep, and tears roll down her cheeks.
I laugh, using my thumb to wipe her tears away, before running it along her bottom lip.
“How did I ever get so lucky?” I murmur.
She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth before pulling me into a tight embrace.
“You have to come back,” she murmurs.
I don’t fight the shock on my face as she squeezes me. My arms slowly wrap around her, holding her tight as I lower my cheek to the top of her head, enjoying her warmth for as long as possible.
“I will. I swear.”