Chapter Four
Much to Beth’s surprise, Rome didn’t linger after breakfast. He ate his food, told her she could have the run of the house, and if she needed anything, to just speak to a member of his staff. After that, he kissed her lips and left.
Clearly, the man had business to attend to for the rest of the day. At first, she didn’t have a clue what to do, so she kept her ass firmly in the chair at breakfast. One of his staff brought her coffee, which was so good Beth had to wonder if they had their own little coffee shop attached to the house.
This wasn’t her house or some kind of museum. It didn’t seem right for her to go exploring his home. She wasn’t his girlfriend, and this wasn’t going to be her home. However, she also didn’t want to upset his staff by grabbing a uniform and starting to work.
She loved to clean, and as much as she would love to do it now, she forced herself to get out of her chair, leave the dining room, and seeing as the rain had subsided, she decided to head outside. Before leaving his house, she grabbed a jacket, then wrapped the blanket around her for comfort. She stepped outside and made her way across the main porch, heading toward the luxurious-looking lawn. She stepped onto it and felt the damp earth beneath her feet.
She hadn’t bothered to wear any shoes or even socks. The cold, wet ground felt so good beneath her feet, and she didn’t feel the need to go inside and grab anything. There was no reason to be at one with nature if you were going to put a barrier between yourself and the earth.
Living in the city, it was impossible to go anywhere without something on her feet. This was a luxury she hadn’t felt in a long time. The apartment she shared with her brother was the only place she could go barefoot.
She didn’t even know why she was thinking about the possibilities of bare feet, and the earth. Ever since she was a little girl, she loved playing outside, and just being near the ground. That never changed as she got older.
Walking across the lawn, she was aware of one of Rome’s guards following her, but she ignored him and took in the beautiful scenery that surrounded her. Everything was so pristine and even the flowers, after a good rainfall, seemed to be brighter and more luminous. She stopped at a red rosebush, leaned in to one of the full flowers, and inhaled deeply. It smelled so good.
She closed her eyes and then walked down a small path that had flat stones, leading toward a gazebo with a bench. Beth took a seat on the bench just as the soldier came closer, and when he realized she was seated, he stopped.
“Why are you following me?” she asked.
“In case you try to escape.”
“I’m not going to do that,” Beth said. She made an agreement, and even though her brother was the biggest, giant pain in the ass, she wouldn’t allow him to be hurt. Even though it probably would teach him a lesson. He’d been a pain in the ass for as long as they left their parents, which wasn’t exactly thrilling to think about. It was very depressing.
Leaving their parents should have felt more liberating, but over the last five years, there had been multiple times she couldn’t stand the thought of being in the same room with him. Returning to the apartment after a long day at work to find beer cans and empty pizza boxes littering the floor. It looked like he’d not even bothered to open a curtain.
This would result in them arguing, to which he’d stumble out and then she’d clean up the mess. The following day, he’d return with an apology, seeming to see the error of his ways.
What horrible cycle had she gotten herself into?
Her own brother was treating her like crap, and like some kind of addict, she’d been taking it from him, as he was her family.
“Are you okay?” the guard asked.
She looked up and smiled. “Yeah, I’m fine. You know when you realize something sucks, like big time, yeah, I just got some serious clarity on a situation.” She blew out a breath. What sucked even more, she felt like she was going to need to ask Rome for advice, which had to be a terrible idea. Here she was, after giving her virginity to a man, and now she was considering … what? Asking him how she got her brother out of her life completely.
There had to be a way for her to get a fresh start at the end of this. Even if it was just asking for Rome’s help to grab her things, so when the month was over, they were done.
Ben hadn’t even called her. How insane was that? Twenty-four hours she spent with a stranger because of what he had done, and not a single phone call.
She didn’t like how her feelings about her brother were flooding her. Beth knew if she’d done something to him or caused this kind of trouble, she would do everything in her power to stop it, or be there for him, or be anything he needed. There was no way she would ignore him.
All that told her was … he didn’t care. Ben didn’t care what he’d done, and she had to wonder if he was even out looking for a job, taking care of himself, or just doing whatever the hell he wanted without a single care in the world.
She felt tears well up in her eyes, and she got to her feet. “Is it okay if I walk some more?”
“Yes, of course.”
Beth moved around the garden, and spent hours taking everything in. The guard told her when lunch was, to which she made her way back to the house only to find it was still empty. No sign of Rome anywhere.
She stayed in the movie room for the rest of the afternoon, and attempted to get lost in each storyline, but she’d never been a big movie lover. She enjoyed them, but now they were just stories, one floating into another without any substance.
After dinner, she thanked the chef and the staff for the food, and decided to retire to the bedroom. She needed to sleep and find some way to hide from the reality going on inside her brain, where she could have quite gladly hurt her brother for his lack of care for her.
Beth took a nice, long, hot shower, which only served to piss her off. At their shared apartment, she tried to be as quick as possible to make sure they both had hot water. Not her brother. She lost count of the number of times she’d taken a cold shower, and he’d laughed about it, like it was some joke. No consideration, no respect. Beth stayed in the shower, enjoying the warmth, washing away the day’s grime, and she hoped the bitterness building within her, because none of those emotions were good.
****
Later that night, Rome stepped into his home to find the guard he’d placed on Beth duty waiting for him. He got a brief rundown of everything she had done for the day, including her change of emotions.
He’d seen on his own security cameras that she’d spent most of the afternoon in front of the movie screen, which he had installed a few years ago. Also, he noted how bored she looked. According to the guard, she retired to her bedroom quite early, and he’d not seen her since.
With that, Rome dismissed him and made his way toward his office, where he went straight for a whiskey and poured himself a generous glass. Today had been a trying day. First, a meeting with one of his senior cops on his payroll. He’d been warned about a raid on one of his many bars.
He didn’t have a problem with that. They could raid as many of his bars as they liked; they were not going to find anything. He took great care to make sure both businesses didn’t mix, and if there were any drugs found on the property, they were dealt with swiftly as they were none of his products.
Rome liked to keep a clean house, especially at his bars and restaurants. Drugs were something he controlled, not what he dabbled in. He knew people were going to try to find what they shouldn’t, and there was no way for him to stop them, but he did control the people that made and supplied them. There was never any dirty product on the street, no risk of random men and women ODing or killing themselves by taking the drugs in his establishment.
From there, he had to be at the casino as they were dealing with an attempted counter, which was swift. Then he had some other legal business to take care of, including with a fellow businessman that wanted him to invest in his brothels, which he refused. Rome didn’t care to have stolen women used in brothels, or forced to do things they didn’t want to do. There were a lot of men and women who wanted to make money off their bodies, and ruining lives of innocent people was not the way to go. It kept the law off his back, as he was a good bad man.
He just knew what was good for business. Having a crying, sniveling woman trying to entertain men was not good for business. Instead, he used women who were happy to get a paycheck at the end of the night, and the men were more than happy and came back for seconds and more. That was good for business, and he supplied the security.
Then, he finished the night with finding Ben fucking Hunter in one of his casinos again, losing money faster than he was making it. His reasoning was he had Beth, so he could enjoy all the fun he wanted. Rome didn’t like that.
The man had no respect or regard for his sister, so he personally taught him a lesson. Ben was permanently banned from his casinos, and he was already reaching out to the smaller ones.
He didn’t know what Beth saw in her brother as the man was a complete tool who was more than happy to use his sister as leverage. He knew he shouldn’t care, but he did. Beth had done nothing wrong to her brother, and yet he treated her like that, which didn’t sit well with him.
He took a long swig of his whiskey, relishing the burn as it slid down his throat, and he released a sigh. The last thing he wanted to be doing was drinking alone.
There was a woman upstairs, and he wanted to see her. He’d already eaten out this evening, and now he made his way upstairs, feeling the anticipation flood him with every passing second. Arriving at his bedroom, he opened the door and stared into his room, to see the beautiful woman lying in bed.
He stepped inside and approached the bed, watching as she slept. She was facing the en-suite bathroom, curled up on her side, hands beneath her head. Some of her hair had spilled across her face. She looked so peaceful in sleep. Rome decided to leave her, as he made his way toward the bathroom, stripping out of his clothes.
His bruised and busted knuckles caught his attention. Clenching his hands into a fist, he tightened them, feeling the skin crack a little. He relished the pain as it was a reminder of how far he’d come.
He used to fight every night, working his way up to where he was now. Rome hadn’t known fear since he was a boy, when he had feared the slash of a belt, or a stick, or anything his old man could get his hands on.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, he stepped into the hot shower and allowed the day’s mess to wash away from his body. Lathering a sponge, he worked it over his body, all the time imagining Beth in this very shower just hours ago. He couldn’t believe he had missed that.
He finished cleaning his body and then started working on his hair. Once his hair was done, he turned off the shower, then stepped out. He dried himself and wrapped a towel around his waist before entering the bedroom, only to find Beth was sitting up in bed.
“You were asleep,” he said.
“I know, and then you came home.” She stretched out her body, and the oversized shirt she wore was suddenly pressed taunt, and he got to see her full, ripe tits, with the hard nipples pressing against the shirt. She looked stunning.
“Did you have a good day at work?” she asked.
He knew he should tell her to mind her own business, but he had a feeling she wasn’t asking him because of some strange desire to ruin him. She was asking him to be polite.
“Good and bad.”
She ran fingers through her hair, and he stepped toward the bed. Reaching out, he cupped her cheek, tilting her head back, and he stared into her eyes. They were so wide, and a shade of blue. He had blue eyes, but he knew they weren’t as bright as hers.
Without another word, he slammed his lips down on hers, silencing any protest, and he heard her moan as she gave in to him. Sliding his tongue across her lips, he plunged into her mouth and deepened the kiss. He pushed her back against the bed and followed her, climbing between her spread legs.
Resting one hand beside her head, he stroked down her body, grabbing the shirt she wore, and tearing it from her. He tossed it to the floor and then pressed his lips against her neck. He trailed his lips down her body, going to each full, ripe nipple, taking one, then the other between his teeth. She cried out, arching against him.
“That’s right, baby, enjoy it.” He moved to the other breast, teasing her hardened bud. He loved her tits, and knew he was never going to get enough of them. They were full and ripe, and ready to be sucked. His mouth watered for a taste. He could gladly spend all night sucking her nipples and full tits, but instead he began to slide down.
Kissing down her stomach, going toward her pussy, she wore a pair of panties. Tomorrow, she would have new clothes. He’d gotten the call earlier that they were not going to be able to make the delivery today. At first, he’d been pissed, but then, seeing as business had run over, he didn’t see a point in allowing it to anger him, as he wasn’t there to enjoy the experience.
When it came to Beth, he intended to enjoy every single moment.
He tore the panties right off her body, and he heard her sudden indrawn breath. Stroking his fingers through the fine hairs of her pussy, he spread the lips open. Her legs were already wide open to accommodate his body.
Rome slid his hands beneath her ass, lifted her up, and then began to lick and suck at her pussy. He started by focusing on her clit, sliding his tongue back and forth across the tight bud. Taking her all the way into his mouth, sawing back and forth, and then he tugged on her clit.
She screamed his name, arching up against him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her hands clench into the sheets, and he set about drawing her closer to the edge of orgasm.
As he licked her pussy, he pulled one hand from beneath her ass and began to stroke the entrance of her cunt. She tensed up, but he didn’t penetrate her. Instead, he teased and drew out the pleasure, making her want to feel his finger inside her. He felt her start to thrust against him, and he started to fill her with a single finger. He went knuckle deep, all the while keeping the attention on her clit.
Once she had gotten accustomed to the feel of his finger, he added a second, stretching her out, allowing her to see there didn’t need to be any pain, that it was all pleasure to be had. He pumped his finger inside her, heightening her experience. Rome felt the change within her, felt her pussy tighten around his finger, and she began to gasp, and he started to lead her higher and higher, taking her to that peak.
The moment she was on that edge, he kept it, and then he made her fall over that edge, and come out the other side, screaming his name.
He loved the sounds. Even though his cock was hard as rock, he wasn’t going to take her tonight. This was all for her, and now she knew it didn’t have to be painful between them.