Chapter Seven
Chantilly
Though I wanted to run, to escape the enforcer whose reputation preceded him, I walked to the glass doors and slid one open, stepping out onto the balcony with a deep inhale.
I grasped the railing, staring over the ocean where moonlight gleamed in the water. Frangipani sweetened the salty air, palm fronds rustling in the light breeze. The scene was…glorious. But it was clear I’d soon not be here to appreciate it.
I should have put two and two together the moment the Agostino enforcer had told me his name. But if he hoped my death would bother Sean, he was sadly mistaken.
Sean only cared about the fact I’d shamed him by escaping. My death wouldn’t stop him from sleeping at night.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
I swung around at Valentino’s voice behind me. My breath hitched at his charisma, at the way he commanded the space he was in. Even in the semi-darkness with the light silhouetting him from behind he was mesmerizing. I crossed my arms and glowered. “I lost my appetite.”
“You’re my guest here. I don’t want you going hungry.”
Guest?That was laughable. I was his prisoner and we both knew it. But I wasn’t about to remind him of it. I didn’t want to antagonize him further; I had no idea if he had a temper to match his violent occupation.
“I doubt my appetite—or lack thereof—matters all that much to you,” I finally said.
His dark chuckle raised the hairs on the back of my neck. “What really matters is me having you for dessert.”
Heat zinged through me, moisture flooding my core. “With or without my consent?”
“Oh, I won’t need your consent. You’ll be begging me for release.”
I wanted to be outraged, to deny his statement, but it was pointless to pretend I wasn’t turned on by him, I’d connected to him from the moment I’d seen him at the bar. That he’d eventually kill me, if I didn’t escape first, didn’t stop me from wanting him. It was a sickness I couldn’t fight.
“You wouldn’t be the first man to force an orgasm from me.”
His face tightened, his dark eyes glittering like black diamonds. “You didn’t enjoy sex with Sean?”
“How could I enjoy sex with a man I despised?” I winced. “My body betrayed me but my mind never once slipped from hating him.”
In two strides Valentino was in front of me. “Did he ever touch you here?” he asked, lifting his hand and tracing my jawline with his fingertips. I swallowed convulsively as electricity danced over my skin. “Did he pull your earlobe into his mouth and suck on it,” he said, before doing exactly that. I was almost an orgasmic puddle at his feet when he pulled back and added softly, “Then blow his breath gently inside.”
When he leaned close again and exhaled into my ear, I jerked at the heady, tickling sensation that burned its way through my nerve endings.
He stepped back and looked down at me. “It’s not always about fondling a woman’s pussy and breasts. There are many other ways to enjoy intimacy.”
I nodded, then conceded a little too breathlessly, “He was a selfish lover.”
Valentino’s eyes narrowed. “Not all mobsters are selfish with their women.”
My heart did an unsteady thump against my ribs. “Is that what I am to you now? Your woman.”
His breath hissed, his jaw hardening to granite. Then a light suddenly shone behind me, distracting me. I swung around to see the silhouette of a boat floating just offshore behind the breakers.
“Damn fishing boats,” he bit out. “The land might be my own but I can’t stop anyone from using the ocean around it.”
I blinked, my mind working overtime. I twisted back around, pretending disinterest even as I pressed my hands against my stomach. “All this fresh salt air is starting to make me a little hungry,” I lied.
I’d need all my strength if I hoped to escape from this place.
He raised a brow, stepping aside to let me past. “Then let’s eat.”
I forced myself to do just that, though I didn’t have to feign my appreciation. He knew how to cook a good steak. Even the fries were perfectly golden and crunchy. If only my stomach didn’t squeeze tight as though it was going to eject all its contents back out again.
I put my fork down, my steak half-eaten along with my fries, though I’d managed most of my salad. I pushed my chair back. “I’ll clean up.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ll do it. You go to bed. You look about ready to drop.”
I blinked at him. Sean had never cleaned up in his life. He took and took and never gave. Everyone else had to do the latter, especially me. I’d been his sex slave and maid all rolled into one.
But I had no doubt Valentino would show his true colors sooner rather than later. Men like him didn’t do menial tasks. Their hands got bloody, not sudsy.
I nodded, trying to read his impassive face…and failing. “If you’re sure.”
His smile was a little crooked, his teeth white behind his beard. I only wished his eyes would reflect even a speck of warmth. “I’m capable of cleaning up after myself. Go to sleep Tilly. I’ll wake you later.”
I shivered at his words as I stood and tramped to his bedroom. That it was shivers of need and not revulsion was something I’d rather not dwell on. I was a walking, talking, overthinking disaster when it came to this man.
I stood at his bed and looked down at its hugeness. But not even the oversized mattress was big enough to get me away from Valentino’s muscled bulk. He’d trap me against him and I’d be lost.
I released a shuddery breath. I had no choice but to leave on his bathrobe as I climbed into bed. There was no way in hell I was going to make it easy for him to take control of my body. I knew I’d never get to sleep, not knowing what I was about to endure.
I almost laughed. I doubted very much I’d hate been taken by him and had every reason to imagine I’d enjoy it.
I tossed and turned, my body burning for him while he was clanking dishes and cutlery in the kitchen as he loaded them into the dishwasher. I lay still, feigning sleep when he walked into the bedroom minutes later and stepped into the bathroom.
My spine tingled as I sensed his presence. It was like being held in a force-field. The moment he left it was as if I crashed, my body becoming numb and defenseless, my heart juddering in an unsteady rhythm.
A rush of water hit the shower tiles and he hummed a foreign tune, no doubt some Italian song, as he washed himself. A masculine soap infiltrated my nostrils, something vanilla and citrus, bergamot perhaps.
I snuffled, hating that I was attracted to everything about him. I should detest him as much as I did Sean. One killer was as bad as another, after all. So why did I yearn for him? Perhaps not getting the emotional gratification I’d needed from William had increased my longing?
I tossed and turned some more, and though my eyes grew heavy my body grew more and more aroused. For fuck’s sake! I couldn’t seriously want a man who’d snuff out my last breath, could I?
It was my last lucid thought before sleep abruptly claimed me.