20. Finn
“That’s a fucking rude thing to say after someone tells you they love you, Finn,” Alessia growls. “You know what? Never—”
Before she can finish her sentence, I slam my mouth to hers. My wife’s lips part immediately for me. Not that she’s ever one to deny me, even if she is in the middle of telling me off.
I pull away from her tempting lips and tilt my head toward the ceiling. “She finally admits it,” I exclaim. Looking back into her deep-green eyes, I hold her stare as I rest my forehead against hers. “I love you, too.” I pepper her face and mouth with little pecks, and she laughs.
“God, you’re ridiculous.”
But I don’t stop. I’ll never stop wanting my lips all over my wife, making her giggle, making her sigh, making her scream my name when I bring her body to heights of unimaginable pleasure. Every ruthless and bloody part of me is laid at her feet. Every piece that’s wild and fierce matches the pieces of her she’s never allowed anyone else to have.
“My heart, my loyalty, and my life are yours, Alessia. I’ll burn down this entire fucking world if it means you’re safe, and I’ll kiss you in the ashes. You’re mine, and I’ll honor that until my dying breath.”
“You’re quite the poet, husband.”
A smirk tilts my lips, matching the one she wears. “Well, I am Irish, after all.”
The scrubs she’s wearing hang loosely on her frame. We haven’t showered, have barely eaten and probably need a good night’s sleep. We’re about to go to war, but the only thing I need in this moment is to slide into my wife’s tight heat, to claim her and be claimed by her.
My hand trails under her baggy shirt and my finger finds the tie holding her pants around her waist. I grab one end and pull the knot loose.
“Here?” she asks with a breathless exhale.
“I can’t wait another second.”
Ripping the shirt over her head, I yank the lace covering her puckered nipples down and attach my mouth to the tight bud. Alessia’s nails score through my short hair as she lets out a gasp of surprise. The scrub pants have fallen to the floor, but they’re still around her ankles. I grab Alessia around the waist and set her on the counter, my cock hard and straining against the same type of shapeless pants she was wearing. When our lips collide, it’s a frenzied kiss of lashing tongues and needy moans.
“I need you inside me, Finn,” she says, bringing her hand to the tie on my pants and yanking the knot loose. My pants fall to my ankles, and I grab my cock in one hand, moving her soaked panties to the side with the other.
“I swear I’ll take my time with you later, wife.”
Pushing in hard and fast, both of us let out loud groans of pleasure as I start fucking her on the shelf that holds ammunition for the guns behind her. A small box of bullets meant for a .22 falls from the shelf and spills across the floor, but we don’t stop. We can’t stop. The need for each other is too strong to care about the mess we’re making all around us. I need to remind her she’s alive and safe and here. Hell, I need the reminder just as much right now. It’s been a horrible fucking day, and we’re about to face more of the same, but here, in this moment, the only thing that matters is the all-consuming love I have for my wife. She’s burrowed herself into every part of my being, and I’ll be damned if she ever gets free from me.
My forehead presses to hers, and her eyes squeeze shut as the walls of her slick pussy flutter around my shaft, letting me know she’s as close to release as I am.
“Open your eyes,” I demand.
Her green gaze snaps to mine and the intensity I find there undoes me before I slam into her again, letting go. Her orgasm rips through her and she lets out a yell as she comes hard around me, digging her nails into the skin at my hips.
“Fuck,” I bellow as all my senses are narrowed down to the singular feeling of coming inside Alessia. Nothing else exists here except me and her. There is no outside world, there is no war, or people we love being hurt. There’s just us in the place we’ve carved for ourselves and the soul-deep love and respect we’ve found in each other.
My gaze never breaks from hers as my movements slow before stilling inside of her.
“That was…” She exhales, trying to catch her breath.
“That was us.” I kiss her swollen lips again. When I pull away, she looks ready to fall asleep where she’s sitting on the counter. I may be a selfish asshole for needing to bury myself in her body, but if the events of the last twenty-four hours have proven anything, it’s that our lives could turn into tragedy on a dime. I, for one, am a firm believer in grabbing on to the good every chance I get. And my wife is everything good and right in our fucked-up world.
“Let’s go upstairs.” My lips brush against her sweaty forehead.
Alessia grunts as I set her down on shaky legs before I pull her pants back up, tying the knot again.
I find her shirt and slide it back on her, unfortunately covering all the delicious skin I need to spend the next several hours running my hands over. When she lets out a loud yawn, I have the distinct feeling my plans are going to have to wait.
“Sorry,” she says as I pull my own pants back into place.
“Why? You’ve had a hell of a day. Let’s take a shower and get some sleep.”
“There’s so much to do, Finn. We need to—”
“Alessia,” I say, my hands cupping her cheeks and staring into her exhausted eyes. “You need rest.”
She narrows her eyes, and I know what she’s going to say before the words leave her mouth. “Don’t tell me what I need, husband.”
It’s nice to hear how well I know the fierce woman standing in front of me.
“Okay, then how about I tell you what I need? I need a shower, then I need to fall asleep with you in my arms, reminding me that you’re safe and sound after almost being taken from me. I need to rest because in a few hours, my phone is going to ring and I’m going to have to leave to fulfill the promise I made to you. Until then, the only thing I want is to lie next to you and feel your heartbeat against me while I thank God for the millionth time that it’s still beating.”
Her eyes soften, and she lets out a long sigh, nodding in understanding. “Okay,” she relents in a soft voice.
I take her hand and lead her to the elevator to take us back upstairs. The penthouse is cast in a warm glow from the setting sun outside. Her hand stays firmly locked in mine as we walk up the stairs to my loft bedroom and straight to the bathroom. After turning on the water for the shower, I strip her out of the scrubs.
“I’m burning these damn things,” I gripe, ridding my body of the scratchy cotton material.
Alessia hums in agreement.
We step into the large shower covered in black-and-white subway tiles, and I position her under the spray, letting the water soak her from head to toe. Grabbing my shampoo, I work it into a lather and begin massaging her scalp and running it through her long, dark strands. She tilts her head back to rinse, and I quickly wash my own hair, switching positions with her so I can rinse away the shampoo. Her hands run over my entire body with soap, cleaning the day from me, then I do the same for her. Usually, my hands all over my wife or hers on me would lead to me being buried in her again. This isn’t about sex, though. It’s about finding comfort in her touch and me trying to give her the same. It’s showing her I love her with light kisses and soft touches. After rinsing my body under the hot spray, I face Alessia again and see tears in her red eyes.
“Oh, sweetheart,” I whisper, my heart breaking for the pain she’s in.
My arms wrap around her while sobs rack her body. The day is catching up to her, and she’s finally breaking. Alessia never shows the world this side of her. Her body shakes as she lets it all go and falls apart, trusting I’ll catch every piece of her. And I will, without question or hesitation, I’ll be the one standing next to her, helping her put herself back together, because I know how strong she is, and I know she can. I’ll give her everything she needs. If what she needs right now is someone to hold her and try to carry some of the burden, then that’s what I’ll be for her.
When her shaking stops, she backs up and looks me in the eye. “Sorry,” she whispers while I wipe the salty tears from her wet face.
Cupping her cheeks in my hands, I meet her gaze with a stern look. “Don’t ever apologize to me for needing to let it out, wife. I’m your husband and the one person in this world you should always trust to hold you and take care of you.”
“Thank you,” she replies, her red eyes tired as her lips tip up in a ghost of a smile.
“And don’t thank me either. I love you. I don’t need thanks for doing exactly what someone who loves you should.”
She moves both of her hands to cover mine. “I’ve never had that before. I…I never expected to find this with anyone, especially you.”
“Ouch.” I chuckle, and Alessia groans.
“Shit, that’s not what I meant.” Her hands drop and she wraps her arms around my middle, laying her forehead against my chest. “Fair warning, I’m really bad at showing emotion. Unless it’s anger. That one comes naturally.”
“I’ve noticed.”
A sharp laugh bursts from her, making me smile.
She lifts her head from my chest and meets my eyes. “What I’m trying to say is I never expected to trust someone with my heart. Especially not the brash head of a rival criminal organization.”
“We didn’t exactly start on the right foot, I’ll give you that. But trust me when I tell you, there isn’t another man on this earth who is going to protect your heart as ferociously as I will.”
Alessia studies me for a moment then smiles. “I believe that.”
Her green eyes shine bright with trust and the belief that no matter what, she has me to lean on for the rest of our lives. Fuck, I really love that look.
Turning off the water, we step out of the shower, and I wrap Alessia in a giant towel before heading to my room to find her something to put on. Pulling an old gray T-shirt from my drawer, I hand it to her, and she drops the towel, sliding the material over her skin. It’s everything I can do to not suggest she lose the shirt, and we finish what we started in the basement. In all our time together, the one thing Alessia and I never did was make love. I want that so badly right now, but this night isn’t about what I want. It’s about what she needs, and the dark circles under her eyes are telling me that it’s sleep.
She climbs into the king-size bed under the midnight-blue comforter as I find some sleep pants and pull them on.
“This is the first time we’ve slept in clothes,” she comments, exhaustion in her voice.
“I know. I mean, you can sleep naked if you want, but I can’t promise I won’t be buried inside of you when you wake up.”
Rolling her eyes, she turns onto her side, facing me as I lie down next to her. I open my arms, and she wiggles to the middle of the bed, settling on my chest so I can hold her.
“Thank you for giving me what I need tonight.”
“I already told you, you never have to thank me. I’ll give you everything.”
I feel her smile against my chest. “I love you,” she whispers.
“I love you too, wife.”
Fuck, I like the sound of that.
The phone vibrating on my nightstand wakes me from a restless sleep.
“Hello?” I keep my voice soft so I don’t wake Alessia, who is still tucked into my side.
“We found Orlando,” Cillian says into the phone. “He’s got a girl in Springfield. One of our guys has been watching her place since yesterday after the shooting, and he just saw him run inside her building.”
“Is Cataldi with him?”
Fuck, it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone.
“He didn’t see Carlo. Do you want to hold off until they’re together? I could keep Sean on him and see if he leads us to him.”
Now that we know those two are working together, they’re bound to meet up at some point. I could wait it out and get them at the same time, but who knows when that will happen? I look at my sleeping wife and imagine the fear she must have felt when she saw his face on that camera, knowing he was only a few inches from her as her bodyguard lay in a pool of his own blood. I’m not willing to ever give him the chance to get that close to her again. It may drive Cataldi further underground, but knowing him, he won’t stay there for long. Orlando is my priority, and his life ends tonight.
“I want him tonight,” I tell my lieutenant.
“I’ll get everything together. Who do you want?”
“You and Eoghan.”
“I’ll make the call. We’ll meet you at the penthouse.”
We hang up and I know my brother will be fucking thrilled to take care of this with me. Even though he’s happy running the bars and the fights, when it comes to shit like this, he’s always ready to go. And there’s no one else I trust to have my back more than Eoghan and Cillian.
Rising from the bed, my gaze sweeps over Alessia’s sleeping face. I fucking hate to leave her, but this can’t wait. She’s safer here than anywhere else in the city, but that doesn’t make me any less nervous. Last time I went after one of our enemies, they almost got to her. I can’t allow myself to think about the what-ifs, or I’ll barricade us both in this penthouse and never leave. There’s no room for that kind of fear in this life. It’s stand up and fight or roll over and die, and I’ve never been the type to back down. But I’d be lying if it didn’t feel different leaving my wife this time. Unfortunately for that piece-of-shit Orlando, I don’t let my fear dictate my actions, and I’ll be damned if he gets away with the terror he’s caused her.
Walking to my dresser, I pull out some clothes and put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt before grabbing my boots and heading down the stairs.
There’s just one call I want to make before waking Alessia to tell her what’s going on.
“Yeah?” Ozzy answers sleepily. I hear a feminine voice in the background asking who’s on the phone. “It’s Finn. Go back to sleep, pretty girl,” he answers before the sounds of him getting out of bed come through the line.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“Some shit went down with my wife tonight.”
“She okay?”
“Yeah, but her bodyguard took a couple shots. We’re going after the motherfucker now.”
“You need backup?”
“No, but I appreciate the offer. It’s Orlando Farina. He’s been working with Carlo.”
A hiss sounds through the phone. “We knew someone must have been helping him.”
“We think Farina has been helping him hide out. Carlo has been spotted a few times around Boston, but we never get there in time. They attacked my house and tried to take Alessia. I’m pretty sure Carlo was one of the men there.”
“Makes sense. Carlo enjoys having a front-row seat. Your wife didn’t get a good look?”
“No, they were wearing masks, but she thinks she recognized his voice.”
“What do you need from me?”
“I want these assholes in the ground, Ozzy. If anything goes south tonight, I want to make sure you put them there.”
“That’s no way to walk into that kind of situation, Finn.”
“I don’t foresee this going any way other than what I have planned, but if it does, I need to know that you’ll take care of Cataldi and keep Alessia safe. I’m sending you a file with everything we have on Farina and Cataldi. I just want your assurance that if I can’t finish the job, you will.”
“You don’t need to ask.”
It’s not that I don’t trust Amatto to take care of his daughter, but Mafia politics have already tied his hands once. Ozzy and the Black Roses have no such ties, and I trust him to do what needs to be done to end this if I can’t.
“Thank you. I’ll keep you updated.”
“It changes when you have someone who carries your heart in their body, doesn’t it?”
“It sure as fuck does.”
“Some men, like Cataldi, think it can make you weak. Like it’s a power they can hold over you. But he’s wrong. It makes you stronger and that much more vicious. That’s what stupid fucks like him and Farina will never understand. The second they threaten what you love, it wakes a beast inside of you that will only rest with ending their life. Money and power are all well and good, but once you find the other half of your soul, you’ll do anything to keep her safe. They’ll never understand, and that’s what will be their downfall.”
“You sure you’re not Irish? That’s very poetic.”
Ozzy lets out a small chuckle. “Nah. I’m just lucky enough to have found my other half, like you. Keep me posted, and if you need help, the offer stands.”
I thank him again and hang up, letting his words tumble around my head. Loving Alessia and being loved by her is like finding the other half of my soul I hadn’t even realized was missing.
And tonight, I’m going to prove that no one threatens that and walks away with their life.