Chapter 9
Lucy
Ipunch the boxing pads my personal trainer is holding up so hard that he finally waves them in surrender. “Whoa, Lucy. I’m beginning to think you’re trying to kill me.”
I swipe my sweaty brow with my forearm and unfasten my boxing gloves. “Sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Like the fact that my brother is icing me out again. Ever since Ariana caught us, Damiano’s been treating me like I’m made of glass. We promised that we’d work together and be stronger together. He kissed me by the flames and promised he’d find a way for us to be together.
And now he won’t even look me in the eye.
“Whose face were you picturing?”
“I was thinking about my family,” I fume.
He grins. “That’ll do it. Hit the showers, and I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
I apologize again and thank him for the session, then I head to the locker room.
Ninety minutes of kickboxing and weight training hasn’t quelled the snarl of furious emotions inside me.
I haven’t managed to speak to Damiano in private ever since we were in his bed.
Every time Ariana looks at me, her lips curl in disgust. Mom and Dad haven’t screamed at me or thrown me out of the house, so I guess that means she didn’t tell them that she found her siblings in bed together.
Yet.
I wish I knew what Damiano said to silence her.
I take off my sweaty workout clothes and get into the shower, blasting the water as hard as it goes.
It’s not fair. We finally sneak around and get hot and heavy in his bed, and we’re immediately caught.
He was about a second from sinking all the way into me and claiming me as his.
I’ve been saving my virginity my whole damn life for him.
Ariana’s expression of horror as she saw him on top of me has probably driven itself deeply into his psyche, a little taste of the nuclear meltdown that will occur if Mom and Dad ever walk in on us in bed together. I’ve never gotten along with my sister, but right now, I could strangle her.
I angle my neck left and right under the spray. Maybe it’s time our secret came out. Dad couldn’t be that angry with us for lying to him for all these years, could he?
I bite my lip. I don’t know my father as well as Damiano, but I know enough to be afraid of him. It’s a stupid idea to tell him the truth. If he found out we’ve been lying to him all these years, Dad would be furious. Murderously angry.
I stand for a long time under the hot spray. Every scenario I play out in my mind—honesty, secrecy, lies—ends up with me being thrown out of this family and never seeing Damiano again. Or I’m killed.
I’m playing with fire, but I’m not ready to stop fighting. Damiano’s love isn’t the only thing I crave. I refuse to be married off to a stranger of my father’s choosing. I want to prove my worth in other ways and stay right by Damiano’s side as his equal.
That night when I arrive in the dining room, Damiano is the only one there. As our eyes meet, there’s an expression of naked hunger in his eyes. The same look he had by the burning warehouse before he kissed me. We move closer to each other, and then we’re in each other’s arms.
Our first real embrace since Ariana caught us.
“I missed you,” he breathes. He takes my face in his hands and presses kisses all over my cheeks, forehead, and throat. Pulling back, he sucks his lower lip into his mouth, desperate for my taste. Claiming it from everywhere but my lips.
My hands clench on his shoulders. I know you want to, so just kiss me. But I’ve begged him enough. If he won’t claim my lips, that’s his loss. I have other things on my mind.
“So, about you and me,” I say lightly.
He immediately tenses, but his eyes drop to my mouth, and his thumbs caress my bare shoulders. “You and me?”
“Family business. Mafia business. I told you, I want in.”
Damiano watches me for a long time. I hold my breath, bracing for him to refuse me, readying my arguments why he’s wrong.
He glances around to make sure we’re alone. “The places I go, women are viewed as property, not people. I don’t like it, and I don’t agree, but that’s the way things are in Malus.”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks about me, except for you. I want to do this for me.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Damiano, you don’t have to take me to a gunfight.
” I pause, and I know we’re both remembering the Sokolis we shot and killed.
“I’ll check on warehouses with you. Fill out spreadsheets.
Clean guns. Anything. Just as long as I’m with you and not stuck at home collecting dust like a brainless ornament.
” I step closer, holding his gaze. “Didn’t I prove my worth to you when I saved your life? ”
He caresses my face, and there’s so much love and warmth in his eyes. From the first day I met him, all Damiano wanted was to make me happy. “How would you like to help me make three million dollars tonight?”
My heart pounds with excitement. Three million dollars?
I might live in luxury, but I don’t have any money of my own.
If I helped him make three million dollars, it still wouldn’t be my money.
It would belong to Dad, but I’d know that I’d helped the family without needing to put a ring on my finger and say I do.
It’s a step toward the life I want. The life Damiano and I promised each other. “How many people will I need to shoot?”
Damiano takes my jaw between his thumb and forefinger, admiring me with a sleek smile on his lips. His head dips down, flirting with the idea of kissing me, and I can’t stop my lips from parting as I lean into him.
“With a face as beautiful as yours, sis? You won’t need bullets. They’re already done for.” He places his lips against my ear and whispers seductively, “After dinner, put on your black velvet dress and some heels. We’re going to the Corinthian. And don’t tell Dad. This is going to be our secret.”
I shiver with anticipation.
There are footsteps outside the dining room. Damiano gives me a final squeeze, and then we break apart.
All through dinner, I can barely contain my excitement.
The Corinthian is one of the swankiest hotels in Malus, and my mind races with possibilities.
Are we meeting people there? Are we robbing the place?
Running illegal poker games in the penthouse?
The warehouse explosion hovers at the edges of my thoughts.
The Sokolis are trying to kill us, but Damiano promised he’d keep me safe, and I trust him.
After dinner, I come downstairs fluffing out my curls and reapplying my lipstick. Damiano has already taken his car out of the garage, and I meet him outside as he’s putting a briefcase in the trunk.
“What’s in the case?” I ask as I saunter toward him, the slinky, strappy black dress clinging to my curves. The night feels electric, like anything could happen. My heart is pounding.
Damiano takes a slow, appreciative look up my body like I hoped he would. The only attention I crave is his. He opens the passenger door for me. “Beautiful, my love. You’ll find out.”
As we drive out the gates, Damiano reaches over and rests his hand on my leg, slowly stroking my soft inner thigh.
I smother a pant and wonder what he’d do if I parted my knees and drew his hand higher between my legs.
Heat sparkles through me as I imagine Damiano doing just that.
Pulling aside my underwear, exploring how wet he’s making me, and then pushing his fingers inside me as he drives.
One of my hands pressed against the window of the car, the other hand braced against the seat, while he brings me to orgasm as we drive through the streets of Malus.
Blood rushes to my head and my clit. I want that so badly I think I might explode. Is Damiano thinking about how close we were to having sex? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.
Wetting my lips, I say, “About what happened the other morning—”
“We don’t talk about what happened the other morning,” Damiano says in a hard tone, his hand tightening on my thigh. “I’m taking a risk bringing you with me tonight. Do you know what the family lawyer told me once? Damiano, don’t break the law while you’re breaking the law.”
“What does that mean?”
“If you’re going to speed, don’t be drunk.
If you’re going to run an illegal gambling club, keep the drugs away.
Otherwise you’re making it easy for the cops to catch you and for judges to double, triple your sentence.
If we’re going to do this we can’t…” He picks up my hand and presses a kiss to my palm. “Do this.”
“And if you want me so much you can’t help yourself?”
Damiano flicks a glare at me before turning his attention back to the road ahead. “Stop tripping my jealousy, and we’ll be fine.”
I toss my hair back in anger. Is that what he’s told himself? All he’s feeling is jealousy? Well, I’m not going to beg. Damiano should be the one begging me.
He will be the one begging me.
“This isn’t a game,” he says in a gentler tone, meshing his fingers through mine. “This is Barone crime family business we’re messing with. We have to take things slowly and carefully. Fly under Dad’s radar. You haven’t seen what Dad’s capable of when someone crosses him. I have, and it’s brutal.”
“What is he capable of?”
There’s a flicker of misgiving in my brother’s eyes. “Pray you never find out. But I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
“Why are you willing to risk Dad’s anger if he’s so dangerous?”
His expression is heartfelt as he takes his eyes off the road to caress my cheek. “Because I miss you.”
My heart glows. “I’ve missed you too.”
He presses the accelerator, and the car speeds forward, and he smirks at the road ahead. “And because I’m Damiano fucking Barone. I’m the chosen one.”
I roll my eyes. “Your arrogance is off the charts.”
He presses another hungry kiss to my palm. “You love it.”