Chapter 17
Antonio
As Isabella’s hand skims down my bare chest, it takes everything I have in me not to react. For the past three days, my wife has barely said a word to me except in the unguarded moments when I’m fucking her senseless. She’s trying to prove a point, I guess, about letting her voice her opinion on what’s going on with my mother and Boris Reznov. The trouble is, I already know what she’ll say and I don’t want to hear it. Not yet.
I hold my breath as Isabella runs her fingers over my abdomen. She must know I’m awake. I’ve always been a light sleeper. Still, she continues with her tentative exploration. Lying on her side, she presses her lithe body against me as she trails her fingers lower. My cock stiffens as she finally gives it attention, stroking it softly.
As she moves to straddle my hips, I reach up and grab her waist.
“Tony!” she gasps. “I thought you were sleeping.”
Little liar. “No, you didn’t.”
Her cheeks redden. “No, I didn’t.”
She bends to kiss me, her long, dark hair falling in a curtain around our faces. Her lips are soft and warm as she presses them to mine. Her breath tastes minty fresh. She must have got out of bed to brush them. Huh. I guess I slept through that. As I open my mouth, intending to deepen the kiss, she pulls back and smiles down at me.
“Morning, handsome.”
There’s a gleam in her eye I don’t trust. “What are you up to? Bella?”
“Nothing.” She bites her bottom lip in a way that tells me there’s something. “It’s just, well, I invited Emilia and Vinnie over this afternoon. Ava and Livvy, too.”
My mother won’t come. She’s barely left the hospital, except to check on progress with the room she’s setting up in her house for Gio to be transferred to when the doctors say he’s ready. That could be awhile yet since he hasn’t regained consciousness, but she wants to be prepared. Matteo’s helping her to arrange it because he’s the only one of us our mother is happy to be around right now. Like me, Leo and Alessandro didn’t take the news that she’s been sneaking around with the head of the Bratva well. Matteo has been annoyingly calm about the whole thing.
“Okay.”
“I wasn’t asking your permission. I just want some space while they’re here.”
Over the last couple of days, Isabella has been getting to know her new sisters-in-law while we gathered at the hospital to be close to Gio. I should tell her off for her defiant tone, but I’m not looking for an argument before I even get out of bed in the morning.
“That’s fine. I’ve got business to take care of, anyway.”
“It doesn’t worry you what the Volante wives might talk about if you’re not there?” Isabella asks.
I contemplate that for a moment. I think it’s great that she wants to spend time with Emilia. She’s a sweet girl and has already proven herself to be a great asset to the family. Vinnie, I’m not so sure of. The woman likes to push people’s buttons, but she may be just what Leo needs. If she helps to curb his violent tendencies, just a little, then I guess it’s a good thing.
“What you talk about doesn’t concern me.”
“Perhaps we’ll discuss literature, then.”
I furrow my brow. She’s going somewhere with this, but I can’t work out what she’s getting at yet.
“If that’s what you want.”
She smiles tightly. “Perhaps we’ll start with Aristophanes.”
It takes me a minute to place the name of the Ancient Greek playwright. As soon as I do, I realize where my wife is headed with this conversation. “Lysistrata?”
“Precisely.”
“You’re planning a sex strike if I don’t comply with your demands?” I can’t help but grin at what I know is an empty threat. Reaching between her legs, I stroke her clit. Her lips part as she gasps. “I think you’d suffer as much as me. Perhaps more.”
Narrowing her eyes as I tease her swollen bud, she bats my hand away. She climbs off me, off the bed. She pulls on a white silk robe and cinches the belt around the waist. The message is clear. Access denied.
“Isabella.” I reach out to her. “Come back to bed. This is silly.”
She pushes her lips into a pout. “No, I have to try something, Antonio. Silence didn’t work, but why would it? You don’t value my opinion. My only use to us is as a warm hole to fuck.”
Sitting up in bed, I shake my head. “Isabella, that is not true.”
“Really?” She folds her arms across her chest as she adopts an aggressive stance.
“Yes, really. I care what you think, but what’s going on with my mother is family business.”
Isabella huffs out an indignant breath. “So I’m not part of the family?”
Fuck, I am digging myself in deep here. I get out of bed and go to Isabella. She backs off a step as I reach her, but I don’t let her retreat farther. Grabbing her hand, I pull her close. I drape my arms over her shoulders to hold her in place.
“Of course you’re part of the family,” I assure her. “But this situation has blindsided me, Isabella.”
She shoots me a sympathetic smile. “I get that, but did you think she was going to sit around mourning your father for the rest of her life? Ava’s still got years ahead of her. She has needs.”
My mouth twists. I do not want to think about that. “Drop the subject, Isabella.”
With surprising force, Isabella pushes me away from her. “Why did you bring me here, Antonio?”
I didn’t bring her here. She followed me from Westport, but I know that’s not what she’s asking.
“I want you.”
“For what? To look pretty on your arm and suck your dick on command?”
My jaw twitches. I don’t like her talking that way. “No, Isabella, I want you here as my wife, to be the woman by my side.”
She looks down at the floor. “It doesn’t seem that way.”
Emotional conversations are not my forte. I don’t have the right words to make things better with Isabella right now. I can show her how I feel. Pulling her close once more, I put a finger beneath her chin and tilt her face toward me. Her tongue darts out to moisten her lips. It’s an unconscious sign of her eagerness to be kissed. I’m happy to oblige.
The moment my lips touch hers, a primal desire to claim her fires through my veins. Knowing that’s not what Isabella needs right now, I hold myself back. When she parts her lips for me, I stroke my tongue over hers. This tenderness doesn’t come naturally to me. From the earliest age, I was taught to be ruthless. Though my father told me such qualities don’t belong in a marriage, it’s hard for me to rein in my urge to take what I want.
As Isabella winds her arms around my neck, I carefully untie the knotted belt at her waist. It’s like unwrapping a present as I part the edges of her gown to reveal her incredible body. No matter how often I look at her, I will never get enough of those long, lean legs and her perfect breasts.
Slipping the robe off her shoulders, I watch her face closely as I run my fingers along the cleft between her legs. Her mouth drops open as I caress her intimate flesh. As I slide two fingers inside her, Isabella gasps. She grabs my wrist, anchoring herself rather than trying to push me away.
There’s something intoxicating about the quiet moans she emits. I’ve held men’s lives in my hands, but nothing makes me feel more powerful than knowing I can make this woman come apart.
Circling my thumb over her clit, I fuck her with my fingers until her breathing is ragged and her head lolls back. When she sways, I withdraw my fingers from her sweet pussy, pick her up and drop her onto the bed. She bounces once and then lies there, legs spread, looking up at me with a slight smile on her rosy lips.
I grab her ankles and lift her feet to rest on my shoulders as I shove my cock into her.
“Bella,” I groan as she clenches around me.
“Tony, please.”
Though it just about kills me, I hold myself still, buried deep inside her. “Please what, Bella?”
“Fuck me, Tony.”
“Whatever you command.”
I rut her like a wild animal, taking her with savage thrusts until she’s panting with need. Each moan she emits makes my spine tingle. I’m not going to last, but I’ll be damned if I’ll come before she does.
Pulling out of Isabella, I flip her over onto all fours and drive into her from behind. I smack her ass hard as she pushes her hips back to meet me. The air fills with whimpers, moans, and the sounds of flesh slapping against flesh. I grab a handful of her hair and pull her upright as I continue to fuck her from behind.
I curve my left hand around her breast as I wrap my right around her throat and squeeze. She’s so fragile. If I was to tighten my grip, I could force the last breath out of her. As she realizes the power I wield, the pulse at the base of her throat flickers beneath my hand. The whine she emits is not one of fear, but arousal. My sweet little Bella likes a hint of danger.
“Come for me,” I demand as I pinch her taut nipple.
The high-pitched groan that comes from her tells me she’s getting close, but she’s not there yet. I tighten my grip on her throat, just a fraction. Isabella shudders as I bend to suckle on her neck, using enough pressure to leave a mark.
“Come for me,” I repeat, drawing my hand back and slapping her ass.
Isabella’s body tenses and so does mine. She shudders, her limbs trembling as her orgasm grips her. My balls draw up tight as her pussy clamps down on my cock. Throwing my head back, I coat her insides with my cum.
Pulling away from me, Isabella rolls over onto her back. Usually after sex she seeks affection, but not today. Rather than reaching for me, she rises from the bed and snatches her robe up from the floor. She looks like a queen as she drapes the garment over her shoulders and walks to the bathroom door.
“Hear your mom out.” She keeps her back to me.
“Bella.” My voice holds a note of caution. I’ve already told her to drop this subject.
She turns and sighs heavily. “I just want everyone to be happy, Antonio.”
It’s a nice thing to wish for, but whatever happens, someone is always left dissatisfied. “Then I fear you’re in for a disappointment, Bella.”
Her sad smile stabs at my heart. “You’re probably right.”
She disappears into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. As the lock clicks, I get the message. She’s shutting me out. I scrub a hand over my face. My relationship with Isabella is in a precarious situation. I need to get my family’s shit in order before it’s damaged beyond repair.