Chapter 62 #2
She giggled. “Seriously, Marcello? I was expecting something more… personal.”
“It is personal. So?”
“Royal blue. And you? What’s yours?”
“Hunter green.”
She smiled. “Hunter? That fits your personality perfectly.”
“Oh, yeah. How so?”
“You look at me like a hunter.” Her tongue slid across her teeth, and my heart raced with each movement. “Like you’re two seconds from tearing my clothes off with your teeth.”
“You must read minds,” I said with a wink.
“Okay,” she announced, tucking her legs under her butt. “Nineteen questions to go. What do I want to know about the mysterious Marcello?” She tapped her index finger against her pouty pink lips. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”
“Fourteen.”
Her eyebrows rose in shock. “Wow, you were that young?”
I nodded.
“I bet all the girls at school wanted a piece of you.”
I shrugged. “I ignored them. I never knew if girls liked me for my money or if they were trying to get close to Luca.”
She smiled. “I’m sure they liked you, Marcello. I mean, look at you.”
“You don’t know what being a Salvatore is like.”
“I’m a Wellington. Can’t be any worse.” She rolled her shoulders and then said, “Third question. What was her name?”
“Alanna Newton.”
“Was she your girlfriend?”
“No, a football groupie. I fucked her behind the bleachers after a game still in my uniform.”
“You played football?” Alex’s eyes traveled up and down my arms. “I’m not surprised. You have the body of an athlete. But I always thought the Salvatores were too cool to play sports.”
“Luca, Damian, and Bash were too busy getting high and terrorizing everyone at school.”
She snorted with laughter. “Why am I not surprised?”
“I played football with Sonny,” I told her. “We were on the same team.”
“What position did you play?”
“Quarterback.”
She chuckled. “Of course you did.”
“My turn,” I said. “Would you be here now if Luca hadn’t forced you to return?”
I already knew the answer, but I wanted her to consider her options. Even though I owed Luca, I wanted her. He made me promise I would walk away in the end, but I wasn’t so sure I could do that now that my heart was involved.
“No way,” she shot back. “I would be halfway around the world by now.”
“What if you had a choice between Luca and me ten years ago?”
She licked her lips, thinking over my question. “My entire life would have been different if I’d had a choice.”
I held her gaze. “Would you have picked Luca or me?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Alex sighed with tears in her bottom lids. “I’m not sure how I feel about Luca. I stabbed him. So, there must be more to the story. I’m confused… I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
I slid my arm behind her back. “It’s okay, Alex. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset,” she muttered. “Just… I don’t know. I wish I could remember everything that happened. Until that night, I never thought I could kill someone. And then, last night, I had a flashback. I remember what I did with you and the Knights.”
“Yeah? How do you feel about what we did?”
“Like I want a repeat.”
I crushed her lips with a hard, passionate kiss. She melted into me, her hard nipples poking through her thin bikini top, brushing against my bare chest. A swirl of emotions ripped through my body, my chest so tight I could hardly breathe.
When I was with Alex, the world faded into the background.
I raked my fingers through her hair, shoving the strands off her face.
My heart hammered against my ribcage with each flick of her tongue, heat coursing through my veins.
She moaned into my mouth when I twisted her nipple between my fingers.
The boat stopped abruptly, and I heard Sonny yell a dozen curses above us.
“That can’t be good,” Alex said as she pulled her lips from mine.
“No, it’s not.” I jumped to my feet, bringing her with me.
We hurried toward the stern, where we found Sonny tugging at the ends of his short blond hair.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him.
He looked at me. “We’re out of gas.”
“How is that possible? We always leave the harbor with a full tank.”
Sonny leaned over the side of the boat, shaking his head. “Because someone punctured the fuel tank.”
“Why would someone want to do that?” Alex asked.
“I called Sea Tow,” he said.
I sat on the leather bench beside Alex. Sonny sat across from us, his boat shoes crossed at his ankles. He was wearing a button-down shirt halfway open and a Borsalino Fedora.
“Which member of the Rat Pack are you?” I quipped.
Sonny chucked the hat at me and laughed. “Fuck off, Cello.”
“He’s Dean Martin.” Alex laughed. She took the hat from my hand, slipped it over her thick curls, and winked at me. “I guess that makes you Frank Sinatra.”
I pulled her onto my lap, and she squealed. “That would make you Marilyn Monroe.”
Alex tilted her head back on my shoulder and smiled.
Sonny sulked for forty minutes, blowing out deep breaths and texting his dad until Sea Tow arrived.
They hooked our boat to their tow hook and drove us back to the marina.
Alex clung to my side, occasionally shooting curious glances in Sonny’s direction.
He was too busy staring down at the deck in defeat.
When we arrived at the marina, the dockmaster waited at our boat slip, working with the towing company to tie up the boat. The boat rocked against the dock, and Alex gripped my thigh for support. The color drained from her face.
“You okay, beautiful?”
She looked up at me. “Just a little dizzy.”
Sonny thanked the men, stuffing money into each of their hands. I grabbed my bag and helped Alex off the boat.
A loud engine rumbled from a distance.
Alex gasped when she turned her head. “What the fuck?”
Luca sat on the hood of my Maserati, his jaw flexed in anger. He dressed in his usual three-piece tailored suit and black wingtips. Tapping his fingers on the hood, he held my gaze. Like he was counting down the seconds until he exploded. If he wanted a fight, I would give him one.
I had trained under my father’s men since high school. He’d left me in charge of Alpha Command because of my skills. Luca didn’t want to learn the mercenary side of the business. He preferred to sit in a comfy office in New York City and give orders.
“Motherfucker,” Sonny growled, his hands balled into fists as he stormed toward my brother. “You piece of shit. It was you, wasn’t it? You fucking punctured the fuel tank.”
“Please, like I’d waste my time with such trivial things.” Luca pushed off the car and slowly approached us. “If I wanted to fuck with your boat, I would have sunk it in the Atlantic. I’m here because neither of you assholes answered your phones. Alex’s life is in fucking danger.”
“What now?” I fished my phone from my shorts pocket and scrolled through the messages. “Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah,” Luca growled. “Oh, fuck is right. You picked one hell of a day to go sailing.”
“What’s going on?” Alex asked, her eyes darting between us.
“Get in the car,” Luca ordered.