Chapter 92
LUCA
Alex slept for days in a row, only waking up for short periods to eat and use the bathroom. She was like a zombie moving through the motions.
For three nights straight, Alex woke up screaming from night terrors. I tried everything to console her, but nothing worked. No matter how hard I tried, she wasn’t herself. The kidnapping, torture, and almost sale on the island had undone all of our hard work.
“Marcello,” Alex screamed, her eyes closed. “Marcello, don’t go.”
She often called out for my brother in the middle of the night.
It crushed my heart and killed my soul, but I knew she needed him.
I lifted my cell phone from the bedside table and texted Marcello.
It was three o’clock in the morning. Like me, he was a light sleeper and never slept more than a few hours a night.
A minute later, he creaked open my bedroom door, standing in the doorway shirtless and wearing his usual Tom Ford boxers. “Is Alex okay?”
I knew my brother loved Alex. He would have done anything to protect her, even when the job sometimes required him to protect her from herself.
“No.” I set the phone on the table and flipped onto my back, leaning against a stack of pillows. “She needs you.”
It killed me to say that, but it was true.
Marcello looked at me apprehensively as if he thought I was joking with him.
He climbed into the bed and lifted her in his arms, resting her head on his chest. He stroked his fingers through her curls, a loving, soothing gesture that was so foreign to me.
I did not know how to console someone who was hurting because I’d never learned how to help myself.
My father had taught me to hold in pain, to embrace it for my deviant purposes.
Carl Wellington was right about me. I loved her more than anything, but Marcello was the one she needed. They just clicked, like two puzzle pieces fitting into place.
“No,” she screamed, swatting her hand at his chest.
Marcello hooked his arm around her and glanced at me. “Are you taking notes? Because this is what you’ll need to do the next time. I won’t be here every night.”
I snickered at his comment. “Excuse me for not having the feminine touch like you.”
“Fuck you,” he snapped. “I’m not your little bitch.”
“You’re whatever I tell you to be, Marcello.”
“I can go.” He glanced down at Alex and sighed. “I don’t need to do you any more favors.”
“You’re here for her, not me.”
He didn’t bother to correct me because it was true. Marcello would walk through fire to protect his Queen.
“You won, Luca. Stop acting like a jealous prick.”
I laughed at his stupid suggestion. “Like I would ever be jealous of you.”
“Save it. You were jealous of Alex’s feelings for me. You were out of your mind.”
“Because she’s mine, Marcello!” I yelled louder than intended, and Alex stirred in his arms. “She’s the only thing I have that’s mine.” I lowered my voice. “And I have to share her with you and the Knights and Aiden fucking Wellington.”
“Alex might call out my name in her sleep, but she’s yours. You’re an idiot if you think she was ever going to choose me.”
I propped my elbow up on the pillow and looked at him. “I don’t know how to do this for her.”
“Then take your head out of your ass and watch what I’m doing.
It’s easy, Luca.” He leaned back so I could see how he held Alex.
“You have two degrees from Harvard and run one of the largest companies in the world. If you can’t figure out how to console your fiancée, then you’re a fucking lost cause. ”
“What if she’s like Mom?”
He rolled his shoulders. “She is like Mom.”
“You were better with Mom,” I confessed. “Sometimes, she was out of control. A completely different person. You knew what to say to pull her out of her head.”
“You have to learn to deal with Alex’s mental illness. It’s not going anywhere. She will struggle with it for the rest of her life.”
“What’s the secret?” I asked.
“Patience. You’re used to getting what you want when you want it. To help Alex, you need to be patient and understanding. Sometimes, you can’t fix her. You just need to let her figure it out on her own.”
“Like Mom,” I whispered, staring at the moonlight from the balcony doors. “I never knew what she needed. I just wanted to fix her. Make her normal.”
“You can do this, Luca.” He sat up and moved Alex into my arms. “Here. Put your arms around her, then lay her head on your chest.”
I did as he instructed, like I was a fucking robot that needed to be programmed to learn how to be a real person. Alex groaned as I slipped my fingers through her hair.
Marcello grabbed my hand and moved it beneath her silky pajama top, helping me make circular motions on her soft skin. “She likes this.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “You were touching her like this every night?”
“It’s her stomach,” he shot back. “Not her fucking tits. Give me a break. You let us do worse things with Alex in the temple last year.”
“I never cared,” I admitted.
“Because you couldn’t come to terms with your feelings for her until after she stabbed you. Why does it take a catastrophic event like a stabbing, shooting, or kidnapping to get you to see what’s right in front of you?”
“It wasn’t until I saw her on top of you that I realized I was an asshole. I’d fucked up.”
“Big time,” he agreed.
“She wanted to fuck you.”
He nodded in agreement. “But I think it was out of spite.”
I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t. She has feelings for you. I see how she looks at you. Her eyes light up when you walk into a room.”
“It’s not the same,” he muttered.
“Marcello,” Alex whimpered. She wrapped her fingers around my wrist and pushed my hand lower. “Marcello.” Eyes closed, she licked her lips.
“Does she do this often?” I obliged her request, allowing her to guide my hand. “Do you touch her while she’s sleeping?”
He shook his head. “Never.”
“But she tries?”
Marcello leaned his back against the headboard. “Yeah. Every night.”
“Her doctor told me sex helps her cope with her trauma.” I let my hand wander over her panties, wondering if she knew what she was doing in her sleep. “Baby, are you awake?”
She moaned in response.
“Do you need to come, baby girl?” I licked her earlobe, and she rolled her head to the side, giving me better access. “Huh? You need to feel something?”
Her eyes snapped open. Alex stared up at me, her chest rising with each shallow breath. She glanced to her right, then reached for Marcello.
He pulled back from her and said, “I should go.”
“No,” Alex whined. “Don’t leave me.”
Alex grabbed his hand and rested it on her thigh. Marcello gave me a look as if he were asking for permission. She hissed when his finger touched one of her cuts.
“You okay, baby?” I pushed the sweaty hair off her forehead and kissed her skin. “Are you in there, pretty girl?”
“Yes,” she whispered, her gaze shifting between Marcello and me.
She moved between us on the mattress, taking both of our hands and placing them on her inner thighs.
“What are you doing, Drea?” I sucked on her earlobe, tugging on it with my teeth. “Answer me.”
Marcello was so close that when Alex lay back, she rested her head on our shoulders.
“I need both of you.”
I dipped my head down and kissed her chapped lips. “Tell me what’s going on in your pretty head.”
She licked her lips. “Make me forget.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, baby. You’ve been asleep for three days.”
She sat up, stripped off her pajama top, and threw it across the room. “I know what I want, Luca.”
“Were you having a dirty sex dream about Marcello?” I asked.
“Uh-huh,” she breathed.
“You have those often?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“How about me?” I kissed her pouty lips. “You dream about me, baby?”
“Yes.” Alex took both of our hands and moved them to her big tits, helping us massage her nipples.
I twisted her nipple between my fingers, ripping a moan from her mouth. “Are you sure this is what you want, baby girl?”
“Yes,” she choked out.
I glanced at Marcello, who waited for me to nod my approval. He didn’t waste a second and rolled onto his side, so he could bend down and suck Alex’s nipple into his mouth. I took Alex’s face in my hands and kissed her as Marcello made her squirm with each flick of his tongue.
She moaned into my mouth and yanked on my boxers. Impatient and greedy, she was ravenous, like she couldn’t wait another second. With cuts and bruises on her arms and thighs, we had to be careful. One wrong move, and she would cry out in pain, not the good kind.
“Get naked,” she moaned against my lips.
“Not tonight, baby. I don’t want to hurt you accidentally.” I pushed on her shoulder. “Sit back and let us take care of you.”
She licked her lips, then grabbed Marcello’s hair, tugging at the ends. He stuck out his tongue and peeked up at her as he licked her nipple. Alex whimpered when he did it again, teasing her.
“Marcello,” she whispered with a handful of his hair between her fingers. “I missed you.” Then her eyes fell on me. “I missed you, too, Luca.”
It was such a strange feeling knowing she would always need my brother. For a moment, I wondered if she would ever outgrow him before I realized I didn’t care. Not anymore. She was marrying me, becoming my Queen.
As our eyes met, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, breathing against her lips. A rush of heat coursed through my veins and spread down my arms. I pulled her mouth to mine, kissing her lips as Marcello kissed her neck.
“Luca,” she moaned as I peppered her jaw with kisses. “Marcello,” she groaned when he rolled his tongue along her neck.
We took turns licking and sucking on her skin, and my pretty girl trembled with need. I clutched her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. Marcello slid his hand up her stomach and massaged her breasts, nibbling on her earlobe as I swept my tongue into her mouth.
I pinched her nipple, and she screamed out in pleasure.
“Feel good, baby girl?”
She closed her eyes. “Yes. Don’t stop.”
I inched my way down her body and sucked her nipple into my mouth. Marcello covered the right side of her body in kisses, working in unison with me. I never thought we’d share Alex outside of Legare .
I should have hated the sight of his hands, mouth, and tongue on my future wife.
But after everything the three of us had been through, I didn’t care that he loved her, and she loved him.
I wasn’t worried about him stealing her away from me.
I just wanted her to forget about the horrible shit the Kurtis had done to her. Wanted her to lose herself with us.
Pressing my palm to the mattress, I hovered over her, torturing her as my breath ghosted her skin. It wasn’t easy working around her injuries, but I did my best to leave a trail of kisses on her stomach.
She grabbed my hand and shoved it down her panties. “Luca, please.”
I pulled her panties down a few inches. Marcello lifted his head to look at her smooth, waxed skin.
She smelled like her berry body wash mixed with the saltiness of the sea.
My lips brushed the soft skin above her waistband.
Alex rocked her hips, her hand falling to the back of my head, begging me to touch her.
I tore her panties off and thrust my fingers inside her. She was tight and wet, so ready for me. I was dying to be inside her, but this was about making her feel good. As I fucked her with my fingers, moans slipped from her throat. Marcello kissed her lips as I moved between her thighs.
Alex arched her back, lifting her hips off the mattress.
She moaned into Marcello’s mouth as I devoured her.
Her eyes slammed shut when I sucked her clit into my mouth.
I licked between her slick folds, desperate to taste every inch of her.
My little devil tugged on the ends of my hair, screaming my name.
She rocked her hips, strangling me with her pussy. Whimpers poured out of her mouth, and her legs trembled. One after another, she rode out her orgasms, coming on my tongue.
I sat up, staring at her from between her spread thighs. Marcello rested his hand on her thigh, his eyes on her naked body. I cleared my throat, and his gaze drifted between us.
Alex covered her hand with her mouth and yawned.
“Tired, baby?”
She nodded.
I rolled onto my side of the bed, careful not to touch her scrapes. It killed me to see her all fucked up because of my secrets. As my eyes trailed up and down her body, I vowed never to keep things from her again. I couldn’t put her through this kind of hell again.
Alex lay her head back on the pillows. She grabbed my hand, then Marcello’s, and held our hands against the mattress at her sides.
“Stay with me,” she whispered. “I’m not ready to let either of you go.”