18. Aria
Chapter eighteen
Aria
Elio Donatelli will be the end of me.
I relax my head on the swivel leather chair, rocking my body to an inaudible rhythm as the events of the evening before, at the charity gala, and then the call from this morning replay in my head.
I’ve heard that men are jealous species, but Elio is unnecessarily extreme. His jealousy is dangerous, ruthless even, frightening me to my very marrow.
Being a witness to what he did to Friedrich at the gala, I’m still trying to figure out how I can cope with such unacceptable behavior.
While my mind roamed Elio’s actions, I texted Mia and asked her to meet up at the restaurant across the street from her place.
With the way things are going, I desperately need someone to talk to before I lose my mind.
I grab my black purse and my suit jacket, sliding documents back into their place and making sure everything on my desk space is well arranged, before striding out into the New York summer.
***
Mia is seated in the farthest corner of the restaurant, chewing on a chocolate croissant, when I walk in.
The only reason I didn’t suggest meeting at her apartment is that her place is a constant mess, and I can’t stand eating when all I want to do is clean.
“Ugh, finally,” she groans when I take the chair across from her.
“I’m so sorry, traffic.” A sheepish grin takes over my face as she flickers her lashes at me.
“I already ordered two bagels and lox and 2 grilled chicken breast sandwiches.”
She closes one of her eyes in a wink, and I can’t help but chuckle with wonder. Mia eats the portion of two people in one sitting. When she’s very hungry, she can even wolf down three portions without feeling overstuffed.
“Did you ask for capers and red onions to go with mine?” I ask. That’s the only way I can enjoy bagels and lox.
“Of course, how could I forget? Thinly sliced red onions!” We both throw our heads back laughing, stopping when she hands me her chocolate croissant.
“So, how’s your dad?” Mia asks, leaning forward slightly. Her voice is soft, but there’s an undercurrent of concern.
I manage a small smile. “He’s doing better. Recuperating quickly, actually. The doctors are optimistic. Actually, we all are.”
She exhales, relief flickering across her face. “That’s good to hear. I was worried after... everything.”
Her words hang in the air like a weight, and I take a bite of the chocolate to stall my response. My mind races as I try to figure out how to start the real conversation that made me contact her.
“I need to tell you something,” I finally say, my voice barely above a whisper.
Mia straightens, her journalistic instincts kicking in. “What is it?”
“It’s about Elio,” I begin, my stomach churning. Her brows furrow, her expression shifts to one of curiosity and something else I instantly recognize. Suspicion.
“Look, I want you to pretend like I’m telling you some childhood gist. School your expressions and act normal. They’re watching.”
I know his men are watching…and if Mia acts too horrified, they may snitch on me. I’ve seen them at work…pretending to be cleaners…but I know they’re his men. Of course, they’re there for my protection…and to watch me.
Her brows furrow, but when I give a forced tight-lipped smile, she relaxes it and gives a wide smile in return. “You’re scaring the fuck out of me, Aria.”
“Just relax,” I breathe, swallowing thickly. “You were right last time. Elio is not who everyone thinks he is. He’s…” I hesitate and gulp, “He’s…a mafia don, Mia. Elio Donatelli isn’t just a businessman. He runs a criminal organization.”
For a moment, there’s nothing but silence between us. Mia blinks, processing before a disbelieving laugh escapes her lips. “You’re kidding, right? Please tell me this is some kind of an elaborate joke.”
“I wish it was,” I say, my voice trembling. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. Mia, this is real.”
Her mouth forms an ‘o’ as shock seizes her. She most definitely had her suspicions, but I know she wasn’t expecting it to be this big.
She nods and hurriedly pulls out a small notepad from her bag, her fingers already gripping a pen. But I quickly stop her. “Act natural,” I smile.
She gently drops the pen on the table and takes a bite of her food. “Start from the beginning. Tell me everything.”
I hesitate, glancing around the restaurant to make sure no one’s listening. No one is, but I spot a man in the distance staring at me. My guard.
I lower my voice. “I know it’s all connected. This Frank Paterson case, the warehouse case…The businesses he owns are a front for money laundering, arms deals, and... other things. Elio’s at the center of New York’s worst criminal activities.”
Mia’s focus intensifies as she arches a brow furiously. “Why are you just telling me this?”
“Because I can’t keep pretending anymore,” I admit, my voice breaking. “And because you’re the only person I trust to do something about it.”
She looks up, her eyes piercing. “Does he know you’re talking to me? Does he have wires on you?”
I shake my head. “No. And he can’t find out. Mia, if he even suspects I’m de…”
“I get it,” she interrupts, a tone of firmness seizing her voice. “But, Aria, this is dangerous. You’re putting yourself at serious risk.”
“I know,” I whisper. “But you need to know the whole truth. There haven’t been any more assassination attempts on my dad because of Elio. He made it stop. He’s protecting my dad and me. That’s why I made the deal to marry him in the first place.”
She raises her lashes to stare at me. “Your engagement is a faux?”
“Yes, Mia. It’s only a means to an end.”
Mia leans back in her chair, her pen poised mid-air. “So he’s not just a monster. He has... layers.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “If you can call it that. He saved my dad, but he’s also responsible for ruining so many lives. And with the law having always been my motivator, especially after Mario’s murder, I just can’t keep my eyes closed anymore on all that he’s doing. Although I still need to somehow make sure that my dad stays safe.”
Her jaw tightens, and I can see the gears turning in her head. “This is huge, Aria. If I expose him, it could bring down his entire operation. But it’s going to take more than just your word. I need evidence of his operations. Solid, undeniable proof.”
I nod, my hands trembling. “I’ll get it. Whatever it takes. I already have some, but I’m going to try to get some information from him as well.”
“But when you expose him, what happens to your dad whom you’re trying so hard to protect? What happens to your own life, which could easily be threatened?”
My lower lip catches in between my teeth. “The deal I made with Elio is to ensure that my dad and I stay safe. As long as Elio doesn’t suspect anything, he’ll take care of that part...”
“Okay, and...?” Mia raises her brow in curiosity.
“And when I’m certain that those criminals are no longer a threat to both my dad and I, we can publish the incriminating information we have on Elio Donatelli and show the world who he truly is.”
Mia sighs heavily and reaches across the table, squeezing my hand. “We’ll do this together. But you need to be careful. I know men like Elio don’t forgive betrayal.”
Her words send a chill down my spine, but I nod. “I know. But it’s worth the risk. Someone has to stop him.”
Mia’s lips curve into a determined smile. “Then let’s take down the motherfucker.”
***
I step into the mansion and shut the door behind me, the familiar weight of dread settling in my chest. The smell of Elio’s cologne hits me before I even see him lounging on the couch like a king surveying his domain. His tie is loosened, his shirt unbuttoned just enough to expose the sharp lines of his collarbone. He looks up, eyes gleaming with something dangerous, like anger.
“You’re home late,” he says. His smooth and low voice shows that he’s been drinking.
I drop my bag by the door and cross my arms. “Some of us actually work for a living. How do you have time to lie around when you should also be working?”
He grins, slowly and infuriatingly. “The difference between you and I, Princess, is that I delegate. You should try it sometime. Might make you less... tense.”
I ignore the jab and walk past him, heading to the kitchen. “I’m not tense.” My voice is clipped, but I can feel his gaze following me, stripping me down to the bone.
I grab a glass of water, focusing on the coolness of the glass against my palm, and the sound of the faucet running. Anything but the man sprawled on the couch across the room like he owns not just the place but also me.
“Elio,” I finally say, setting the glass down with a deliberate clink. “Why are you so invested in the Paterson case?”
He leans back, stretching his arms along the back of the couch, his posture deceptively relaxed.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he counters. “It’s a high-profile case. Lots of real-life action. And I love action. It’s my favorite genre.”
My stomach twists, but I force myself to hold his gaze.
“Bullshit,” I say, my voice steady despite the storm raging inside me. “I know you’re not just asking me to nose around to gather evidence for the sheer fun of it. So, tell me…what’s in it for you?”
He stands up, slowly and deliberately, and closes the distance between us in a few long strides. He stops just close enough for me to feel the heat radiating off his overwhelming presence.
“You’ve got quite the mouth on you, Princess,” he says softly, almost a whisper. “It’s a shame you don’t know when to keep it shut.”
The threat is subtle, buried beneath his silky tone, but it’s there. My heart pounds, but I refuse to back down.
He’s indirectly asking me to shut up about the case.
“And you’ve got quite the ego,” I shoot back, lifting my chin. “Maybe it’s time someone put you in your place.”
His laugh is low and dangerous, and he steps even closer, backing me against the counter. His hand brushes a strand of hair from my face, and I can’t tell if the shiver that runs through me is from fear or something else.
“Careful, Aria,” he murmurs, his lips so close to my ear I can feel his breath. “Anyone who’s ever crossed me... well, they never got to tell the tale. Be careful not to betray me.”
My throat tightens, and for a moment, I forget how to breathe. His words are like a noose tightening around my neck, a warning I can’t afford to ignore. But I can’t let him see my fear. Not now.
I tilt my head, forcing a smirk onto my lips as my breast presses forward towards his body.
“Or maybe,” I add, my voice dropping to a whisper, “they didn’t know how to distract you.”
Before he can say anything else, I slide my hands up his chest, letting my fingers trail over the hard lines of muscle beneath his shirt.
His breath catches, just for a moment, and I feel a flicker of triumph. His hand moves to my waist, pulling me closer, and I let him, my mind racing even as my body betrays me. This is a game I have to play… a game I have to win.
My lips catch his in mine, pushing all thoughts of betrayal, of Mia, and of the secrets I’ve been spilling to the back of my mind. For now, I can’t afford to let him suspect me. For now, I have to survive.
I plunge my tongue in deeper, guiding his hands to my breasts to cup them while I undo the buttons on his shirt, running my hands over the firm contours of his body. Immediately, the shirt gives way.
I love the way his hands seize my waist, pulling me against himself as if he’s starving and only my frame can satisfy his primal hunger.
His hands move up to squeeze at my breast through my dress, fingers playing at the straps of its square-neckline to slide it off my shoulders.
A groan escapes my lips as he grabs me by my waist again, mouth still roaming my face, and guides me all the way to his study just a few feet away from the kitchen.
He pins me to the wall with his hulking frame, lifting my hands above my head and holding them there while easing my zip open.
“I want to touch you…” The words escape my lips before I can shut my mouth in embarrassment.
A rueful smile climbs his lips, “Oh, you’ll touch me, baby, but only after I touch you.” With a teasing stroke of his thumb, he slides my dress down my torso, hanging at my waist.
He holds my hands steady over my head, then unbuckles his belt with his free hand.
“I’m gonna show you magic, Princess; I’ll be the Daddy I promised you I’d be… in bed! And Daddy will now pleasure you in ways you never even imagined were possible.”
My heart is thumping in my chest as he whispers these words into my ears. The folds in between my legs are becoming more moist by the minute. Maybe it’s the anticipation as he straps his belt tightly around my waist. Or it’s how his hardened member rubs against my lower belly through his pants. Fuck.
He loosens his tie and then ties my hands with it in slow, deliberate motions, all the time not taking his eyes off me. I suck in my breath sharply as his tongue lays hold of my nipple again, rolling in circles around them until a sensational shiver convulses my body and draws even more juices from my pussy.
“Yes, baby, arch your back for me like that.”
I release a silent gasp, my hands struggling to free themselves and yank his clothing off him. Having experienced what I did my first time with him, I want to run my hands along his body again. I desperately want to cling to those ripped abs of his while he plunges his glorious cock into my wetness.
Another moan soars from my lips like a rehearsed melody as he grabs one breast in one hand and the other in his mouth. One of his thighs is lifted, supporting my body against the wall.
His large, coarse hands skim over my body, stopping to massage my breasts, then trace the lines along my lips. With my hands tied and my waist held in place by him pulling on the free end of the belt he has strapped around me, I’m at his full mercy.
He holds my neck with his free hand while suckling on me until I desperately try to dig my hips into his thighs in an attempt to grind against his thick cock. And when I do, I cry out from sheer pleasure.
“You’re my fucking undoing, Principessa (Princess). Tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you. I’ll arrange the seas to your comfort if that’s what you order me right now.”
His voice is hoarse and dangerously low.
“I want you, Elio. I want to touch you, to feel you inside of me. I want you to make love to me.”
A growl emanates from him as he grabs me from off the wall and moves me to the couch beside the built-in bookshelf.
He lowers himself down and lifts my dress, putting his nose in between my legs and sniffing like a rabid dog.
When I feel the wetness of his tongue on my panties, I lift my waist in response, crying out for him to take me already.
“I love how sweet you taste, Principessa ; it makes me want to eat you right out of these fucking panties. Do you want that, Bellissima ?”
I nod immediately. I love the way Elio touches me, and I’m sure his head game would be even more pleasurable.
He shifts the hem of my black panties to the side and slides the tip of his tongue over my wet pussy.
“God!” I scream.
“Shhh…easy, Bellissima , easy…” He lowers the tip of his tongue again, running it up and down my clit until my thighs begin to tremble and my vagina begins to contract with my approaching orgasm.
“I’m going to cum,” I say, thrusting my hips against his tongue faster. He lifts his head, yanking my panties down.
“No, Bella , you can’t cum yet. You only cum when I allow you to. Understand?”
“Yes…yes…”
A low chuckle rumbles from his throat as he reaches into the drawer in his office to get something. It looks like the smaller version of a boat paddle.
“What’s this?” My voice catches in my throat as he inserts the handle into my mouth.
“Shhh…close your eyes now and just make Daddy happy.”
He takes out a blindfold from one of the drawers and puts it over my eyes. My instincts take over as I move my mouth up and down along the length of the paddle’s handle.
“Very good,” he slips it out of my mouth. I don’t expect what is coming after. A loud smack on my thigh causes me to arch my back, screaming with pain.
“You don’t want that? I can stop if you don’t like it.”
At this point, words fail to express what I want and what I don’t want.
“Talk to me, Bellissima ( Beautiful).”
“Yes…yes…” I don’t even know what I’m saying yes to. I just don’t want him to stop. A hard, wet substance pushes against my clit, easing my thighs even farther from each other.
“How about this? Do you want this?” The hard substance slides further into me. “Can you take a guess at what’s going into you, Princess? You always claim to be the smartest person in the room.”
I shake my head from side to side frantically. There’s no playing smart with him right now.
“If you don’t guess, you’re getting smacked!” And without warning, his rough palm hits heavily on my ass. “You have one chance left, Principessa (Princess). Daddy’s all ready for you now.”
“May…maybe the paddle?”
“Good girl!” The glee in his voice is unmistakable. He slips it out of me, rubbing at the entrance of my pussy with his thick cock. “Now, what’s this?”
From the size I feel and the tender skin, I can tell it’s his extra-large hard cock.
“That’s you, Daddy. That’s your dick.”
With that, he slides all his glorious length into my aching, wet pussy.
My legs lift higher into the air as he thrusts my hips against his in a maddening motion. Everything is happening so fast, including the shivers running from my spine to my legs.
I can feel the orgasm building up deep inside me, and as he rams faster into me, I cry out with relief. I’m almost in heaven when his rhythm slows down a bit.
As if he heard my disappointment, he commands me, “I want to hear you beg for more, Princess!”
“Ahh…please, Daddy! Please…”
“Tell me… please, what?”
Oh, fuck I can’t get any more words out as I am hanging in there, dying for his cock to finish me. I finally manage to whisper, “Ple…pleaseeee take me… now, Daddy! Please…”
“That’s my baby! I’ll give it to you.” With that, he suddenly turns into a wild animal, thrusting so hard… so fast, as if this was the end of him. His sheer girth and size reach depths of me that I didn’t even know were possible to reach in me, causing a tear to appear in the corner of my eye as I take all of his inches in, fast and hard as they come. But that is a tear of pleasure… a pleasure so heavenly I indeed could have never imagined before.
With his own orgasm approaching, he says, “Fuck. Hang in there for me baby, I’m cumming…” his voice trails off as he doubles over me, gasping with relief as orgasm shakes him to his core.
I lift my arms around his neck, rubbing my tied hands along the back of his head, as best I can, to calm his rapid breathing.
I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but Elio Donatelli brings out something I never knew existed in me and for that, I can throw all caution to the wind and just enjoy him fucking me.