44. Damage Control
CHAPTER 44
DAMAGE CONTROL
I sabella
“So we’re dancing together in public now?” I whisper against the shell of Raf’s ear as his hands inch dangerously close to my ass.
“Just one dance.” His voice is still ragged, just like it was a few minutes ago when I was riding his cock in my bedroom. The heated memories rush to the surface, and if I wasn’t still wet from his cum dribbling down my leg, I would be soaked again.
Dio , what has this man done to me?
Just twenty-four hours and he’d turned me from an inexperienced virgin to a crazed sex kitten.
He parts my legs with his muscled thigh and the arm slung around my waist tightens so that I’m essentially riding his leg now. My sensitive bare skin rubs against his jeans, and the friction is almost too much. If we keep dancing like this, I’m going to have another orgasm in the middle of the dancefloor surrounded by my colleagues and professor.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that is exactly what my devious bodyguard is up to. There’s no better way to prove I belong to him. Which as caveman-like as it sounds, I can’t get enough. The rough edge that laces his tone when he rasps out the word mine is hot enough to bring me to an immediate orgasm.
Someone bumps me from behind, and I spin my head over my shoulder to find Serena grinding up on Massimo’s assistant, Carlo. I met the guy a few times, and he seems decent enough. Hot, too, but in a bookish sort of way.
“Hey, cuz!” Serena shoots me a grin as she spins around, rubbing her ass against Carlo’s crotch. She inches closer, her nostrils flaring. “You smell like sex,” she whisper-hisses before her mischievous gaze lifts to Raf behind me.
My cheeks flame, mouth curving into a capital O. Is that even possible?
“You know I’m all for you having a good time, but just be careful in public, okay? Your father would lose his shit if he found out…”
I swallow hard, all the excitement from a second ago trickling away. My head bobs numbly as I consider her warning. She’s right. We’re being stupid and reckless. I lift to my tiptoes scanning over the mass of bodies around me and can just make out one of the guards stationed at the southwest corner. Would they tell Papà about this completely inappropriate dancing? Even if they can’t see the dirty details through the clump of writhing bodies, the fact remains.
Whirling around to face Raf once again, I take a measured step back, putting some much-needed distance between our bodies, but his hands still linger on my hips.
He immediately stiffens, dark brows furrowing. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you to get into trouble for this…” I motion back and forth between us.
Raf hisses out a breath before finally releasing me. “This is exactly why we need to find you a new bodyguard as soon as possible.”
“Raf,” I groan. “You know how Papà is. It’ll be a months’ long process before he finds a suitable one, and he’ll force me to return to New York in the meantime. I’ll miss out on the rest of the internship.”
“I can’t protect you like this, principessa !” he hisses, lips pressed to the shell of my ear. “Don’t you see? I’m so damned consumed by you that nothing else matters. You have my heart and my balls in a chokehold. I would risk it all just to touch you, to be near you, to sink my cock into the sweetness between your thighs, and that is not what you need from a bodyguard.”
I open my mouth with a brilliant rebuttal, but a piercing shot rings out, halting the words at the tip of my tongue.
“Everybody get down!” Raf’s shout is electric, slicing through the chatter and booming music. A heavy body pummels me to the ground, and all the air rushes from my lungs as I hit the terracotta tile with a smack.
Over the chaos, I can just hear Raf bellowing instructions to the other guards through the com in his ear. I didn’t even notice when he put it back in after the mind-blowing sex.
More shouts ricochet across the rooftop as the crack of bullets vibrate the cool night air. My heart kicks at my ribs as I search the mass of huddled forms for my cousin. “Serena!” I call out from beneath Raf’s muscled arm.
“Come, Isa, we have to move. Now.”
“I can’t, not without Serena.”
He mutters a curse, then his dark gaze scans the rooftop before latching onto a familiar blonde. “There!”
She’s crouched behind one of the lounge chairs which is tipped onto its side, the thick cushions providing some coverage from the barrage of bullets whizzing through the air.
Blanketing my body with his, we crawl across the tile, weaving between the legs of my fellow interns. Some are screaming, others crying, and still others frozen in fear and unmoving. Each one I pass, I nudge along toward the rooftop door. “Go! Get out of here!” I cry.
“Don’t look,” Raf hisses through clenched teeth as he steers me around a motionless form. Which of course only draws me gaze.
Shit, no! Carlo. Blood paints his cream turtleneck, his long, lanky form stretched across the tile floor. His vacant eyes stare into the heavens, and a wave of guilt crashes over me. Massimo’s assistant is dead because of me. Another life lost, for what?
More shots explode across the rooftop, these much closer, and Raf forces me to keep moving. Three other guards have appeared, stationed on each corner of the terrazo returning fire.
We scramble toward Serena, and I lunge for her the moment I’m within arms’ length. “Are you okay?”
I throw a quick glance in Carlo’s direction as I squeeze her. It could have been her. She was with him only seconds ago.
“Yes, I’m totally fine,” she replies. “You?”
My head dips before I turn to Raf and notice a tear in his shirtsleeve then the dribble of blood running down his tattooed arm. “Raf,” I squeal. “You’re bleeding!”
His eyes dart to his arm for only an instant before returning to meet mine. “It’s nothing, just a flesh wound.”
From when he used his body as a human shield. For me. No wonder the man has a map of scars across his torso.
Emotion tightens my chest as dark crimson blood consumes my vision, and I’m catapulted back in time to another shootout, with another bodyguard that seems like a lifetime ago. My heart pitches against my ribs, and darkness creeps into the edges of my vision. Frankie. I’ve barely thought about him in months. I shoved all the painful memories of my first bodyguard to the dark depths of my mind to deal with… never.
“Isabella…” Raf’s piercing eyes are on mine, the wildness in those coal-black orbs forcing me from the dark spiral. His hands are clamped around my shoulders, fingers digging into my bare skin. “Do not shut down on me now. You are much stronger than that. I’m okay, I swear.”
I suck in my bottom lip and blink quickly, chasing away the pools of blood consuming my thoughts. Then I hazard a glance at Raf’s wound and attempt to look at it critically, logically, and unemotionally, like the medical professional I’m supposed to be. It’s just a flesh wound. He’s going to be fine. “Okay,” I murmur.
The slap of heavy footfalls spins my head over my shoulder where one of the guards races toward us. He’s one of the men usually stationed outside so I’m not sure of his name. I think it’s Enzo. As he stops a few inches from us, I realize the storm of bullets has abruptly stopped, and a deadly silence has descended across the rooftop.
A few of the interns are still scattered across the space, hiding behind chairs and over-sized potted plants. Even the DJ is still crouched behind his booth. A few of the other guards are circling, checking for any wounded.
“The shooter took off, Raffaele,” says the big guard. “Alberto spotted him climbing down the fire escape over there.” He points to an adjacent building. “He’s trailing him now.”
Raf leaps up, a savage twist to his lips. “Good, I’m coming.”
“No!” I’m on my feet, tugging at Raf’s shirt. “Please, don’t go.” I’m fully aware of how pathetic I sound, but in this moment I just don’t care. I’m not worried about me, it’s him I can’t bear the thought of losing.
He levels his stormy gaze on mine, a tempest of emotions brewing beneath the glassy surface. “I have to, Isa. It’s my job.” He runs his hand down my arm and squeezes my hand so quickly I barely feel it. “You stay here with Serena and the other guards; you’ll be safe. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I promise.”
Serena moves beside me, swinging her arm across my shoulders. “Come on, cuz, let’s get inside. Everyone must be freaking out; it’s time for damage control.”
I hear her words, but I can’t quite process them, not with my eyes still fixed to Raf’s. All I want to do is wrap my arms around him and force him to stay with me. But I know I can’t. Cazzo , maybe he’s right, and I do need another bodyguard.
“Okay,” I whisper. “But be careful.”
“Always.”
Gently, Serena pries me away from Raf, and I can’t help but trail his familiar form as he and Enzo race toward the door that leads back into the apartment.
Serena offers a reassuring smile and tucks me into her side. “He’ll be fine, Bella. In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s kind of a badass.”
A half-hearted chuckle tumbles out as she steers me toward the door. All the remaining guests are heading in the same direction, the guards ushering everyone through the archway.
“Isabella!” The shout comes from up ahead as we walk down the steps to the second floor. Massimo appears from the crowd of people huddled in the stairwell. “Oh, thank Dio , you are all right.”
Does he know about Carlo? My professor is already pale, sweat glistening on his brow. The poor man is probably in shock, but I can’t seem to find the words to comfort him. Not when I know Raf is out there chasing some psycho with a rifle.
“I am,” I finally answer, leaning against the wall. “Is anyone else injured downstairs?”
“Thankfully nothing serious.” His light brows pucker as he regards me. “What about on the roof?”
That guilt spirals through my chest, a steel band snaking around my lungs and heart.
Serena pokes her head over my shoulder, addressing my professor. “Carlo is dead.”
“ Dio , no.” Massimo blanches, all the remaining blood rushing from his cheeks. “What is going on, Isabella? First the aperitivo and now here?”
“I’m not sure.” The shooting at the bar was one thing, but in my own home? Has one of the Kings’ enemies found me all the way in Rome? “But I sure as hell will find out.”