Chapter 11
Eleven
Marchello
Kidnapping a virgin who was promised to an arms dealer might not have been my best idea.
In fact, I’d probably rank it up there in my top five worst ideas, and that was saying something since I was known for doing some pretty daring shit.
“Did you hear what I said?” Lissia asked, all wide-eyed and innocent. “I want you to be my first.”
“It was hard not to hear you.” I released her from my unwavering hold and went back to the crystal vodka bottle my father had acquired during one of his visits to the old country. “A virgin?”
“Is that a problem?” She bit her bottom lip as she played with the ends of her hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I poured myself a double shot.
“I just did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before I almost fucked you against the bookshelves?”
“I did.”
I downed my vodka, totally understanding why I was at war. Not only had I taken Gian’s daughter hostage, but I also threw a serious wrench into his plans to marry her off. Her innocence was probably a huge factor in negotiating a deal with Collins.
Fucking her took on a whole new meaning.
I poured the rest of the smooth vodka from the elaborate bottle into my glass. I’d have to get Milo to bring me another case if I planned to get through this debacle. I did drink a lot but her presence only made me want to do it more.
“You’re mad because I’ve never had sex before?” She took the glass out of my hand and finished my drink. “I thought that was a good thing.”
“You have no idea how good it is.” For me .
“Then what’s the problem?” She set the glass on the desk, then draped her arms around my neck. “You said it yourself, we both need this.”
“I changed my mind.” Not really, but I had to slow things down and reassess this situation. If I claimed her, I would ruin her for Collins. She would be useless in Gian’s marriage arrangement.
While I would love to stick it to both of them, could I send Lissia back to them as damaged goods? What would happen to her if I did that?
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“You don’t have to understand. If I say I made a decision, that’s the final word.”
“I don’t work for you.”
“You could never work for me.” If any of my soldiers spoke to me with such disrespect, I’d shoot them in the head in front of the others to make my position known.
“If I say I’m ready to have sex, then that’s all you need to know. I’m a consenting adult.”
Calling yourself an adult is debatable.
“You’re ready when I say you’re ready.” I gripped her chin. “And not a second before.”
“I really don’t like you.”
“That’s why the sex between us would be so explosive.” I lowered my lips to her full, tempting mouth, giving in to my feral needs. “The more you hate me, the better it will be.”
“You’re sick.”
“People who live in glass houses…” I trailed my hand down her side. “You want me in the worst possible way, even though you know you shouldn’t.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
“Don’t I? You fucked your family over. You crossed the enemy line, and instead of being repulsed by my touch, you can’t seem to get enough of it.” I rested my hand on her hip. “You came after me, and now you’re going to face the consequences.”
When I steadied my lips against hers, she clawed at my shoulders. I grabbed her upper arms and pulled her to me, smacking her against my chest as I shoved my tongue into her mouth and swirled it around.
“Mmm…” she moaned.
“See how much you want me?” I ran my fingers along her throat. “How desperate you are to give yourself to me?”
She gazed at me through her long lashes as she tried to control her erratic breaths. All I wanted to do was bend her over the desk and give her what we both ached for. A fuck hard enough to knock the sense back into both of us.
Think with your head and not your cock.
I needed to clear my mind, and I couldn’t do that with her standing in front of me in her underwear, smelling of strawberries and sex. I didn’t even want to mention the way she stared at me. Hell, she was practically begging me for it.
“Go upstairs and get dressed.” I let her go, exercising some serious control. “Now.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I said so.”
“Well, I say no.”
I clenched my hands at my sides in an attempt to stop myself from strangling her. How could someone so stunningly beautiful trigger my murderous intentions?
“I don’t care for your disrespect.” I stalked toward her, causing her to back away. “You talk a big game, but you must be smart enough to know that, at some point, you’re going to make me unleash all of my rage on you.”
“You wouldn’t.” Her voice wasn’t as convincing this time.
“No?” I stepped toward her again, causing her to tread back. “That’s why you retreat. There’s a part of you that knows you’ll go too far.”
She twisted her hair in her fingers, searching the room. Is she looking for an escape?
“When that happens, I’ll go too far, and neither of us want that.”
She stared into my eyes, refusing to back down.
Why does that get me so hard?
“Go upstairs and put some clothes on.” I pointed to the hallway. “I have guards in the house, and I can’t have you walking around here practically naked, having my men seeing what belongs to me.”
Defy me, I dare you.
“No.” She held my gaze. “I won’t listen to you.”
“I’ll make you listen.” I lunged toward her, and she hurried out of the room and down the hall.
Just as I got to the doorway, my burner phone rang.
Lucky for her, this call is too important for me to play games, but what a shame for me.
Lissia ran up the steps as I answered the phone.
“Dad,” I said. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” His voice boomed through the phone. As relieved as I was to hear from him, I dreaded the pending conversation. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“You heard about the current situation.”
“The war you set off?”
“I’m trying to get things under control. I want to get you home.”
“How is kidnapping Gian’s daughter going to get me home?” he asked. “Does Gian have information that can help negotiate my return? Does he know something we don’t?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“You don’t know yet? That’s disappointing.” He paused, but I knew better than to interrupt. “You took his daughter hostage. The daughter who was about to become engaged to an arms dealer, I might add.”
“I didn’t know that at the time.” I went to the liquor cabinet and took inventory of the bottles. Two. Not enough.
“Isn’t it your job to know that?” he said.
“Yes, but Lissia came to me for help. I thought I was putting our family in a position to negotiate.”
“You got distracted.”
I sat on the floor next to the cabinet as my father’s words cut into me. Lissia had preoccupied me ever since I met her. I couldn’t deny that.
“You better get your head back in this damn game. I will not lose my empire—everything I built for you and your brother—because you got diverted by a pretty face.”
“That’s not what’s happening,” I said. “I thought taking her would make Gian realize we’re not to be fucked with.”
“All you did was fuel his fire. Did you think he was going to cave at the first sign of trouble?”
“I thought his daughter would be important enough to him that he’d do what we wanted.”
“Have you given him any demands other than taking her?” he asked.
“I thought taking her would be enough.”
“You miscalculated. He is far too ruthless, and he’s betting you won’t send her back in a body bag.”
There are other ways to destroy his plans…like taking her innocence.
“You’re supposed to be working with Milo. I trusted both of you to run things until I come back to the states.”
“What do you want me to do?” I asked. “I can stop this war. I’ll give her back. I’ll do whatever it takes to get you home.”
“No,” he said. “You can’t give her back. Not yet.”
I didn’t expect that.
“I don’t like your tactics,” he said. “We don’t go after family members, especially women.”
“She came to me for help, but I should have sent her away.”
I couldn’t turn her away that night any more than I could now. Lissia was a part of this, and my gut told me I had to keep her by my side to protect her. Being stuck in the middle of my loyalty to my father and my growing attraction to a woman who needed me put me in a dangerous place.
“You should never have taken her hostage. I tell you all the time not to let a woman cloud your judgment.” He stopped talking, and I knew he was thinking about the one woman who would haunt us forever.
My mother.
“What’s done is done,” he said. “You’ll keep her with you for as long as we need to. Gian and the arms dealer want her back, and while they are focusing on her, that creates the disturbance we need to move shipments and find the traitors who betrayed the cartel.”
“It makes sense.”
“I don’t believe Gian has anything to do with the murder of that cartel member,” my father said. “He may be working with the person who did, but he doesn’t have the resources or the connections to hide it forever.”
“So, we’re back to square one?”
“I’m working with a contact in Greece. I’m supposed to meet with him in a few days. I’ll know more then.”
“Are you sure that’s safe?” I asked.
“I have men with me who won’t let anything happen to me. We also have the Stavros family in Athens who will protect me.”
“I’d feel better if Milo or I could be with you.”
“I want you both where you are. Protect the territory and keep the cartel happy.”
I hated that he was out there on the run because someone wanted what was ours and they were willing to do anything to get it. When a key member of the cartel was killed on our territory, my father was obligated to find out what had happened.
“I have to go,” he said. “But I need you to listen to me.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“If you get too close to this woman, you won’t be able to do what is necessary.”
“I lost focus, but it won’t happen again.”
“You clearly feel the need to protect her, and I can’t get into all the reasons why that’s a bad idea, but you’re as stubborn as I am, so telling you to stay away from her isn’t going to work.”
“You’re my priority.”
“I don’t doubt that,” he said. “I’m just warning you that, even if you get close to Lissia, you still have to make a choice. Are you going to be able to eliminate Gian if the situation calls for it?”
“Of course I will.”
“Even if his daughter shares your bed?”
“I’ll do what has to be done with no remorse if it gets you home.”
“That’s my boy,” he said. “I’ll be in touch when I can.”
“Stay safe.”
He ended the call, leaving me filled with more dread than when we started. We were no closer to getting him back than we were a week ago. I had gone through all the trouble of taking Lissia in hopes that I would force Gian’s hand, but all I had done was set off a war that turned people against us. I had let my father down in the process, and I hated knowing I had disappointed him.
I got up from the floor and knocked the empty vodka bottle off the desk, sending the family heirloom crashing against the hardwood. The shards of glass scattered across the room, and the delicate bottle wasn’t the only thing that was shattered tonight.
My confidence in myself had been shaken. Could I save our falling empire?
I stared up at the sound of Lissia’s feet pacing the room above me.
Taking this out on her would be easy—to blame her for my father’s disappointment in me. If she hadn’t sought me out, I wouldn’t be in this mess. But instead, I was stuck here dealing with a spoiled princess who didn’t know what kind of danger she was in.
She thought being here was some kind of game. And she had chosen me because she believed I was the lesser of two evils. She didn’t want to marry Collins, so she betrayed her father and ran to me.
Stupid girl.
I put one foot in front of the other, taking each deliberate step up the stairs. My head told me to leave her in her room. I could have Ricardo deal with her tonight. I needed to get my head on straight and figure out the best way to help my family.
My steps were more determined as my strides got longer. I didn’t want to leave her alone. The monster inside me craved her fire. She was the match to my gasoline.
I reached for the door handle of her room. Once I crossed the threshold, there would be no extinguishing this clusterfuck of a blaze I was about to ignite.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
I opened the door, preparing for the impending explosion that was us.
She barely raised her gaze as I entered the room. Clothes and empty boxes were strewn all over the place.
I motioned to her still half-naked body. “You haven’t done what I told you to do.”
“I like the underwear.” She dumped a bag of clothes onto the bed and picked through them, inspecting the price tags. “Whoever picked these out has impeccable, very expensive taste.”
“Are you impressed?”
“Considering money is no problem for you, I wouldn’t expect anything less.” She put a few items in the dresser by the window. “What do you want?”
“Something only you can give me.”
“What’s that?”
“You’ve caused me nothing but aggravation since we came here.”
“You cause your own aggravation.”
When she adjusted the shorts that had wedged into her ass, I couldn’t stop staring. And my cock couldn’t take it anymore. Fucking her might not be on the table at this moment, but that wasn’t my only option.
“That might be so, but now you’re going to relieve some of that stress.” I slammed the door, causing her to jump. “Get on your knees.”