Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Marchello
I couldn’t hide out in the safe house forever. There was too much at stake.
Lissia was a bump in the road that I never saw coming. But now she was part of my journey.
It was time to get back to business.
As the early morning stream of light fluttered in through the blinds, I gazed at my sleeping beauty. I had to leave her if there was ever going to be a chance for us to move forward.
She shifted in my arms as her breathing picked up. She shook her head from side to side and kicked off the sheet, revealing her fantastic naked form. Falling asleep after sex had its benefits. I got to sleep naked next to her warm, soft body.
“Marchello,” she mumbled. “No.”
I held her close and stroked her hair, coaxing her from her dream. Her body tensed and her face crumpled in distress.
“You have to stop before… No!” She shot into a seated position and glanced around the room. “Oh.”
“Hey.” I rubbed her back. “You’re okay.”
“No.” She looked at me with confusion in her wild gaze. “Nothing is okay. We have to stop this.”
“Baby.” I sat up and draped my arm over her back. “It was a bad dream. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She rested her head on my shoulder. “It’s already happening.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“You and my father were there,” she said. “I could feel the tension. I knew what you both were thinking, and I wanted to stop you.”
“Stop me from what?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She placed her hand on my cheek. “It was a bad dream.”
“I want to know what has you so afraid.” I shuffled her into my lap. “Tell me what happened.”
“It’s not necessary.”
“I thought we were supposed to get to know one another better.” I cradled her against me. “How can we do that if you can’t open up to me about a dream?”
“You and my father were in a dark alley. I wasn’t supposed to be there. I’m not even sure if I was there or if I was just seeing it from my dream.” She sighed. “I don’t know. It all seemed so real.”
“What were we doing in the alley?”
“You both had your guns drawn, and they were aimed at one another. I kept screaming for you to stop, but you couldn’t hear me.” She took a calming breath. “You both fired, and I woke up.”
That sounds less like a nightmare and more like exactly where this is all heading.
“It was a bad dream,” she said. “It wasn’t real.”
“It was real to you.” I picked the strands of her dark, wispy hair away from her face. “I’ll make it go away.”
I wasn’t sure if I could back up the statement once I left this house, but right now, I could comfort her and make her forget the reality of her nightmare.
“There was some truth to it, wasn’t there?” she asked.
I didn’t answer her question.
“One of you will kill the other,” she said.
“That’s how this business works.”
“I think your business is stupid.” She shifted in my lap.
“Did you think it was stupid when you were buying Prada, Gucci, and Versace like it was going out of style?” I gripped her hips. “How about when you were on those long trips to Italy, Paris, or Brazil? Was it stupid then?”
“I can’t help that I was born into this.”
“Neither can I.” I ripped the sheet from my legs and set her legs on either side of my thighs. I gripped her face between my hands and sought her lips. “I’m in survival mode now.”
My actions were reckless and callous, reflecting my current mood. How could I reassure her that I wouldn’t kill her father if he backed me into a corner?
“I don’t want to discuss business in the bedroom.” I lifted her onto my shaft and eased her down.
“What do you want to discuss?” She arched her back and held onto my shoulders for support.
“I don’t want to talk.” I trailed my lips along her throat. “I want to kiss.”
Threading my fingers through her hair, I gathered her sweet-smelling locks.
“Lick.” I ran my tongue down her throat and to her breasts. “Suck.”
She moaned when I took her nipple between my lips and bit down.
“Biting is nice too.” I scraped my teeth along her erect nipple. “But fucking you is all I want to do in this bed right now.”
She whimpered when I yanked her hair back and sucked on her neck, leaving red blotches in my path of destruction.
“I’ll mark every inch of your stunning body with my teeth, lips, fingers, and cock.” I shoved my pelvis upward, giving her all of me. “Take it, princess. You know you want to.”
She dug her fingernails into my shoulders and scraped them along my back. I wasn’t the only one leaving marks. Her possessive response only made me want to take her harder.
With one hand still in her hair, I glided my other to her hip to guide her up and down in rapid succession. I pulled back, glancing between us as I disappeared inside her hot, wet sex.
“I want to give you the fucking world.” I tugged her hair, holding her still so I could look into her lust-filled eyes. They matched the desire in my soul. “I want you to be my little brat.”
“I already am.” She ran her palm along my chest and placed her hand over my speeding heart. “I’m yours.”
“I’ll do everything I have to do to keep you.” Silently vowing I would never let her go, I slammed my lips against hers and kissed her with all that I had.
“You don’t have to do anything,” she whispered between kisses. “You’ve already stolen my mind, body, and soul.”
She tightened her hold on me with her legs, clasping them behind my back as she rocked into me. Every muscle in my body twitched, begging for release as she clenched around my cock.
“Marchello, I lo—”
I pressed my lips to hers, sucking the air from her lungs until she abandoned the thought of letting those words leave her mouth. I couldn’t hear them. Not now. Not when I had a job to do.
She hummed against my lips, swirling her tongue with mine.
“Fuck me, baby. Come all over me.” I bit her bottom lip, forcing a scream from her tense, worked-up body. She rocked her pelvis, propelling into me, taking me as deep as she could.
“Oh God!” she cried out as I thrust into her with a force that could rip any other woman apart, but she was too strong for that. Too strong for anything I threw at her.
As she thrashed against me, I pulled out of her and shoved her face down on the bed. She glanced at me over her shoulder and shot me the most deliciously wicked grin when I grabbed her hips and brought her to me.
That’s my girl.
“Now, I’m going to fuck you.” I slammed into her, jolting her forward. But before she could get away from me, I latched onto her thighs, keeping her in place and taking what I needed. What I demanded of her.
“Marchello, I’m going to…” She clawed at the sheets. “Oh fuck!”
“I’ll let that filthy mouth of yours go this time,” I growled into her ear as she lost control and exploded around me for a second time.
I wasn’t far behind. My balls tingled, and with one final thrust, I released a long, pleasurable stream of desire inside her.
I collapsed on top of her, breathing heavy into her hair as she stretched out beneath me.
“That’s going to hurt tomorrow.” She giggled.
“I would like to think it will be a reminder for you to behave yourself, but we both know better.”
“I should be allowed to talk dirty during sex.” She wiggled and rolled herself over to face me. “It could be sexy.”
“Dirty yes, vulgar no.” I kissed her. “You can be a whore in my bed, but I need you to be a lady when you’re by my side.”
“You never watch your mouth.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “Why do I have to watch mine?”
“Because people expect it from me. They don’t expect it from such a pretty face.”
“All the more reason why I should do it.” She kissed me, sucking my bottom lip into her mouth. “Besides, it will give you something to punish me for.”
“What am I going to do with you?”
I emerged from the bathroom, the steam following me into the bedroom. The hot shower didn’t provide me with the clarity I had hoped for.
Gian was still a threat, but the fact that he hadn’t demanded I give his daughter back was concerning. I wasn’t giving her back no matter how many times he came after me, but what was his end game? Promising her to the arms dealer was one thing, but leaving her with his enemy was something completely different.
I took my dress shirt off the hanger and put it on as Lissia stirred and stretched in the bed. She sat up and pulled the sheet across her chest. I would have traded anything to crawl back into bed with her and spend the rest of our lives together.
Well, almost anything. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my father and everything he built to secure our future. There had to be a way to have it all. If I had learned anything from the old man, it was that most things were possible with patience and bloodshed.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I buttoned my shirt, glancing at her in the mirror. “Getting dressed.”
I took my perfectly pressed pants off the hanger and tugged them on.
“Are you having a meeting today?”
I disappeared into the closet and carefully selected a tie and shoes. I didn’t want to have this conversation with her. It would only end in aggravation. Once I had what I needed for my day, I came back into her view.
“Are your associates coming here?”
“No.” I tucked my shirt into my pants and buckled my belt. “I’m going into the city today.”
“Is that safe?” Her voice jumped an octave. “Won’t someone try to hurt you?”
“Occupational hazard.” I winked. “I can handle myself.”
I looked in the mirror and threaded my tie behind the collar of my shirt, taking my time to meticulously knot it. I studied her in the reflection.
Why aren’t you arguing with me?
“Should I get dressed? Pack my things?” she asked.
“Why would you do that?” I put my watch on and checked the time. Hopefully, she didn’t pick now to challenge me. I didn’t have time for a fight, and I couldn’t waste my energy or lose my concentration.
“Because you said we were going to the city.”
“I said I was going to the city.” I turned to face her. “Not you.”
“You’re leaving me here?”
I sat on the edge of the bed to put on my socks and shoes. “Ricardo will stay with you.”
“How long will you be gone?” She secured the sheet around her and maneuvered to the edge of the bed.
“For as long as it takes.” I caressed her arm. “I don’t want to leave you, but it’s necessary if we want a future.”
“You know I want that.”
“Then don’t make this difficult for me. I’m leaving whether you put up a fight or not.”
“What if they come for you?”
I assumed she meant her father and Collins.
I could have ignored her question, but I had to be honest. She needed to know what I was up against so when I acted accordingly, she would understand that I did what I had to do.
“It isn’t a question of if they come after me, it’s a matter of when.” I stood. “The longer I stay here with you, the more territory I could lose.”
“Promise me nothing will happen to you.”
“I can’t make such a promise.” As much as I wanted to assure her that I would come back in one piece, I would be lying to her, and I didn’t want to do that. It wasn’t fair.
“Can you at least be careful?”
I nodded while I checked my hair in the mirror.
“You look like a gangster,” she said. “A tall, dark, brooding mafia boss.”
“That’s exactly who I am, and my enemies shouldn’t forget it.”
“How could they?”
“Don’t look so sad.” I walked back over to the bed and cupped the side of her face. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I’m not very patient.”
“I’ve noticed.” Her impatience could get us both killed. “We might have that in common.”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“I have to.” I gently kissed the corner of her mouth. “You have to try to be patient for me if you want me to resolve this situation.”
A flicker of hope flashed in her eyes. I was certain mine were full of conflict.
I couldn’t make any promises. I needed the counsel of my father to make the right choices, but if I could neutralize Collins and Gian without putting my family in harm’s way, I would.
But I would not make myself a target in the process.
“I have to go.” I stroked her cheek. “Behave.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“So, you like when I punish you? That’s cute.” I gripped her silky hair and tightened my hold. “By all means, don’t behave. Just hope that one of these times I don’t stop holding back. You might like getting in trouble now, but you won’t then.”
I pressed my finger against her sassy mouth; I didn’t have time for an argument.
“You wanted a promise.” I smirked. “That’s one I can keep.”