23. Lorenzo
CHAPTER 23
Lorenzo
I felt Gia’s body tense. Glancing at her, she was staring at Isabella, shock clearly printed across her face. For a moment, I thought she would say something, even after her warning from Damian, but then she rearranged her expression. She forced herself to smile; it was even more sickly sweet than the simpering one she’d been aiming at me.
“Lorenzo, do you want me to explain to your…employee?” she asked, petting at my arm.
I looked at Isabella. Her face was twisted into a sneer and my cock took painful interest. I was doing my best not to compare her to Sienna, but my wife would have never walked into the room and demanded answers like that. She had better training than that. Isabella was green to the ways of the Cosa Nostra, and while that would normally grate on my nerves, I liked Isabella’s harsh edges. Goddamnit , it had been too long since I’d fucked her.
“Isabella, this is Gia Bianchi. She’ll be staying with us for a few weeks.”
“Why?” The word came out like a rock being lobbied into the middle of the dining room.
“All you need to know is that she’s here,” I said. “The rest of it doesn’t concern you.”
I didn’t have to look at Gia to know that she was smiling; she probably felt as if she’d won something. My eyes were steady on Isabella: I expected for her to pout and leave the room. Instead, Isabella let out a soft oh and nodded. “Understood,” she said. Elio came through the butler’s pantry, wincing when I glared at him, but before I could say anything about him bringing Isabella home too early, she said, “I know I rushed us home, but do you think you’d want to go back out?”
Elio stared at her, stricken. “Back out?”
Isabella nodded. “Yeah. You know Cristian’s parish, right?”
Something mean and ugly gripped my chest. “What do you need with my brother?”
She barely glanced my way. “I was going to ask him to hear my confession the last time he was here, but he disappeared so quickly that I didn’t get a chance. Can you take me?”
I wasn’t stupid. I knew exactly what Isabella was doing. But knowing that she was trying to piss me off didn’t keep the anger from filling me up. “If you want to go, I’ll take you,” I practically growled out.
Again, Isabella didn’t even spare me a glance. Gia’s fingers, which hadn’t stopped petting at my arm, suddenly dug in. “Can I go too, Lorenzo? I would love to see your brother’s parish.”
I shook her off. “No one is going anywhere.”
That drew Isabella’s hot, honey gaze. “Why do you care?” she demanded. “You seem pretty occupied.”
“He is.” Gia’s voice was sharp. The possessive tone grated on my already frayed nerves.
“Amalia.”
“Sir?”
“Show our guest to her room. Now.”
Gia pouted out her bottom lip in a way that I was sure she thought was attractive. “But I?—”
Damian jumped out of his chair. “Come on, cugina ,” he said. “I’ll come with you. We can show you around.”
She wasn’t happy, of course, but Gia didn’t protest as Damian and Amalia tugged her out of the room. Elio floundered for a second, and then he turned and fled back into the kitchen, leaving the doors of the butler’s pantry swinging after him.
I stood and stalked over to Isabella, who stood her ground, never taking her eyes off me. The closer I got, the deeper she frowned, and the harder my cock became. “You’re a?—”
“Brat?” she challenged, raising an eyebrow.
I nodded. “Yeah.” I walked her backward until she was wedged between me and the wall. “Something has to be done about your mouth.” I touched her lips with my thumb. “You think you can just walk into a room and scream like you did?”
Isabella’s tongue flicked out, sliding across her bottom lip and tasting where my finger had been. “Maybe you should,” she said. Her voice was husky and low. “Maybe I need a reminder of how I should behave.”
I could crash into her, take her like she was so obviously wanting me to, and we would both enjoy it. But a bigger part of me wanted to lean in to what she was teasing. Show her what I was truly capable of. “Can you handle that, dolcezza ?”
For the first time, I saw her expression waver. She had no idea what she was practically begging me for. There was something delicious about that. “If you’re trying to scare me, save it,” she spat.
A low, dangerous sound escaped my throat. I gripped her chin and held her still while I took her lips with mine. I didn’t kiss her so much as I consumed her. I drank deeply from her mouth until she was whining and breathless. “I want to put you over my knee.” I let go of her chin so that I could reach around and grab her ass. She let out a pathetic little squeak that rippled all the way down my spine. “Let me?”
Isabella hesitated for a moment, and then, biting her lip, she nodded. I left her standing against the wall and went back to the table. I pulled out a chair and sat down and then beckoned her over. When she didn’t move, I patted my knee. She had to come to me now; she had to make that choice.
I watched her suck in a breath before she squared her shoulders and stepped toward me. She was trying her damnedest not to tremble, and I couldn’t help but feel proud. “Take off your jeans. Then, lay across my lap, dolcezza ,” I said.
Her eyes dropped to my thighs. “And then what?” she asked.
“I’ll spank you.”
Isabella’s lips twisted into a frown. Her eyes were steady on the print of my cock in my jeans. “Seriously? That’s what you want?”
I didn’t say anything. I sat and watched her as she attempted to wrap her head around what I wanted from her. There was a chance that she wouldn’t like this, but I thought I had read her correctly. If not, I wouldn’t push…but I had a feeling.
Finally, Isabella gathered her courage again, and she pushed her jeans down her shapely hips. With brilliantly red cheeks, she laid herself across my lap in an awkward balance that made her squirm.
I touched the back of her thigh, felt her skin break out in gooseflesh, and smiled. I was so hard, but I was able to ignore how I throbbed behind my zipper, looking down at the creamy expanse of her legs and the scrap of silk that barely covered her. “We’ll keep this light for now,” I told her. “Five spanks for being rude tonight.”
“Five?” She squirmed. “Are you?—”
“I could make it ten.” The wiggling stopped, and I smiled savagely. “Stay still for me,” I said and brought my hand down on the meatiest part of her ass. It wasn’t a hard hit, but the slap of my palm echoed. Isabella was silent, but I could feel the ragged rise and fall of her chest against my thigh. “Keep going?”
She didn’t say anything, stubborn to a fault, but then finally, she murmured, “Yes.”
Thwack! I brought my hand down again, and this time, she let out a breathy gasp. Her hips bucked inward slightly. A third hit landed, harder this time, and Isabella whimpered, wriggling in my grip. “Be still, dolcezza ,” I said. “Only two more now. You can take it, can’t you? You can be a good girl for me.”
She nodded, sniffling slightly. I brought my hand down for the last two spanks, one right after the other, and Isabella let out a cry that was anything but pained. Before she had a chance to gather herself, I reached between her thighs and pulled her panties to the side.
“Drenched,” I said, clicking my tongue against my teeth. She whined softly, stuck somewhere between shame and aroused, and it was intoxicating. “So much worry and confusion, but you see what happens when you listen to me?” I slipped a finger inside of her, smirking when she moaned and pressed her face into her folded arms.
I played with her, dipping my finger into her pussy, teasing at her clit, until she was shaking. “Please,” she sniffled, still hiding her face.
“Please what, dolcezza ?” Another pitiful whine, and I almost gave in…but I wanted her to ask for it. “Tell me what you want.”
Isabella trembled under my hands. “Please make me come?” she pleaded.
I fucked my fingers into her with purpose, not teasing anymore, and she moaned louder now. “That feels good, doesn’t it?”
She nodded. “Yes. Oh, God , yes.”
“You’re so close, aren’t you?” I circled her clit with my thumb, and Isabella cried out. “Your body wants it so badly, dolcezza . Your pussy’s practically weeping for it.”
She was murmuring something that I couldn’t quite hear, but I didn’t pause to ask her to repeat herself. Her muscles were clenching down on my fingers; my palm was slick from her. She was so close; she just needed a little push to get her over the edge.
I brought my free hand down her back and between her ass cheeks. Isabella gasped when I touched her furled rim. I didn’t press inside, not yet, but just that soft pressure was enough. She came hard with a high-pitched cry.
“There you go,” I murmured, working her through it. When she went lax, I pulled away from her. “I’m going to help you up, all right?” Isabella nodded, quiet now, and I helped her to stand. Her hazel eyes were hazy and faraway. I stood and, cupping her chin, I pressed my lips to hers, chaste now. “Let’s go to bed.” Isabella nodded, docile and so sweet that I had to kiss her again.
My heart squeezed in my chest as I looked at her, and I shoved the budding emotion as far away from me as possible. I was going to take care of Isabella, after I’d put her in such a fragile state, but I didn’t have feelings.
I refused to have feelings.