Chapter 17 Marco
MARCO
When I woke this morning, the last thing I thought would happen is Gabriella sucking my cock until my eyes cross.
My head was pounding, my mouth tasted like gym socks, and my mind struggled to piece together the fragments of the night before.
I’d drunk too much and while at the time, I’m sure I justified needing to lose myself, this morning, I chastised myself for giving in to the weakness, for losing control.
Still, waking up spooned around Gabriella’s soft curves wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it was nice and for a moment, I’d allowed myself to lie there in her warmth. I gave in to one more moment of weakness.
But then the ambush from the night before blasted back into consciousness.
The echo of gunfire. The bodies of my men. The anger at myself for walking into it.
I eased myself away from Gabriella, careful not to wake her even as all I wanted to do was give in to the peace I find lying next to her.
But that’s not who I am.
I have responsibilities.
Antonio’s business is under attack.
The FBI is after me.
La Corona is compromised.
And I've complicated everything by crossing lines with Gabriella again.
In the shower, I douse my head, washing away the booze to clear my head.
By the time Gabriella finds me there, I've almost convinced myself that I'm in control again.
Almost. But not quite because when she came to me, worried that I was wounded, it nearly undid me. Why does she care so much, especially after how I treated her?
“I know you,” she said to me. “You deserve to be loved.”
God, I want to believe her.
There are moments when I do, when I think maybe I could have what Roman has.
Love. Light. Life.
But as soon as I let myself ponder it, I think of my father and his brutality.
I think of my mother, withering away until she was a shell of a person.
I’m a difficult man, one who doesn’t express feelings. Gabriella is strong, but I know that years of being with a man who can’t fully love would eventually break her.
But in this moment, I do my damnedest to push all that away and focus on her.
My cum fills her mouth, and I need a moment to catch my breath.
Then I pull Gabriella to her feet, crushing her against me.
My mouth finds hers in a desperate kiss that says everything I can't put into words.
How she haunts me, how she's the only light in my darkness, how I wish I could be the man she deserves.
"You're beautiful," I whisper against her neck, tasting the water on her skin as my hands skim over her lush body, stripping off her sodden pajamas.
I lower myself to my knees, my hands gripping her hips.
I want to worship her, to give her what she gives me, a moment of pure bliss where nothing exists but sensation.
When my mouth finds her clit, her gasp echoes off the tile walls. Her fingers tangle in my hair, holding me close as I work her body with my tongue.
I know her body like a map. I've memorized every sensitive spot, every touch that makes her tremble.
I push her up and up and then move my mouth away, lightly sucking the soft skin of her thigh.
I leave a mark, branding her as mine even as I know I can’t claim her. Not fully. Not forever.
“Don’t stop,” she gasps, pushing my head where she needs me most.
I give in, sucking her clit as my fingers slip inside her warm, wet body.
“Yes, oh, Marco… Yes!”
Her body shudders. Her sweet nectar fills my mouth. She cries out my name. All of it makes the ache in my chest nearly unbearable.
Rising to my feet, I gather her in my arms, her body still quivering with aftershocks. We stand under the warm spray, foreheads pressed together. There’s something different about this moment from all the others I’ve had with her. I can’t define why. All I know is that I don’t want it to end.
"I wish we could stay here," I murmur, surprising myself with the admission.
Her fingers trace my jaw, her eyes searching mine. "We could, you know. Just for a little while."
The temptation is overwhelming. To lock the doors, shut out the world, pretend I'm someone who deserves this woman.
But I have a duty to La Corona.
To the men who paid the ultimate price for me.
To Antonio.
“I need to see Antonio today, let him know what happened last night.”
Her gaze shoots up to mine. “It was at one of his properties?”
I nod.
“You think someone targeted you there? You, specifically, or La Corona?”
I shrug. “It’s hard to know. The attack was only on me and my men.”
She frowns. “Was Frank there?”
“He and your father’s men were searching in a different location. They heard the shooting and came to help… but I’d already lost several men.”
“You’d been called there, right?”
I think back to the call. The call that came in right after I was an asshole to her when I realized I fucked her without a condom. Thank God she’s on some other form of birth control.
“Yes.”
She frowns. “It’s odd, isn’t it, that you’d be called to my father’s property if someone is after you, specifically?”
I shake my head. “This whole situation is odd. We don’t know if it’s all part of one big conspiracy or multiple culprits descending at once.”
“Does my father know?”
“I stopped by last night, but he was asleep. That’s why I need to go today.”
“I want to come with you.”
“All right.” I reach over to turn off the water.
"Blackwood called me again yesterday," Gabriella says, her voice casual as she grabs a towel and wraps it around her.
My body goes rigid. "And you're just telling me this now?"
"I was going to, but then you were drunk and—"
"What did he want?" I cut her off, not wanting to be reminded of my weakened state.
"Same thing. Information on your business." She meets my gaze without flinching. "I told him I'd consider helping if he provided immunity for my father in writing."
I feel like she’s sucker punched me. I step toward her. "You did what?"
"Relax." She places her palm against my chest. "I'm playing him. I figure if we go along, we can figure out what he knows. Maybe even discover who he's working with."
My blood runs cold. "You're not getting anywhere near Blackwood again."
"Why not? This is our chance to find out who's targeting La Corona."
"Because he's fucking dangerous, Gabriella!" The words explode from me. “I lost good men last night—”
“Not because of Blackwood. Or is there something you’re not telling me?”
“I don’t fucking know and that’s the problem. Whoever came after us last night was hired. Professionals. Maybe even ex-military. You’re not going to play spy.”
Her eyes flash. "If I were Luca, would you be nixing this idea?”
"You're not Luca."
"Because I'm a woman?"
"Because you're—" I stop myself, struggling to articulate the storm inside me. "This isn't about your capabilities. It's about what it would do to me if something happened to you." The confession makes me feel even more naked than I am.
I grab my robe, thrusting my arms through the sleeves.
Gabriella's expression softens. "Marco…"
"I've buried enough people," I say with irritation. "I can't bury you too."
She steps closer, her hand cupping my face. "You won't have to."
"You don't know that." I catch her wrist, my thumb tracing her pulse. "These people are playing a game where everyone loses. Your father, La Corona, me… we're all pawns, and I can’t figure out the players."
“So let's change the rules.” She’s bold, I’ll give her that.
"You don't understand what we're up against. I don’t even know what we’re up against except that they’re willing to kill to win."
"La Corona has survived for generations because we protect each other. I know I don’t have a dick, but I can be useful. Especially with the FBI. I know the law. I can find out the case he has against you and maybe who in La Corona is betraying the families."
Her confidence both infuriates and captivates me.
"Think about it, Marco. If we work together, you, me, Roman, even Frank, we can set a trap. Feed bogus info to Blackwood and see who acts on it.”
I shake my head. “Blackwood is receiving info from our mole or moles. How does giving him bad intel help identify them?”
“Because it must go both ways. Blackwood learns something and asks the mole about it. If we give him bad intel, he asks the mole, and the mole does something that reveals himself.”
Fucking hell, she has a point.
I stare at her, torn between frustration and grudging respect.
She's fearless, brilliant, and completely maddening.
A part of me wants to lock her away somewhere safe, far from Blackwood and whoever's pulling his strings.
Another part, the strategist, the Don, recognizes she's got a good plan.
“If it will make you feel better, we can present the idea to my father. If he agrees—"
"If he agrees?" I scoff. "Your father has never been able to deny you anything. You've had him wrapped around your finger since you were born."
Her smile shifts. As she steps closer, her hand slides through the opening of my robe and grips my dick. “Guess who else I have wrapped up in my fingers?”
My breath catches as she gives me a slow, deliberate stroke. My body responds instantly, hardening under her touch. “You play dirty.”
"I thought you liked it when I played dirty." Another stroke, more insistent this time.
I grip her wrist, not to stop her but to steady myself. The power she has over me terrifies me even as it excites me.
"This doesn't change anything," I warn, even as my hips betray me by pushing into her touch. "The plan has to be airtight. No room for error."
She leans in, her lips a whisper away from mine. "Of course. I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Don Calabresi."
The formality of my title in that sultry voice nearly undoes me.
I capture her mouth with mine, backing her against the bathroom counter.
Her hand never leaves me, maintaining that maddening rhythm.
"You're going to be the death of me," I murmur against her lips.
She smiles, wicked and beautiful. "But what a way to go."
An hour later, I’m in Antonio’s office, all business, trying not to think about what I did to his daughter in the shower this morning.