Chapter Seven
Gabriel
The light in her eyes mesmerizes me every single time.
Even now as it simmers with jealousy, it is beautiful. She is so damn beautiful. I hate that I have gone so long without her. That I could have had her all this time if I had taken my focus off the business. Off the money, the power, the prestige of being the guy everyone in town feared.
Now I barely recognize that guy. I was a brutal man before that damn party. Hell, I cut a man’s fingers off for stealing from me that same night. I might have literally had blood on my hands when I took her out on that patio. Just thinking about her being afraid of me, of her knowing that dark side of me makes me sick.
At the same time, I would end a life without thinking twice for her. If Marconi tries to take her from me, or even her damn father, they will be handled swiftly. With violence if necessary. I would put a bullet in their head without a moment of hesitation. They deserve the worst anyway, after what they have tried to do to her. Here she stands, doubting her importance to me, thinking that I could ever want something else or more than her.
“Princess,” I whisper gently, lips brushing her ear. “I am glad you came to me. Just as I asked. Do not misbehave with my sisters here. I won’t hesitate to punish you. We both know how much you like it, don’t we?”
Gianna lets out the tiniest, sweetest, hottest little sound. Then she nods. That’s my good little princess. I kiss her ear, giving her hips a little squeeze. Tugging her with me, I spin us both to face my sisters, who sit watching in rapt fascination. They have never seen me with a woman. Never seen this side of me because I had no idea this side even existed.
“Dita, Sabin, this is her. This is my princess, Gianna. Now I’ve gotten almost all the most important ladies in my life together. Mama needs to meet you next,” I lower my voice to whisper this to Gianna as she moves with me, her big, bright eyes focused on my two little sisters.
Taking a look at them myself, I understand her fit of jealousy. Both of my sisters are beautiful women, same as mama. In designer clothes, sparkling diamonds at their neck and ears, they come off as poised and classy. And they are. They also happen to be the goofiest, gutsiest, most generous people I know. There is nothing they wouldn’t do for me—so by extension, there is nothing they will not do for Gianna.
They were just teasing me as I poured my heart out about her. Everyone has noted the change in me lately. How often I am locked up in my office and how rarely I have been making it to our family dinners. As well as how I can talk of nothing else but my future—one with Gianna at my side.
“Gianna, I am so glad you came over,” Dita jumps up, circling the couch to rush over. My sister wraps Gianna up in a hug, making a playful show of tearing her away from my side.
Sabin comes next, bouncing Gianna side to side as she gushes about her pretty dress, her beautiful eyes, her cute updo. I stand back to let them fawn over her because I think she deserves it. Oh, she definitely deserves the punishment I teased her about too, but that will wait for now.
Having shared her enough after twenty minutes of their excited chatter, I gently tell my sisters to go. I promise to bring Gianna to dinner the next time I come. As they go, they tell her they will bring her shopping with them soon to give her some freedom from me. Not that she will want that freedom.
“Goodnight,” I tell them a third time, ushering them to the elevator.
Once they’re on the elevator, I hit a little silver button next to the elevator doors. It will prevent them from coming back. It will keep anyone out that I do not want up here. Turning, I face Gianna—the one person I do want up here. I do not say a word to her, I sail past her, grabbing her hand to lead her down a long hall to the master bedroom.
“You were jealous. It is a very pretty thing on you, baby. Just unnecessary. I do not appreciate the implication of you being jealous.”
Rounding her as she stands at the foot of the bed, I can feel her shaking. Not out of fear. No, this brave woman might fear others, but she is smart enough not to fear me. Once she is with me, she knows nothing could ever hurt her—I just would not allow it. Gianna shakes with anticipation.
“They were just.... I mean we just met...I had no way of knowing...”
“Yes, princess, you did know. What did I tell you?”
“I mean to be fair, you said a lot of things last night. Also, there were the orgasms...so, I mean, I might have forgotten a few things.”
Stifling a laugh at how goddamn adorable she is, I shake my head. I adore her. I am falling head over feet for her, and I don’t want to stop it. I am consumed with her, and I don’t care if it is reckless or dangerous. All I want is her laughs, her sweet smartass replies, and her dreams.
“Get on your knees, princess,” I rasp against her ear, pushing gently at her shoulders. I expect her to stiffen, to refuse me. Instead, she drops down slowly, doing just as I command. It makes my dick ache knowing she wants to please me. “Good girl. Last night I did saw a lot of things. What is the most important thing you think?”
Coming to stand in front of her, I wrap my fist around her wild topknot, yanking her head back. By the heat in her eyes, I can tell she loves it when I handle her this way. Just as she loved her punishment last night. I love that she is willing to submit to my needs, to let me have power over her this way.
Because she has complete power over me as well.
“That...that I was your princess,” she practically moans the words, her bubblegum pink lips wet and full. Grunting, I nod, dragging her sexy mouth open with my thumb, rubbing at the tender flesh.
“That is right. My princess. My fucking queen . Open that pretty mouth for me. I think you need a reminder of how to behave.”
With huge eyes, she pops her mouth open wider. Jesus, she is a fucking goddess. I yank at my zipper, one hand still fisted in her hair, pulling my stiff cock out. Gianna moans as I rub the swollen crown over her lips. Pulling at her head, I bend her back slightly, letting my thick shaft push past her lips.
“Be a good girl and swallow my thick cock, baby,” I hum, caressing her face as I push my hips forward, filling her mouth. “That’s it, just like that.”
Hissing as her eyes go crossed, I push further and further, until I choke her. Groaning, I hold her head still, her nose against my pelvis, her tongue waggling against my shaft. Pulling out of her mouth with a pop, my desire pools hot in my sac. I want to fuck her, I want to ruin her, to take every single part of her perfect little body as mine.
“Such a pretty princess,” I hum, praising her for taking my cock so good. “Taking me so good down that pretty girl throat. That’s it, baby, that’s just what I need. Ah, fuck, that little tongue of yours is so good.”
Pumping my hips now, I fuck her face with abandon. The room fills with my guttural growls, with her gagging sounds, and with her tiny whimpers. She loves it. I can tell she loves me using her this way.
“Tell me, is your tight little cunt soaked for me? Because you love choking on my cock, don’t you?”
With my cock shoved down her throat, she just nods. Tears slip down her temples, but she stares up at me with eyes full of heat, of want, of need. Fuck, she drives me fucking insane. I have never felt this sort of need. Not for money, not for booze, not for drugs, nothing else. This woman, my little princess is my one and only addiction.
“Take those pretty tits out for me,” I hiss, a shaking hand yanking at the top of her pretty dress. “Fuck, you’re a goddamn goddess, baby. I cannot wait to fuck every pretty hole. To fill your pussy and your tight ass with my cum. Tonight, I am coming on this pretty face. Show me how bad you want my cum, baby. Suck my cock like the greedy princess you are.”
Now she bobs her head, taking me deeper, gagging, sucking me harder, faster. Her tongue is something out of a porn fueled dream. It snakes up and down my cock, swirling at the swollen crown, making my eyes cross. I smack her face and she whimpers, nodding with me still crammed down her throat. I smack her face again, again, then I swat at her bouncing tits.
“You want to come, don’t you baby? I bet if I touched you now, you would come apart. You would soak those creamy thighs and my fucking cock with your cum. Wouldn’t you, baby?”
Pulling out of her mouth again, I yank her head back and bend. I lick my tongue into her mouth, tangling and twisting it with hers. Her needy little whimpers push me over the edge. Standing back, I fist my cock and pump it, shooting ropes of cum on her bare tits, her face, and her tongue.
Gianna stays on her knees, letting me spill wherever I want to. The little princess just about puts me on my knees when she wiggles a tongue full of cum at me, swallowing it down with a satisfied little sigh. Grabbing her throat, I bend to lick her puffy mouth, tasting myself on them.
“My little princess,” I husk, kissing her lips, her nose, her forehead.
Bending, I scoop her up to take her to the bathroom. Setting her down inside the shower, I strip her of her dress. There is no scramble to cover herself or pretend shyness. Her body is a work of beauty, she likes how I look at her, she preens beneath my hungry stare.
Tearing at my own clothes, I step in with her, backing her against the wall. My mouth finds hers as my hands fiddle with the water, turning the waterfall heads on to shower down on us. Her body is slick against mine as we tangle together, tongues twisting, hands roaming.
“I am pleased you came up. I told you to come to me if you needed me, so you did as I asked. Is something wrong?”
Untangling her hair from its knot, I step her beneath the shower to wet it. Reaching for the strawberry shampoo I got for her, I drizzle some in my hand then go to work lathering her thick waves up. Tilting her head back, she moans, rubbing her body against me like a kitten with its scratch post.
“I just...I think I had to see if it was real. That it was not a dream.”
Rinsing her hair out, I again wrap a chunk it around my fist. Yanking her head back, I hold her gaze. “Oh, baby, this is the fucking dream of a lifetime. We’re as real as it gets. How about we make dinner together?”
Gianna beams up at me, nodding her head. I drop a kiss on her lips, then go back to washing her hair. I spend an inordinate amount of time washing her perfect body, learning each curve, each sweet spot. I love the marks at her ass from the spankings last night, and the faint bruises at her throat from my beard rubbing there as I kissed and toyed with her.
Wrapping her in my robe after we step out, I grin as she brings the terrycloth to her nose, inhaling. Good to see her obsession is as bad as mine. Leading her from the bedroom—though part of me just wants to throw her on the bed and take what is mine—I watch how her bare feet sink into the gray carpet, how her pink toes wriggle when she stands still.
“What is your very favorite thing to eat?” I ask as we stand in front of the big double door fridge in the corner of my kitchen. I barely use the space but thinking about coming home to her making meatballs or ziti makes my heart swell.
“Tiramisu,” she answers with a cheeky grin. “Or carbonara.”
“Lucky thing I have what we need for both. Come on, princess, let’s do some cooking.”
Taking out all that we need, we go to work together. It comes to us with ease. We chop garlic and bacon, boil water, and discuss the importance of freshly made pasta even as we toss in boxed stuff. We move with one another as if we have done it a hundred times. I have never cooked with someone besides my mother, so it is yet another brand-new thing for me.
Sitting at the table with piles of some delicious looking carbonara, we talk about football—we love the same team, the Hawks—music, her favorite book about handsome aliens who breed their brides, and how much she hates the idea of going back to her father’s place.
Pulling her from her seat to set her on my lap, I let her pout for a moment. It is too adorable to tell her to stop. “It won’t be for long. I am working on setting you free, just as I promised. With your father promising you to Marconi...it complicates things.”
“How does it complicate things? I do not want him. I want you. I do not love him. I....”
Bowing her head, she sniffles as a tear slips down her cheek. Jesus, it is killing me to deny her. To deny us both. I am a ruthless man who has never taken the cautious route. I am being careful for her. I cannot start a war against her father or Marconi without first aligning myself with the other families. Still, sending her back there, letting them think for even one moment that they have control of her kills me.
“Princess, look at me,” I demand, my gut twisting when her head pops up, her face streaked with sadness, her eyes defiant. “I have to protect you. If I do this, if I steal you out from underneath Marconi, it would be cause for a war. Baby, I will start a war for you, I wouldn’t even think twice. I would slice his fucking throat for even looking at you. That motherfucker better never come to your bedroom again,” I hiss as I shake with anger.
Between bites of carbonara, she mentioned his visit to her earlier. I had my guard watching her place, so I knew. It still incenses me. That he could ever think he has a right to her. That bastard does not even have the right to share the same air as her, let alone be in the once space she calls hers.
“What...I mean what do you mean by...if you do this? I thought...”
“Oh, baby, don’t. There is no if. No perhaps. I am doing this. We’re doing this,” I correct myself, tipping her head back gently. “Unless you tell me now you do not want me. That you don’t want me to make the moves it will take to have you. I said you had a choice. Make it now.”
Scrambling on my lap, she shakes as she presses her lips to mine. I cradle her close, opening my mouth to her eager tongue. I slip her robe open just so I can feel her skin on mine. Standing, I head back towards the bedroom. Lying her down, I push the robe off as I pin her beneath me.
“I want you, Gabriel. Nothing else. No one else.”
“You have me, princess. No one has ever had me the way you do. No one else ever will, even if you choose someone or something else. I might kill any other man you choose...” I tease her though I mean every fucking word.
“You gave me a choice. No one else ever has. I made it. I came to you. I want you. I choose you,” she breathes before I slam my mouth to hers, sealing both of our fates.
There will be a war for her. Not because they care about her the way I do. But because their alliance will be shaken. Marconi and Bianchi make up two of the five families. I can make Bianchi bend to my will because I will have his daughter. Marconi will prove more difficult. Until, of course, I have spoken to the other families.
That is why I have to send her back to her father. I have to do it right. Well, as right as starting a war ever could be. I will make the other three families align themselves with me. They will fall in line, or I will slaughter them all. I have blazed a fiery path in my time as capo—just a strike of a match could burn the whole fucking thing down.
All I need is a little time—something that I am running out of. Gianna has no idea our clock is ticking—because her wedding is just days away.