Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
Aurora
I gape at the building before me that has my name boldly displayed in front of it. Then I look over my shoulder at a blank-faced Giovanni and frown.
Earlier, he told me he had something to show me. As we drove here, I just assumed we were going to his cafe and was confused when we drove past it, only to pull up across from the cafe.
“You can’t just buy me a whole building,” I say.
“I can, and I did.”
“I’m not accepting it,” I say stubbornly.
“You will,” he says insistently, “because you don’t have a choice. This location is closer to me so I can keep a constant eye on you. If those men can infiltrate your old studio undetected, who's to say what else they’re capable of or what hidden threats might already be lurking in plain sight? Your previous studio has been compromised, so this building stays.”
“Gio, you can’t just wake up and completely upend my life. I have clients and a schedule to maintain. I can’t just make decisions like this on a whim.”
“You seem to forget I’m a meticulous person, princess. I already took the liberty of closing down your old studio and notifying your students’ parents via email about the change in location.”
My glare darkens. “You had no right.”
“Do you not have a class in a few hours?” he points out, completely ignoring my last statement. “You should prepare the place before then.”
He dangles the keys in front of me, and I snatch them from his hand and march to the door, muttering about thick-headed, domineering, controlling, and annoying men.
I open the door, step into the room, turn on the lights, and gasp. It’s obvious that whoever designed this place not only saw the previous place but knew me very well.
The only suspect? Giovanni.
The long wall of mirrors was still present, but this space was much larger, and it allowed more light to flood in. Gone were the LED lights built into the ceiling that used to wash the old studio in sickly white light. Now, chandeliers hung from the ceiling, making the space appear warm rather than severe.
Suffice it to say, it was gorgeous.
I turn around and fly into Gio’s body, my arms winding around his waist.
“I’m assuming you don’t hate it then?” He chuckles.
“I love it. Thank you, even though I still think you’re a controlling ass for changing the location of my studio without telling me,” I say. “What if I had hated it?”
“I’d have kept on buying buildings and redesigning them until you liked one enough.”
I roll my eyes at him. That is such a Gio thing to say. Ugh, what was I thinking, getting entangled with a man like him? He has way too much money and is far too relentless.
I walk to the office at the back and am equally amazed by the effort taken to decorate it. There’s a long line of windows behind my desk from where I have a direct line to the cafe.
“Bulletproof one-way glass,” Gio explains. “It’s the same with all the other windows in the building. The office doors also double as a security door that can turn this space into a panic room with one press of a button.”
“You are far too paranoid,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“No, princess. If I were, I’d keep you in my bed, fucked out and too tired to think about leaving the house to go to work.”
His words cause my throat to go dry, and I mentally count how many days it’s been since he’s touched me. Far too many, by my count. I’ve been falling asleep in Gio’s arms every night since the attack at the mall, and while it has been great, a girl has needs.
I clear my throat. “I love my office too, and the slightly too much thought you put into the security measures. Thank you.”
Smirking, he says, “I know a way for you to thank me.”
I raise a brow at him. “I distinctly remember saying thank you.”
“Words have no meaning without the actions to back them up.”
“Who died and made you a poet?” I snicker. “I’ll make sure to write that on your headstone after I stab you with the pointy end of my heels.”
“Until then…” He digs his hand in his pocket and pulls out a small object.
I peer closely at it. “What is it?”
“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” he teases, his lips curving up in amusement.
“I’m thinking I should say no,” I say, crossing my arms.
He chuckles and walks around until he’s seated in my oversized chair, his eyes holding mine with fiery intensity. “Come here, princess.”
“I have a class in a few minutes.”
“I know. This won’t take that long,” he assures me.
I grin. “I didn’t peg you as a two-minute man.”
“Come,” he commands.
I walk over to him and drop down on his lap, my legs spreading over his knees with my back to his front.
“Good girl,” he whispers into my ear, making me shiver.
Then, he brushes my hair aside and places a kiss on the side of my neck as his hands trail up from my knee to the inside of my thighs until they come to rest over my panties-covered pussy.
Without any hesitation, he slides my panties to the side and pushes one thick finger into me. I moan, spreading my legs further to give him a better reach.
“So wet for me,” he grunts.
“Yes,” I whimper.
“It’s unfortunate that you have a class in a few minutes.”
“Fuck the class.”
The sound of his laugh reverberates down to my pussy.
Suddenly, his finger pulls out of me, and he places something on my lips. “Open your mouth, baby.”
I open my mouth, and he pushes the cold object into my mouth. I reflexively close my lips around it and suck.
“Good, get it nice and wet.”
After a few moments, he pulls it out and pushes it into my pussy. It’s not nearly as big as his cock, but it still makes me pant as he seats it deep inside me. It’s a sex toy of some kind with a small attachment that sits right above my clit.
With a wink, he pushes my panties back into place and stands up, lifting me with him and then dropping me to the ground.
I squirm, feeling the foreign object inside me and my wetness soaking my panties.
“You’re leaving?” I ask, aghast, when I see him head for the door.
He smirks at me. “I’d really hate to keep the kids waiting.”
“You don’t even care about the kids,” I snap at his back as he walks right out of the studio, leaving me with desire thrumming through my blood.
The bastard.
Right after my last lesson of the day, my phone rings while I’m considering texting Gio to lie to him that I’ve taken the stupid toy out.
I was surprised to see that it was my twin brother, Fabio.
While we were inseparable once upon a time, his recent move to America put some strain on our relationship. The few times we had texted, it was mostly shallow stuff and him complaining about the absolute mess he faced each day.
I’m a bit glad, though, that we haven’t been all that close. Fabio would have taken one look at me and known exactly what I was up to.
“Who’s this?” I jest.
“I’m calling about the facelift surgery you did recently. I’m afraid your face is going to swell, rot, and fall off in a few days,” he quips back.
I laugh. “First of all, ewww. Second, I’ve never done a facelift surgery.”
“Hello to you too, sis.”
I smile into the phone. “I’m surprised you can take time out of your busy mafia boss schedule to call your twin.”
“Don’t pout, Rory. It’s not a good look on you.”
“That’s not what I hear,” I tease. “In fact, the other day, this guy was saying how it makes him think of?—”
“Do not dare complete that sentence,” he barks. “I don’t want to know what you and the men you hang out with get up to. Gross, Rory.”
“Hey, you started it.”
“You can’t see me right now, but I’m shuddering,” he says. “I’m also in your bedroom, going through your diary. You haven’t filled it for a whole month now. Interesting.”
“It’s a journal, asshole, and don’t you dare touch—” I trail off as realization hits me. “Oh my God, you’re home!”
“Yup, sure am. Get your sweaty ass home and come give your big bro a hug.”
I don’t even bother pointing out that he’s only older by a few minutes. Instead, I just hang up, change into fresh clothes, and race out of the studio.
Fabio looks different when I see him. It’s something most people won’t notice, but I notice even the tiniest things about him. There’s now a hardness to him that I’m not familiar with, but I guess that’s part of the package of being in charge of his own city now.
“Hey, kiddo,” he says, opening his arms.
I rush into them, feeling like we’re kids again—kids that have just been separated for the summer.
“What are you doing here?” I question.
“Emergency meeting today,” he explains. “Leo can’t make it, so I’m sitting in for him.”
I glare at him. “He should have let me sit in for him. I’ve been here after all.”
“Who delivers guns to our outer city bases?” he asks me pointedly.
“There’s an outer city base?” I ask in surprise.
He throws his head back and laughs. “You sweet summer child.”
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes. “Who’s showing up for this meeting anyway?”
“The usual suspects,” he says, “Marco, Gio, and the rest of them.”
“Gio’s going to be there?” I squeak.
Hearing the difference in my voice, Fabio gives me a suspicious look. “Yeah, problem?”
“No. No. Not at all. No problem at all.”
His eyes widen. “That means there’s definitely a problem. What’s going on?—”
The sound of a car screeching into our driveway cuts Fabio off, and I take the opportunity to scurry away to avoid more questions.
As I suspected, the driver of the loud sports car is Marco. One of my brother’s more notorious friends. He’s the wild card of the bunch and the jokester. He grins at me as I approach. “Hey, kiddo,” he greets.
I roll my eyes with a huff. I’m getting sick and tired of everyone referring to me as a kid.
“Hey, Grandpa,” I reply.
He lets out a boisterous laugh. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
The others arrive shortly after—Alessandro, Francesca, and finally, Gio. He’s in a dark turtleneck under his dark suit, and he looks far too good for me to be anywhere in his vicinity without drooling over him.
Luckily for me, I’m not close to either of my brother’s friends, so after a brief exchange of pleasantries, I plan to stay out of their way.
Gio tries to catch my eyes several times, but I carefully keep my gaze averted. If I look at him even once, Fabio will catch on to what is going on, and that’s the last thing I need.
Just as I beat a hasty retreat, Fabio catches up to me and stops me.
“What was that in there?” he asks, quirking his brow.
“What was what?” I say, feigning confusion. My look gives way to shock as I feel the toy inside me begin to vibrate. Holy shit.
I hadn’t realized it was a remote-operated vibrator. If I had, I would never have let him put it in me.
Liar , my inner self accuses me.
I feel my pussy walls clench as the toy pulses inside me. I squeeze my thighs tightly together and clench my jaw.
“Don’t play games with me, Rory, or I swear to God, I’ll dig into it myself and tell Leo.”
I frown at him. “Look, it’s nothing,” I say just as the vibrator increases its intensity.
I’m going to kill that Gio, I swear to God.
“That man was devouring you whole with his gaze. That’s as far from nothing as nothing gets.”
I blush. Both from his words and the way my clit is tingling.
“Are you fucking him?” he suddenly asks incredulously.
“Keep your voice down, you knobhead!” I hiss, squirming distractedly. “Yeah, fine, I’m fucking him. It’s just casual, and it’s none of your business, so keep quiet about it.”
Fabio makes a face. “He’s like old .”
I giggle and slap him playfully on the shoulder. “No, he’s not.”
He stares at me inquisitively, then sighs. “I’ve got to go, but we are not done discussing this.”
“Yes, we are,” I tell him firmly, then turn and flee right on time before the moan I’ve been holding back slips out of my mouth.
I’m a bundle of desire and aching neediness as I barge into my room and turn the lock on the door. I don’t even bother undressing completely. I just fall into the middle of my bed, set up my phone camera so everything is on display, kick off my panties, and go to town.
The vibrator gives one last buzz before it stops moving, and I grab the base of it and pull it out.
Letting out a breathless moan, I push it back in and then start to fuck myself with it.
It starts to pulse a moment later, and I cry out as pleasure assaults me. My pussy is dripping wet, and I’m making a mess all over my bedsheets, but I don’t care. I gather the moisture to my clit and concentrate on it while the vibrator continues to buzz inside me.
Sweat beads on my skin as I fuck the vibrator and play with my clit.
Just as I’m about to cum, I look into the camera, drag my wet fingers to my mouth, and suck them into my mouth. Then, finally, I cum, crying out Gio’s name and shaking with the force of my orgasm.
The vibrator gives one last pulse that makes me twitch before going still inside me.
With it still inside me, I sit up and grab my phone, then send the video off to Gio.
You can either come up here and fuck me or stop messing with me. Because I’m tempted to walk right out of this house and let the first man I see take care of what you started .
I switch off my phone and fall back into bed with a satisfied smile.
I was tired and relaxed from my surprisingly very intense orgasm, and I suspect it’s because I had Gio on my mind the whole time.
A short while later, I hear a knock on my door, but I’m already half asleep, so I just ignore whoever it is.
“Rory?” Fabio calls out.
I groan in annoyance and get up to open the door. He looks around the space suspiciously, and I sincerely hope he doesn’t see the still-wet spot on the bed.
“Hey, kiddo.” He smiles apologetically, and I can see the bags around his eyes. He looks tired, and I wish there were something I could do to help.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I ask, concerned.
“I have to fly back right now. There’s an emergency back in the city.”
I feel my lips tremble on their own accord. “But you just got here,” I complain.
“I know,” he says tiredly. “When everything gets settled down, I can stay around for longer. For now, everything’s just kind of a mess.”
“Do you promise?” I hate that I sound so young and needy, but I miss my twin.
“You have my word.”
“Okay.” I hug him one last time and say, “Goodbye, Fab.”
“Bye, Rory,” he replies as he pulls away. “And one last thing; I want you to be careful about Giovanni.”
“Careful?” I echo in surprise.
“Yeah.” He frowns. “He’s not all flowers and roses. I mean it, Aurora. There’s something dark about him, and I don’t want you to be present when he unleashes it. Just promise me you’ll be careful, and if anything goes wrong, you let me know.”
I consider telling him about the people who are after me, but then I change my mind immediately. He has too much on his plate for me to add my problems to it. I got myself into this, and I’ll get myself out of it.
“I will. I promise.”
He nods before turning and walking away.
Going back into my room, I can’t stop thinking about what he said. A shiver of apprehension rolls down my spine, and I wonder if I’m making a big mistake by getting myself entangled with Gio.