Chapter 3
Presley
The breeze carried hints of citrus and salt as it tugged my hair loose and wrinkled the long curtains on either side of the balcony. I stared out at the vast sea, watching the white capped waves, wondering what it must be like to be created and undone so quickly.
The sky was bright and beautiful, and yet somewhere in my heart, a storm hadn’t stopped raging. An anger roiled deep within my core, mixing with hurt and regret.
Regret that I had given so much to the twins, so easily. Regret that this new role was still difficult for me to accept, because after everything, I still cared, which meant they still had a hold of my fickle heart.
Pushing down my emotions, I turned away from the balcony and made my way down the steps back toward the suite that I now lived in .
“Morning, Bellissima.” Adrian’s smile extended across his handsome face as he stretched, allowing the sheet to slip down to his tapered waist. I wore a silk robe, covering the matching night slip Adrian had gifted me.
“Morning.” I returned his smile, and before either of us could speak, a soft knock sounded at the door, and an elderly woman walked in with a serving tray. She spoke in a rush of Italian, which Adrian replied to as he brought his phone up and began swiping through notifications.
Good morning, sir.
Your men are driving me crazy. Fire Leon, he’s a menace in the kitchen.
I smiled as I listened and resisted the urge to laugh.
I hadn’t learned her name yet because Adrian’s staff continued to rotate with new faces nearly every day.
I smiled at her, but she only spoke to Adrian as she set the tray down that held two coffees, two plates of breakfast, and a myriad of other small dishes and silverware.
Once she was gone and the door clicked shut once more, I made my way toward the steaming mug and tried to push down the simmering annoyance that had been more frequent lately. I didn’t like how difficult it was to memorize his staff or his schedule. Everything was constantly fluctuating.
“What happened to Gloria?” I poured creamer into my cup and listened as Adrian shifted in the bed behind me.
His sigh wasn’t aimed at me, but whatever he found on his phone. “She’s likely with Leon in the kitchen. They swap duties from time to time. I leave them to decide all that.”
I made a mental note of that information and took the silver cover off my plate of food.
Adrian had a small table set up near the balcony entrance in his bedroom suite, which was where I tugged the cushioned chair out and sat to have my breakfast. I glanced up at the view of the cliffs and the waves beneath them while the buttered bread melted on my tongue.
My memory replayed the first time I dined at the table, back when I had come with Adrian after leaving North Carolina for the last time.
After stupidly returning home to see if there was any part of me that could reconcile with what had happened.
What I found instead was a bonfire of broken pieces the twins had left behind.
Not just of what happened with us, but they’d effectively ruined the family by terrorizing a faction of crime in New York that their aunt was involved in.
I didn’t even recognize them when I had returned, and saw them again.
Their recklessness was too much for me to process back then, so I swiftly returned to Italy without looking back.
That was four months ago, and when I walked back into the house, Adrian had expected me to head to my old room, but I had stormed toward his instead.
That first morning, he sat with me while I cleaned my gun, and he read a book.
It was oddly the most peaceful morning I could remember having in years.
While Adrian was perfectly fine with not pushing any physical boundaries of mine, we did share the same bed every night.
I hadn’t decided on having sex with him yet, but we kissed plenty, and there were other things to keep him occupied, like fucking me with his fingers and tongue as often as he wanted.
While there were things I was still skeptical of and doing my own work to uncover, Adrian did manage to steal a small piece of my heart.
It was his alone, not shared with anyone else, and that tiny piece was the only part of me that seemed to be thriving here in Italy.
The rest was all fake smiles, pretend kisses, and an elaborate act.
The twins had broken me, but there was a chance their intel wasn’t completely wrong, and because of that small possibility, my guard was up with Adrian and the two men who guarded him the closest. Renzo and Benni.
They were constantly armed and always in Adrian’s business. Which meant they were always in mine.
A warm kiss landed on my neck as I added jam to the toast. My robe slid to the side, revealing bare skin, and Adrian took the opportunity to move his mouth across it, marking me in his own way.
Sometimes it felt like we were both playing a game, one we knew the rules to, and that it might end in both of us getting hurt or worse.
Yet, each day, we grabbed the dice and continued to roll.
I moved my neck to the side to give him better access and set the toast down as his lips made their way to my ear in a raspy plea.
“You know how I take my coffee, Presley.”
My core clenched at his words, already knowing what he wanted from me. This dance we’d done for months, and while I struggled with how much of myself to give away to him, I told myself none of my reasons had to do with the twins.
They’d discarded me as easily as an old napkin.
It was simply because I had reservations about how convinced they’d been about Adrian’s involvement with the Mariano family that I had hesitated in fucking him these past nine months.
I didn’t hesitate, however, in playing this daily game with Adrian, which is why I spread my thighs and pulled the tie of my robe, so I revealed my aching body to him.
Taking a bite of my toast, I waited for him to realize I hadn’t worn any underwear with my nightgown.
His hands began pushing the material up my legs, and then a deep groan emanated from him as he yanked my hips, so my ass lingered on the edge of the seat.
He muttered a few words in Italian before his head lowered, and his wet tongue slid through my slit.
So fucking perfect.
Mine. Entirely mine.
I took another bite of toast as I stared down at his chestnut hair, and the way his groans increased the deeper into my pussy he licked.
Some mornings, I’d grab my toast and walk over to the bed, where I’d straddle his face while I finished my meal and then came against his tongue. He’d make jokes about how he liked his coffee with the side of cream. The cream being my orgasm on his tongue.
Finished with my toast, I ran my fingers through his hair and began riding his face. Enjoying the sensations of his tongue gliding through my cunt, I ground against his fingers as they slid inside me, adding extra pressure where I needed it most.
The waves echoed through the room from the open balcony, the air was lightly humid with a hint of salt, and I didn’t even try to cover my moans as I tipped my head back and rocked my hips against his face.
Wetness dripped down my crack, likely soaking the chair, and the sounds he created only made that knot in my core coil so that I made filthy requests for him to fuck me harder with his mouth.
His hand came up to my thigh, where he gripped it hard while spreading me wider.
His face lifted the slightest bit, and then his teeth gently clamped around my clit where he sucked it into his mouth so hard that I came with a cry.
Fingers tethered to his hair, my legs were practically clenching his face as they shook, and he continued to moan into my center, lapping up every single drop of my release.
With a heaving chest, I watched as Adrian moved from between my legs. He gave me a sexy smirk, his lips gleaming before grabbing the second cup of coffee and sipping it.
Once he set it back down, he let out a heavy sigh. “Perfect.”
A laugh bubbled up from my chest, and I realized I had come to like this tradition we had.
I loved coming on his tongue every morning, and I loved that he always drank his coffee directly after.
I loved that he never pressured me for more, even though he deserved it.
He was always so selfless when it came to touching me, kissing me and having me in whatever capacity I would give and he never asked for anything in return.
He never made me feel anything other than desired. He was patient with me, adoring. Kind. So unlike them.
The realization of how much I trusted Adrian blossomed in a very broken part of my heart, which is what had me moving to the floor, on my knees in front of him. Our chests heaved as we stared at each other.
A dark brow flicked up as he sipped from his mug as if he were challenging me. His pajama pants were tented, so I crawled between his legs and tugged them down, revealing his slick length.
“Presley,” Adrian warned, but I gripped his base and leaned forward to take him into my mouth, swirling my tongue over the tip of him.
“Oh shit.” The dishes clanked as if he jumped and jostled the tray.
It only made me take him deeper, while working my fist around the thick base of him. His moans and gasps had me moving faster, gripping him firmly while lifting and swirling my tongue over him.
My eyes found his narrowed ones as I spit over the head of his cock and then used my fist to stroke him. He mumbled quiet Italian before gripping the back of my head and forcing me to remain where I was.
I’ve waited so long for you to want me like this.
I want you to choke on me. I want you to always want this.
He groaned deep while holding me there, and then began lifting his hips in slow, purposeful movements.
I opened wide while his slick length slid in and out of my mouth, and he fucked me how he wanted to.
His breathing was shallow, his strokes deep and fast until he froze and hot liquid began coating my throat.
I tightened my grip on him and swallowed it all down.
“Fuck, you’re incredible.”
I hated that I missed the way the twins spoke. How filthy and degrading their words were, until that is, I realized they’d meant it all.
I sat back on my heels and watched as Adrian caught his breath and stared at me as if he’d just realized something. His eyes were bright, mouth parted, and right as he was about to say something, there was a knock at the bedroom door.
Adrian didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to.
Seconds later, the door opened, and Renzo walked inside.
Adrian cursed while pulling his cotton pajama pants back over his semi-hard cock, and I gaped at his right-hand man while pulling my robe closed.
Renzo glanced between where I kneeled on the floor and his boss reclined on the chair, then clenched his jaw.
“The fuck?” Adrian snapped.
Renzo had similar features to Adrian, but his eyes were brown, and his hair was darker. He was also bigger and blunter in places that Adrian was tapered and defined. Renzo glared at me, and I smirked back while swiping at the corner of my mouth before gently licking the tip of my thumb.
Renzo didn’t seem phased in the slightest. “Sorry, but there’s something you need to see.”
They didn’t bother speaking Italian around me anymore. I wasn’t sure if they caught on that I understood it, or if Scotty had somehow revealed that little tidbit, but they almost never spoke it in front of me unless it was useless chit-chat.
Adrian let out a heavy sigh before getting to his feet. “Is this about the names I sent you last night?”
Renzo tilted his head, as if he weren’t sure why his boss was speaking so freely in front of me. “No. It’s about a complication that requires your attention. Privately.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed before taking my hand and helping me to my feet. He pressed a gentle kiss to my mouth and then stroked down the side of my face. “I’ll be back soon. Don’t get dressed.”
I crossed my arms watching them walk away, but before Renzo completely exited, I couldn’t help myself. I yelled at his back.
“Don’t forget, Renzo. I’m about to become his wife; you might need to get comfortable speaking around me. I won’t always be so willing to let him go off with you.”
Renzo froze mid-step and glanced over his shoulder. Adrian’s brows rose as he glanced between us. He spoke something I couldn’t hear, but Renzo’s smirk turned deadly as he faced me once more.
“Don’t forget, Presley, you may be marrying into the Addesso family, but you will never actually be an Addesso. Adrian would be wise to remember that.”
The men exited, shutting the door behind them and effectively freezing me in place.
No man in any crime family would speak of their boss that way, especially when he was within earshot. Not unless, of course, they were blood related and had a powerful role within the family.
Gio’s conversation came back to mind.
“Adrian has two brothers who travel with him, acting like security, but they’re some of the most dangerous men in North America.
Benni and Renzo Addesso are aware of every move Adrian makes, and they don’t make any decisions that aren’t unilateral.
So the choice to place a hit on your father was made by Benni, but all three brothers agreed to it. ”
It seemed as though I might have finally tugged at a thread in the Addesso family that might become their undoing.