Chapter 19
LEO
While we enjoy the linguine with lobster risotto, I ask, “Have you told your best friend about us?”
Haven shakes her head. “No. I don’t want to put her in danger.”
“I won’t hurt her, and if she ever visits you, I’ll make sure she’s protected.”
“Kristen will lose her everloving mind if she finds out I married the head of the Italian mafia.”
“Because I’m a criminal?”
Haven lets out a chuckle. “No. Weirdly enough, I think she might actually be okay with that.” She shakes her head, then asks, “So, besides killing people, what other laws do you break on a daily basis?”
I let out a bark of laughter, loving her humor. “I create false information and situations.” When she gives me a confused look, I explain, “If there are two politicians in the run for the same position, I’ll bury the rival in scandals.”
“Ohhhh. Have you ever done that to someone I might have heard of?”
I nod. “I’ve helped presidents win elections.”
“Holy crap,” she gasps.
“It pays really well,” I chuckle.
With her full attention on me, she asks, “What else?”
“That’s all I deal in. I’m a part of an alliance with four other people whom you’ll meet at some point. If they ever encounter trouble, I’m bound by an oath to help them.”
“Then why is there so much killing?”
“I only kill when I’m betrayed or threatened. Luciano got one of my men killed while we were attacking a drug dealer operating in my territory.”
She lifts an eyebrow at me. “Do you deal in drugs?”
“No. I don’t shit where I eat.”
She lets out a burst of silent laughter. “Well, that’s one way of putting it.”
When the server comes to collect our empty plates, I ask, “Would you like more wine?”
Haven shakes her head. “Any more, and I’ll get drunk. I don’t drink alcohol often.”
“Hmm…” I narrow my eyes at her. “What are you like when you’re drunk?”
Smiling, she shakes her head. “Unless me hanging onto the side of a toilet does it for you, I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Noted.” Standing up, I move closer to her chair and pick up my jacket. “Put this on so we can go to the deck.”
Haven gets up and pushes her arms through the sleeves. My jacket dwarfs her, making her look fucking cute.
I link my fingers with her right hand, then lead her out of the room. When we reach the deck at the front of the yacht, Haven glances around us at the open water.
“I’ve never been on a boat before,” she admits.
“Do you like it?”
She inches closer to the railing and carefully peeks over the side, then quickly moves back. “It’s a little scary knowing we’re so far away from land.”
The wind blows her hair into her face, and without thinking, I brush the strands away and tuck them behind her ears while I step closer to her.
She glances up at me, and when I let my fingers trail down the side of her neck and over the diamond choker, the nervousness returns to her eyes.
I lean down and press a soft kiss to her left cheek, then say, “Thank you for letting me take you to dinner. I really enjoyed it.”
“I enjoyed it, too,” she whispers.
I pull a little back to meet her eyes while bringing my fingers to her chin. My thumb tugs at her bottom lip, and it has her breathing faster.
She likes it when I touch her.
There’s no hiding the desire in my voice as I say, “I’m dying to taste you.”
Her tongue darts out to torture me as she wets her lips, then she looks me dead in the eyes and demands, “Beg.”
Lifting my other hand, I frame her face and step as close as I can to her. The tension building between us becomes damn near explosive.
“Please.” I close the distance between our faces until her quick breaths hit my lips, and beg, “ Gesù Cristo, per favore. ”
She lifts her right hand, and wrapping her fingers around the back of my neck, she pushes up, and the moment her mouth touches mine, it’s game over for me.
I move an arm down, wrapping it around her back, and lock her body to mine. Tilting my head, I enter her mouth, my tongue stroking hard against hers. Sweetness burst over my taste buds, making a satisfied groan rumble from my chest.
For a torturous second, I break the kiss, my voice hoarse as I say, “I knew you’d taste fucking perfect.” Our eyes lock, as I nip at her lips with mine, then I take her mouth with pure fucking desperation and devour her.
I feel a tremble move through Haven’s body while she makes a sound that drives me absolutely wild. It’s a cross between a moan and a whimper.
I’ll give everything I own to hear it again.
My teeth tug at her bottom lip, and my tongue takes hers in hard caresses.
Fucking hell.
My head swims, and my chest overflows with the powerful desire she makes me feel.
My hand coasts down from her cheek to her side, and I grip the silky fabric of her dress, ready to rip it from her body.
Unable to stop myself from touching more of her, my hand moves up again until I find the soft swell of her breast. The instant I feel her pebbled nipple, Haven breaks the kiss, turning her head away from mine while pushing my hand down.
“Wait.”
I step backward to give her space, and suck in deep breaths of air while it takes all my strength to regain control over my desire for her.
Once the overpowering need recedes, I close the distance between us, once more, and hug her to me. She realizes I’m just going to hold her and wrap her arms around my lower back.
I brush my hand over her soft hair and say, “Thank you.”
We stand in silence for a long while, then she presses closer to me, her voice sounding vulnerable as fuck as she whispers, “Promise you’ll never take my choices away from me again.”
I’m a control freak by nature, so it’s difficult for me to say, “I promise.” I pull back, and bringing a hand to her chin, I nudge her face up so she’ll look at me. “I’ll give you anything you want, Haven. Except for letting you go, you can have whatever your heart desires.”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Okay.” She thinks for a moment. “I want…” Her teeth tug at her bottom lip, making me want to kiss her again. “Ten million dollars.”
“Done.”
I begin to lean down, but she pulls back while letting out a burst of laughter. “Okay, let’s be serious. Right now, I could really do with some hot chocolate because I’m freezing my butt off.”
I take hold of her hand, and linking our fingers, I lead her below deck to where there’s a state-of-the-art kitchen. When the staff sees me, they go into panic mode, darting in different directions to find something to do so they’ll look busy.
I start searching through the cupboards, and it has the server from earlier asking, “Is there something I can get for you, Mr. Toscano?”
“A mug and hot chocolate.”
“I’ll prepare the beverage and bring it to your table.”
I shake my head. “I want to make it.”
She pulls a mug from the cupboard before retrieving the hot chocolate from the pantry. I grab milk from the fridge and pour some into a pot. After putting it on the stove so it can warm up, I pour four teaspoons of the powder into the mug.
“Do you have tiny marshmallows?” Haven asks.
“Yes, Mrs. Toscano,” the server replies, rushing to the pantry to get them.
Mrs. Toscano.
I grin like an idiot while I stare at the milk, willing it to boil faster. When the milk is finally ready, I add it to the mug and stir until there are no lumps.
Haven drops three marshmallows on top of her beverage, but before she can pick up the mug, I do. I grab her hand and lead her out of the kitchen to a living room where we’ll have privacy.
She glances around at the cream leather couches and dark wood interior, and once she sits down, I hand her the hot chocolate.
I take a seat beside her, then say, “I need your bank details.”
The mug pauses midway to her mouth. “Ahh…I was joking about the ten million.”
“I wasn’t joking when I said ‘done’.” I pull my phone out and sign in to my banking app. “Do you know your bank details off by heart?”
“No, Leo,” she gasps, placing her left hand over the screen of my phone.
“You’ll hurt yourself,” I say a little too harshly, and feeling instant remorse, I quickly soften my tone. “Be careful, principessa .”
She moves her hand to her lap and shakes her head at me. “I’m not giving you my banking details.”
“I have other ways of getting it.” I exit the app, then level Haven with a serious look. “You are aware of the fact that I’ll be taking care of you for the rest of your life, right?”
She glances away from me and drinks some of the hot chocolate.
“I’m your husband, Haven.”
She lowers the mug and stares at the brown liquid. “It’s going to take some time to get used to that.”
I give her a pleading look, which she doesn’t see. “I understand, but in the meantime, I still want to take care of you.” Taking hold of her chin, I turn her face so she’ll look at me. “Please, Haven.”
Her eyes drift over my face, then she surprises me by not arguing and whispering, “Okay.”
I lean forward and press a tender kiss to her mouth. “Thank you.”
My phone beeps, and glancing down, I see a text from the captain saying we’ve reached land.
“Are you going to give me your banking details or make me work for it?”
Her mouth lifts at the corner. “I think I’ll go with the second option. I want to see how good you are.”
“I like a challenge.” I bring up the number for the island and press dial.
“Yes, Mr. Toscano. How can we assist you?”
“I want Haven Romano’s bank details. I’m sending you a photo of her passport.”
“I’ll look out for it, Sir. Will that be all?”
“Yes.”
I end the call and go into the app for the island. After I’ve uploaded the photo, I press send.
Smiling at Haven, I say, “I should have it in ten minutes, but in the meantime, we’ve docked. Time to go.”
“Home?” Haven asks as she stands up.
Hearing her call my mansion home has a smile spreading over my face. “Yes. Home.”
I climb to my feet and take the mug from her. As we walk to the door, I place it on the nearest table.
Placing my arm around her shoulders, I lead her off the boat while Edoardo and the other guards join us.
“Mattia and Dante are here to meet us,” Edoardo informs me.
Remembering Mattia hit Haven, I say, “We’ll go with Dante.”
“Yes, boss.”
As soon as we climb into the backseat of the SUV, my phone beeps and I grin again. I pull the device out, and when I see Haven’s bank details, I mutter, “Not even ten minutes.”
“You’re kidding,” she gasps as she leans over to look at the screen. “Damn, that’s kind of impressive.”
Not giving a shit that she’s looking at my phone, I sign into my banking app and upload her details. When I type in the amount I want to transfer, she squeaks beside me.
“No changing your mind. You agreed and I’m holding you to it,” I mutter as I press send.
I’m asked to enter a code for extra security, which I do. When it shows the transaction is done, I close the app and push my phone back into my pocket.
I turn my head and glance at Haven. She looks like she’s shellshocked, just blinking with her lips parted.
“You okay?” I ask while placing my arm around her.
“I’m going to need a minute,” she whispers. “Holy shit. I can buy all the books in the world and then some.”
“If that’s what you want,” I chuckle.
“Oh my God!” She grabs hold of my thigh. “I can save all the horses in the world before they’re slaughtered.” Her eyes swing to me, and when I see excitement shining in them, there’s one hell of a burst of warmth in my chest. “How do you feel about doing something good to make up for all the bad?”
“I’m listening.”
“Help me buy stables and employ people to take care of the horses.”
“You’re serious,” I murmur when I realize she’s dead set on spending the hundred million euros I sent her on horses.
I give Haven a life-changing amount of money, and she instantly wants to spend it on saving animals.
She tilts her head, her eyebrows pulling together. “I’m dead serious.”
“ Gesù Cristo ,” I whisper in complete awe of her. “You’re fucking incredible, Haven.”
“Will you help me?” she asks again.
“Yes.”
I hope it will show her how sorry I am for the hell I’ve put her through, and maybe…just maybe, she’ll forgive me.