Chapter 6
6
RAFFAELE
A ston pivoted and headed for the door but stopped when I called out to him.
He looked back at me over his shoulder. “ Oui ?”
“Hold on a second,” I ordered before turning toward Vivienne. “Eat,” I told her quietly before I stood and walked over to speak with Aston. I lowered my voice and asked, “You spoke with Charles?”
He nodded. “They’re retrieving the information as we speak.”
“Good. We’ll talk about the other problem tomorrow, but I want the manifest for the shipment from Artcurial as soon as you get it from Charles. I’ll look it over when I get a chance, then when we meet tomorrow, we’ll discuss which paintings to swap and send our list to Nic.”
Aston and his brother, Charles, were French, but they’d been born into the Family. Their grandfather, Aimé, had been best friends with Francisco DeLuca. They’d gone to boarding school together, and when Francisco took over as boss, he and Aimé worked together to smuggle art and antiquities in and out of France.
The brothers had taken over the operation from their father, but Aston was also one of the best art forgers in the world. Eventually, Nic had talked Aston into moving to Georgia and working directly with me, leaving Charles in charge of the operations in France.
Aston managed our largest art gallery and museum in Atlanta, but his studio and home were here in Camillia Falls. From the smattering of paint I spotted on his clothes, I assumed he’d come straight from his easel. Whatever the problem with the painting, it clearly wasn’t critical. But the situation with Charles had a clock on it. He’d called me a week ago to tell me that the Artcurial auction house in Paris was sending a very valuable batch of paintings to the States in three months. They were set to be displayed in a special exhibit at The Met.
Since port fees in the South were a fuck of a lot more reasonable than in the Northeast, a lot of businesses brought their cargo down here, then had it distributed through other means. With art, they usually hired a moving company who specialized in transporting all types of art—specifically, pieces valued in the million dollars or more category—to get the pieces to their final destination.
I’d been waiting on Charles’s retrieval specialist to acquire a list of paintings so that Aston would have as much time as possible to create replicas. With each passing day, the number of paintings we’d be able to replace dwindled. There was also the option to simply boost the paintings, but replacing them with forgeries meant less spotlight on the heist if it was eventually discovered.
Aston glanced behind me briefly, then asked, “How should I let you know when I’ve uploaded it to the server?”
“Send a text.” I waved toward the door and added, “But tell Domenico on your way out that he should make it clear to everyone that I’m unavailable for the next several hours. Unless it's an emergency, I am not to be disturbed. Anything less than that and they’ll be on my shit list, so they better think real fucking hard about what constitutes an emergency before coming to me. Understood?”
“ Oui ,” Aston murmured before he strolled out of the kitchen.
Vivienne was nibbling on a pastry when I returned to the table and took the seat next to her.
I frowned when I realized she hadn’t taken a single bite of anything else on her plate. Taking the cornetto from her hand, I set it down, then picked up an S-shaped cookie. “These are Burano's essi ,” I informed her as I dunked the biscotti in her cappuccino. “They come from the Venetian Island, Burano, and are my absolute favorite.” I held it up to her lips. “Eat, cara .”
She dutifully opened her mouth and took a bite of the cookie. Her eyes closed, and she made a sexy little sound of pleasure when she tasted the sweet flavor.
Fuck . If she kept that up, it wouldn’t be long before I lost control, tossed her on the table, and found out if those were the same moans she made when she climaxed.
“Wow, Carmen,” Vivienne sighed as her eyes reopened. “Those are amazing.”
Carmen winked at her as she took a sip of her own coffee. “Thank you, bellissima . My family comes from Burano, and every girl, and some of the boys, are taught to make essi and Bussola —which are basically the same thing, except they are shaped like a donut—from the moment we are old enough to bake.”
I chuckled and dunked the cookie again before holding it up for Vivienne to take another bite. “I had no idea how lucky we were to have them all the time until Carmen went home for a two-month visit when I was eight. After we ate her last batch, I asked my mamma to take me to the store to buy more. I knew they wouldn’t be as good as Carmen’s, but I figured it was better than nothing. And I was right. Because nothing was what we came home with.”
“Ah yes, Giulia called and told me about the epic tantrum, and from then on, I made sure to make several batches before I left for any extended trips.”
I scowled and grunted, “I didn’t have tantrums, Carmen. Mamma was clearly exaggerating.”
Vivienne giggled when Carmen snorted before taking another swallow from her mug.
“I’ll leave you two to enjoy breakfast,” Carmen announced with a bright smile before striding out of the kitchen.
When I attempted to feed my angel again, she shook her head and sighed. “As much as I’d like to devour every bite of this amazing breakfast, it’s a lot of calories.”
I blinked a few times, then shook my head, convinced I must have heard her wrong. “Pardon?”
Vivienne’s cheeks pinkened, and she shifted nervously in her seat. “I don’t want to overindulge.”
The way she said the word overindulge told me more than she surely intended it to. Obviously, this was something she’d been told as a criticism. Bullshit spouted by a man who was secretly so insecure that he had to put others down in order to feel superior. My desire to remove his fingers, toes, and dick…one by one, in that order, was growing stronger every day.
I turned Vivienne’s chair to face me before lifting her out of it and settling her on my lap. “ Cara , let me be very clear about something. You’re fucking gorgeous. Sexy as hell. But gaining a few pounds would only add to your beauty. Give you a glow that’s just a little healthier.”
Vivienne blushed and sighed. “That’s what my doctor said, too.”
My brow furrowed. “If your doctor wanted you to put on some weight, why are you watching your calories?”
“Um…I guess I just let…um…some people…get into my head.”
I ground my teeth together so I would snarl or curse a blue streak in case she thought my anger was directed at her. But fuck, I was gonna need to find a way to vent this fury soon. One that didn’t involve fucking Vivienne like a savage, taking the chance that I might hurt or scare her.
Reminding myself that Vivienne’s well-being was my priority, I focused on her in order to stomp back my desire to inflict pain.
“Those people have no place inside your head anymore, cara . But the more I know about your situation, the better I’ll know how to protect you. Will you tell me?”
Vivienne nodded, and I pulled her plate over in front of me, encouraging her to eat while everything spilled out of her.
By the time she finished, she appeared to be much more relaxed. Obviously getting all of it out of her system had given her some relief.
I was pretty much the exact opposite. It was taking a great deal of energy not to move Vivienne off my lap, grab my gun, and put Chet in the ground. Her parents and the in-laws were also on wafer-thin ice.
But I didn’t want to put the tension back on my angel’s shoulders, so I remained calm.
She sighed and slumped down, leaning against me as though she instinctively understood I would keep her safe. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I have to deal with this mess eventually?—”
I pressed a finger over her mouth to stop the flow of words. “You don’t have to do anything, cara . I will take care of it.”
Vivienne pulled away a little, looking up at me with a startled expression, likely reacting to the darkness in my tone. But then she seemed to shake the reaction off, probably convincing herself that she’d imagined it. I couldn't help wondering how she was going to take the truth of who I was when I finally told her.
She stole my attention from that worry when she shook her head, then tilted it to the side as she gave me a small smile. “That’s very sweet. But I can’t ask you to get involved. Chet and his parents…they might not be as wealthy as you, but they have connections in high places.”
I almost laughed at her worry, but I wasn’t ready to explain that my amusement stemmed from the fact that we had plenty of politicians, judges, cops, and other high-ranking officials at our disposal. Even if I made the decision to let the motherfucker live, Chet’s life as he knew it was about to be over. By the time I was done with him, he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere near politics or anyone of importance.
“Besides, you shouldn’t be saddled with a random stranger’s problems. I am so grateful for your help, but you’ve done enough. I promise I’ll figure out my next move today and go home to face the music.”
The idea of her leaving made my blood boil with anger…and I was shocked to find that I was a little frantic over the idea. I’d known the moment I looked into her blue pools that I wanted to keep her. But I hadn’t realized how deep she had gotten under my skin in the short amount of time we’d been together. Letting her go was not an option.
I cupped Vivienne’s plump cheeks and held her head still, making sure her eyes were locked with mine before I spoke.
“You’re not going anywhere, Vivienne.” My voice was threaded with steel, making it very clear that my words were not up for discussion. “I will take care of you.”
“Rafa, I can’t?—”
Her arguments were pointless, but I’d begun to see glimpses of a stubborn streak that I assumed had been buried under the weight of responsibility and emotional abuse. My eyes dropped to her plump lips as she protested, and I decided to try a different tactic to shut her pretty mouth.
Drawing her face closer, I bent my head and cut off whatever she’d been about to say by sealing my mouth over hers. A groan instantly rumbled in my chest as the feel of her velvety lips pressed against mine.
I ran the tip of my tongue along her seam, then grunted, “Fuck. So sweet.”
She grasped fistfuls of my shirt and leaned into the kiss, prompting me to use my thumbs to nudge her jaw down, opening her lips for me.
At the first taste of her mouth, my already hard cock swelled until it was fighting so hard to get out of my pants that I thought they might rip.
Vivienne’s round little ass was right on top of my groin, and she gasped when she felt the hard ridge beneath her. Then my hands traveled from her face to her shoulders and down to wrap around her torso, just below her tits, and she released a little moan. My thumbs gently teased the underside of her perky globes, and a shiver wracked her body.
I was close to losing control. If I didn’t stop, I was going to have her straddling me and my dick buried balls deep inside her tight little pussy before she was ready.
With a tortured groan, I tore my mouth away and rested my forehead against hers. She was panting softly, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the need to drive her to the point where she was practically suffocated with ecstasy and choked for every breath. The image of my hand collaring her throat while I slammed my dick into her over and over nearly broke me.
It wasn’t the right time, though. We’d only met last night, and I somehow knew that my angel needed a little more time before I claimed her body.
“I need to make a few phone calls,” I rasped. “Finish your breakfast, and I’ll give you a tour of the house when I’m done.”
Vivienne tilted her head back to look up at me, her cheeks a pretty shade of pink and her lips curled into a pleased smile. “I’d love that.”
“ Bene . I’ll be back soon. Wait for me, and don’t wander off. Is that understood?”
Her gaze turned quizzical, but she nodded without questioning my instructions.
“ Brava ragazza ,” I murmured, my lips slightly curved up.
“What does that mean?” she asked, almost shyly.
“Good girl,” I translated, my smile growing when her blush deepened. Hmm…I filed her reaction to my praise away for future thought.
Unable to resist temptation, I captured her mouth in another kiss, coaxing her tongue into it and leaving us both shaking with desire.
My pulse pounded in sync with the throbbing in my cock, but I managed to retreat. I lifted her off my lap, then stood before settling her in my chair.
“Eat,” I ordered before I placed a quick kiss on her forehead and strode purposely from the room, not looking back so I would be tempted to say fuck it and drag her upstairs to my bed.
Domenico stood in the hall, talking quietly on his phone, and acknowledged me with a lift of his chin.
“Stay with Vivienne,” I directed, then headed straight to my home office. Once seated at my desk, I opened my laptop and clicked on an email I’d received from Marco at four fifteen this morning. As instructed, he’d put together a dossier on the Chanlers and Blackwells and uploaded it onto our secure server.
We never shared pertinent information in any program that could easily be hacked. Instead, Marco had a network of servers in one of our office buildings that we could remotely access to store and share files.
I logged in and skimmed the basics, then set it aside to read more thoroughly later when I didn’t have Vivienne waiting on me. I didn’t want to return to her in a fucking shitty mood after reading about her pathetic parents and spineless ex.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and when I checked it, I saw a message from Aston. Charles had come through. I let him know I’d look it over after Vivienne went to bed, then navigated to my contacts and called Leonardo De Angelis. Leo was my caporegime , or captain, for the Georgia branch. He oversaw our crew, dealing with the details I didn’t have time for.
“Boss,” he murmured when he picked up.
“I need you to put some soldiers on shadow duty. But tell them not to be subtle about it.”
“You’re looking to draw their attention?” he clarified.
“ Sì . Make sure they know who the fuck I am and how to contact me.”
“Good as done. I’ll put Alec and Dante on it.”
“Excellent. I’ll text the target’s information to you as soon as we hang up,” I told him.
“ Bene. Ciao .”
“ Ciao .”
I did as promised, then made a couple of other quick calls before tucking my phone away in my pocket just as Dario rapped on the partially open door.
“ Sì?”
“Domenico had to stop your woman from poking around, so I put her in the solarium.”
“ Bene . I’m going to give her a tour so she knows the areas to keep away from.”
“I didn’t realize she would be here long enough for that to be necessary,” Dario commented, struggling to sound casual in an attempt to hide his disapproval.
My eyes narrowed, seeing right through him. “Was I unclear when I told you she belonged to me, fratellino ?”
“No. I just don’t understand how some woman is worth the extra attention the Family will get when the Chanlers start throwing a very loud, very dramatic fit over you stealing Chet’s fiancée.”
“Are you fucking questioning me, Dario?” My tone was hard, and my expression impassive, a sign that he was talking to the ruthless “King of the South,” rather than his brother. Not only did I not owe him an explanation but he was also overstepping, which wasn’t something I ever let slide.
He flinched and backed up a step. “No.”
“Good. Now get the fuck out of my sight until you remember your place and grow the fuck up.”
Dario hesitated, and I raised an eyebrow. I would never hurt my brother, but that didn’t mean he was above punishment for disobeying an order.
“Don’t push me,” I snarled.
He nodded jerkily and spun around, marching silently out of my office.
I was fucking infuriated and told myself I needed to get my shit together before I went to find Vivienne. However, to my surprise, just thinking about being with her soothed some of the churning in my blood, filtering out the violence that was pumping through my veins.
She calmed me, which fed my growing obsession with her. I knew I was becoming addicted, but even if there was a cure, I didn’t want it anywhere near me.