Chapter 14
Adriano
Now that Laurie seems a little calmer, I let go of her and climb to my feet. “Let me show you around.”
She gets up, and as the fabric of the wedding dress falls into place, I once again can’t resist admiring how fucking breathtaking she looks.
Fuck. I actually pulled it off. This exquisite creature is mine.
My wife.
I process the realization quickly, and taking hold of her hand, I lead her to the kitchen and explain where everything is. “We have a housekeeper who comes in on Mondays and Fridays. Gia. Her aunt used to work for us before she retired.”
Walking with Laurie through the mansion, I continue to say, “You’ll see Gia around the property, though. She also takes care of my parents’ place, the other house, and Little Ricky’s apartment above the garages.”
“Your parents?” Laurie asks as we head up the grand staircase.
“Yes. You’ll meet them soon.”
Worry flashes over her features, but I don’t address it. We’ll deal with that bridge when we cross it.
I only spare a minute for the guest rooms, and when we walk into the main bedroom, I wave a hand over the area. “This is ours.”
“Ours?” she gasps, her eyes going wide.
I let go of Laurie’s hand, and gripping her chin, I lean into her and say, “You’re sleeping in my bed.”
She stares at me for a moment before arguing, “No…I can use one of the other rooms.”
There’s no fucking way I’m tolerating that shit.
“You’re my wife, which means you will sleep beside me. It’s not up for discussion.”
She rips her chin out of my hold and takes two steps backward. “What about what I want?!”
I’m amazed by the amount of patience I possess when it comes to my butterfly.
She’s signed the contract. We got married. I’ve made it abundantly clear she belongs to me.
Using the weapon she fears most, I remind her, “That ended the moment you accepted my money.”
I move forward, and when she backs up again, it rouses the predator in me. Smirking, I take another step, and this time when she inches away, I lunge.
Only a peep escapes her as I grab her off her feet. She’s so fucking easy to overpower, which feeds my dark and obsessed side.
Dropping Laurie on the bed, I pounce, crawling over her. I grip her by her chin, noticing her pulse fluttering like a trapped butterfly.
Ever so slowly, I lean down until I can feel her breaths bursting against my lips, then I growl, “You will sleep in this fucking bed with me. No buts.” Her body trembles violently, her frightened baby-blue gaze glued to me.
It’s not difficult to guess where her mind’s at, and it has me saying, “We’ll wait with the sex until you’ve adjusted to everything.
When I fuck you, it will be because you want it as badly as me. ”
Laurie cautiously moves, and just like earlier, she rests her palm against my jaw.
I fucking love it and lean into her touch.
“Promise?” she whispers.
“Everything else is fair game, except for intercourse. I promise.”
“What do you mean by everything else?”
My smirk grows, and unable to resist, I nip at her bottom lip with my teeth. “I have to seduce you, my wife. How else will I win you over?”
Her eyebrows knit together. “That doesn’t answer my question. What exactly does everything else entail?”
“Holding you.”
Moving to lie down beside Laurie, I pull her into my arms. I’m almost overwhelmed by the urge to hug her so fucking tight that there’s a risk I might crush her. I fight it, and after soaking up how incredible she feels, I brush the tips of my fingers down the column of her pretty little neck.
“Touching you,” I murmur, keeping my tone low and seductive.
As I move my hand across her shoulder and down her arm, I’m filled with reverence.
How’s it possible that one day I have zero interest in dating because every available woman annoys the fuck out of me, then the next, this perfect creature walks into my life and ruins me so completely I hand over my sanity, my heart, my entire goddamn soul?
It’s gotten so bad I can’t stand having her out of my sight for too long before something vicious starts clawing at my chest. The darkest part of me wants to lock her away where no one else can look at her, touch her, or even breathe the same air as her unless I allow it.
It’s like my soul attached itself to Laurie’s the second our eyes met, and now it can’t exist without her.
When my fingers return to her collarbone and neck, I notice goosebumps spreading over her skin.
“Bellissima,” I groan, relishing in her physical response to me. I lift my eyes to her face, and seeing her parted lips, I growl, “Kissing you.”
My hand shoots up, and gripping Laurie’s jaw, I crush my mouth to hers. The satisfaction is instant and so fucking overpowering as I claim her lips and tongue with brutal desire and filthy intentions.
My restraint slips, and covering her body with mine, I grow delirious, sinking into a dark fucking madness from the way she feels beneath me, my cock turning rock fucking hard.
Time falls away, and our surroundings become non-existent.
But what consumes me most is the fact that she’s returning the kiss. Our lips play tug-of-war while our tongues dance to a primative tune.
When some of my sanity returns, I slow it down until our mouths still. We’re both breathless, and opening our eyes, something sacred passes between us.
This isn’t some love at first sight shit. It’s two halves of a soul finally coming together after being separated for an eternity.
My voice is hoarse as I ask, “Does that answer your question?”
“Uh-huh.”
Moving onto my side, I prop my head on my palm. She folds her hands over her stomach, and unable to stop touching her, I trail my fingers up and down her forearm, making the goosebumps appear again.
I study Laurie as silence settles between us.
Most women would either be hysterical after the kind of day she’s had or blinded by the lifestyle attached to my name. But Laurie looks scared and confused, like she still hasn’t caught up to the reality of what has happened and who I am.
I married her after knowing her for only a handful of days, killed a man in front of her, then I brought her home and exposed the brutal reality of the Cosa Nostra to her.
Laurie swallows hard then whispers, “This is insane.”
Chuckling, I agree, “That it is.”
Turning her head, her gaze searches mine. “You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
“That’s the thing.” A frown appears on her forehead. “How?” She lets out a shaky breath before wrapping her arms around herself. “You watched me for one day, and know me what… three, four days?”
“You were born and raised in Findlay, Ohio, and came to New York after you graduated. You don’t have much contact with your family.
” Her eyes grow wider and wider. “You worked for Mitchell’s Construction, which we will talk about at a later stage, and you dated an ungrateful asshole who didn’t know what he had.
” I raise my eyebrow. “Anything I missed?”
“Jesus. You know it’s creepy that you stalked me, right?”
“Don’t care.”
“Just because you know all of that doesn’t mean you know me.” Giving me an incredulous look, she adds, “People don’t just decide to marry someone after a few days.”
“I do.” I lift my hand to her face and notice how she tenses before forcing herself to relax.
I hate it. I want her to need my touch more than the air she breathes.
“You’re trying to understand this logically when there’s nothing logical about what I feel for you.”
“That’s the problem,” she admits softly while her eyes cautiously search mine.
“What if you wake up one morning and realize I’m not what you want?
” A shaky breath leaves her. “What happens when you become bored after getting to know who I really am?” A nervous chuckle escapes her as she glances away to stare up at the ceiling.
“Jesus, I’d hate to see what you’re like when you turn cold toward someone.
I’m probably going to end up floating in the Hudson. ”
Something cold settles in my chest because she sounds certain I’ll eventually stop wanting her.
This goddess can’t fathom why I would be interested in her.
Wanting to get to the bottom of this, I ask, “Are you struggling because this happened fast, or because you can’t understand why I would choose you?”
She swallows hard and her features tense even more, making a strange feeling twist in my chest.
My voice is too harsh as I growl, “Laurie.”
She worries her bottom lip between her teeth before muttering, “I just don’t get it, okay.”
“Get what?”
“How you’re already so…” She motions vaguely between us. “All in.”
There’s no attitude in her voice. No fishing for compliments. She sounds genuinely confused.
“You think there’s no reason for me to want you,” I say, making sure we’re on the same page.
Her shoulders lift in a small shrug. “People usually end up getting tired of me.”
The words hit hard enough to darken my mood instantly, and feeling goddamn murderous, I growl, “Who the fuck made you think that?”
Laurie’s worried eyes flit to my face. “It’s just how it’s always been.
” She returns to staring up at the ceiling.
“After my parents divorced, they invested all their time and love into their new families. They always had something more important going on than to bother with me. Honestly, I feel like they just wanted me gone because I was a reminder of a stupid mistake they made when they were young.” She takes a couple of breaths before adding, “And my ex lost interest in me before the first year was over.” Shaking her head, she mutters, “Jesus, I was so stupid. I should’ve left much sooner but kept hoping things would change.
” Her tone turns forlorn as she whispers, “I’m not the kind of person that makes a lasting impression on people.
I tend to annoy and bring out the worst in them. ”
Something vicious moves through me.
Taking hold of her chin, I turn her head so she’ll look at me.
“Listen very carefully, Laurie.” When I’m sure I have all her attention, I say, “I knew the second I saw you that you were going to consume my life. That’s never happened to me before, and as someone who gets annoyed pretty fucking fast, hear me when I say, there’s not a single annoying thing about you. ”
She searches my face like she’s trying to figure out whether I mean it.
I brush my thumb over her jaw. “In all of my thirty-six years, I’ve never laid eyes on a woman as beautiful as you. Fuck, your eyes…” I stare deep into them. “It feels as if I’m getting a glimpse of heaven.”
Laurie’s eyebrows draw together, and the corner of her mouth tips slightly.
My voice turns gruff as I continue, “I will never get tired of looking at you. I will never stop loving how fucking amazing it feels when you touch me.” I lean a little closer.
“Just listening to you breathe fills me with satisfaction.” I frame the sides of her head, my torso partially positioned over hers.
“So no, Laurie, this isn’t me getting carried away after a couple of days.
You are a fucking goddess, and I count myself fucking lucky that I found you before some asshole got it in his head to put a ring on your finger. ”
Reaching for her left hand, I bring it to my mouth and press a kiss to the gold band that sealed her fate to mine.
The air leaves her lungs shakily, but I can still see the uncertainty lingering in her eyes, as if she’s waiting for me to wake up one morning and realize she’s nothing special.
“I don’t lose interest once I have something.” My voice turns deadly calm. “I become more fucking possessive of it.”
Her breath catches in her throat, drawing my attention to where her pulse is fluttering, and I duck my head to press a kiss to it.
I trail my lips up to her earlobe and say, “The more time I spend with you, the more obsessed I’ll become.
” My teeth tug at the fake diamond earring, which I intend to replace as soon as fucking possible.
“You will only sink deeper under my skin. Become more addictive. More impossible to ignore.” Kissing my way to her mouth, I groan, “You’re not forgettable.
You’re not boring. You’re not some temporary obsession I’ll eventually get over. ”
I lightly brush my hand over her left breast and down to her hip, where I grip her tightly while locking eyes with her again.
Laurie looks completely entranced, and I know if I push right now, she won’t resist me fucking her.
The corner of my mouth lifts in a smirk because I’ve already won half the battle when it comes to owning my butterfly’s heart.
Testing her, I keep my mouth an inch from hers. I massage her hip and push my right leg between hers, hating all the fucking fabric between her pussy and my thigh.
She turns her body into mine, her calf hooking over the back of my leg. Breathless, her lashes lower slightly, desire bleeding over her features.
I allow the moment to build until she lifts her hand and wraps it around the back of my neck while pushing her breasts into my chest.
“That’s it, mia piccola farfalla. Feel the undeniable pull between us,” I whisper so I don’t draw her out of the lust-induced trance.
She lifts her head slightly, narrowing the space between our faces.
“I’m all yours for the taking,” I tell her while grabbing her ass and pulling her right against me, knowing she’ll feel how fucking hard I am.
Laurie's grip tightens at the back of my neck as she pulls herself closer, and when she finally kisses me, I worry I might actually come from this intense moment alone.