Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Marchello
I was so far into this relationship and too tangled up in our chaos that I would go insane without Lissia. If I lost her, I would sink into the deepest, harrowing depths of hell.
And I would take her with me.
My relentless hold on Lissia’s arm didn’t warn her to read the room.
“Let go.” She banged her fist against my chest.
“I warned you not to provoke me.” I heaved her intoxicated body to the back staircase. In her disheveled navy dress, she stumbled up the steps as her bare feet tried to keep pace with me.
“What are you doing?” She hit my shoulder.
“What I should have done a long time ago.” I shoved her into the bedroom and slammed the door behind me. “I knew you were trouble, but I was arrogant enough to think that I could manage you and still keep my head in the game.”
“I don’t need to be managed.” She straightened her dress. “Thank you very much.”
“You want your space?”
“Ah, why?”
Now that I called her bluff, she wasn’t as confident as she was a few minutes ago.
“I won’t leave the penthouse, but I will leave the bedroom.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I’ll leave you alone tonight, then tomorrow, when you’re not full of champagne, we’ll figure this out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out.” Lissia sat on the edge of the bed. “All you have to do is admit you were wrong and apologize.”
“Right.” I laughed. “Except, I’m not wrong.”
“I got shot because of you,” she said. “Doesn’t that make you feel bad?”
“You got shot because your father ordered a hit on me and my brother.” I held up my hand. “I’m not doing this. You’re not going to see things my way, and I’m too drained to explain.”
“You won’t explain anything.” She sprang from the bed and swayed toward me. “That’s the fucking problem.”
“Watch it.”
“No, you have to start treating me like an equal and accept that I’m worthy to stand with you and not behind you.” She put her hand on her hip. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be working with Lorenzo. I did that.”
“You did that by accident.”
“That’s not true.” She bit the corner of her lip. “I helped you.”
“Your old friend helped me.”
“You still needed my help.”
“I’m going to order dinner.” I turned to leave because I didn’t have the patience to go this route with her. “I’ll send something up for you.”
“No.” She reached for my arm and inserted herself between me and the door. “Don’t dismiss me.”
“I’ve given you several opportunities to let things rest between us, but obviously, that’s not how you want this evening to play out.” I grabbed her arms and pushed her against the door. “Last chance to back down.”
“I never back down.”
“Maybe that’s your problem.” I ran my lips along her jaw. “But now you’ve made yourself my problem.”
“I’m not a bad problem to have.”
I moved my lips to her throat, and she sucked in a breath.
“You’re out of control.” I stepped away from her. “You’re going to do something that puts us in danger.”
“I could do something that fixes everything.”
She believed that she could fix everything. Hell, sometimes she made me believe it, but I knew better. Her kind of help was reckless and without thought.
“Take off your dress.”
She swallowed hard when I removed my shirt. Her greedy gaze traveled the length of my chest and stomach.
“Your hesitation irritates me.” I took my gun from the back of my pants and set it on the dresser, waiting for her to do what I told her to do. “Do what I asked or I will rip it off you.”
She turned so her back was against my chest. Lifting her hair, she gazed over her shoulder. “You’re going to have to help me with the zipper.”
My cock swelled against my pants. She could obey when she wanted to.
I drew the zipper down and then trailed my finger along her exposed spine.
Once the dress hit the floor, she spun to face me in nothing but her black thong. Her flawless body called to me against the backdrop of the full November moon shining in through the skylight.
Fucking goddess.
A wild, passionate soul who begged for me to tame her. I didn’t want to dim her fire, but I had to rein her in. She needed my guidance and discipline if we were ever going to figure out how we worked. My world was too dangerous for her to go off and act on impulse every time she got the urge to save me.
“Now what?” She smoothed her palms along my chest as she pressed her lips to my collarbone. “Am I supposed to forget what happened between us today?”
“Don’t you want to forget your father tried to pull a gun on me with you standing between us?”
“The situation got heated.”
“Am I supposed to forget that after that incident, and what happened in Florida, you stood before me and defended him? The same man who promised you to the arms dealer. The father who betrayed you when he sent Danny to the safe house to retrieve you.”
“Um… Well, no.”
“Oh, when I say that, it sounds pretty bad, right?” I drew her closer to me, tangled my fingers in her hair, and tugged her lips to mine. “Even after I told you not to defend him in front of me, you kept going. Then, you walked out on me.”
“You deserved it.” She set her gaze on my mouth.
“You defied me.” I tightened my hold on her hair. “Again.”
Her breath danced along my lips as I crushed them against hers. She moaned into my mouth when I shoved my tongue inside hers, kissing her with an unforgiving force. My rage over what happened at the dealership today came racing to the forefront.
She clawed at my back as her breasts grazed my chest. The heat of our bodies rivaled the lust between us.
“I don’t want to fight.” She trailed her hands down my stomach and to my belt. “I want you.”
I grabbed her wrist and spun her, bumping my chest into her back.
“If you don’t want to fight, why do you keep irritating me?” I glided my hand over her breasts and down her stomach. “Why do you push me?”
“I don’t mean to.” She sucked in a breath when I slid my fingers inside her panties, then moaned as I stroked her smooth mound. “Marchello, please.”
“Please what?” I worked my fingers inside her. “Do you want me to fuck you?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Take out all that aggression on me.”
She had no idea how much I wanted to fuck my anger away—how much I wanted to use her body as an outlet. But I wasn’t going to let her off the hook so easily. She needed to understand how dangerous these games she insisted on playing were.
“Let’s go.” I pushed her in the direction of the bed. “You’re going to be really sorry you didn’t let me walk out of here when I gave you the chance.”
I tugged my belt through the loops, and a small smile graced her lips.
“It’s not going to be like last time.” I guided her onto the mattress, positioning her so she was folded over the edge of the bed. Her chest pressed flush against it, and her sexy ass arched in waiting. “I’m not tying you up tonight.”
I slapped my belt into my palm, and she jumped.
“Do you still want me to take my hostility out on you?” I moved to stand over her. “Do you want to see how angry I am over someone taking a shot at me and hitting you in the process?”
“Will it help you?” She turned and stared into my eyes. “Can I help you with that?”
Fuck! Why did it always come down to me needing her?
I drew my arm back and smacked the leather against her backside. I inhaled deeply before doing it again, then exhaled as I raised my hand and swiftly connected the strap against her welted ass for a third time.
Other than a small gasp, she remained silent. She was the most fearless woman I had ever encountered.
The blood that had seeped through her blue dress as she held onto me for support on the terrace flashed through my mind. I didn’t know how bad she had been hurt. I wasn’t aware that it was just a graze at that moment.
“Keep going,” she said. “I want more.”
I tightened my grasp on the belt before swinging it against her flesh.
“Ouch!” She wiggled as she sucked in a long breath.
I ran my hand through my hair, gazing down at her in total awe of her willingness to let me punish her this way. She could drive me to the brink of insanity by tormenting me. She had a knack for making me lose control, but when I needed her to step up, she was right there. No questions or hesitation.
Except today, when I needed her to understand she wasn’t safe. Her father would sacrifice her to make me suffer. I hit her one last time before dropping the belt and unbuttoning my pants. She slithered onto the bed, staying on her stomach and spreading her thighs.
I lowered my zipper and pushed my pants over my hips.
“Princess.” I ran my palm along her hot, red backside, gripping her thong and yanking it down her legs. “We both know not even my belt will make you stop your nonsense.”
“Probably not.” She pushed her pussy into the mattress before raising her ass. “I want you.”
Her tough exterior rivaled most of my associates. She may have been stronger than several of them. Taking my belt like a fucking champ, and now she wanted my cock. She was made for me, even if I didn’t deserve her.
“Mmm…” she moaned when I moved behind her and gripped her waist, avoiding her injury.
“Let’s see if you can take my cock as gracefully as you took my belt.”
I slammed my pelvis forward until my balls slapped her ass. She screamed out, shuddering seconds after I entered her with a fierce climax. The touch of my leather belt had aroused her more than I could have imagined.
She shook beneath me, riding out her release and transferring her juices onto me. Her tight, wet core drove me to the edge of madness. Once I was fully sheathed, I stilled my actions, savoring all of her warmth and desire for me.
She looked over her shoulder and smiled at me. “I love you. All of you. Your good, your bad, and your absolute worst.”
Could she mean that without knowing how brutal my worst could be? What I was truly capable of? What I would do to protect what was mine?
I flipped her onto her back and reentered her, lifting her legs and fucking her slow and deep. She reached up and took my face between her hands, staring into my eyes and meeting me thrust for thrust.
“Did you hear me?” she whispered. “Because I’ll keep saying it until you believe me. I see you, Marchello. Your flaws and all. And I still love you.”
She was giving me permission to do the unthinkable, and she didn’t even know it.
I lowered my lips to hers, kissing her softly as we moved in unison.
“I love you.” I peppered her cheeks, nose, jaw, and lips with kisses, silently praying that she meant what she professed. “I can’t lose you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She clenched around my swollen shaft. “I promise.”
I swirled my tongue inside her mouth as I increased my speed with my hips. With each powerful rush forward, I brought myself closer to the most intense pleasure. Being with her was like nothing I had ever experienced.
She scratched at my back and stiffened her hold on my waist as we both spiraled into our forbidden ecstasy. The universe screamed that we were not supposed to be together. But as I emptied into her, I silently told the cosmos to fuck off.
She’s mine.
I could do what had to be done, and we would still be together. Yes, I was that fucking arrogant, and keeping her with me was my mission.
“Oh…” She stretched out under me. “That buzz I had just wore off. I feel kind of wobbly.”
“That’s what happens when you drink all day and you don’t eat.” I rolled off her and caressed her cheek. “I’ll get you some water.”
“Don’t leave me.” She held my hand. “I’ll be fine.”
“Milo is here,” I said. “I need to speak to him.”
As much as I wanted to stay here with her, I had to check in with my brother. When my father ordered a hit, he expected it to be carried out without any problems.
“When did he get here?”
“Sometime during your first orgasm.” I shrugged. “Be thankful he didn’t knock on the door.”
“Do you think he heard us?”
“I’m sure he heard us.”
“God.” She smacked my chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were otherwise occupied, and so was I.”
I got off the bed and pulled up my pants.
“I won’t be long.” I glanced in the mirror, trying to fix my tousled hair. “I’ll bring you some water, then I’ll draw you a bath.”
“I’ll wait here.” She curled up in a ball. “I’ll take a nap.”
“That’s a good idea.” I covered her with the throw from the chair in the corner of the room, then leaned down to kiss her temple. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes. “Say hello to Milo.”
I switched off the light and closed the door, confident she would be asleep before I reached the bottom of the stairs. Champagne, my belt, and sex was enough for one day.
Milo sat in the study, sipping a glass of vodka as he scrolled through his phone.
“Am I interrupting?” he asked as he glanced at my shirtless body. “Can I assume that you and the princess aren’t fighting?”
“I don’t think I’d call it fighting.” I went to the desk and poured myself a drink. “I’m not really sure what it is we’re doing.”
“Good luck with that.”
“I’m ready to proceed.” I stared up at the ceiling, letting the complexity of my current situation sink in. “I want to get this done.”
“Our guys can take out the security cameras on the Gallanti estate. Once we decide when, we will have a very small window to get the job done.”
“It won’t be a problem.”
“Are you sure you want to be the one to do this?” He set his phone down on the coffee table. “Killing her father? That’s pretty big.”
“That bastard ordered a hit on us and hurt Lissia while trying to do it.” I tightened my fingers around my glass. “He’s a threat we don’t need.”
“That’s not what I asked,” Milo said.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
“I have to be the one to do it.” I chugged my drink. “Even if she never forgives me.”