Chapter 4
Chapter Four
FRANCESCA
I feel like there are certain moments in your life where you’re at a crossroads and you have to choose your path wisely.
If you choose the wrong one, then your future will be forever changed, and you won’t be able to get your old life back.
As I process Rhett’s words, I know I’m at the proverbial crossroads.
No matter what path I choose, it will alter my future.
Rhett’s words replay in my mind.
Yes, it does.
It matters to me. I care about you and what’s going on with you. I always have and always will.
I can’t go down that pathway.
There’s still so much he doesn’t know about me and my family. It wouldn’t be fair to drag him into this lifestyle.
So for now, I change the subject and react to the news about Dad owning the apartment building that I am now a resident of.
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell me he bought an apartment building. What else has he been hiding from me? ”
He leads me down the hall before saying, “I don’t think he’s been hiding it from you, Chessie. It’s public information.”
I roll my eyes. “Hiding, brushing over, not mentioning it, and omitting the information are all the same things. It’s lying.”
He stops abruptly and turns around, causing me to run into him. “It’s not like you’ve been home in a while.”
I narrow my eyes and stare at him for a moment before saying, “How do you know when I’ve been home?”
He ignores me and leads me the rest of the way down the hallway to his apartment.
There’s only one way he knows when I come home. Joey.
“I swear you and my brother gossip like high schoolers. Doesn’t it ever get old?”
He chuckles and shakes his head before unlocking his door.
“After you.” He pushes his door open to allow me to walk in first.
“Wow.” I whisper as I try to take in everything at once.
It smells clean and citrusy, but not a citrusy cleaner type of way. It’s a fresh and inviting smell, like he was just cutting up oranges.
Not wanting to track in any dirt, I take off my sandals and let my toes sink into the plush carpet.
It’s very modern and dark, but still open and welcoming. The dim blue lighting from the light strip on the ceiling gives his apartment an intimate and romantic vibe while the black walls and dark gray furniture scream bachelor pad.
The living room opens up to the kitchen, making the space feel much bigger than it really is. I feel like I’m in a house and not an apartment.
My gaze roams over the black granite countertops, black cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. It’s so much darker than the pictures online, leaving me wondering if Rhett renovated his apartment on his own.
“Did you change all of this? The pictures Darla showed me online were nothing like this.”
“I didn’t like all the white. It was too bright.”
I shrug. “I hope mine is bright and open, just like the pictures.”
I can’t tell Rhett the real reason I want a bright home, but it’s been a huge part of my life growing up.
Uncle Tony always told me that your house should be bright and welcoming because our lives were dark, cold, and hostile.
It made sense back then and stuck with me over the years. Everyone that was a part of Dad’s world had bright and welcoming houses.
“Coming home to a bright apartment means peace, and I need all the peace I can get.”
“Hmmph. Well, would you like me to show you around?”
“Uh, sure.”
He shows me around his apartment, starting with the areas I’ve already looked at .
“Here’s the living room and kitchen. The corner door in the kitchen is the pantry and the other door is the laundry room.”
He opens a door off of the living room. “This is the bathroom. There’s another door near the shower that leads into the bedroom.”
He turns around and heads away from his bedroom.
“Are you afraid to show me your bedroom? Is it a mess?” I tease, knowing that his bedroom was always the cleanest out of all his teammates.
He shakes his head and heads into the kitchen.
He’s moodier and more serious than he was two years ago. He’s changed, but being best friends with my brother after a break up like we had is bound to change him. Especially since my dad now owns the hockey team he works for and the apartment building he lives in.
It’s like a constant reminder of what we had. For a few moments, I let myself feel sad for him.
For the life I ran away from.
For the future we could have had.
I stand in his living room, staring at his blank walls and wonder how different life would have been if I stayed.
Would we be married? Would I be a mother by now? Would my family have accepted him and brought him in on the mafia side of things?
So many questions, and still no answers.
“How about some shrimp linguine with a white wine sauce? ”
My stomach growls. “That sounds amazing, as long as I can drink some of that wine.”
He holds up a bottle of wine. “This is cooking wine. It’s not good drinking wine, but I think I might have a bottle somewhere in the pantry.”
Mandy and I must have spoiled each other because we always had cold wine on hand, and we always drank it together.
Flunked a test? We drank wine and bitched about the class.
Bad break up? A bottle of wine helped get over the loser.
Wine was a way for us to bond together.
“Who doesn’t have chilled wine?” I mumble to myself before adding, “Let me guess, you have a fridge full of beer, though?”
“Yep. Do you want one?” He doesn’t turn around to look at me.
“Sure. It’s better than nothing.”
He reaches into the refrigerator and pulls out two beers. After removing the bottle caps, he hands me a bottle.
I need it to steel my nerves. Being here with Rhett, in his place, is causing old feelings to erupt inside of me, except it’s more. My body craves him more than it ever did.
It’s not that I didn’t love him and want him years ago, but now?
Whew.
I tip my bottle back and drink half of it in one swallow .
Something about him calls to me, and it’s not the familiarity between us. He’s changed. He’s hotter, darker, and more dangerous.
Gone is his playful attitude, even though it tries to poke through every now and then. He’s more serious and mature, like he could be a part of my world. My family’s world.
The mafia world.
This is what I’ve wanted for years now. A dark and mysterious man with a hint of danger that can fit into my world but also drive me crazy in bed.
My chest rises and falls rapidly as my breathing struggles to keep up. I shouldn’t be in Rhett Montgomery’s apartment. I should be in my own apartment, or at Dad’s house.
I shouldn’t want to wrap myself all around him, or pull him into his bedroom and beg him to forgive me and take me back.
My eyes bore into his back, watching his every move as he pulls a box of pasta out of the pantry and grabs a bag of frozen shrimp out of the freezer. He dumps the shrimp into a metal strainer and thaws them under a stream of cold water.
The way he moves around the kitchen is as flawless as the way he moves on the ice. His muscles ripple as he pulls out pots and pans, placing them on his stove.
I want Rhett more than I want to admit right now. More than I deserve to want him. I squeeze my thighs together, needing to feel the friction on my aching clit .
The pressure feels so incredible that I let out a soft moan.
It might as well have been a scream that came from my throat because the soft sound echoes throughout his quiet apartment, like I have a microphone in front of my face.
Rhett drops the pot of water on the stove, spins around, and stares at me with hungry eyes. My pussy clenches with need as his eyes darken and fill with lust.
His gaze travels down my body like he’s trying to devour me in his mind.
He’s never looked at me in this way. So hungry, like a predator watching his prey.
I fan my face dramatically while chuckling. “I think I’m going to go outside and get some fresh air. I need to learn my way around the building, anyway. It will give me a chance to check out the pool and gym without it being crowded while dinner cooks.”
The corner of his lips curl up into a smirk, and I clamp my mouth closed to stop my rambling. I spin around and head to his front door, feeling embarrassed.
As I twist the door handle and begin to open the door, Rhett comes up behind me and slams it shut, pressing my body against the cool metal door.
His firm body presses harder into mine, fitting together like a perfectly placed puzzle piece.
“You’re not leaving, Francesca. Not for a long while. We still have a lot to talk about after dinner.”
I gulp and shake my head .
His hips push into mine, nestling his growing erection between my cheeks. “You’re not leaving until tomorrow morning, even if I have to sleep against this door. I’ve waited two years to see you and talk to you. You’re not getting off that easily.”
At the mention of getting off, I let out a soft whimper. My entire body is humming like a live wire, just waiting for the right touch.
He leans his head closer to mine and whispers in my ear.
“Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you’ve been looking at me since I’ve picked you up from the airport, Chessie. I’ve seen the way your face blushes when you undress me with your eyes. I’ve seen the way your eyes light up every time I glance your way.”
His voice is gruff and sends shivers down my spine. He’s telling the truth, though. I have been checking him out the same way he’s been checking me out.
His hand snakes up my side, stopping to rest on my ribcage. “All you have to do is ask me, baby girl, and I’m yours. For the night, the week, the month. However long you need me, I’m yours. I want to be yours and only yours.”
Fuck me.
Unable to speak, I nod, hoping to relay how much I want him right now.
“Say it.” He demands.
I spin around and look into his heated gaze.
“God, I know I don’t deserve to ask this after everything I’ve put you through, but fuck me. Please. I need you.”
A deep primal growl rips through him as he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder.
“It won’t be gentle and easy, so if that’s what you’re looking for, tell me now so we can both walk away.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want or need it to be gentle and easy. I’ve never needed it to be that way.”
I’m grateful for not having to tell him that to his face.
Our sex life might have been great, but it wasn’t explosive. Sure, it was filled with love and longing, but it wasn’t ever passionate and hurried because we couldn’t get enough of one another.
He doesn’t speak as he carries me through his bedroom door.
It’s pitch black in here, and with me hanging upside down over his shoulder, I can’t see anything.
He throws me down in the middle of his bed. I land on his plush covers with a small laugh.
I’ve been so stressed about seeing Rhett and what he thinks of me that being thrown on his mattress seems a bit comical.
The light from the living room and kitchen filter through the open door, giving me just enough light to watch Rhett pull his shirt over his head.
My gaze lowers over his muscles, remembering how I would trail my fingers along every groove.
His abs tense as his erection bobs in his pants as he stares down at me .
“I’ve never wanted you more than I do right now.” He mumbles.
I whisper into the dark. “Then take me. I’m yours.”
This might be the biggest mistake I’ve made in a long while, but it sure is going to be worth it.
At least it will be for tonight.