14. Tito
14
TITO
W hen I ordered Tony to take care of our little rat infestation, I had no idea it came from the heir to Hector's throne. Though I can't say I'm surprised at all. After our meeting about merging things, I know how he feels. Hector forced his family into this situation by marrying Aria off to me. His children clearly don't agree with his business tactics, and now he has no heir to his throne, so all the hard work he's doing to ensure his organization thrives beyond his lifespan is for nothing.
Dad coughs hard, covering his mouth with a handkerchief and doubling over. His days are running out, like sand in an hourglass. If I pay too much attention, I can count the grains of sand as they drop. Watching him waste away as the cancer devours his strength is painful. If it were me, I'd want someone to put a bullet in my head to stop the suffering, but he is determined to fight until the end.
"Sit down, old man," I chide him gently. I take him by the elbow and guide him to his sofa, where he plops down a little harder than normal. He sleeps more than usual, and his meetings are now in his bed chambers, not his living room or home office. He's slowly retreating into a deeper place within his home, leaving the rest of the house largely untouched on a daily basis.
"Stop coddling me. I am doing fine." He swats at my hand and with a shaking finger points to the stack of papers on his desk. "Get them and bring them here." He wheezes as he talks now too, another effect of the disease ravaging his body.
I collect the papers he requested and return to sit next to him. I can see by the contract on the top of the stack of papers that this is legal documentation indicating to his business partners that I'm taking things over. It's merely a formality now. He can't run anything. Carlos and I have been in charge for weeks. As I hand him the papers, I think of how letting go will be painful, putting his body into the ground, knowing he won't be here.
Over the past few days, I've seen Aria grow listless and depressed. When she isn't at her parents' house mourning with them and helping plan the funeral, she lies in bed and cries. It's painful to watch considering I am the one who gave the order to pull the trigger, so to speak. It's just business until it hurts someone you care about, and I've found that over the past month of our marriage, I've grown to care about her in certain ways. I guess this is one of them.
If she knew it was me, she'd hate me. Our arrangement would be terminated and I'd own the Peralta organization legally, but I can't bring myself to confess to her. I don't want her to leave. I want that fortune, the power, and the territory, but not at the expense of losing her.
"What's all this?" I ask him, and he coughs a few times before pulling a pen out of his breast pocket and scrawling his signature across the forms.
"This is a bit of busy work I've been meaning to get to but I've been so tired." So tired, in fact, that he doesn’t even offer a smile when he looks up at me. "You're the rightful owner of these businesses as soon as these contracts are filed with the board. I've seen the way you're handling the Peralta family, and I am proud of you. When you told me you were going to take them over, I never expected you to get Hector to beg you to do it."
Dad pats my arm and then flips a few pages to sign his name on more signature boxes. I wait for him knowing when he's done with this, he'll have to lie down. His in-home nurse will be here to give him his medications soon, and I will head home to see my wife lying in bed, only a silhouette of the powerful woman I know she is.
"You know that was Aria's idea. I can't take the credit. She's a brilliant woman." I take the papers from him and await his order.
"I can see that from her. She is feisty." He chuckles, which brings on more coughing, and he heaves as he points at his desk. I look there to see a glass of water, and I rise to put the papers back and get his drink. As soon as he takes a sip, his coughing calms and he catches his breath.
"I need to rest now." Dad hands me the glass, and as I place it on his desk, he lies down. No matter how tough or strong a man is, he needs his father. I'm at the point of losing mine, and it makes me sympathize with Aria on her brother's death. I need to go be with her.
"I'll leave you now. I have to go see to my grieving wife." Heading toward the door, I pause when he calls my name.
"Tito…"
"Yeah?" I turn over my shoulder, and he winks at me.
"All's fair in love and war." He knows I ordered that hit and he's on my side.
"Rest, Dad." I leave knowing one of these visits will be my last, and I savor each of them even though we aren't exceptionally close.
My driver escorts me home after a long day. I don't know what to expect from Aria tonight. For the past seventy-two hours, she has barely spoken to me. After having lost a sibling when she was younger, I know this is destroying her. For that, I regret having ordered the hit, but the boy deserved it. He thought he could turn on me and things would be okay. I already own the Peralta name. I just can't assume control that way. I want Aria at my side, especially after seeing her in action, knowing the strength that lies in her. She may not see me as a life partner yet, but every day, more and more, I'm seeing that in her.
When I walk in the door I hear hushed voices, male and female. I don't know who is in my house with my wife, but she is the only woman who'd be in my living room at this time of day other than my help, and they're off duty this time of night. I stroll up the hallway, turning into the doorway, and see Carlos and his angry eyes staring down at my wife, who looks just as defiant.
"Hello," I say, interrupting them, and Carlos runs a tired hand through his hair. "What's this about?"
My brother scowls at me and shakes his head. "I'm leaving," he says, and for some reason, I get the feeling that something is going on between them. She would never cheat on me with my brother, and Carlos would never hurt his wife that way. At least not unless there were some ulterior motive involved, a deal or conspiracy.
I eye Aria and watch her demeanor go from upset to despondent in the blink of an eye. Carlos storms out, and Aria sighs and hugs her arms over her middle. Of course she's on edge. Her brother died only three days ago, and they have no clue who did it. Tony did such a good job at covering his tracks that there isn't even a hint that it can be tied to the Ramiro clan.
"He wanted more business advice and I can't think straight." Aria looks down at her bare feet and her shoulders droop. I still feel like something more is going on, but it makes sense. Carlos and his financial issues are always something to worry about, and with how successful her advice was last time, I can see him being angry with her for not producing more high-quality advice. "Can you take me to bed? I'm feeling off."
She moves toward me, and when she lays her head on my chest, I'm even more suspicious. Either this tragedy is making her more open to me or she's up to something, trying to distract me from overthinking things.
"Not feeling well on top of grieving?" I ask her as I wrap an arm around her.
"Just tired and sad. I want to feel something other than hollow and angry." Her chin tilts up and her gaze meets mine. "And you make me feel things—powerful things."
Lust flashes in her eyes. She's definitely hiding something, but when a man's wife initiates sex, he doesn't deny her. He indulges in that.
"And you want me to make you feel those things tonight, right now?" I hide my suspicion behind a compassionate fa?ade but make a mental note to think about this more later. What could Aria and Carlos be talking about that they don't want me to know?
"Please," she says, gripping my dick through my slacks.
It's a hasty march up the stairs, lips locked together as we tear each other's clothes off. They’re strewn over the floor as we stumble into our bedroom, and she practically throws me onto the bed. Aria's mood has shifted from melancholy to… hungry. She's never been this desperate for me.
"I need you inside me, now," she growls. Aria usually isn't this assertive in bed, preferring to let me take the lead with a few soft-spoken requests here and there.
"You want me to fuck you?" I say, my voice gruff with arousal. She nods, her chest heaving and eyes darkened with lust.
"Yes, fuck me, Tito." She thinks she plays the part of the vixen well, but she wants to be dominated, and I want to oblige her.
The head of my cock teases her entrance as she squirms below me, her nails raking along my back. I relish the sensation and grip her wrists, shackling them above her head. "Ask me nicely, Mrs. Ramiro."
Her eyes flash with defiance before she submits. "Please, fuck me, Tito."
"I'm going to fuck you so hard you’ll have bruises to your knees," I growl in her ear, and she moans in response.
The first thrust is all-consuming, burying me balls deep into her tight heat. Aria cries out my name as I start a punishing pace of thrusts. She's so wet and so warm around me, squeezing my cock like a vise. Her nails dig into the headboard as she calls out my name.
"Say it again," I order, my hand wrapping around her neck, applying just the right amount of pressure. She throws her head back, lipstick smudged and hair a mess from our rough play. "Say my name."
"Tito!" she chokes out as I pound into her, driving her toward her climax. Sweat coats both our bodies, and our breathing is ragged. My hand comes down hard on the side of her thigh, and she shudders. I feel her pussy clench around me as I tighten my grasp on her neck. This is what she wants, the feeling she wants to feel. Like death is imminent, but when relief comes, it’s a wellspring of life, oxygen pouring into her lungs to make the orgasm that much more powerful.
"Tito!" she gags out again, her entire body tensing up before her legs give out, one foot still wrapped around my calf. I can feel her walls milking me, and it's all I can do to hold back. The way she convulses is erotic, hands clawing at my wrist. I push her to the brink, her face bright red as she slowly goes without air until I release my grip and she gasps in, then moans loudly.
"What a good girl," I praise her as I keep pounding, driving her higher and higher. "You're my good girl, aren't you?"
Aria nods, unable to form words as she orgasms again, this time louder than before. Her pussy clamps down on me, milking my dick for all it's worth as I fill her up with my seed. Giddy, I collapse on top of her, both of us panting and spent. She feels different, softer somehow, but I don’t trust it. Not after what I saw happening in my living room.
"Hold me," she mewls as I roll off her and she rolls to her side.
I don't hesitate. It's not like me to lie here patiently when I feel like there is an enemy in my camp, but at times, I have to let my friends be close and my enemies closer. Sometimes, so close they can feel the beating of my heart against their skin.
"Sleep now," I tell her, waiting for the moment she begins to snore so I can slip down to my office and start trying to figure out what my brother is up to and why the fuck my wife is involved in it. If he told her about her brother, I'll kill him myself.