Chapter 28
CHIARA
It’s been a week since the charity ball, and I’m slowly getting over what happened thanks to Brian, who’s made sure I’m never without him.
He’s been with me night and day, skipping work and whatever else he has to do. He’s made sure I eat, sleep, and have whatever I need. This man, my father’s biggest enemy, has taken care of me more than my own flesh and blood.
Luckily, my ankle no longer hurts and my lip is nicely healed.
I’m curled around the softness of Brian’s comforter with his strong body holding me firmly within his grasp.
It sounds insane even to me, but slowly, when I wasn’t looking, I’ve started to care for the man I’m supposed to fear. There’s nothing frightening about him anymore. He’s just a man with a painful past who swore to protect me, even when that must’ve been difficult for him to do.
I feel the way he cares for me. Wants me. And I want him too.
I’d like to see where this could go. And when his fight with my father is all over, I plan to tell him how I feel and hope he feels it too.
The wounds of our past gave way to scars we can build a new life on, but only if we let it.
I cling to the hard muscle of his forearm, remembering what happened with Cain.
The way he glared at me as he cut into my dress…it was like a man who enjoyed rape and slaughter. I don’t think I’ve ever been that afraid of dying. Not even when Brian first took me.
“Do you want to go to the pool?” Brian asks, grazing his fingers up and down my bare stomach, his lips on my neck, peppering me with soft kisses.
“Probably not.” My tone is raspy, intoxicated by his touch. “The last time I was there, someone got all grabby and ruined all the fun.”
I pull my lips into a smile as I slowly turn to face him.
His brow shoots up as his lips slant up at the corner. “That’s because you were showing off something that belonged to me.”
“Really?” I drape a leg over his hip. “You think my body belongs to you?”
His eyes turn hooded. “Doesn’t it?”
“Not even a little.”
He chuckles for a mere second before he flips over me, his muscular body pushing into the softness of mine. His hand cruises down my torso, dropping to my hip.
“I know you don’t like to admit defeat, but, baby…” His fingers slip under my shorts. “Your body’s mine now.”
“I know when I’ve lost,” I murmur with a moan as two fingers rub over my achy clit.
It’s been a week since he so much as touched me this way, and fuck, I’ve missed him.
His eyes gaze into mine so tenderly, my heart clenches.
“Sometimes we gain even when we’ve lost.” His voice is raw and unbridled.
“And what have I gained?” I ask with a sigh.
His fingers stilling on my core makes me delirious. “Not you, Chiara. I’m the one who gained something, baby, and I’m never gonna let her go.”
And this time, when his lips fall to mine, for once in my life, I feel free, even when the cage is still all around me.
I sit across from him, staring at his perfectly carved jaw as he picks up a fork, popping a piece of steak into his mouth. After he fucked me with more than just his fingers, he had lunch brought up for us.
Sonia was more than happy to see us together. There’s been a knowing smile on her face every time she brings us food.
“Brian,” I call out as he continues to eat.
He peers up at me with a beaming smile. “Yes, baby?”
“How long are you going to keep me here?” I ask, needing answers.
The smile vanishes. “Until your father and uncles are dead.”
“You’re killing all of them?”
He nods once. “Every one of them had a hand in the death of people I care about. So yes. The Palermo name will be no more, if I have anything to do with it.”
I feel a twinge of pain for my uncles. I know they’re awful people, but a part of me is sad at the thought of them all dying.
Even my father, as awful as he is…the finality of his death is deafening.
We could’ve had a good relationship. He could’ve been the father I needed.
But instead, he was nothing more than my warden.
“I’m sorry about what they did.” I peer down at my plate, memories of my mom pulling me in. “No one should lose someone they love at the hands of another human being.”
He takes a deep sigh, running a hand down his face as I look back at him. “I hate that you’re in the middle.”
“I’ve always been put in the middle. Nothing is new. Why do you think he has me working at his club?”
He stares, waiting for me to continue.
“I’m a pawn in his wild kingdom.” I laugh bitterly. “That’s all I’ve ever been. He wanted me to run the club to help keep the heat from the feds away from him. He thought I could run the place better, which would make the feds less likely to pull the trigger, so to speak.”
“He doesn’t deserve you,” he says, his tone clipped. “He deserves nothing.”
“I know. He’s not a good person. Never has been.” I pull an exasperated inhale. “I’ve wanted nothing more than to disappear from his life, but he won’t let me go.”
“You have an out now, Chiara. I promise. Once this shit with him is done, you’re free to go, or…”
“Or, what?” My pulse jumps to my throat, my knee bouncing under the table.
“Stay. I want you to stay here with me.” His brows draw closer, his face tightening. “I’d never hold you against your will, but if you want me, then I’m yours.”
“I—”
“You don’t have to tell me now,” he cuts me off. “Take your time.”
But I know what I want already. He was never part of my plans, but we never know what we’ll find when we accept our life the way it was meant to be lived.
He grins, that dimple deepening with the glint in his eyes. “You’re not so bad for the devil’s daughter.”
“Funny,” I laugh. “That’s what I call him too.”
Then we’re laughing together. The kind of laugh that rocks your heart, leaving it fuller than before.
Once we’ve composed our emotions, I take a sip of my ginger ale. “Can I ask for a favor?”
He lifts a brow. “Depends on what it is.”
“I want my phone back.”
He shakes his head immediately.
I raise a palm, stopping him before he says something. “I only want to check up on my cousin and my aunt.”
“Your cousin is fine.”
I jerk my head back. “What do you mean? Do you know her?”
“Chiara, don’t—”
I instantly get to my feet, coming around and standing over him. “You’d better tell me what the fuck you know!” I cross my arms over my chest. “And do not lie to me.”
He smirks. “You’re insanely sexy when you’re all angry like this.”
“I swear, Brian, if you hurt my cousin—”
He grabs me around my hips and pulls me on top of his lap. “She’s safe.” He lays a palm over my neck. “She’s with my brother. He’s taking care of her as well as I’m taking care of you.” He smiles devilishly.
“What?!” I place both palms against his chest, pushing at him. “Speak. Now.”
He cups my chin and pulls me down for a slow kiss. I surrender to that all-consuming power he holds over me.
“We knew about her father arranging a marriage she didn’t want,” he says against my lips.
I pull back, my jaw slackening, eyes popping wide.
“Now, with my brother’s help, she doesn’t have to get married.”
“I don’t understand.” My fingers land on each side of my temple. “How’s he helping?”
“Let’s just say they came up with a mutually beneficial arrangement. She’s happy not to get married to that asshole. That’s all you need to know.”
I glance skeptically at him. None of this makes sense. I know my cousin was desperate to get out of the marriage, but still, I don’t understand what deal she could’ve made. And I can’t even ask her. But if being with Brian’s brother gives her the escape she needed, then so be it.
“I don’t know what the hell you guys have planned for my uncles, but I swear, you’d better be telling the truth when you say she isn’t hurt.”
“I am, Chiara. We’re not in the business of hurting women. I promise you that. She’s in no danger with him.”
“Fine, but I’ll want to speak with her soon.” I try to get off his lap, but the steel cage of his arms has me staying in place.
“Okay. You will.” He thrusts his hips up. “Are you still mad, baby?”
“Mm-hmm,” I fire back with a glare, trying hard not to moan.
“Even better.” He stands, flipping me over his shoulder. “I like angry Chiara when I’m inside her.”
“If you don’t put me down, Brian, you’re about to get a lot more than me angry.”
He smacks my ass. “Bring it, baby.”
DOMINIC
We spent a long, hot shower together with her on her knees sucking my cock like she was punishing me for everything wrong in her life, after which I fucked her bent over, giving it to her just as rough.
I have her draped over my chest, her slick, naked body sinking into mine. My arm curls over her back protectively, wanting to keep her beside me every waking moment.
After what happened with Cain, it’s hard to leave her, but tomorrow, I won’t have a choice.
“Chiara, we have to talk.”
She lifts up her head, worry etched in her gaze. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s happening tomorrow.”
At first she doesn’t understand, but as soon as the realization hits, her eyes widen. “Oh.”
Tomorrow, I leave her to go and finish the war with her father. One I know we will win. I’m so grateful she gave up his location.
“When?”
“We’re getting to the house at midnight.”
She hides her face in my shoulder. My hand lands on the back of her head, wanting to stay there permanently.
If I don’t make it back alive, I’ve instructed my lawyer to give her a letter I wrote, explaining who I am and why I never came for her after I ran off when we were kids.
If I do make it out alive, we’ll have that talk we never got to have fifteen years ago. I want her to finally look me in the eye when she explains how she could’ve hurt me the way she did. How she could’ve betrayed my family, who loved her like she was their own.
I hope like hell she has a good fucking reason. If she doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.
That’s assuming she forgives me for all the lies I’ve told. We’re a damn mess. But then again, we always were.
Every day I lie beside her, I fight hard not to think about the past. Because if I do, if I allow myself to go back, I won’t want to be anywhere near her. I hate feeling that way.
I’ve always loved her in one way or another. Now that she’s back, that love that’s been sitting dormant has festered, except it’s deeper now, as only a man can love a woman.
Love doesn’t always make sense. It weakens the heart and deepens the soul. And no matter what I do, I can’t shut out these feelings.
I want her love in return, even when it makes no sense to want it after every ugly thing standing in our way.