Chapter 11 #2
“Put me down!” She pounds her fists against my back, causing a deep laugh to roll out from me.
“Nah, baby.” I smack her ass hard, walking up the stairs. “You won’t be going anywhere until you learn some fucking manners. I promise to teach you.”
She growls like a wild cat, someone I’ll gladly tame until she falls in line, until she realizes she’s much safer here than returning to her previous life.
I get her fear, being taken by me, but I’m not the enemy. I’m the friend she needs. The one who could stop the pain the Bianchis have inflicted, if only she’d quit being so stubborn.
Once we reach one of my unused bedrooms, I open the door and take us inside, throwing her on the bed.
“Don’t fucking move,” I warn, my steely gaze on hers.
“You can’t keep me here,” she pants, propping herself on her elbows. At least she’s a good listener.
“Haven’t you noticed yet?” I walk over to the dresser, rummaging through the kink drawer, finding a pair of soft, black cuffs I frequently use on the women I bring home. “I can do whatever the hell I want.”
Turning back, I spin them on my finger, inching closer. She sits up, staring hard at them.
“What are you going to do with those?” Her eyes pop wide.
“What do you think I should do?”
My footsteps lightly thud over the bare wood floor until I get to the bed and sit beside her, my gaze trailing down her body, from those pair of stunning blue eyes to her soft thighs, covered in a pair of tight jeans.
“You fight me at every step.” I move my hand toward her, roughly cupping her jaw.
“Maybe you’ll learn to behave if I restrain you. ”
“Screw you, Enzo.” She pushes at my chest, that gaze firing angrily, but something else too, something I recognize well in a woman, something that looks a lot like hunger. And not for food. She likes this. It’s too bad I like it too. Very much.
A smirk lines my mouth as I glance at the spot she just hit, her eyes veering down to my lips. Before she can try any more of her shit, I’m on top of her, my body pinning hers, my knee slicing in between the warmth of her thighs, my one hand trapping her wrists over her head.
I circle my hips around her pussy, knowing she can feel how damn hard I am for her, a woman who lied to me, fucked with my feelings, the way I’m going to enjoy fucking with that body. By the end of it all, she’s gonna want me deep inside, and I won’t give her an inch.
Her lips part, and a soft groan slips past her defenses, my cock rocking against her in slow, sensual circles.
“See…” My lips lower to her neck, stroking up gradually, my breath hot, riding over the curve of her jaw.
“I knew you’d behave better once you’re tied up,” I whisper into her ear, her moan enough to send me straight to hell.
My tongue rolls up the base of her neck, my lips on her earlobe now, my cock aching to be inside her as I arch deeper, her whimpers mingling with the harshness of my breaths.
“Enzo,” she gasps, needing this as much as I do. It’d be so easy to stop the madness, rip off her goddamn clothes and show her that her fucking boyfriend is nothing more than a forgotten piece of trash.
But I can’t. Not until she’s honest with me about it all. The Bianchis. Her job. Everything.
I retreat, looking down at this goddamn perfection lying on my bed, in my house, and for the first time, I’m not gonna fuck a woman.
Who knew I was capable of that? I sure as hell didn’t.
“That ache you feel in your cunt, maybe call your boyfriend and have him take care of it. If that’s really who he was,” I spit out, my tone marred with ire.
I climb off the bed, her eyes melding with want, yet rage is there too in her tightened gaze. “I hate you,” she hisses.
“Well, baby girl, I can connect you with some women from my past. Maybe you can start a club.”
“You think this is funny?” She sits up, getting off the bed, stepping up to me on her tippy-toes until her face is a fragment away.
Fuck. She’s hot all pissed like this.
“Fight me, baby.” My palm snaps to the base of her nape, pulling her in as I grit my teeth. “I like it rough.”
“This is all a joke, huh?” She glowers.
“Do I look like I’m laughing?” I drop the cuffs onto the floor, walking her backward, my free hand rounding her hip until her body hits the wall with a harsh thud.
We lock eyes, my thumb rubbing over the pounding pulse in her throat, her gaze piercing, brows creasing. There’s so much unspoken on her face, and it pulls me in where I want to confess every goddamn feeling of mine that she owns.
“When I came that day,” I admit weakly. “When I saw you with him, I came to tell you I wanted you. I wanted to try. I was gonna fuck it all for a chance with you. Did you know that?”
She draws in a sharp inhale, her eyes flooding with tears. I tighten my grasp around her neck, leaning my forehead over hers.
“Enzo…” She sighs brokenly, and that one word punches straight into my chest.
“Don’t do that.” I swallow against the lump in my throat. “I don’t need your pity.” I slant my mouth to hers, but not close enough to taste it.
I pitch back, letting her go completely, unable to take another second of being this close to her without feeling like my goddamn soul is being ripped away.
“I fell for you. I wanted you. And not just to help you. But you pissed it all away.” My hands flip in frustration. “Tell me why, Joelle. Why?”
She bites into her lower lip, tears fighting to fall. “I-I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” My chuckle is cruel. Empty. “You were the biggest fucking mistake of my life.”
She pants, tears rolling down her face, and I instantly regret what I said. It was the pain talking. Fuck, I’m an asshole.
“Add it to my collection.” She sighs, defeated. Shattered.
We’re both the same that way.
“What does that mean, Joelle?” Damn her tears, I want to take them away. I want that smile on her face; the real one she’d give me back at the club.
“Never mind.” Her shoulders slump as she eyes the floor for a mere moment.
“Was any of it real? Just tell me the truth.” The question comes as a whisper, tasting bitter on my tongue, but I need to know.
She swipes a finger under her eye, her face straining as her gaze holds mine. “It was all real,” she breathes. “Every moment. Every second. We were real, Enzo.”
“Then why?” I rush over, palms cradling her face as I stare deeply. “Why the fuck were you kissing him?”
Her eyes go downcast, her lips clasp shut, tears drifting down her cheeks.
“Still won’t tell me, huh?” I drop my hands, moving toward the door.
“I’m leaving. You’re gonna stay here until I can trust you not to try and run away.
Not that you can.” I shrug a shoulder. “There are cameras all over my property, including this room, and my men will be instructed to restrain you if you get out of hand.”
She flashes me a gaze filled with the aching of her heart, and I hate that I’m giving her more of it.
“I’ll be back later with some food.”
Hopefully when I come back, she’s in a more cooperative mood.
“Shove that food down your throat!”
Or maybe not.
I shake my head with a laugh as I lock the door behind me. I never had a woman beg to leave me before. I’m going to savor every damn second of that fight inside her, up until the moment I send her away.
Retrieving my cell out of my pocket, I fire the app I use to see the live feeds from my home. My brothers and I all have cameras installed in every single square inch of our places. Right now, seeing Joelle running for the window to try and pry it open is making me damn happy I have them.