12. Luciano
Luciano
Her text makes me smile like a fool as I craft my reply.
Luciano: Because there’s something special about you, princess. I can’t help but want to take care of you.
I’m itching to see her again. To smell her sweet, sugary scent. It reminds me of cotton candy with a mix of vanilla. And something tells me she probably tastes as good as she smells.
Fallon: Why?
Luciano: Because you call to a side of me that I haven’t let loose in a long time.
Fallon: A side of you?
Luciano: Yeah, princess.
Fallon: What side are you talking about?
Fuck.
I probably shouldn’t have said that. Fallon has made it clear she only wants to be friends.
Telling her about the stuff I’m into will scare her off.
Especially since I want to Daddy her. She may not even know what a Daddy Dom is.
Though I suspect if she were able to trust me one day, she would thrive having me take care of her and give her boundaries and spank her pretty ass when she’s naughty.
Luciano: I’ll see you soon, princess.
She may not be ready for a relationship, but that doesn’t mean I can’t offer her a different type of arrangement.
Even though I know something casual with Fallon won’t be enough for me.
I want to consume her. Her time, her attention, her life.
It’s unhinged, but I want her to be all mine, and we’ve only known each other for a few days.
There’s just something different about Fallon.
Her fire is a turn on. She could destroy every material thing I own and I’d still want to fuck her.
One of the things that draws me to her the most is that she’s not afraid of me.
The women I’ve dated in the past have always been so fake because they know what kind of monster I am.
They tiptoed around me, put on a happy face, and never wanted to do anything to upset me.
Fallon doesn’t care. She isn’t afraid to tell me to fuck off.
To threaten to cut my throat with her razor blade while giving me a hot shave.
Instead of pissing me off, it made my dick hard.
“Are you going to keep smiling at your phone, or do you want to talk about our plan for tonight?” Alessandro asks, his eyebrows etched with irritation.
I look up at him and smirk. “Are you jealous?”
“Of what? You looking like an idiot who’s in love with a girl you barely know?”
“I’m not in love, asshole,” I say.
He snorts. “Could have fooled me. You’ve been totally preoccupied by this woman since you met her.”
It’s true. There hasn’t been a moment that I haven’t thought about Fallon since I first laid eyes on her.
My dick is nearly raw from how many times I’ve stroked myself the past few days.
If it’s that good just fantasizing about her, I can’t imagine how amazing it will be to have my dick buried inside her.
“The Morettis have denied having any part in the fake gems. They are willing to meet us tonight in neutral territory. I have our plane scheduled for takeoff at eleven,” I say.
Alessandro stares at me, the corners of his lips twitching. “So we’re not going to talk about Fallon?”
I shrug. “There’s nothing to talk about. She wants to be friends.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
“Yes.”
No.
I’m not.
Not at all.
But I’ll change her mind. Fallon doesn’t trust easily. She acts tough, but she’s scared. She needs a man who will show her that she’s safe. She needs a Daddy. She needs me.
“You do know we’ve been best friends for our entire lives. I can tell when you’re bullshitting,” Alessandro says.
Eh, fuck. It’s true. We can read each other like a book.
“She needs a Daddy,” Alessandro states. “Maybe Angelo would be a good one for her.”
He’s baiting me. And it’s working because I have to stop myself from reaching for my gun and pointing it at his head. Alessandro De Luca might be the closest thing I have to a brother, but he’s still the head of the Italian mafia; pulling a weapon on him wouldn’t be smart.
“Over my dead body,” I growl.
Alessandro chuckles. “Then maybe you need to step up to the plate because it’s obvious that Little girl is scared and lost in life. She needs someone to guide and protect her.”
I glare at my boss. When did he become such an asshole?
“You know who else needs someone to guide and protect her? Paige Gilroy. Maybe send Angelo her way and leave me the fuck alone about Fallon.”
It was a low blow, and I know it, but fuck, the thought of any man Daddying Fallon makes me want to slit their throats and burn the world to the ground.
“I will cut off the hands of anyone who touches Paige Gilroy. She’s Irish and off-limits,” Alessandro replies in a dark tone. “And if you ever mention sending another man to Daddy her again, I’ll fucking bury you.”
It’s no secret that Alessandro has cared about Paige for years.
But she belongs to another mafia syndicate, and the head of that family, Paige’s brother, is his friend.
It would be crossing a line that could become dangerous and ruin the relationship we have with the Irish mafia.
Not to mention Paige is a bit difficult and drives Alessandro nuts because she’s so wild and bratty.
She’s a mafia princess, and she knows it.
He will deny being in love with her if anyone asks, but I don’t need to ask to know.
I see it in the way he looks at her. It’s a secret he will take to his grave because loyalty means everything to Alessandro.
It’s the core value of every mafia family.
Without it, we would all crumble and none of us would survive.
“I’ve known Fallon for three days,” I say to distract him from the rage clearly burning within him right now.
“And?” he asks. “When has time ever meant anything to us? How long did Kian know Lacey before they were together?”
My stomach tightens, and I narrow my gaze. “Can we not talk about my cousin hooking up with Kian fucking Savage? Jesus Christ.”
Alessandro laughs and suddenly the tension in the room disappears between us. “Quit being a fucking baby about Lacey growing up and becoming a woman. She’s happy, and Kian takes excellent care of her.”
He does. I know this because I check in often and have my own men keeping their eyes on Lacey at all times. I suspect Kian knows it, but he doesn’t care because he knows it’s extra security on his wife.
“Maybe Fallon needs you to take control and not give her the option to push you away,” he suggests.
I let that thought roll around in my mind for a moment before I lift my chin and rise. “I’ll see you at the airport tonight.”
“Good luck.” He smiles.
Half a dozen of our men are already at Fallon’s new apartment when I get there. She is sitting on the couch, telling them where to put certain things. As soon as she sees me, her face lights up, but she quickly masks it. I hate that. Why is she afraid to show that she’s happy to see me?
“Hey, princess,” I say when I stride in and nod toward one of the men who pass by with a box in hand. “You look beautiful.”
Her cheeks turn a bright pink, and she lowers her eyes from mine for a second before looking up at me again.
She’s not used to taking compliments. Which means that asshole ex of hers never gave her any.
That motherfucker needs to be buried alive for the trauma he’s caused her.
Not just him, but every man who has ever hurt Fallon.
“I can’t believe you took all this stuff from Joshua’s apartment,” she says as a bedframe is carried past us.
Shrugging, I stare down at her, my hands in my pockets. “If you don’t want this shit, I’ll buy you new stuff. You say the word, princess.”
Fallon shakes her head, and when she meets my gaze again, there’s tears welling in her eyes. “No. This is all fine. It’s perfect. Thank you. I just feel bad that he doesn’t have anything now.”
Irritation runs through me, and I clench my jaw to keep from snapping at her. It’s not her I’m pissed at. The weasel who was supposed to be taking care of her instead of using her is the one I want to take my anger out on.
“He doesn’t deserve anything, Fallon. He had a fucking queen in his hands, and he treated you like shit. The only thing he deserves is to be dropped in the ocean for the sharks to eat.”
She laughs at that, and it makes me smile because it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. Like a mix of sugar and honey to my senses. Fuck, I want to make her giggle like that every day.
Without waiting for an invitation, I sit next to her, leaving no space between us despite the couch being huge. I want to be as close to her as possible so I can soak in her scent and feel the warmth of her body radiating onto me.
When she doesn’t try to scoot away, I reach out and run the back of my hand over her cheek while staring at her delicate features.
She’s too damn beautiful for this world.
I’m going to have to have security guards on her at all times just to keep other men away; otherwise, I’m going to spend all my time murdering anyone who dares to look at her.
“You never answered my question earlier,” she says. “You always make me answer yours.”
Amusement spreads through me. She’s using my own rules against me. But she’s right; I do make her answer all my questions, even when she does try to avoid them.
“What question was that, princess?” I ask, even though I know exactly what she’s referring to.
She fidgets with her hands, twisting them together nervously.
Without hesitation, I reach out and grab one of them, holding it between mine.
I study how small hers is compared to mine.
How tiny she is in general. Fallon is full of curves, tits, and ass, but she’s barely five feet tall.
She’s perfect. Soft and feminine and a badass.
Mine.
She’s going to be mine.
One way or another.