Chapter 28
Dominico
Senator Johnathan Edward Williams. A high-ranking member of the Senate.
Thanks to old money and even older connections, not all above board.
There were rumors that his political campaign was funded by dirty money and even dirtier backers, but this was never proven.
I could believe it based on his interactions with Lily and the videos I had seen.
The fact that no one in the building ever reported him for domestic abuse speaks to the kind of influence he wields and the circle he moves in.
Just thinking of him laying hands on my woman makes me want to revert to my younger self. Reckless. Out of control. But that wouldn't work in this situation. Not with such a high-profile target. I would have to be patient. In the meantime, I would make Lily untouchable in an irrefutable way.
“Everything is ready.” I nod at Dante's words, dipping my head in acknowledgement. I can see he wants to say something as I round my desk and head toward where he is standing in the doorway of my office. It takes us walking to the mansion entrance before he finally spits it out.
“Have you told her?” I shake my head once, my answer making him laugh.
Who would have thought that by the time I, Don of the Mafia, decided to take a wife, I might have to trick her into it?
I knew more than a dozen women who would marry me this minute if I snapped my fingers.
Yet, I have chosen this one—a woman outside of our world who offered me no business leverage.
It was already a hot topic among the famiglia .
But thinking of anyone else having her, or worse still, her not breathing, brings with it that familiar feeling of absolute fucking jealousy and terror.
Emotions that don't sit well with me. As with anything I don't like, I would remedy these by tethering her to me in a way that will stop her from being either one of those.
Problem solved—an easy way to rid myself of these pesky feelings .
“What if she doesn’t go through with it?
” Now it is I who wants to laugh at Dante's words. This was a possibility. But I also knew Lily wanted me as much as I wanted her. She just wouldn’t admit it.
Admitting it would leave her vulnerable.
So she thought. She underestimated my feelings for her.
Until she came to terms with it, I had a workaround.
“She will. I will use her best flaw against her.” His eyebrows lift in surprise, and he pulls a face that reflects his confusion.
“Jealousy. She has a jealous streak that rivals my own.” Dante laughs and shakes his head as if he cannot believe what I am saying.
Jealousy in most women repelled me, but it was like experiencing a tornado in little Lily Valentine—all parts of it.
Lily was usually the eye of the storm, but when she was jealous, she became the storm itself.
Her true emotions shone through, and she was magnificent.
Commotion to our right draws our attention just as Lily and Matteo appear at the top of the staircase.
“I told you, I’m not going!” Holly’s angry voice echoes in the silence, followed by a grunt and a squeal before Nero appears.
He has her slung over his shoulder, her shrieks to let her go falling on deaf ears.
When his hand lands a hard slap across her ass, the sound she makes is far from angry.
It's more of a moan. Confusion and desire flash across her face, followed by anger.
She starts pounding on his back, but for him, it would probably feel like a massage, and when he doesn't react, she starts swearing at him.
" Petit morveux ," he mutters as he walks towards us, his eyes as wild as hers. Love. It was as dangerous as someone wielding a gun, capable of inflicting as much pain and inciting as much chaos.
“These two are at it again. I hate being in the middle,” Dante groans when Holly sees him. Her pleas for him to help her are met with another slew of cursing as he raises his hand helplessly.
“We will meet you at the airport.” A swift exit follows Nero’s gruff words as he carries his unwilling cargo to a waiting car. He has been reduced to a caveman. At least I have progressed, and Lily is coming with me willingly.
“Is she okay?” Lily voices her concern as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, her eyes wide with shock.
“They’re fine. It's their mating ritual. I just wish they would fuck already. The sexual tension is making it worse.” Lily’s face reddens at Dante's words, her eyes flicking towards me, and then away again.
Yes, I understood the frustration. But I would only fuck Lily once my ring was on her finger.
Which would be in a matter of days. In the meantime, I was acquainting myself with her perfect body.
My hands and mouth were doing the work of a cartographer, mapping every groove, every ridge.
Noting every sensitive spot, like a blind man reading braille.
Directions to be etched into the very cells of my skin.
I wanted to know her body in the most intimate way, not just through fucking.
It was the very minimum of what she deserved.
“Let’s go.” I lace my fingers through hers and head outside toward the waiting SUV. I open the back door, assisting her inside before I round my side and get in.
Only once we are out of the mansion gates does she finally ask where we are going.
“Italy.” Her eyes widen in surprise before being replaced by panic. It suffocates the small space around us.
“I don’t have my passport. I left all of that behind when I left…Johnathan.” She hesitates but manages to get that asshole's name past her lips.
I extend my hand to Dante, who is in the passenger seat, and he places something in it. I pass it to her.
“How?” She turns the new passport over in her hands before examining the interior.
“We have connections.” I notice a flash of something on her face, something I didn’t like.
“Only to be used now. There's no running away from me, Lily.” My voice carries a warning.
“I wasn’t planning to. But it could mean a fresh start for me when the two-month period ends.” Her eyes search mine for something. Confirmation, perhaps. Acknowledgment. Not going to happen. She wasn’t going anywhere without me, and these two months would soon be replaced with a far longer term.
When I don’t say anything, she changes the subject.
“What is happening in Italy?” she asks, her eyes returning to the document.
“A wedding.” Her gaze meets mine, curiosity in them turning to shock when I say, “Mine. ”
She starts coughing as if she has choked on her spit. Her big eyes hold mine, thoughts racing a mile a minute, and that race is reflected on her beautiful face.
“Your wedding. You are getting married?” It is said slowly. Disbelief coats every letter.
“Yes. In three days.” I shouldn’t enjoy this as much as I am.
Her eyes blink rapidly as if she is processing the information and struggling.
“To whom?” she almost whispers, the blood draining from her face.
“ A una donna gelosa .” Her eyes flash with hurt, and then the other emotion I already know well bubbles up, returning color to her face as her hands clench into tight little fists. She doesn’t even know what I said, yet she is upset.
“Who? What is her name? And what about what you have been doing with me? Does she know?” Lily is furious, her whiskey-colored eyes practically spitting fire. I fucking love it. She has a temper to match mine. Fire with fire.
"And how will this two-month period work with me as the third wheel?
Will we all be sleeping in the same bed together, Dominico?
Sharing the same house? Why did you even bother suggesting it if you planned to marry?
" She is seething, her anger making her words clipped and halted as if she is struggling to speak.
“Are you jealous, il mio fiorellino ?” She recoils as if I have slapped her, pressing almost entirely against the door, her face turning bright red as she shakes her head vigorously.
Dante snorts, and I barely hold back a laugh. Fuck, she is so cute like this, all worked up and jealous.
“Me? Jealous? Never. I don’t care who you marry.” My eyes dip to her hands, which are still fisted, and her gaze follows before she quickly releases their clench, guiltily looking back up at me .
Her face turns to shock as I reach over and lift her onto my lap, the partition rising at the same time. Thank you, Dante.
She squirms on my lap, her attempt to escape half-hearted and lacking any real conviction. I wrap my arm around her while grasping her neck with my other hand.
“You’re a crazy woman, but I fucking like it.” Her eyes drift from mine to my lips, her breathing now coming out in short, choppy breaths as excitement pushes her jealousy aside. It is the most effective way to deal with it.
Releasing her neck, I allow my hand to run up her jeans-covered thigh before cupping her pussy, rubbing her through the material as the moan leaving her lips is captured by my own.
The kiss is hot and passionate, her jealousy and anger making it all the more intense, as our tongues dance a tango we do so well.
One that has her fucking herself against my palm as it deepens.
I pop the button of her jeans and then dip my hand inside her panties, not hesitating as I insert two fingers into her well-lubricated pussy.
Even her anger cannot keep her body from responding to me.
Her eyes are closed, and her mouth is slightly parted as she rides my fingers.
“Tell me you were jealous, il mio fiorellino ?” Her eyes open briefly, flashing with that emotion before she moans out her answer, the small nod accompanying her acknowledgement.
I can tell she is close by her frantic movements and her nails digging into my arm; the little half-moons make a great addition to my tattoo.
I remove my fingers and then slide them back in, adding another digit to the party.
Her moans become louder, the friction against her clit every time I slide them out and back in, edging her closer to her orgasm.
She is putty in my hands. With the walls of her core pulsing around me, clenching and unclenching as she chases her release, a thought forms. Like this, I could convince her to do anything.
It's a cheap fucking shot, but I don't care.
A win is a win, no matter how it is obtained.
“Say yes, il mio fiorellino .” Her head falls back while her eyes follow a similar path, rolling back.
This is my opportunity and I fucking jump on it.
“Yes to what?” she murmurs, her eyes slits as she briefly looks at me, licking her lips as she pants.
She is right there, right on the edge. I fuck my fingers into her faster, making sure my palm rubs against her little nub.
“Yes, to being my wife." Her brows furrow as her orgasm and my words collide with one final thrust.
I have her where I want her. Vulnerable. Not thinking clearly. And fuck knows I will use it to get what I want.
“Yes!” she screams, coming all over my hand and sealing her fate as I slip the large diamond ring on her finger.
That was easier than I thought.