Chapter 21 #2
“What is going on?” Sinclair asked, looking from Jarvis back to me.
I handed him the file as the entire moment was frozen in time, every emotion I’d experienced over the last few days swirling around me.
“Fuck. If one of Russo’s enemies discovered the information, it would be a complete smoking gun. That had to be why Russo approached Pops.”
“What are you going to do?” Sinclair’s voice was muted given the ringing in my ears.
“Get some goddamn answers.” There was no cooling down, no ability to stop the inevitable. I took long strides from the room. Both Jarvis and my brother knew better than to try to stop me.
I rushed up the stairs two at a time, throwing open the door. She wasn’t in the bedroom, the bathroom door ajar.
The anger was to the point I could hurt her. Was that my intention? Honestly, I wasn’t certain at this point. She’d lied to me. The woman I’d shared more with than I had with anyone else in my life had lied.
The woman I’d hungered for…
Needed.
Craved more than any other.
Had. Lied.
When I barged in the bathroom, I was momentarily taken aback by her beauty and by the look of shock on her face. But something immediately told me that she knew why I was standing here and why I was furious with her.
She held the towel close to her naked body, her eyes searching mine. “What’s wrong?”
“I think you know. Don’t you, my angel?”
“You’re scaring me. No, I don’t.”
I ripped the towel from her, tossing it aside, exposing her beauty. The little vixen was cunning. I’d give her that.
She immediately covered herself as much as possible with her hands, the hint of defiance I’d so coveted when I met her returning.
In watching her eyes open in fear, I should feel something.
Anything. Right now, all I felt was contempt.
I was finished with being yanked around by anyone and if she thought she could sweet-talk me or find clemency in some way, she was very wrong.
The rage was too intense. I wrapped my hand around her throat, shoving her against the wall. “You’re going to be honest with me.”
“What are you doing? Please. Don’t. Not like this.” She placed her palm on my chest and as with every time she’d done so before, I was momentarily lost in the closeness and the wash of white-hot electricity.
And in her.
The emotions returned, but they were tinged with the years of hatred.
I couldn’t allow her beauty or what I felt for her to shade the truth any longer. “You’re fucking royalty. A goddamn princess.”
“What?” She clawed at my shirt, her eyes searching mine. Hoping for some sense of calm. She was pleading for leniency.
She wasn’t due anything but my wrath.
I squeezed her neck, taking exasperated breaths. “You lied.”
“Alexander. Talk… to… me…”
Seeing her face, the redness drifting over her soft skin, feeling her rapid pulse and the fight still in her was stilling. I was locked in the moment, the need so intense I wasn’t the same man I’d been only a few days before.
Hating myself, I released my hold, yanking her by the arm and tossing her across the edge of the counter. Forcing us both to stare at our haunted reflections. “Tell me what you see, my angel. Tell me.”
“Alexander. What is going on?” Her eyes darted back and forth, the fear so intense that I was fueled by it, famished for it.
“You’re a goddamn Italian princess.”
“I… Please. What?”
“You’re the illegitimate daughter of Vitelli Russo. Royal blood. The red herring sent to destroy me. First in court and then in my bed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“No more lies.” I pulled away enough so I could bring my hand down across her bottom. I craved this woman like no other, but she’d betrayed me.
The sharp slap was met with a harsh cry from her sweet lips. Not from pain. She craved anguish. She thrived on it. She arched her back, her grip on the cool marble firm. Even as I continued the harsh spanking, bringing my hand down time after time, her eyes never left me.
Defying me.
Begging me.
I couldn’t stop, but I realized I was being controlled by her. By her beauty and by her innocence. By a look in those lovely eyes that wasn’t about betrayal. But about love. My fucking God. I’d captured her, held her against her will, punished her more than once, yet she cared about me.
Panting, she pushed her hips out, taking every sharp crack of my palm. I spanked her long and hard, but in doing so, I was also punishing myself. Because I cared about her. Because I needed her.
She’d awakened every feeling that I’d missed, that I’d locked away. She’d ripped off the padlock, exposing the haunted boy in the man who’d turned to violence and insistence on being alone.
“Alexander,” she moaned. Even among the craziness of what I was doing, her voice was soft.
She was a woman who’d likely been hired to bring down me and my family. She needed to suffer for putting me in a terrible position.
It was my duty to punish her for putting my family in danger, yet seeing the defiance on her face, the angry determination that I would never control her only fueled the already raging fire.
Not of hatred or anger.
But of desire.
My hand and fingers ached as I marked her bottom, enjoying her moans and the sweet rose color that I adored so much. Being lost in her was everything I’d always wanted.
My breathing was labored, every muscle tense and as a single tear slipped past her lashes, I lost sight of everything but my needs and wants.
With one last brutal smack, I couldn’t take it any longer. I threw my head back and slid my hand between her legs, crowding her space because that’s what I needed from her. To be close.
To own every inch of her.
“Is what you’re saying true?” she asked, the uncertainty in her lovely eyes proof she had no fucking clue. “Not possible. There’s no chance. My mother would have… told me. Wouldn’t she?”
Her confusion dragged at both the darkest part of me and what little of my soul I had left.
“I have the DNA test taken. You are Vitelli Russo’s daughter.”
As the news settled in, she blinked as if fighting tears, anger.
And hatred.
Our eyes locked and she slowly shook her head. Perhaps to try to prevent me from falling further in the madness.
“I didn’t know, Alexander. That’s why the three of us were all alone.
A little nuclear family with no one to interfere.
No one to know who we were, yet all under the watchful eye of a crime lord.
How many times did I ask my father about other family?
” She looked away, another tear falling, her strangled laugh hollow.
The pleasure would need to wait.
I spun her around, gently rubbing my thumb under one eye then the other. She watched in silence as I brought the thick digit to my mouth, sucking the tear from the tip.
“I would never betray you. Not like that. What would I have to gain?”
“The destruction of my family.”
“Politics I don’t understand. Why would my mother do that to me? Why would she lie to me about my father? I don’t even know what it means or how I’m supposed to react.” When she started to lower her head, I cupped both sides of her face.
Her questions were valid. Why would her mother keep the information from her own daughter? To try to protect her.
And out of shame.
The interaction with her mother and Russo hadn’t been mutual. Motherfucker.
“It means your mother loved you so much as to keep the information from you so you could live a normal life.”
She clung to my shirt with both hands, dragging her tongue across her bottom lip. “But what does it mean for you?”
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully as I caressed her face. “And I’m not sure I give a damn.” I’d captured her mouth dozens of times before, taking what I wanted. I’d been selfish in doing so even though she’d been a formidable opponent, taking everything I’d dished out and tossing it back.
This time, the kiss was even more special.
Not because of who she was. I couldn’t give a damn she was Russo’s daughter. What I did care about was the woman. About protecting her. About caring for her.
About falling in love with her.
Call me crazy, but the need for possession had come full circle like everything else. Where I’d tried to push her from my life, something inside had snapped.
All because of her strength and determination not to allow me to break her defenses. Goddamn the woman.
I swept my tongue inside, tasting her almost as if for the first time. She gripped my wrists, holding herself to me as her body swayed back and forth. She refused to allow me to take control, driving her tongue against mine in a battle of wills.
Losing myself in her was no longer an option.
I’d done so and then some.
As the kiss became more fevered, the need explosive, she tore at my jeans, fighting with the zipper until she was able to get exactly what she wanted.
With my dick surrounded by her hand, I was forced to break the kiss, panting as another wave of desire tore through me. She stroked me and lifted her head, her eyes glassy. There was something so mischievous about the slight smile and the way she was looking at me.
“Fuck me.” Her whisper was hoarse, defiant, and who the hell was I to ignore her wants and needs? The look in her eyes was a clear sucker punch, everything about her nothing I’d expected.
This wasn’t about romance but about fulfilling our needs. About strengthening our connection. She jerked down the stiff denim and rolled my balls between the fingers of her other hand. The friction as she twisted her fingers around my cock was almost painful, but exactly what I needed.
We were both panting, even half laughing as she continued tormenting me as only she could do. I cupped her breasts, pinching her nipples until she threw her head back, crying in sheer ecstasy. The heat in the bathroom created beads of sweat on both our bodies, hers glistening in the lighting.
I couldn’t take it any longer, lifting and placing her on the edge of the counter.
She laughed, the sound echoing and leaned back, opening her legs as wide as they would go. I allowed a moment to gaze down at her luscious body. Every inch of her was glowing, her pussy lips glistening with her sweet juice.
All I could think about was fucking her, driving my cock deep inside.
And filling her with my seed.
She continued teasing me with a single finger, dragging the tip of her index finger down the side.
“Don’t tease me,” I growled.
“What if I do?” She wrapped her long legs around my waist, her chest rising and falling from the wildness of the moment.
“Then I won’t be able to control myself, fucking you like some goddamn animal.”
“Then do it. I dare you.”
The wildfire of her eyes was undeniable.
I did exactly that, thrusting the entire length of my cock inside. Her moans turned into a sharp scream, and she clawed at my arms, raking her sharp nails across my skin.
And I loved it.
Being marked by her would be a fucking honor.
Catherine squeezed her thighs against me, keeping me close. I rolled onto the balls of my feet. The change in the angle brought a crazed look in her eyes. The way her pussy clamped around my dick was incredible, pulling the darkness to the surface.
We rocked together, pushing each other’s boundaries. Every sound she made kept me pushing harder, taking her deeper.
We rattled the mirror. We filled the room with steam. We couldn’t get enough.
It would never be enough.
My cock ached, my balls throbbing. She tossed her head from side to side, her breathing coming in short pants. I could tell she was close.
“Come for me, my angel. Don’t make me wait.”
With her eyes not dilated, she obeyed my command, her body convulsing. Her long eyelashes skimmed across her cheeks and the lovely smile on her face was a picture of pure beauty.
I rocked hard against her, trying to keep the moment intact, but soon, I needed relief.
There was no holding back.
There never was with her.
With every muscle tenser than before, I erupted deep inside, allowing the sweetness of satisfaction to replace every concept of anger.
If only for a little while.
She was the one woman who’d broken the chains, the only creature on this earth who’d made me feel whole.
Now the future was at stake.
An unwanted war set to begin.
And I feared what we shared wouldn’t survive.