Chapter 62
MARCELLO
I parked beside Sonny’s Porsche at the marina. Alex climbed out of the car, flinging her long curls over her shoulders. She released a deep breath and slipped on a pair of black sunglasses.
“It’s beautiful down here.” She smiled. “I used to come with Aiden. He liked to fish from the pier.”
I already knew that but held my tongue.
“Do you like to fish?”
She shrugged, making a silly face. “I hate baiting the hook. It’s so slimy and gross.”
I reached into the backseat for Alex’s beach bag. “If you want to fish, I can do it for you.”
“Yeah, okay.” Alex beamed with excitement. “But I want to get some color first.”
“Whatever you want.”
Before Alex rolled into my life like a storm, I was content with killing for profit.
I embraced being the man my father had forged into a weapon for his deviant purposes.
Years of watching my brother play games with her fueled my anger and jealousy because I knew I would have treated her better.
If I were the oldest Salvatore, she would have already been my wife.
As we approached the first boat slip, Sonny appeared from the cabin.
He extended his hand to help Alex aboard, licking his lips at Alex’s big tits, which were barely contained by the thin bikini top. “Look at you, girl. Goddamn, I think heaven’s missing one of their angels.”
She covered her mouth and laughed. “It’s a good thing you’re rich and hot because your pickup lines are ridiculous.”
Sonny grinned. “You think I’m hot.”
“Fuck off.” She shoved him in the chest. “You know you are, Sonny.”
Alex slipped on the deck and fell into Sonny, pressing her hand to his chest for support.
He hooked an arm around her back to steady her. “Someone needs to find her sea legs.”
“Once we’re on the water, I’ll get them.”
Sonny’s parents owned Mac Corp, one of the largest shipping companies in the world. If we could, we would both live at sea. Any chance I got to travel overseas, I jumped at it. But with Alex sleeping under the same roof, I didn’t have the itch to leave.
Sonny stripped off his shirt, rubbing his abs with a grin cast in Alex’s direction. “Are you hungry, Little Wellington?”
“Yeah, I can eat.”
“Sandwiches and drinks are in the cabin.” Sonny pointed a finger below deck. “Make yourself at home.” He gave her one of his boyish smiles before walking away to start the engine.
I tugged on Alex’s hand. “Come help me with the drinks.”
Alex followed me downstairs, her eyes darting around the expanse of the cabin. Leather couches spanned one wall, wrapping into an L shape around a wooden coffee table. A small kitchen was on our right, and a bedroom and bathroom were toward the back.
Alex walked into the bathroom with a stall shower and set her sunscreen on the counter. I followed her into the room, caging her against the sink with my hip. She looked at me in the mirror, her chest rising and falling with each shallow breath.
“Marcello,” she whispered.
Her hand covered her heart, drawing my attention to her big tits.
For years, I’d wanted her. I hated my brother for claiming our queen and then not giving a fucking shit about her.
But last year, he finally let the Knights have their queen.
It was the best night of my life… until I woke up the next morning wishing she were mine.
I slid my hand to her jaw and rolled my thumb across her bottom lip.
Alex blew out a deep breath that sent a warm rush of heat down my arm.
As I held her gaze, heart racing in my chest, I thought of the conversation I’d had with my father a few weeks before.
My family’s survival depended on Alex marrying a Salvatore.
I spun Alex around so we could face each other. She squealed when my hands slid to the backs of her thighs, and I lifted her into my arms. I lowered her onto the counter and made room for myself between her thighs.
“Pops said you shouldn’t do any heavy lifting.”
“You’re not heavy.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Yeah, right? I’m not the skinny twig I was when I first came to Devil’s Creek.”
Grabbing her curvy ass, I moved her closer to me. “I love your body, Alex. You’re fucking perfect.”
She snorted with laughter. “I’m far from perfect.”
Tracing my thumb across her lip, I smiled. “Perfect for me.”
“Marcello,” she whispered as my lips brushed hers.
I wanted her so badly I couldn’t stand it anymore. My brother had spent years messing with her head, and I wanted to show her I wasn’t in this just for sex. I cared about her. She wasn’t a possession to me, not like she was to Luca.
As I sucked her lip into my mouth, Alex molded her bikini-clad body to my chest, her arms around my neck. My cock sprung to life when she trailed her fingers down my stomach, slipping her hand beneath the waistband of my swim shorts.
“Cello,” Sonny yelled from the top of the stairs.
He had a nickname for everyone.
Alex pulled her lips from mine, breathless, as she stared into my eyes. I dipped my head down, peppering her neck with kisses. A moan escaped from her throat.
“Yo,” Sonny growled. “Where’s my drink? I’m dying of thirst up here.”
I rolled my eyes and helped Alex down from the counter. “We’ll be up in a minute.”
“I’m about to push off from the slip. I can use some help. Get your asses up here.”
Alex stood on the balls of her feet and kissed my lips. “We can finish this later.”
I winked. “Count on it.”
I grabbed a few beers from the fridge and followed Alex upstairs.
After I helped Sonny untie the knots from the cleats, the boat drifted away from the dock.
He headed up the stairs to grab the helm.
Alex stood beside me as we moved slowly through the No-Wake Zone.
She held her arms out at her sides, giving me a cute grin as she steadied herself.
Wobbling to the right, she grabbed my bicep as Sonny made a slow turn to the right of the marker. “Whoa. Maybe I should sit down.”
I wrapped my arms around her, crushing her back against my chest. “If you fall overboard, I’ll save you.”
“I wouldn’t mind getting lost at sea with you.”
I uncapped three beers and handed one to Alex. “Drink up, princess.”
She tilted the cold bottle to her lips, eyes on me. “Are you trying to get me drunk, Marcello?”
I loved the way she said my name, dragging out the last two syllables in that sweet, sexy tone.
“No, I want you to have fun.”
“Fun?” Alex laughed. “What’s that? Luca doesn’t let me have fun.”
“Luca’s not here.” I chugged half of my beer and wiped my mouth with my hand. “Forget about him.”
It was hard for Alex to separate her attachment to my brother. She’d taken a lot of shit from him. He was such a bastard, too. Over the years, it killed me to stand back and watch him destroy her like he did everyone else.
I tapped her shoulder to gain her attention. “I’ll be right back. I have to give Sonny his beer. Go sit on the sun deck and relax.”
I watched her walk away, then climbed the stairs. Sonny sat in the captain’s chair with his arm resting on the ledge, his fingers wrapped around the leather wheel. As usual, he looked in his element, like he was born to live at sea.
I handed him the beer, and he raised the bottle in appreciation. “I was hoping Alex would come up here and sit on my lap,” he said between sips. “You tapping that yet?”
“Fuck off, Son.”
“So that’s a no.” He turned in his chair, a smirk in place. “You think your plan will work?”
“I don’t know,” I confessed. “My brother did a number on her head.”
“Well, unfuck her head. This shit fucks with the Knights.”
“Yeah, yeah. I don’t need another reminder. I get enough from my dad.”
My family and the Devil’s Knights wouldn’t be in this situation if Luca didn’t screw up so badly. As a child, he liked to break his toys. Luca destroyed everything good, and he’d almost broken our queen.
“You get to have her again before Legare,” Sonny groaned. “Fuck, I’m not gonna lie. I’m jealous. I still think about that night in the temple.”
“Me too.”
Sonny drank from the bottle and set it in the cup holder beside him. “Has she asked about her brother lately?”
I leaned against the railing. “Not since the meeting with Carl. She knows we’re hiding shit from her. Alex isn’t stupid.”
He shook his head. “She will hate both of you when she discovers the truth. It’s only a matter of time before she gets her memories back and pieces everything together.”
“I know. But it wasn’t my fault. I tried to do right by Aiden.”
Sonny nodded. “She might not see it that way.”
I hated that he was right. Alex only had blurry memories of what happened the night Aiden disappeared. She blamed Luca, maybe even me. At least she didn’t stab me, so that was a plus.
“I’m gonna head down and keep her company.”
Sonny tapped his beer against mine. “We’ll be at our usual spot in thirty minutes. Have the sandwiches ready. I’m starving.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” I quipped before heading down the stairs.
I found Alex on a deck chair, looking like a sea goddess with her legs spread out and curls fanned around her pretty face. She looked up at me, a big smile stretching the corners of her mouth.
She patted the deck chair beside her. “Sit. I want to play a game.”
I did as she commanded like I was under her fucking spell. “What kind of game?”
“Twenty questions.”
I shook my head. “Nope, not playing that game.”
Alex sat up, swinging her legs off the side of the chair. “Why not? I want to know more about you.”
“Fine,” I agreed because I was a fucking softie with Alex.
“You can ask me anything you want,” she offered. “I’m an open book.” She outstretched her hand for me to shake. “Do we have a deal?”
I slipped my fingers between hers, and electricity skated along my skin. Alex’s skin was so fucking soft I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the rest of her gorgeous body.
“Okay,” Alex said with her eyes on me. “You can start.”
“This is silly.” I shook my head and drank the rest of my beer. “What’s your favorite color?”