Chapter 74
ALEX
Luca was an animal last night. Seeing me in the wedding gown must have provoked something inside him.
After meeting the Basiles, he visited me in his mother’s studio.
He excused Marcello for the night, then fucked me on the floor on top of a drop cloth.
Luca claimed me for several hours before I passed out from pleasure.
The following day, I awoke in my bed beside Marcello. He told me we were having breakfast downstairs for once. My handsome protector usually insisted he wait for me in the hallway, but I assured him I wouldn’t take long.
As I walked down the main corridor, loud voices traveled, forcing me to stop dead in my tracks. I pressed my back against the wall outside the formal dining room and listened to Luca speak Italian.
“You’re an idiot,” Luca boomed.
“She’s part of the deal,” Marcello said in Italian. “They will sell her.”
Was he talking about me?
Adrenaline shot through my body, forcing my heart to pump harder. The blood rushed through my veins, spinning my head. My heel slipped on the tiled floor, and I pushed my palm to the wall for support. All life inside the dining room ceased.
Shit. They heard me.
I stepped into the dining room, forcing down the bile choking me. Luca sat at the head of the table with Bastian and Damian at his sides. They were so beautiful, you wanted to touch them. Marcello sat at the other end of the table. He stared at the newspaper on the table with a coffee in hand.
“Look who’s joining us,” Luca taunted. “Did I wear you out, baby girl?”
“Luca,” I warned. “Don’t start with me before I’ve had my coffee.”
With his cup raised midair, he scanned every inch of me, his eyes traveling up and down my body. I wore a simple black skirt that stopped a few inches above my knees, though, with the way he looked at me, it was as if I was naked.
“Where’s Kali?” I said to no one in particular.
I had expected to see her in the morning. I’d heard her screaming from Damian’s room last night. Luca’s brothers had the same stamina, though I wasn’t sure how Kali could handle them. Two of Luca would have killed me.
“Photo op with our future governor,” Bastian muttered.
“She’ll be back later,” Damian confirmed. “You’re having lunch with her on the back patio.”
“Glad to know she’s still alive,” I deadpanned. “After what I heard last night, I was afraid I would have to attend her funeral.”
Two of the creepiest smirks crossed both of their mouths. They were beautiful but terrifying.
Luca beckoned me with his finger, and I moved toward him like I was under a spell. He dug his fingers into my hip and shoved me onto his lap. “Is this how you greet your future husband?”
My lips pulled into a tight line. “I don’t remember you proposing.”
“If memory serves, you said yes a lot last night.”
“I also said, Oh, God . And the last time I checked, you’re not a deity.”
His evil laughter floated through the room.
“I rolled over this morning, I’m not surprised you were gone.” I scowled. “Like old times.”
“Important matters required my attention.”
“More important than me?”
“I’m leaving after breakfast.” He brushed his lips against mine. “I’m going to New York for the day. I have to deal with something for work. Marcello will stay with you until I get back.”
I shook my head, irritated with him. “If I hadn’t come downstairs, would you have said goodbye?”
“Needy isn’t a good look for a queen.”
The Devil had many faces.
This was one of them.
And I was fucking pissed.
“I’ll be home by dinner,” Luca said.
I frowned. “Have a safe trip.”
He tugged on my curls and moved my mouth to his. “Where’s my goodbye kiss?”
I leaned into Luca, and he grabbed the back of my head, fisting my curls in his hand.
His lips crashed against mine, rough and possessive, so hard and fast he sucked the air from my lungs.
When our lips separated, Luca released his grip on my hair, his haunting blue eyes laser-focused on me.
He rolled his thumb across his bottom lip, a sexy gesture that would have made most women melt.
I attempted to slide off Luca’s lap, but he threw his arm across my legs, holding me in place. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m not in the mood for games.”
He nibbled on my earlobe. “Say you’ll marry me.”
“I’d rather watch you beg.”
His hand glided up my stomach as he sucked my earlobe into his mouth. “No, baby, you’ll be the one begging.”
Luca raised his hand, and the butler appeared at his side. “We’ll have a plate of fruit, no pineapple. More toast, fresh butter, and preserves.”
The man bowed his head in acknowledgment and set off toward the kitchen. A few minutes later, the kitchen staff appeared with fresh fruit plates cut into perfect slices and a stack of toast with all the fixings. My stomach rumbled as they set the food on the table.
“I’m hungry,” Luca said.
“So eat.”
He smirked. “Feed me.”
“You have hands.”
He tipped his head at the fruit plate. “Start with the grapes.”
“I want to poke your eyes out with a knife and shove them down your throat.”
Annoyed, I lifted a bushel of grapes in my hand, knowing he would only become more of a thorn in my side if I fought him. It was breakfast. Whatever, I could pop a few grapes into his mouth and send his miserable ass on his way.
Luca buttered a piece of toast. I plucked a grape from the vine and pinched it between my fingers. He opened his mouth, licking my skin as I dropped the grape onto his tongue. His touch sent a bolt of electricity up my arm.
I continued the charade until Luca licked my fingers clean. He hooked his arm around my back. As I reached for the plate of eggs, my shirt rode up my stomach. Luca slipped his hand beneath the fabric.
I knocked his hand away.
Luca moved the plates toward the center of the table, sending silverware crashing to the floor.
He raised his hand to dismiss a servant who attempted to clean up after him, exiting the room in a hurry.
Clutching my hips, Luca lifted me and dropped me onto the table in front of him, spreading my thighs apart with his hands.
The legs of his chair slid across the tile as he moved between my thighs.
“Luca, what are you doing?”
Ignoring my question, he pushed me down on the table until I was flat on my back, chest heaving with a mixture of fear and desire. He shoved my skirt up to my thighs, kissing his way up to my throbbing core. His eyes met mine as he breathed over the top of my lace panties.
“Luca,” I moaned. “This is so inappropriate.”
He released a wicked laugh. “I’ll tell you what’s appropriate, Queen D.”
I rolled my head to the side and caught Bastian staring at me.
Mortified, I turned away and found Damian focused on me.
He licked his lips, heat flickering in his deep brown irises.
Luca tugged on the strings of my panties, inching them down with all of his brothers watching us.
Marcello looked as if he weren’t breathing behind the coffee mug in front of his mouth.
I attempted to sit up, and Luca pushed me back down. “Are you mine, Drea? This is your last chance. You know how much I hate waiting.”
His eyes glimmered with rage and something else, an emotion I could not place. Last night, he was fine. Today, he was out of control. What happened from when my head hit the pillow until now?
He slid two fingers inside me, and I gasped from the sudden pressure. “You can pretend I disgust you, but we both know you’re always wet for me.” Luca thrust harder, making me cry out as his fingers rubbed my inner walls. “Even when you can’t stand the sight of me, your pussy craves me.”
Luca held me down on the table with his big hand and sucked on my clit. My legs trembled as he licked me like I was his meal. I should have pushed him away, but it felt too good to make him stop.
Bastian rested his elbows on the table. His suit jacket slid up his arms, revealing his tattooed arms as he leaned forward. “Spread your legs wider,” he growled with a wicked look in his eyes.
As I felt all their eyes on us, a wave of excitement shot down my arms. My cheeks heated, the warmth spreading to my chest and swirling around in my stomach. I leaned back on my elbows and watched Luca work his magic between my thighs.
Luca stopped abruptly, his eyes on me. “Give me an answer.”
I kicked his chest with my heel. “Asshole, I was about to come.”
He cupped my sex. “You better remember this belongs to me while I’m gone. Mine, you got that?” He shot up from his chair, his cock so hard it looked like it was about to poke a hole through his pants. “Say it, Drea.”
“Why?” I fixed my panties and skirt and slid off the table. “I already told my grandfather I chose you.”
He gave me a satisfied smile and pressed his lips to mine.
I tasted myself on him as he palmed the back of my head.
He kissed me like he wanted to fuck me on the table, and after what he’d just done, it wouldn’t have mattered.
Our lips separated after a heated battle of wills, our tongues warring against each other.
“I want a real proposal,” I told him. “Get down on your knees and beg me to marry you.”
Luca lifted me off the table and lowered us into his chair, holding my back against his chest. “If that’s what you want…”
I nodded. “And don’t fuck it up this time.”
The butler popped his head into the room, his eyes on Luca as he cleared his throat. “Mr. Salvatore, Miss Laveau is here to see you.”
My jaw dropped. “As in Madeline Laveau?”
“Eat your toast,” Luca said with a bite to his tone. “You don’t want to be late for your appointment with the new director of the Franco Foundation.”
Give her dreams.
Sell her nightmares.
That was the Salvatore way.