Chapter Fifty-two #2
Of course he did. Why was I even surprised? I slipped my hand free from his and walked toward Savina. Her eyes lit up the moment she saw me.
“Miss?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Tell you what, miss?”
“Oh, please, don’t call me that.” I tried to laugh it off, though my chest was tight. “The necklace, and everything. You were genuinely nice to me, unlike everyone else.”
“I was hired to do the job, yes,” she said. “And I wasn’t supposed to say anything. Except that night when you were drunk. I had to blow that cover.”
My brows furrowed. “Drunk? Why, what happened?”
“The phone call,” she said, raising a brow as if testing my memory. “You don’t remember?”
“The phone call?”
She gasped. “Oh my God, you don’t remember,” she laughed. “Well, you were so drunk and lost it, so I had to call Rodion.”
The air caught in my throat. “That dream?” I whispered. “It was real? I talked to Rodion?”
“You did.” She turned to the lady in a blue dress, a proud smile curving her lips. “Oh, by the way, this is Beatrice, my mother.”
I turned to the lady I had only met briefly in the dressing room. Her poise made me straighten without meaning to. “Hi,” I said, a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry I didn’t greet you earlier. I’m Alessia.”
“I know.” She smiled and extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you finally. I’ve heard about you from Alonzo.”
“In a good way, I hope…” Her words caught me off guard. “Wait, Alonzo?”
She nodded and lifted her chin toward someone behind me. I expected to see Rodion and his men, but my eyes widened to find him standing with Alonzo.
The sight stunned me. “I didn’t know he was here.” I faced Beatrice and Savina again. “You know him?”
Savina spoke excitedly. “He’s my brother.”
I blinked, confused. “What?”
“I mean.” She shrugged. “We grew up together in a foster home. And Beatrice is like a mother to us.”
“Oh.” The word slipped out because I didn’t know what else to say. I looked at Alonzo again. “I once wished I could find him here, but I couldn’t go out to look for him.”
Savina’s eyes softened. “I understand you better than anyone.”
She did, because she knew what it meant to be under Leonid and his family. That thought pulled me right back to the mess. “I’m still confused. We came here with Vincenzo’s people, so what’s happening?”
Savina exchanged a glance with Beatrice before answering. “They’re on the fifth floor. There’s another wedding happening. Vincenzo married someone else. It was planned.”
“He planned this?” The disbelief scraped out of my throat.
“With Rodion, yes.”
My stomach tightened. Vincenzo and Rodion planned it together? It made no sense. Yes, Vincenzo was friendly to me somehow, but what about Leonid? “And Leonid?”
Savina didn’t answer. Her gaze slipped past me. Rodion walked toward us with Alonzo beside him.
“Alessia,” Alonzo greeted, his voice familiar and distant all at once.
“Hi,” I managed. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I blended well.” He smiled faintly and went to stand beside Savina and Beatrice. His arm slid over Beatrice’s shoulder with an ease that spoke of belonging. “Have you met my sister and our mother?”
For a moment, I just looked at them. He wasn’t just proud. He was home.
“Yes. I actually spent weeks with Savina,” I said, glancing at her. “She’s my friend now.”
“That’s awesome.” Alonzo turned to Rodion. “Any signal?”
I watched Alonzo. He looked content, and people who clearly cared about him surrounded him. Savina had that calm grace about her, and the way Beatrice smiled at him said everything. They weren’t bound by blood, but they were family.
Savina touched my arm. “Should we get this off?”
I looked down at the gown. “I think so, yes. Though it looks good on me,” I grinned.
“It does,” she replied, and we both laughed.
I faced Rodion again. His focus was on Alonzo as they discussed something. I interrupted them. “Will it be okay if I go and change?” I asked.
His gaze moved over me in a way that made my pulse skip before he turned back to Alonzo. “I’m losing my patience,” he said. “Make the calls, or I’ll leave a mark here in Italy.”
Alonzo’s lips curved. “You already did, Mister Konstantinov. The case is still under investigation.”
Rodion chuckled, almost amused. “The woman talked too much,” he said, and took my hand, guiding me toward the exit.
We walked down the silent hallway toward the dressing room. Rodion moved with purpose, already knowing where to go, as if he’d been here long before I ever arrived.
“I have so many questions,” I said as we stepped inside. Rodion locked the door behind us while I went straight to the bags we had left earlier. “What happened to Leonid?”
He sank into a chair facing me. “Detained at the airport.”
I faced him. “What did he do?”
He hummed, studying me while his thumb brushed his lower lip. “Let’s just say … someone wants him dead.”
“Oh?” I rummaged through one bag. I was sure the jeans and a hoodie I came wearing were somewhere here.
“Nothing surprises me anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Vincenzo.
Because honestly, why would he ever make a deal with you?
” I dropped one bag and grabbed another. “You’re involved, aren’t you?”
Rodion reached out and caught my hand, tugging me closer. “Why don’t you ask your brother?”
“What does my brother have to do with this?”
He pulled me down onto his lap. “He’s the one who arrested Leonid.”
“He did?” I whispered, letting his hand slip beneath my gown. “What is he? Some kind of police officer?”
“Yes.” His fingers trailed up my thigh, sending a shiver through me. “This looks too good on you.”
“Too bad it was for the show.” I rested my hands on his shoulders. “Is your wound healed?”
“I can fuck, yes.”
I laughed softly and shifted to straddle him. His hands slid under the fabric, gripping me like he had been waiting for this moment to come.
“Savina said we talked on the phone,” I murmured. “I thought it was a dream.”
“And you don’t remember?” he asked, loosening his belt. The dress didn’t give us much room, but maybe that made it hotter. “Should I remind you?”
I lifted my hips, letting him guide me. “Yes.”
His cock pressed against me, heat pulsing through the thin barrier of my panties. I hissed, almost collapsing into him. But I held myself back. I knew too well that he was still healing.
“You told me you were scared,” he murmured against my lips. “While hiding in a bathroom.”
“I… did?” My breath hitched as he guided me down onto him, making sure I felt every inch of him. “And then?”
“I told you to go to bed.” His teeth grazed my lower lip before he captured it, his kiss stealing every trace of thought. He took my mouth, tongue claiming what already belonged to him. Everything dragged me under.
My hips moved, slowly at first, every motion making my pulse throb louder in my ears. I melted against him, lost in the way he felt. Everything dragged me under, too much and never enough.
“You were happy to talk to me,” he whispered, brushing his nose against mine.
“I was,” I breathed, my voice trembling in surrender. A wild warmth unfurled in my chest, the kind that burns and soothes all at once.
“You asked if I missed you.” His grip on my hips tightened, his fingers sinking into my skin, holding me still. His eyes darkened. “And you fucking knew so damn well that I did,” he rasped.
“You did?” A shaky moan caught in my throat as I kissed him again, moving my hips in slow circles, feeling the pull, the stretch, and the way he filled me.
He didn’t answer. He moved me, guiding, ignoring the limits his body should’ve respected. It wasn’t about pleasure; he was reclaiming what we had lost for those weeks.
“Rodion,” I breathed, the name breaking from my throat.
“Fuck,” he muttered, voice cracking in devotion. He brushed his lips against my jaw. “You asked if I loved you.” His words brushed my ear, his breath hot against my skin. “And I fucking knew you would forget even as I answered.”
“Remind me then,” I whispered, clinging to him the way my gown clung to my skin, damp with sweat. He bit my ear, sending a spark through me. “I want to hear it,” I begged.
My body trembled as I gave in, collapsing against his shoulder. He moved his hips slowly as I released.
He moved his hand between us and pulled out. “Ask me again.”
I kissed his neck, tracing up to his ear, my lips brushing his skin as I whispered, “Do you love me?”
He grunted. “Yes, my love.” He found my lips again, kissing me hard before he pulled out enough to whisper. “I want your pretty little mouth to take me.”
I moved, biting my lower lip, eyes locked on him.
My knees hit the cold floor. Smiling at him, my fingers wrapped around his cock, and I lowered myself.
My lips found his cock, and a curse slipped from his mouth.
His hand tangled in my hair, holding me in place as I followed the rhythm he set.
It was slow at first, then faster, until every nerve in my body screamed.
I wasn’t sure I was even breathing anymore.
He finally pushed in, holding me against him, and a warm flood filled my mouth. I gagged and swallowed, my hands pressing into the floor to keep from collapsing.
Rodion pulled me up and claimed my lips in another deep kiss. When he broke away, he ran a thumb over my lower lip, eyes burning into mine with possession and desire.
“I fucking love you, my Little Gem,” he whispered, and a shiver ran through me.
The world shifted into place, and I knew this was only the beginning. A beginning that offered no promises of a simple path, because in his life, anything could happen. And I was ready.
“I love you too.”