Chapter 27
ISEULT
After the bath, we showered together, his big strong hands in my hair, washing me with care. He didn’t attempt to touch me, which I was grateful for. It was not what I needed. And without even asking, he just knew exactly what to give me.
He took me to bed and held me all night, and for once in a very long time, I woke up well rested, without the nightmares claiming me.
With my head propped on my hand, I watch him just starting to wake. He’s a breathtaking man. All of him is, which is a shame, because I have no idea what to do with us. No idea how to tell my father that I’m starting to develop real feelings for a man I have no right to.
He groans, his eyes not even open yet, but his mouth forms a huge smile. It’s as though waking up beside me makes him happy.
“Good morning…” His palm cups my ass and squeezes my abdomen up against his erection.
“Good morning to you too.” I arch into him, and his husky laughter has me aching between my thighs, needing him there.
“I’d say I was sorry…” He scoops me up and, in one quick move, places me on top of him. “But I’m not. You make me hard as a rock.”
His sinful smirk forges a fire deep in my belly, desire unfurling in my bones. I widen my legs to feel him rub against my center, so thick and firm.
I let out a raspy moan that has him growling.
He fists my hair and drags my jaw to his mouth. “I’m gonna feed you, then fuck that greedy little pussy.”
“Oh, God…” The words fall in a whisper as he circles his hips into me, giving me exactly what I need. Just a little more, and I could come.
“You miss my cock inside you as much as I’ve missed feeling you stretch around me?”
“Gio…” I hiss. “Don’t talk dirty to me unless you’re gonna do something about it.”
He slaps my ass hard with a chuckle.
“Come on, baby…” He kisses and sucks at my neck while I moan in sheer ecstasy. “Get up.”
His hips stop moving, and I groan, grabbing his face and giving him a quick kiss. “You’re so mean.”
“I know.” He winks. “But I did tell you I’d pay you back for Adriano, and I’m not done yet.”
“So you still haven’t forgiven me for that?” I tease, nipping against the stubble lining his well-defined jaw.
“Every time I see you with him, his hands on you, I want to find him and kill him. Does that answer your question?”
“Please don’t do that.”
With a huge grin, I lay my head against his racing heart and sigh.
Seconds stretch between us before I say, “I’ll have you know I don’t cook. At. All.”
His fingertips stroke up and down my back. “Don’t worry, I do.”
“Really, now?” I prop my chin on the top of my hands as I peer at him.
What doesn’t he do?
“That’s right, my future wife.” His burly chest rises with each of his breaths. “And I do it well, too.”
“Must win you lots of Brownie points with those ladies.”
“Wouldn’t know.” He grabs my jaw and kisses me hard. “Never cooked for them.”
“Oh, let me guess.” My lips curve. “I’m special.”
“No,” he scoffs. “I’m just hungry.”
I swat him, narrowing a humored gaze that has him chuckling.
And I’m laughing too, wondering why it took me this long to laugh again.
“Sit, woman.” He pulls out a chair for me and points a finger at it.
“Demanding even in my own home?” I settle into the seat.
He spins me around in the swivel chair, his body towering. “When I marry you…” He grabs my throat possessively and bends to me. “I’ll move you into my home and command you there too. I think you love it when I do.”
“I do not.”
He brushes his lips to mine.
I so do.
It’s my new secret obsession to be spoken to this way by Giovanni Marino.
He rights himself and heads for my fridge, opening it as though he didn’t just make me want him to fuck me on my kitchen table.
He peers inside, rummaging. “How do you survive with nothing in this damn thing?”
“There’s usually food at my father’s, or I grab stuff I can toss in the microwave.”
He shakes his head, grabbing some milk and eggs. “That’s not happening anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have me to take care of your needs, like making sure my woman is well fed.”
“Your woman?” I pop a brow, biting on the inside of my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling.
“That’s right.” He fits me with a serious stare. “And try to give me lip about it.”
I bring my fingers to my mouth and pretend to zip them.
“Good girl. Now, where’s your flour and sugar?”
I point to a cabinet on the corner. Reaching over, he grabs two containers, after which I tell him where the pan is.
Silently, he starts throwing ingredients into my standup mixer and starts it. “Have you ever used this thing?”
I pinch my lips. “Not even once.”
He shuffles over to me. Lifting my hand, he kisses my knuckles. “It’s a good thing you have me now. I’m gonna unvirginize the shit out of your mixer.”
“Why the hell did that just sound so hot?”
He laughs, big and beautiful, and I’d do just about anything to watch him laugh like that for the rest of my life.
GIO
“Open your mouth,” I tell her, standing by her side as I cut into a piece of the pancake I’ve just finished making.
There’s something about feeding a woman, and throw in the fact that it’s something I made with my hands… I don’t know, it makes me want to go all caveman on her.
She squints like I’ve grown another head. “I’m fully capable of feeding myself.”
She tries to take the fork away, but I yank it back.
“If you don’t hush up, I’ll force you to sit on my lap while I feed you.”
She laughs like I’m crazy, not realizing how serious I am.
“You asked for it.” I drop the fork and easily lift her off the chair, one arm under her knees and the other around her back.
“Hey!” she squeals while I sit down, placing her on top of me, my forearm enclosed around her front, keeping her caged.
“Now, this is much better. Wouldn’t you say?”
“You’re so frustrating,” she groans, but doesn’t fight me any longer. Instead, she sags against me.
“Me?” I jerk back. “I’m frustrating?” With a fist, I yank her head back by her hair. “Have you had a good look in the mirror lately, baby?”
She rolls her eyes while my gaze drops to her lips, wanting—no, needing—to taste them. I growl under my breath, lifting the fork back up and picking up the abandoned piece of pancake.
She opens her mouth, and my teeth grind as she locks her lips around the metal and sensually sucks while her eyes stay glued to mine throughout. Even her damn chewing has me throbbing.
The fork slinks out, and I cut into another piece.
“I like it when you’re obedient.”
She hits me with a wrathful gaze I saw coming miles away. “I’m anything but obedient.”
“Well, seeing as you’re sitting pretty on my lap eating what I made you, I’d say you’re being pretty damn docile.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve threatened to kill you.” She narrows her eyes, grabbing a chunk of my hair.
“Damn, bambina. I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
That sultry look in her eyes is telling me she’s hungry for something other than my blood. The need to throw her on the counter and spread her thighs for a taste has my cock jerking beneath her.
My fingers sink into her hair, and I groan as my mouth lines with hers, wanting to own this woman, body and soul. And as I’m about to skip right to dessert, my damn phone rings in my pocket.
“You should answer that,” she tells me huskily, her mouth hungrily sucking along the curve of my jaw.
“I’d much rather do this…” I curl her hair around my fist and snap her head back, lips teasing and sucking along the slope of her throat.
But whoever it is keeps calling and calling.
“Fuck.” I release a frustrated groan as I give her an apologetic look before my hand is sinking into my pocket, fishing out the phone.
Grant’s name appears on the caller ID.
“Yeah?” I answer, my eyes still glued to hers, hoping he has a damn good reason for interrupting what was about to be one hard fuck.
“I have a lead on Bryce, and it’s time-sensitive.”
I instantly sit straighter, and she must notice my change in mood, because she does too.
“What is it?” I ask him.
“There’s a homeless man one of my guys found. He wants to talk. Says he saw what happened to Bryce. Claims he squats in that empty house right next door to the alley and was looking out the window at the time.”
“You fucking serious?” I start to get up, kissing Red on the temple. “You think he’s telling the truth?”
“Maybe. That abandoned building is prone to squatters, and he mentioned two women and a man arguing.”
“Are you saying he saw two women that night with Bryce, not one?”
“Yeah.”
That really solidifies the fact that Donny wasn’t directly involved. He was definitely covering up for someone.
The bastard recently got out on a technicality, and though Grant and I have tried locating him, we couldn’t. It’s as though he’s vanished.
“When are we going to talk to him?” I ask Grant.
“I’m not. You are. I’m about to walk into a meeting I can’t get out of. My guys are with him now, feeding him at a restaurant in the city, waiting for you.”
“Shoot me the address. I’m in Cherry Grove, so it will take me a while.”
“That’s fine. I’ll get him a hotel room. Make him king for a day, and hopefully he remembers even more.”
“I hope this is it,” I say, my pulse ramming in my ears. “I hope we finally find out what happened.”
“Keep me informed as soon as you can.”
“I will.” I hang up and place the phone back in my pocket. “I’m sorry, Red, but I have to go.”
I start for the door.
“What happened?” she asks, concern zipping through her features.
I battle with whether I should tell her, but there’s no reason I can’t. I whirl back around as she edges up to me.
“I had a friend who was killed about a year ago. We haven’t been able to find out what happened. But there’s someone who may have seen something from that day, so I have to go and speak to him.”
“Let me come with you. Maybe I can help.” She appears genuine, like she actually wants to.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.” Her entire face turns dark and distant. “But I know how it feels to lose someone you care about. And it’s obvious that whoever he was, you cared a great deal about him.”