44. Lorenzo
CHAPTER 44
Lorenzo
G etting to eat dinner and take a shower with Isabella was a balm for the last handful of disappointing days. Alfie was still in the wind. Every time we got close to him, all of Damian’s leads would go dry. We had a feeling that this was related to Artem, but we couldn’t find the proof.
I would loop in Nikolai, but the man had been avoiding my call. He still wasn’t happy about what I had done to Efram.
But I didn’t want to think about that right now. Not when I had Isabella, shower-soft, beside me in bed. I curved myself along her back. “How was your massage today?”
“It was very nice,” she said, tipping herself back so that she was pressed against my chest. “Thank you for that.”
“We could make it a weekly thing,” I offered.
She chuckled. “Oh, I don’t think that’s necessary. I don’t want to become spoiled or something.”
She meant it as a joke, but there was something about her voice that was wrong. “What happened?”
“Nothing.” Again, there was that faux singsong cheery voice. It was beyond phony.
“Isabella.”
I felt, more than heard, her sigh. “Both Amalia and Gemma are mad at me,” she admitted softly. “Gemma got mouthy, and Amalia …”
She kept talking, but my focus had shifted to the warmth of her skin against mine. Being as busy as I had been, it felt like it had been ages since I’d had her. I kissed her shoulder, sliding my hand down her body.
Isabella caught my hand. “Seriously?”
“What? It sounded like you could use a little bit more relaxation.”
She shoved my hands off. “You weren’t even listening to me, were you?”
“You were fighting with Gemma and Amalia because Gemma ran her mouth. Again . Did I miss anything else?”
Isabella went stiff before turning over so that she could look at me. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“No, I’m not,” I said. Petty squabbling had always burrowed beneath my skin; I had absolutely no patience for it. “What would you like me to do about any of it? I offered to send Gemma away. It would have been the kindest thing we could have done for her, but you didn’t want to do that.”
I could see it on her face that I had hurt her feelings, but I didn’t take any of it back. “So, I can offer to send her to New Jersey to be babysat by my aunts for the indefinite future…or I can help you relax before you fall asleep. Which would you rather do right now?” There was anger in her eyes, but the want on her face was even more clear. I shifted closer to her, sliding my knee between her thighs.
Isabella heaved a great sigh. “I want to relax,” she murmured.
“Of course, dolcezza .”
I rearranged the pillows for us so that she could recline without the weight of the baby pressing down on her before I made myself at home between her thighs. She wasn’t wet when I ran my tongue around her clit and dipped it down to lap at her entrance, but it didn’t take her long to get there, either.
I was persistent, drawing soft sounds from her throat and coaxing her to a fever pitch. Isabella sank her fingers into my hair, holding me against her as if she were afraid that I would pull away. Her hips kicked upward, chasing her pleasure, and I cooed encouragements against her.
I pushed my tongue inside her, groaning at the way her wetness dripped down my chin. My cock was hard, tenting in my boxers, and I was about to remove them entirely when one of the windows smashed open by a smoking cannister.
Isabella screamed, and I snapped into action. I grabbed for the gun that I kept in the bedside table, but before I could raise it and aim for whoever was outside the window, I saw a beam of red. Through the smoke, I watched that beam land on me; I let go of the gun and let it drop to the ground.
The bedroom door was kicked open, and Isabella screamed again, clutching the bedsheets to her chest in an effort not to be naked in front of whatever was coming.
A man in full SWAT regalia come storming into the room. He was carrying a rifle with a scope on it. “Lorenzo Vitali,” he boomed, “you are under arrest for felony arson. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to remain silent…”
He droned on as another SWAT member approached me. His gun was holstered, but not strapped, and he held a pair of handcuffs in his hands. Isabella was frantic, begging them to leave me alone. “ Dolcezza .”
She fell silent and watched, eyes wide and sad, as they clapped the handcuffs onto my wrists. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, but the SWAT with the rifle pointed it her way before she could move to get off the bed. She froze with a whimper. “Don’t point your gun at my wife,” I growled.
“Shut up, Vitali.” But the gun moved away from her, aiming at me instead. That was fine. I could handle that.
As they led me out of the bedroom, I could hear Isabella scrambling after us. Elio was standing in front of Amalia in the hall. Damian had been stopped on his way to the office. “ Chiama il mio avvocato ,” I called to him.
“I’m on it. Don’t worry.”
I wasn’t until I saw the absolute terror on Isabella’s face. The Feds could put on a horror show all they liked, but if something happened to her or the baby because she was stressed out, I would make them all pay.