Chapter 29
STEFANO
Once Valentina’s bare feet hit the sidewalk in front of the Moscatelli house, her body trembled in the frigid night air from the cold and the shock.
She’d insisted on walking rather than letting me carry her.
This woman inspired me. I would never get enough of her. She was brave, strong, underestimated—not to mention created by God himself to be a Vignali, to be mine.
My queen.
Mia bellissima piccola regina.
I shrugged out of my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, and she tucked into the fabric.
“Thank you, Ace.”
I grinned. “You’re welcome, Angel.”
Ace. The nickname she’d given me on our first and last real date. I received an invitation to a high-stakes poker game during our dinner at my father’s casino, and she insisted we attend.
“I’ve always wanted to learn. Let’s go,” she’d said. “It’ll be fun to see you play. Please, I don’t want the night to end.”
The beautiful girl who had turned every head in the room watched me turn my twenty-five grand buy-in into two hundred and seventy grand.
The memory made a wicked sense of pleasure erupt inside me and rush straight to my cock.
With a grin still plastered on my face, I squeezed her hand, then signaled to my men to get to the SUVs and Medico’s plane.
Marco’s car pulled up, and I opened the door for Val to slide onto the back seat.
“Why aren’t we going with the men?”
“Your brother offered us your family’s private jet, so we can have privacy on our way home. We have things to discuss, Val, and I need to take care of you. Apparently, your father had a shower installed, and I could really use that right now.”
She laughed when I made a disgusted face.
We didn’t talk on the drive to the airfield. We had so much to talk about, sure, but first we needed to hold each other. To feel the other. To know that nothing could rip us apart again.
Even after boarding the plane, we stayed that way, quiet and clinging. I pulled a blanket around us and wrapped my arms around her beneath it. She cuddled against me, her head on my chest, her arms around my waist.
Once the plane reached cruising altitude, I used the lavatory at the back of the cabin to wash away her father’s blood.
The limited water supply meant it wouldn’t be the long, luxurious shower I needed, but it would be good enough.
As I stood under the water, my craving for Val intensified.
I wanted her with me. I needed to be inside her. But she was hurting, and the small shower didn’t offer enough space for her to be comfortable. She needed time to recover from her injuries, the physical and the emotional wounds.
I didn’t want to push her too quickly.
After scrubbing all the blood, sweat, and gore off, I stepped out of the lavatory with a towel wrapped around my hips, expecting to find some clothing in a small closet.
Instead, I found my girl lying naked on the bed.
I stared at the bruising covering so much of her body.
Rage reignited in my gut, burning up my fucking soul.
I’d killed the sick motherfucker who hurt her, but it didn’t seem to be enough. I’d taken too long to get her away from him.
After moving my ass around to her side of the bed, I sat down and pulled the sheet over her, then I traced her curves with my fingertips. Using my left hand, of course.
Odd timing, maybe, but I thought for a minute about how I had planned to die if she didn’t survive.
“How about a nap before we land?” I asked. “The pilot rerouted around some weather, so there’s plenty of time.”
She shook her head, threw off the sheet, and spread her legs wide to show me her sweet little pussy.
Fuck.
“I don’t want to take a nap,” she whined. “I want you to use your tongue and show me how much you missed me.”
I grabbed for the sheet, and she kicked it out of my reach.
“It’s the morphine, Angel. You don’t know what you’re saying. Your body needs time to heal. I won’t push you.”
Even as the words left my mouth, I stroked my cock.
She flashed a devilish little smile, the one she knew made me throb with want. Full of innocence, yet not innocent at all.
“You’re not. I’m pushing you.”
She pulled herself onto her knees with a grimace and put her arms around my neck to whisper in my ear.
“I need you to erase every trace of their touches, their stares, and replace them with yours. Make me forget them. I want you to own every mark he left on me, make it all belong to you.”
I should have been dead tired or maybe even just dead.
My weary bones ached, and I should have wanted only to crawl onto the bed and hold the woman I loved while we slept.
Exactly what I would do.
After filling her with my cum.
I got up from the bed, went to the swiveling captain’s chair bolted to the floor, and sank into it.
“Come here, Valentina.”
She stood and made a show of turning slowly in a tight circle to expose every bruise on her body. Some I’d seen at the ball, and some I hadn’t. Others were only days old, some just a few fucking hours old.
Never again. She would never endure that again.
As she came over to me, I forced the monster back into its cage in the darkest part of my soul. She needed me.
Deal with the rage later.
I grabbed on to her waist, pulling her in close while moving my towel to the side to stroke myself.
“Tell me what hurts, Angel.”
“Everything hurts. But I’ll show you what hurts the most.”
She took my left hand and placed it above her breast—over her heart—and pressed her hand on top of mine.
“This broke when they took me away from you.”
“Then let me make it better.”
I moved our hands away and put mine on her back, gently pressing her body down, so I could place a kiss over her heart. I trailed more kisses down to her nipples, kissing them, pulling them between my lips.
She gasped and pushed her fingers into my hair, dug her nails into my scalp, then climbed onto my lap, lining up the entrance of her wet cunt with my hard cock.
Jesus, she was perfect, but the pain came through loud and clear in her eyes.
Once her fractured ribs healed, I would let her bounce on my cock all she wanted. I would give her the rough ride she craved. But in that moment, I needed to make love to the woman who would soon be my wife. Needed to feel her, to love her, and taste her.
“Get back on the bed, Val.”
She pushed out her lip to pout. “But?—”
Absolutely the morphine.
“Now,” I commanded.
I gave my cock a few more strokes as she lay on the bed, then I prowled up between her legs, parting her soft thighs and gently positioning them on my shoulders.
She giggled. “What are you doing?”
“Praying.”
I placed gentle kisses on her thighs, dragging my mouth over her skin until I got to her hot little pussy.
Just as sweet as ever.
“Stefano, please. I need?—”
“I’ve got you, Angel. Relax and let me take care of you.”
Slowly, I licked and sucked, building her climax minute by minute without allowing her to orgasm.
When her thighs went lax on my shoulders, I focused on her clit, swirling my tongue, increasing the pressure until her thighs began to shake and her breathing became rapid huffs.
Val looked so beautiful spread out for me.
When she let everything go and gave over to me completely, nothing made me prouder as a man than making my woman come when I commanded it.
Once she arched her back and let a cry of pleasure escape from her lips, I moved down to lap at her juices and fuck her with my tongue.
She reached for me, so I offered my left hand.
“Stefano, please. I need you. Please,” she breathed.
So fucking delicious when she begged.
She’d been through so much pain, and all I wanted to do was make her forget it all and give her whatever she wanted.
Another part of me wanted to take her hard, claim what belonged to me, and punish her for her lies. And I would after she had time to heal. She would get her punishment when I believed the time was right for it.
And when I punished her for the lies, I would leave marks. I would make it hurt—and she would beg for more. Once healed, she would have some very long nights ahead.
I could be angry at her later. I could be vengeful later.
Until then, I just wanted to be grateful she’d survived, grateful to have her back where she belonged.
Still, in her condition, I doubted I could lay her out and make love to her without hurting her under my weight.
I could think of only one way to make it work. I kissed her thighs again, then pulled away to stand up.
“Did you miss me, my angel?”
“Yes, sir,” she whined.
“Do you want to show me how much?”
She crawled to the edge of the bed and sat back on her heels while trying to school her face to hide the pain.
“Not like that, Angel. I don’t want you to hurt.”
I took her hand, helped her off the bed, and led her back to the chair, where I sat and took her onto my lap.
“Be my good girl and show me how much you missed me.”
I kept my hands on the outside of her thighs, where the bruises weren’t as dark. I guided her down as she took my entire shaft in one smooth but slow motion.
Fuck, she was so wet, so tight, so fucking hot.
Seated on my cock, she made slow circles with her hips.
“Like this?” she asked.
“God, yes.”
Panting, I pushed my fingers into her hair and pulled her lips down on mine. She apologized for her deceit and made promises with a long passionate kiss.
And I let her.
She owed me more, but that kiss would do for now.
Caught up in her, in the sensation of our connected bodies, I moved my hands to her hips and supported her weight as she rode me up and down. I slipped my thumb between us to put pressure on her clit.
“Oh god,” she cried. “That’s literally so good.”
She grabbed the back of the chair to hold on.
Her inner walls contracted around my cock.
Not another goddamn thing better existed than when her tight little cunt gripped me and begged me to come.
“Just like that, Angel. Don’t stop. Take all of me.”
She threw her head back, so I latched on to her nipple, sucking and biting as she cried out my name and came in a hot wave of pleasure.
“Stefano, yes, oh god, yessss.”
I followed with a roar of satisfaction and kept her moving up and down on me, supporting her weight, guiding her through her orgasm while prolonging mine.
Finally wrung out, we clung to each other, working to slow our heartbeats and catch our breath.
As carefully as I could, I lifted her and moved to the bed. I tucked her into a fluffy white comforter and kissed her forehead before going to the lavatory to clean up.
Before climbing in to hold her, I sent Tony a message to let him know we were on the way home.
Then I wrapped my arms around Val’s delicate body, careful not to put pressure on her ribs. Having her in my arms was all I could ask for and more than I deserved.
We slept for a little more than an hour, until the plane hit turbulence.
The pilot came on the intercom indicating we shouldn’t worry, but it did make sleeping difficult.
Val bit into her bottom lip.
“Is this where we start talking about all the things?”
After a long, thoughtful moment, I decided against it.
“No. We need to sleep, eat a proper meal, and hug our son before we talk about everything that’s happened, but there is something I want to tell you while we’re alone.”
She squirmed, but I held her more tightly against my chest.
“I want to send our son away.”
Harsh words to hear, but it had to be said.
Every syllable weighed like a ton of bricks on my heart while the sentence lingered in the air between us.
“What?” Val asked, her voice cracking.
“Not forever. I want him to attend a private boarding school where he’ll be safe.”
“What?” she repeated. “No. He’ll be safe with us. We’re his parents. No one could possibly keep him safer than you.”
“Something happened while you were gone.”
“Does this have to do with your finger?”
I nodded. “What do you know about the Commission?”
She blinked up at me. “Why?”
“Because I took my father’s seat.”
“Why, Stefano? That’s not at all what you wanted.”
“I didn’t have a better option. The finger was punishment for breaking the treaty when I came to see you at the ball. Their pound of flesh for me going to Chicago.”
“Apparently flesh has increased in value since the treaty was written,” she snarked.
I kissed her forehead and moved my lips to her temple.
“Yeah, I was about to do it again, and they knew it, so they made me an offer. If I joined the Commission, they would sanction any further actions I took in Chicago.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I could come get you without losing a limb. And they promised me an army. The council’s CEO wants the treaty abolished. He believes Chicago should be taken under New York’s control.”
Val shook her head, her hair brushing my chest.
“If he thinks that’s possible, he hasn’t been to Chicago.”
I ran my hand down along her spine.
“You might be right, Angel. Either way, I signed the papers, and I’m now a member of the Commission’s leadership. Then Edgardo Lordi told me it would take weeks to plan the mission, but you would have been gone by then.
“I did make that point very clear, but it didn’t matter. He put me in a position where if I came to Chicago on my own and lost, he could wipe his hands of it. But if I was successful, then?—”
“It would give him an opening to take the city.”
“Yes.”
“So what are we going to do about it, Stefano?”
“I’m going to kill him. I’ve been planning it for years. He’s the man who murdered my father and brother. But he’s cunning. And not only smart, but also strategic. Going after him is going to be very dangerous.”
Val sighed. “I guess if he wasn’t dangerous, he wouldn’t be head of the Commission.”
“I’m concerned he’ll use my love for you and Enzo as a weakness. He won’t hesitate to come after my heir.”
Val sat up. I wanted to drag her back down to lie next to me again, but she wriggled away and turned to face me.
“I tried for nine years to protect my son from the world you and I were born into. But it didn’t work, Stefano, it just made him more vulnerable. He didn’t know what to expect, where to turn, or how to fight if he needed to.
“It’s become very clear that I cannot run from my past. I cannot run from who I am or from you, and forcing Enzo to do the same is indistinguishable from being a negligent parent.”
I sat up. “So what the fuck are you saying?”
“I’m asking you to teach our son about this life. It’s his life too. Teach him how to defend himself and how to thrive, not just survive. That can’t happen if you send him away. He needs to learn who we are and what it means.”
She took my hands in hers, her eyes hardening with resolve.
“It won’t be easy for either of us, Ace, but the only way to keep him safe is to make sure he’s prepared. I know we can do this… because one day you’ll be king of kings. You weren’t supposed to be, but you’re the only Vignali who ever could be. And you must prepare our son for that.”
I fucking loved this woman, the faith she had in me.
She had a point, one I couldn’t argue.
Enzo was my heir.
And at only nine, he had the makings of a fearsome prince.