Serena
Anxiety has been my constant companion lately. Sitting on the chair at the cutting table, I stared out the window, replaying every second of the past weekend.
It felt like life took a complete one-eighty. I had been living in a bubble, focused only on work and Harper.
Despite the recent events, it was chaos in the best way.
Maybe I should run screaming in the other direction. It would be smart.
Someone had hired men to find us in the middle of the ocean to attack us. I had to hold a gun. I saw a dead body.
Any one of those things would make someone second-guess their decision to stay.
Yet, it never occurred to me to leave. I would've shot someone if it meant getting back to Harper.
I just needed time to process. I needed time to work through all my emotions. The way Enzo held me, like I was fragile, made me mad in hindsight.
I’d been through a lot in my life. I wasn’t some delicate flower that would wilt when something bad happened. Martina was right when she had pointed out that this was his life. That attacks like this were par for the course in his line of work.
Could I handle it?
The scene of Harper running to him, holding him like her life depended on it, and him hugging her back just as fiercely, was embedded in my memory. It kept replaying in my head.
It was that moment I knew I had fallen head over heels in love with Lorenzo Lombardi.
Which scared me. So much, and I didn’t know how to navigate that fear.
But yes, all the scary moments were worth it for the good ones. If there was one thing I could trust, it was that Enzo would do everything he could to keep us safe. He’d proved as much.
What concerned me was Charles and his mess. I didn’t understand why he didn’t move on and let me do the same. He had gone on dates, done whatever he pleased, both when we were married and since our divorce.
I had rules set in place because I didn’t want a bevy of women running through Harper’s life, but I hadn’t considered that rule when it came to Enzo.
Being with him was so effortless. Moving into his place felt like the natural choice. He’d shown me not only that he was reliable, but he was kind. Kinder than I’d ever known.
I put down the fabric I was sewing, knowing I wasn’t focused on the task. I didn’t want to prick myself because I was zoning out and ruin the garment with blood.
Stepping out of the studio, I walked up the paved path hoping we had Dr. Pepper in the fridge. The mini fridge in my workspace—which had magically appeared the day after my migraine—was empty.
The sun glinted off the glasshouse, catching my attention. I changed direction and walked toward it. Enzo had pointed it out to during the house tour, but I’d never been inside.
Hot, humid air swirled around me as I stepped inside. The door snicked shut quietly behind me.
Big trees lined the walkway, with lavender flowers and a few others I didn’t recognize. I touched the leaves as I walked further in, only stopping when I spotted a familiar back bent over, digging into the dirt, weeds scattered around him.
“Hey,” I said, forcing myself not to whisper. For some reason, since we had sex, I’d felt uncharacteristically shy around him—like that night hadn’t set my world on fire and shown me what it was like to be with someone who cared about my pleasure.
Enzo turned in his crouch, a half-smile on his face. His hands and pants were dirty. His face had a smudge of earth on his chin.
“Hey.” He smiled and stood. “What brings you in here?”
I walked to him and shrugged. “Frustrated. Feeling uninspired.”
The rest dried up in my throat. I couldn’t admit that my mind was so clogged with everything that happened over the past few days that nothing was flowing, and I just needed somewhere to exist without thinking.
And without being aware, I found him.
“You’ve had a lot to deal with,” Enzo commented. He move out of sight, and I followed, curious as to what he was doing.
He washed his hands up to his elbows, splashing some water on his face and running a hand through his hair.
When he turned, the water droplets fell from his chin onto his torso, creating a clean line down the center of his dirt-speckled chest.
“Amore mio, if you keep looking at me like that, I might not be able to control myself,” Enzo said, suddenly inches from me. I blinked, shaking the haze I’d fallen under as I tracked the path of the water.
“How was I looking at you?” I asked, aware of every inch between our bodies.
“Like you want to devour me.” He slid a finger under my chin and tipped my head up.
“Or maybe it’s because I want to be devoured,” I whispered, my heart pounding.
I was in his arms, legs wrapped around his waist, before I could blink. His hands cupped my butt, pulling me tight to him as he carried me.
Bending my head, I held his face in my hands and kissed him. I raked my hands through his hair, loving the feeling of it in my hands.
Enzo swept everything off the table with his arm and set me on it.
I’d never wanted anyone as much as I wanted him. I barely understood it, but the need to be closer, to have him inside me, was a thrum beneath my skin.
“Tell me what you came here for,” Enzo said, pulling my hair and forcing me to look up at him. Even with the added height of the table, I’m still not tall enough to be at eye level with him, which, for some reason, only excites me more.
He’s bigger than me in every way, intimidatingly so, yet he shows me how gentle he can be.
“You. I only want you.” I kissed the bottom of his jaw, the only place I could reach.
“You have that.” He dragged down a strap of my loose, airy dress. The summer heat was on full blast, so I’d kept it minimal: a flimsy excuse for panties and pasties. The thought of wearing a bra this morning would have sent me into a rage.
The top of my dress fell to my hips, revealing my almost bare upper body.
“I like these,” Enzo said as he traced the deep blue pasties.
“They’re cute, but for another day.” He pulled them off, tossing them behind him.
He bent, nipping and sucking at my breasts.
I let my head fall back, every swirl of his tongue sending tiny jolt of pleasure through my body, straight to my clit.
I pulled his pants, undoing the button and zipper. Enzo made me feel bold, like I could take anything I wanted, and I rode that empowering feeling as I shoved his pants down his hips and grabbed his cock.
“Impatient,” he said as he bit my ear. “Take what you need, amore. It’s already yours.”
I pumped his cock, fingers dancing over the cool metal of his piercing, loving the hiss that escaped him. He gathered my dress, ripping it down.
Enzo threw my underwear over his shoulder and bit my neck.
I moaned loudly, without restraint. This was what it was like to be free—to take what I wanted without second-guessing.
He pushed his hips up, his cock colliding with my clit, his piercing adding delicious pressure.
He did it again, and I guided him into me. He filled me, hitting every erotic spot within me in one motion, his piercing teasing me as he pulled all the way out and pushed back in, slowly.
“I want this every day,” Enzo said as he drove his hips into me. “Every morning, I want to wake up next to you and do this. It’s all I can think about.”
He picked up his pace, and I couldn’t speak. Only soft cries as I ached my back, moving with him.
Enzo slapped my butt so hard I knew there’d be a handprint and lifted me, his arms snaking under my knees to hold me up.
“I need,” I said, but couldn’t finish my sentence, as the pressure swirled deep in my core.
“I know what you need.” He pulled out of me completely, then thrust himself back inside, his Prince Albert flicking my clit, making me cry in pleasure.
I could barely hold on; my nails dug into his back and shoulders, trying to find purchase.
My body seized as pleasure pulsed through me, and I silently screamed my release.
Distantly, I felt my body move as Enzo chased me from behind.
His movements stuttered before he planted himself fully inside me. I felt his cock kick, his piercing grazed that hard-to-reach place, and I came again, hard and unexpectedly.
My back bowed, and I ground into him, my body taking control in wild, frantic movements. I wanted this every day for the rest of my life.
I waited as I came down from my high, wrapping my arms around Enzo and holding him.
We were both panting, clinging to each other, not wanting an inch of space between us.
I hadn’t come in here for this. For him. The moment I laid eyes on him, it was like everything else fell out of my head. It was surreal, not having the weight of being a mom and a business owner on my shoulders, afraid to take a day off, dragging me under the water, fighting for air.
With Enzo, I was just Serena Washington, the woman. A woman he saw and wanted above all else. Who didn’t see Harper as a burden, but as a blessing, giving her the love and attention that she deserved.
My heart was so full I was afraid it would burst.
“You want to tell me what’s wrong?” Enzo whispered in my ear. He kissed my neck, rubbing my back.
“I’m worried,” I whispered back, burying my face in his throat.
He pulled me to stand, and cum leaked down my thigh.
Enzo cursed and closed his eyes before opening them and following the droplets as they went down my leg.
“We didn’t have that conversation,” he said. It took me a few seconds to catch what he was referring to.
We’d just had mind-blowing sex, without protection. I waited for the panic that I could get pregnant to set in, but it never came.
I shrugged, smiling, and let him know. “We’ll be more careful next time. Though…” I bit my lip. “Maybe I should get an IUD just to be safe.”
Enzo bent down, leaning his forehead against mine. A finger dragged up my thigh, collecting the cum. He rubbed it into my skin, enraptured by the sight.
“Whatever you want to do,” he said. “I’ll take you to the doctor if you want that. Or if you don’t, I’ll put condoms everywhere so they’re within reach when we need them.”
He slid my dress on, one strap at a time, and stepped back.
“Keep me company while I take care of a few things in here,” he said. I nodded, and he picked me up, bridal style, and carried me to a lounge chair.
I turned, following him as he walked past the table we’d used, and bent down behind it.
When he stood, he had a bottle of wine and a clean wine glass in hand, pouring before I could ask.
I eyed the contents on the floor, noting nothing had broken in our haste to tear each other’s clothes off, but the gardening tools and dirt were scattered about.
“I’ll clean it up,” Enzo said as he rounded the table and handed me the wine. “For now, relax.”
And I did.
I wasn’t sure how long we spent in the greenhouse, but when Enzo decided he was finished, the sun was lowering, the heat of the day easing.
Enzo hoisted a bag of pistachios he’d harvested over his shoulder and held my hand as we made our way back to the house.
“I didn’t know you were into gardening,” I said offhandedly. There was so much more to him, and I felt like I was barely scratching the surface.
“My mother was. She had a pistachio farm in Bronte that her family tended. It was how they made their money. She demanded to keep working there after she married my father, and taught me how to tend to them.” Enzo opened the door to the house.
Cool air slammed into me, and goosebumps rose on my arms. I went to the kitchen sink and washed my glass.
“Really? I didn’t think women were allowed to do that kind of thing” I said, cautiously. Besides Martina, who I knew was the outlier, I’d worked with other women who were a part of the mafia world, tailoring their clothes. None of them worked, perfectly upholding the Mafia wife stereotype.
“My father would’ve done anything to keep her happy. He planted trees at his home and begged for her help to keep them alive when he was first courting her,” Enzo said. He placed the bag on the table and took out a bowl. I went and sat next to him.
“She wanted nothing to do with this world and told him she wouldn’t go on a date with him before he got a chance to ask.
But she pitied him when he told her the trees were dying and came to help.
She came every other day, showing him how to care for the trees to make them thrive, while he did everything he could to show her how great they could be together. ”
“Really? And she didn’t see right through him?” I asked.
“Oh, she did. But by then she’d gotten to know him and they’d fallen in love,” Enzo said, cleaning the dirt off a nut.
“Here,” he said. Holding my hands, he showed me how to clean the pistachios, removing the dirt and loosening the shells that were ready to be peeled.
It was easy, once I knew how to crack them. We worked, quiet contentment falling over us.
“Is that why you have the greenhouse?” I asked after a while.
“Yes, and no,” Enzo said, tossing a nut in his mouth.
“I have a lot of good memories of my mother and me in the groves, harvesting and laughing. She taught me how to have patience, that everything good in life comes when we nurture and grow it. But I also like it. It gives me time to think through issues and plan when I need to.”
“I like that,” I said. I swallowed, nervous to talk to someone about what was plaguing my mind.
“I’m worried about Charles. I know we talked about it before, but he is really vindictive.
Our custody agreement outlines everything we’re supposed to do.
I broke it when I didn’t notify him that I was dating you and that you’d be around Harper.
And there is a timing thing that we have to have been together for more than ninety days, which we haven’t. ”
“And you’re afraid he’s going to be a weasel and punish you because he’s a poor father and an even worse partner by using those to his advantage?” Enzo guessed. I nodded.
“Yes. And despite his trust fund being potentially revoked, he does have his own money. Not as much, but he’d spend every penny he had to hurt me the way he thinks I hurt him.”
“Do you want to know what I would do?” Enzo asked.
I thought about it. “Yes. I do.” I’d never been able to have someone to volley ideas or thoughts—not with my limited circle of friends and family.
“When I deal with men like this, I go to them, on their turf, and throw them off balance. I come prepared to fight,” he said. I was tempted to ask for an example, but knew it was better if I didn’t know any details.
“When do you think I should do this?”
“We,” Enzo gave me a long look that said I was insane to think I was going to do anything alone, “should plan. I’ll look into a few things, and we’ll get to work.”