Chapter Nine Drea
Oh fuck.
I was so close to coming despite my mystery man even putting his hands on me. The feel of his rock-hard cock slamming against my ass while his fingers pinched and twirled my nipple had my thong soaked.
And then his deep voice rumbled through my ear to strike deep within my psyche.
I knew that voice.
Oh fuck.
I’d only heard it a few times, but I’d know it anywhere because of who it belonged to.
Leandro.
Whirling around, I stared into his face. But it wasn’t exactly the man I remembered. The hair was longer–as long as Rafe’s, and there was the jet-black beard that scratched against my neck.
But it was Leo.
With a cocky smirk, he tilted his head at me. “I know your panties are soaked, Lady in Red, so don’t try saying you don’t want me as much as I want you.”
Oh fuckohfuckohfuckohfuck
My future brother-in-law had almost made me come.
His hand had been on my breast.
His hard cock had pounded against my ass cheeks.
His teeth had left their mark on my neck.
A horrified cry escaped my lips as I whipped off my mask. As soon as he locked eyes with me, the smirk instantly evaporated from his lips.
“Oh fuck,” Leo murmured, as his tan face paled.
I don’t know how long we just stood there staring at each other. Both of us tortured by what had just happened. Then Leo grabbed my hand and started dragging me off the dance floor. Since I was too shocked to argue, I allowed him to. Once we got inside an office, he slammed the door closed.
And locked it.
This time when he stared at me, I felt raw and exposed. I wrapped my arms around myself as best I could to cover up. After an agonizingly awkward silence, I half-whispered, “Say something.”
“What the fuck are you doing here, Drea?”
While I might’ve expected the question, I sure as hell didn’t expect the condescending way he said it. Motioning to my outfit, I snapped, “Isn’t it obvious?”
Leo rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Let me guess. You want to know what I’m doing in New York.”
“Yeah, that.”
“Not that it’s really any of your business, but I’m here for my fitting.”
He slanted his dark brows at me. “Your what?”
“My wedding dress fitting.”
Leo grimaced as he dragged a hand through his hair. “And then what? You decided to check up on your fiancé while in town?”
“Not exactly.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t tell me you just happened to wander in here.”
“Of course not. It was all my cousin, Bianca’s, idea.”
“How convenient.”
“Look, I wanted to go clubbing, but I sure as hell didn’t want to come here.”
“Where is Bianca?”
With a shrug of my shoulder, I replied, “Probably hooking up with some guy.”
“Like you were about to,” he muttered under his breath.
My eyes bulged at his accusatory tone. “Don’t you dare judge me!”
“You’re an engaged woman,” he countered.
“Oh, I’m fully aware of what I am. Just as much as I’m aware of how my fiancé has been spending his time.” Cocking my head at him, I countered, “Or maybe I should say with who.”
Leo’s face paled slightly. “You saw them?”
I nodded. “It was nice to finally put a face with a name.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since your Father’s funeral, when everyone was whispering about them.”
Leo grimaced as he dragged his hand through his hair. “Jesus.”
“So yeah, I’m an engaged woman who is about to marry a man who will never, ever look at me the way he does her.”
It was one thing to internalize the truth about Rafe and me.
Saying those words out loud twisted my stomach.
As bile shot up my throat, I clapped my hand over my mouth while throwing a panicked glance around the room.
To my surprise, Leo grabbed my other hand and pulled me across the office.
He threw open the door to the bathroom. I barely reached the toilet before retching violently.
When I finished, I swiped my hand across my mouth. “Maybe those four shots of vodka were a bad idea,” I mused sheepishly.
Leo didn’t respond. Instead, he took a washcloth out of a cabinet and turned on the cold water. After wringing it out, he squatted down beside me.
To my utter shock, he began to gently swipe the soft terry cloth over my face. After a few moments of silence, Leo said, “I didn’t think you gave a shit about Rafe.”
“I don’t.”
He cocked his brows at me. “No offense, but your reaction says otherwise.”
I shook my head. “I’m happy for Rafe.” At Leo’s dubious expression, I held up my hands. “I swear.”
“Then what’s with the tears and puke?”
A laugh burst from my lips. “Regardless of what I don’t feel for Rafe, it’s still hard seeing someone so happy and in love, especially when you know you’ll always be denied love because of an arranged marriage.”
Leo exhaled a ragged breath. “The truth is Rafe and Maeve are fucked. They started something when they knew there was an expiration date.”
“Why can’t he be with her after he marries me?”
My remark caused Leo’s jaw to unhinge. “Damn, you really are a dream bride, aren’t you?”
“Rafe and I came to an understanding the day we signed our marriage contract.”
“He told me about that, but I thought he was just blowing smoke up my ass to justify fucking around on you with Maeve.”
My heartbeat sped up at Leo’s declaration. “You cared he was cheating on me?”
For a moment, Leo froze like a deer in the headlights. After recovering, he said, “Well, uh, yeah I did.”
“That’s really decent of you. I know Aurelio wouldn’t give two fucks if Antonio was cheating on his future bride.”
“That’s because I’m a man of morality,” Leo responded with a grin.
“Is that right?”
“Oh yeah. I’m known for my looks and my heart.”
“I’m sure the men you kill don’t echo that sentiment.”
Leo shrugged as he rose off his haunches to toss the washcloth in the sink. “It is what it is.”
“Speaking of morality, I don’t think you ever answered why Rafe and Maeve can’t be together after my wedding.”
“For starters, she’s in school in Dublin. Secondly, they could make a long distance thing work if she was just some stray piece of ass. But like you, Maeve is a clan princess. There’s no way in hell her brothers would allow her to be treated like a mistress.”
“Man, that’s so sad.”
Leo grinned at me. “Once again, dream of a future bride.”
“It’s not just that." I swallowed hard. “I know what it’s like to love someone you can’t be with.”
“Sounds juicy,” Leo replied with a wink.
An unexpected laugh bubbled from my lips. “Considering how forbidden it was, it was a little juicy.”
“Forbidden, huh? Was he someone outside of the famiglia?”
“Actually, he was one of our soldiers.”
With a playful wince, Leo replied, “I bet that went over with Edoardo like a lead balloon.”
As I thought of Marco’s handsome face marred by that gunshot, I whispered, “You could say that.”
Leo’s expression grew serious. “What happened?”
“My father shot him in the back of the head right in front of me.”
Horror flashed in Leo’s dark eyes. “Jesus, Drea.”
With my throat closing up, I murmured, “It’s okay. I mean, it was a year ago.”
“Call me crazy, but I don’t think you get over something fucked up like that.”
I stared at him in surprise. “No. Probably not.”
Leaning forward, he swiped the tear from my cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.” Cocking my head at him, I asked, “What about you?”
“You mean, have I ever been in love?”
Nodding, I replied, “Yeah.”
With a smirk, Leo pointed at his face. “How could someone with a mug this beautiful not have been in love many, many times?”
“I said love, not lust.”
“And I meant love,” he challenged.
“Whatever,” I muttered.
“I’m serious.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I asked, “Okay Mr. Serious, what was her name?”
“You forget I said I’d been in love many, many times.”
“Then give me names.”
Leo crossed his arm. “Serefina Tortorigi–we were middle school sweethearts.”
“That’s one.”
“Angelina Aiello–she broke my heart in college when she cheated on me with a billionaire.”
“Like you don’t have money.”
Leo snorted. “Not like his.”
“And the others?”
“The biggest heartbreak was Sadie Kimball.”
“An outsider?”
Leo nodded. “And the daughter of a minister.”
I blinked at him in disbelief. “You were setting yourself up for failure, huh?”
“Tell me about it. It lasted six months until she found out who I really was.”
“Hadn’t she done a Google search before?”
A sheepish look came over his face. “I gave her an alias.”
“Man, you were in deep.”
He shrugged. “Isn’t that what love does to you?”
As I thought about Marco, I found myself nodding. “It makes you reckless and unhinged.”
“It sure as hell does,” Leo said, his voice incredibly deep.
Our eyes locked, and a shudder ran through me at the intensity in his. A moment passed, and then Leo shook his head. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here before Rafe sees you and loses his shit.”
“How mad would he be if he found out?”
“About which part? You being in his club, or the two of us practically fucking on the dance floor.”
Mortification flooded me at the reference to what had happened between us, sending my hands over my face. “You really went there, didn’t you?”
“How long did you think we could ignore the elephant in the room?”
“Forever.”
“Not possible.”
Peeking out from my hands, I asked, “Can’t we just pretend it didn’t happen?”
“But it did.”
My hands dropped to my lap. “Trust me, I’m aware.”
“Look, when it comes down to it, neither one of us has anything to be ashamed of.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“It’s not like I pursued you, Drea. There’s no way in hell I would’ve approached you if I’d known your identity.”
Maybe he had a point. “And I sure as hell wouldn’t have let you touch me had I known it was you.”
“We’ll just explain it was a case of mistaken identity.”
At the thought of Rafe knowing what I’d done with his brother, I shuddered. “No! He can’t know.”
“I don’t keep things from my brother,” Leo protested.
“This isn’t the same as underworld dealings,” I argued.
“I won’t break Rafe’s trust by lying.”
Of course, I would end up with a slightly moral mafia man. Holding up my hands, I countered, “Although it’s evident he doesn’t care about me, I still think he’s going to care a hell of a lot about what happened because it’s you.”
Even though there was a lot I still didn’t know about Rafe, it was evident how he felt about his brothers. At his father’s funeral, they’d been a unified front.
At Leo’s continued hesitance, I said, “Don’t you get it? I couldn’t live with myself if I drove a wedge between the two of you.” Staring miserably down at my hands, I choked out, “I can’t give him another reason to hate me.”
“Rafe doesn’t hate you,” Leo argued.
“I’m keeping him from the woman he loves.”
“That’s not your fault. It’s the fucking archaic mafia rules.”
Deep down, I knew he was right. If Rafe and I were from different worlds, he could be with Maeve, and I could’ve been with Marco.
But we weren’t.
“Please, Leo. Promise me you won’t tell Rafe.”
As he clenched and unclenched his jaw, I sighed. “I know I’m asking a lot of you. Especially considering we barely know each other.”
With a sardonic smile, he replied, “We know each other better than most future in-laws.”
Heat rose in my cheeks at his reference to what had happened on the dance floor. “Leo, please.”
“Sorry. Humor has always been my defense mechanism.”
“Sarcasm is mine,” I replied with a smile.
A moment passed, and then Leo nodded. “Fine. I won’t say anything.”
With a relieved breath, I replied, “Thank you.”
“But only on one condition.”
The seriousness of his tone made me swallow hard. “Um, okay.”
“This stays only between us. I don’t want it somehow getting back to Rafe through the rumor mill.”
“That won’t be hard to do at all.” Wrinkling my nose, I said, “I would die if anyone found out I had…sorta made out with my future brother-in-law.”
Sweeping his hand to his chest dramatically, Leo mused, “Your disgust wounds me.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not about you. It’s about who you are.”
He sighed. “I’ll try telling myself that.”
“You’re a real pain in the ass.”
Leo laughed. “I’ve heard that one before.” He then extended his hand. When I eyed it somewhat questioningly, he said, “This is a totally platonic offering merely to help you up off the floor and escort you outside.”
Without hesitating, I slid my hand into his.