CHAPTER 14
Santino
Roxanne didn’t forgive me overnight. She didn’t suddenly soften or pretend the last two years of silence between us hadn’t happened. Not in a way anyone else would notice. Just enough that the air between us felt different.
Because the scales shifted after that night—after I dropped to my knees, and crawled to her like a man who’d lost every scrap of pride he owned.
She didn’t treat me like another piece of furniture in the house anymore. She started speaking to me in actual sentences instead of clipped monosyllables. Sometimes she even laughed at what I said—quick, surprised little laughs that seemed to escape before she could stop them.
It wasn’t forgiveness yet. But it wasn’t the cold wall she’d built around herself either. The distance between us had changed shape. Not gone. Just… different.
That alone felt like progress.
Every morning I made breakfast anyway. Eggs, toast, whatever was in the fridge. And chai the way she liked it—strong, too much ginger, just enough sugar to take the bite out of it.
The first day she looked suspicious. The second day she took the mug without a word. By the third day she muttered “thanks” like it had slipped out by accident.
Progress. Small and fragile, but real.
I learned the way she liked her chai years ago. Back when knowing small things about her was the closest I was allowed to get.
Now she sat across the table from me some mornings in those tiny sleep shorts and oversized t-shirt, hair messy, still half-asleep. And I had to focus on the stove, because restraint was the only thing stopping me from dragging her into my lap and ruining both our lives before breakfast.
So yeah. Making chai was safer.
Because once I started touching her, I wasn’t sure I’d stop.And honestly? I wasn’t in a hurry to test that theory.
Watching her make my life difficult now felt almost polite in comparison. Like being invited to tea where the host occasionally threw knives instead of biscuits.
I’d spent these years living in a kind of hell most people wouldn’t survive. Pretending the hunger wasn’t there. Pretending she was untouchable because she belonged to someone else.
Now she was here.
Close enough to smell. Close enough to watch. Close enough that my body reacted before my brain had time to remind me she was still off limits.
Across the manor site, she moved through the chaos like she owned it.
Workers calling out measurements, trucks reversing, tools clanging—none of it rattled her.
She stood in the middle of it all in black leggings and a long cardigan that brushed just below her ass.
Sleeves pushed up. Hair tied into a careless knot that was already falling apart in the wind.
The cold didn’t seem to bother her. Nothing here did. On site she was always steady. Always in control, like the ground belonged to her. Like this was the one place in the world where life did exactly what she told it to. Maybe because the rest of it hadn’t.
My eyes followed her as she leaned over the drawings with one of the contractors. The leggings stretched tight over her ass and the monster immediately supplied the same thought it had every day this week.
My hand imprinting on her ass. Hard enough to make her arch. Hard enough to remind me why staying away from her was the only smart thing I’d ever done.
I shifted where I leaned against the car and tugged my jacket forward. The last thing I needed right now was half the construction crew noticing exactly what Roxanne Talati did to me.
Her voice carried faintly across the halls, calm and sure. And all I could think about—like a fucking idiot—was the way she’d looked that night in the cottage.
Flushed. Breath uneven.
Watching me crawl toward her like a starving animal.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I’d jerked myself raw that night, three goddamn times, hand wrapped around my cock, jerking it until limp and still I woke up hard the next morning like a teenager who’d just discovered porn.
Pathetic.
One thing I knew for sure—if she ever put me on my knees again, I wasn’t stopping there. I’d devour every inch of her.
Seeing her like that had been enough to fuel a week’s worth of bad decisions and late-night cold showers. And I still wasn’t over it. I told myself that was normal. Anyone with a pulse would have replayed that night on a loop in their head.
Still didn’t mean it was safe.
Roxanne still kept her space. Treated me like something dangerous she wasn’t sure she should trust.
But she let me follow her to the site now. Openly. Just not in the car with her. Not yet. Progress. A dangerous kind.
Because making me kneel had cracked a floodgate open. Years of discipline didn’t disappear overnight, but the leash felt thinner. And every day I spent near her made it harder to pretend the hunger wasn’t there.
Wanting her was one problem. Protecting her was another.The trouble was I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began anymore.
I’d spent years convincing myself she was off limits.
Marcello’s woman. Marcello’s life. The mother of his child.
And still…
My mind kept circling back to the same memory.
I should’ve known I was in trouble the day she ran across the courtyard in Alibaug and threw her arms around me like I was the one she’d been waiting to see. I remember freezing.
Because the moment she saw me, she let go of Marcello’s hand and ran straight into my arms. And that should have been the moment I walked away. But she’d grabbed me like I was someone familiar. Someone safe.
That was the moment I stopped pretending she was just Marcello’s woman. The moment an obsession started rooting itself inside my ribs. That was the moment I realised wanting her was already too late.
I rubbed a hand down my face and exhaled slowly.Yeah. I’d been fucked for a long time.
Roxanne straightened from the drawings and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, saying something to Callum that made him laugh. The sound carried across the yard. Watching her like this felt dangerously close to peace.
I leaned against her car and found myself watching her mouth when she laughed. Bad idea. I forced myself to look away.
The cold wind cut through the site, carrying dust and the smell of wet concrete. She seemed immune to it—at least while working. Always had been.
Construction noise faded a little as the afternoon stretched on. Workers started packing tools, engines shutting down one by one. That was when Callum wandered over.
“Hey mate,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “Mind scooting over? Need to borrow Roxanne’s car today. Mine’s still in the shop.”
I glanced toward her automatically.
She stood near the scaffolding talking to one of the electricians, sleeves rolled up, completely absorbed in whatever problem they were trying to solve.
She smiled. Didn’t matter that it wasn’t for me, but my chest still tightened like an idiot.
I watched him drive away in her car. Which meant only one thing. Roxanne Talati was about to need a ride. And boy, it was my lucky fucking day. I should probably thank whichever god was in charge of stupid luck. Not that I was the religious type.
Roxanne stepped out into the driveway a few minutes later, purse slung across her body. She stopped when she saw me leaning against the bike.
“Wipe that grin off your face,” she said immediately.
I held up the spare helmet, grinning wider.
“What?” I said. “A man can’t enjoy a rare victory?”
She sighed like she already knew this conversation was coming. Her eyes narrowed.
“I’ve waited three years for this,” I added.
That did it.
“You’ve waited?” she shot back. “You’re the one who ran.”
“Strategic retreat,” I said calmly.
“You disappeared.”
“Temporary absence.”
She folded her arms. “You bolted.”
I shrugged. “And yet here I am.”
She muttered under her breath.
“Get on with it, Rossi.”
I stepped closer before she could grab the helmet from me and settled it over her head. Her hair brushed my fingers as I adjusted the strap beneath her chin.
My thumb brushed her jaw and for a second I thought about not moving it at all. Her breath caught. Just a fraction. But I felt it.Her fingers tightened on the strap of her bag before she quickly pulled back.
“I think it’s secure.”
“Pity,” I muttered.
I tapped the side of the helmet.
“They’re connected with Bluetooth. So try not to scream in my ear.”
“Relax,” she replied. “This isn’t my first ride.”
I smirked. “First one with me though.”
“And?” she rolled her eyes.
“That makes it different.”
She moved toward the bike; that’s when I heard it. An engine rolling slowly onto the road outside the gates. Too slow to be normal traffic.
The road outside the gates was usually busy at this hour. Delivery vans. Workers leaving. Someone always passing through.
A black SUV turned through the entrance and crawled toward us before stopping a few yards away. Roxanne stilled beside the bike. Something about the quiet felt off. The back of my neck prickled.
Three men stepped out wearing all-black suits. The bigger one cracked his neck and smiled when he saw me.
“Finally caught up to you.”
Great. Just what my evening needed.
“Boss sent us for payback,” the other one said.
I shrugged.
“I won fair and square. Not my fault your boss doesn’t know how to bet on the right man.”
The bigger man stepped forward. Up close, I recognised him immediately—Big Bob’s brother. I’d seen him at the ring. Same thick neck. Same ugly temper.
“You remember my brother?” His mouth twisted.
I scrunched my nose. “Hard to forget. He screamed a lot.”
His smile vanished. “You bastard.”
His friend stopped him. Then his eyes slid toward Roxanne.
“Well,” he said slowly, “until we get the money… we’ll just take this one as compensation.”
My entire body went cold.
Then he lunged. My fist cracked against his jaw hard enough to spin him sideways into the gravel. The second guy came fast. Sloppy. Too angry to think. Too stupid to be afraid.I caught him by the throat before he could swing again.
One sharp twist. A wet crack split through the air. His body dropped instantly. Dead weight.
Roxanne sucked in a breath behind me.
The third guy froze. Smart. Fear finally caught up to him.
“If you even step toward her,” I warned, “I’ll rip your arm out of the socket and beat you with it.”
I grabbed Roxanne’s wrist. “Hop on.”
She didn’t argue. Didn’t even hesitate. Just swung onto the bike behind me.
I shoved my helmet on and kicked the engine to life. The bike roared beneath us. Gravel exploded behind the tyres as I twisted the throttle, spraying both men in a cloud of dust and stone. Roxanne’s arms locked around my waist.
“Did you just—” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied into the comms unapologetically. “No one touches you.”
A shiver went through her body.
The engine behind us growled. I didn’t even need to look back. Because a second later—
The SUV roared to life.