35. Matilde
Matilde
Aquick text many hours ago saying business would run late is all I got, but something is happening, and I’m scared.
It’s past two in the morning. I’ve just rolled over again when I hear noises downstairs.
He’s home. I leap out of bed, pretty sure I’m going to strangle him for causing me this much worry.
“These men can take over for you. Get some rest. Enjoy your holiday but then we have work to do,” I hear my husband tell the bodyguards. There are three other Trio men in the darkened foyer, faces I'm becoming familiar with.
Hovering at the head of the staircase, my entire body responds when Nico’s eyes sweep over me. “That is all,” he says gruffly, taking the stairs two at a time.
My heart skips a beat, but trepidation mixes with my excitement because I sense something feral simmering under the cool mask. I won’t suggest going to see the sleeping babies until I get a better idea of what’s going on with him.
He stops one step below, but he’s still taller than me. He last left the house impeccably dressed in a suit as always. Now, his dark hair is disheveled and his white dress shirt…
“Buon Natale. Mi dispiace, tesoro. Perdonami, per favore,” he murmurs.
“Merry Christmas? You are sorry? Please forgive you? Nico, your ear!” The collar of his shirt is soaked with blood, and I can see more dripping down from his ear. A little piece of his earlobe is missing.
He swipes at it, unconcerned. "Even uglier now, eh?"
I open my mouth to say more, but he tugs me toward him for a rough kiss. Hot. Dominant. Mind blowing. My bones melt under his lips, and smoky liquor flavors his tongue.
But there’s a coppery tang underneath as he plunders my mouth like hidden treasure. My pulse begins to pound, centering between my legs. He’s too much to resist.
When I start to lose my balance though, I shriek in Italian, “The stairs! Do you want a broken neck for Christmas, too?!”
Without a word, he throws me over his shoulder, nearly giving me a heart attack before he carries me a dozen feet down the hallway to safer terrain.
That's when I detect an unfamiliar perfume on his clothes.
“Nico?” I whisper when he sets me on my feet again, all my passion extinguished in a millisecond.
I don’t have to say more. His head tilts to the side, reading the fear and suspicion in my eyes as easily as others might read a book.
“It’s not what you might think.” He takes my hand, tenderly kissing the inside of my wrist. “I crashed a party tonight; the so-called private runway showcase Giacomo invited your sister to. The other teenage girls who went to Spice were about to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and it wasn’t modeling contracts they’d be getting. We disrupted their plans.”
My mouth falls open in horror, undercut with traumatic memories of my abduction.
“Some of those girls are a little too fond of their perfume bottles, but they needed to get back where they belonged once the men were subdued. I had to ensure that was properly handled. That's all."
Swallowing hard, I nod, mentally kicking myself for doubting his faithfulness. “You saved them?”
“I’m not very good at saving people, but I tried. I’ve been hunting for the trafficking ring that took you over the summer ever since you told me what happened. I finally found Violet earlier today, the lead I’d been hoping for.”
“You looked for her? For the traffickers? But… you have a war with Alessio. Your father is dying. You are Capo. I thought… I was not sure you cared about that.” He looks at me like I’m crazy. “You did not mention it again after I told you that night.”
“Because I could tell how much it upset you to share the experience, Matilde. Not because I didn’t care that it happened.”
“Oh.”
“After Maddalena told me about Giacomo’s invitation, I wondered if there might be a connection. Today, I confirmed it.” Seeing my growing dismay, he frames my face in his hands. "Matilde, speak to me. Tell me if you want to hear more or not.”
Forcing a steadying breath, I meet his intense gaze and give him a nod to continue.
“Tonight was the start. I’m going to kill every last one of them.
For you.” His stormy eyes convince me of it.
“But I’ve uncovered more danger than expected in my city.
The Barzetti Family has been plotting against us for months now, traitors to the bone.
They've been working with the Bratva, agreeing to a partnership if it meant they could rule the Chicago Trio.”
I grasp his shirt, desperate at the thought of another mob war in our midst. “They will try to kill you and Dante.”
“We struck first. Giacomo is dead and soon the rest will be, but the thought of you or the children being hurt… I could not bear that, Matilde.” Emotions swirl in his eyes, emotions he prefers keeping concealed. “I’ve failed before. If I fail again-”
“Are we in immediate danger?”
He shakes his head. “I’m increasing the guards here and at my parents’ home. Despite his rasher impulses, Dante knows how to be vigilant. We’ve captured Antonio, but I must ensure we take down everyone who was working with them.”
He killed Giacomo. He’ll probably torture his father before killing him, too. On top of wiping out the trafficking ring. For you, he said. Not a typical Christmas present but one the daughter of a Cosa Nostra soldier and wife of a Capo is capable of appreciating.
I lightly touch the wound on his neck and his bleeding ear again. A bullet graze. An inch difference and he might not be standing here with me. He could’ve died tonight, but he’s very much alive. And so am I.
“I know you will keep us safe. I need you to be safe, too, Nico."
I rise to my tiptoes and press my lips to his wound, not caring that my skin is coated with his blood when I sink back down again. Hunger flickers in his eyes as he stares back at me, slowly brushing his thumb over my stained lips. Lust and need, we both feel it.
“Open your mouth,” he rasps. I do, drawing his thumb into my mouth and sucking lightly. I taste his coppery blood on my tongue, never breaking eye contact. “I've never needed anything the way I need you, tesoro.”
With a little popping sound, I release his thumb and drag his hand down to my breast. “If you need me, take me. You protect us. I take care of you. That’s our deal, right?”
For a second, his eyebrows draw together before his expression clears. His hand lightly squeezes me through the t-shirt I wore to bed, his t-shirt, and he teases my nipple into a stiff peak. “I will protect you, but we take care of each other. Take my shirt off.”
I know he means the one I’m wearing, and I quickly obey with his help, me tugging at the hem and him sliding my panties down until they’re twisted around my ankles. I feel short of breath at the realization I’m naked in the hallway. “The cameras?”
“I’m the only one who’ll see this and live.” He's deadly serious.
We’ve never had sex standing up, and I wonder if this will be the first time he’ll face me during it with the lights on. I’m even more wound up by the thought. I want to gaze into his eyes as he takes me.
But after I fumble with his belt and zipper to free his cock, he grips my hip, turning me toward the wall. “Nico.”
“Be still, wife. Let me please you.”
Any argument dies in my throat when he peppers the nape of my neck and spine with feather-soft kisses. Tension and desire coil through me. I want this man’s touch like nothing else on earth… even if his refusal to look at me during sex chips away at the girlish hope I nourish deep inside me.
He’s still dressed, and I look down to see his shoes on either side of my bare feet.
He nudges my foot. “Lift one leg and then the other.” When I do, he frees me of my panties.
“Belissima. Stay like this.” His strong hands take mine, placing them on the wall.
His body cages me, and desire floods my senses at the thought of being taken this way, a fluttering excitement filling my belly and lower.
The tip of his cock presses against my ass cheeks as his mouth settles at my pulse point. He’ll mark me there. He’ll fuck me. He’ll make me forget my name. He just doesn’t want to look me in the eye when he does.
“Have you been taking your pills?” I nod, incapable of speech. “That’s very good, la mia dolce moglie. I can’t wait to see my cum dripping from your pussy.”
I shudder at his praise and filthy mouth as he guides his cock, pushing his way inside me.
I try to muffle my moans, but it’s pointless. “The guards will hear.”
“They may overhear their Capo pleasing his wife inside his house, but I don’t give a fuck what they think, and neither should you.”
He punctuates his words with a hard thrust, slamming fully into me and stealing my breath away.
Nico’s hand snakes around my hip until he finds my clit.
My eyes roll back as he massages it while fucking me hard and fast. There’s dark pleasure in the pain, a feeling I’ve come to savor.
I love when he claims me, makes me his. But I would like to be held.
When I cry out at last, he follows me into the sweet abyss, both of us struggling to catch our breath.
Standing up during sex means gravity takes over quickly. Flustered, I try clenching my thighs together, worrying I’ll drip on the carpet. I still get embarrassed when I know Ersilia has changed our sheets after we’ve had sex. I wouldn’t want her to know about this.
“I could help you out,” Nico husks, his voice drenched with devilish amusement. He turns me to face him again, slowly sinking to his knees and staring at my pussy like a man dying of thirst.
“But you…”
“Yes. I claimed you one way, and I want to claim you in another. Let me lick you clean, tesoro.”
My pulse gallops, seeing this powerful man kneeling for me, understanding what he means.
When I nod, he rocks forward, desperately kissing and licking my pussy, sending shudders of wicked delight through my body.
One swipe of my clit with his hot tongue and I have to clench my fists to keep from coming again.