Chapter 15
VALENTINA
Icheck on Michael and Susie while Luca waits for me in his study. We’re meant to have a serious conversation about what happened, and I dread it. I’d rather stay up here with my son, playing with blocks or colored circles or just plain old finger painting, rather than address the situation.
“My sweet boy,” I whisper in Michael’s ear, then plant a kiss on the top of his head. “Momma will be back soon; don’t worry.”
“Okay,” he replies with his cute smile, baby teeth gleaming white.
Susie nods politely and stays with my son as I mentally prepare for what comes next.
I go down the steps with heavy feet that grow heavier the closer I get to Luca’s study. Still reeling from the horrific sight of Eddie’s lifeless body, I shake the thoughts away, then let my hand rest on the doorknob for the longest moment before I get up the nerve to twist it.
“I know you’re out there,” Luca says, his voice reverberating. “Come in, Valentina.”
He sounds calm enough. Maybe the anger from earlier has subsided, and maybe we won’t have to argue about sacrificing what little freedom I have left.
Finally, I gather the courage to go in. I don’t look directly at Luca. I close the door, then slowly turn around to find him standing in front of his desk with his arms crossed. His jacket is thrown on a chair. His tie is off, and the first buttons of his shirt are undone.
“How are you feeling?” he asks in a serious, heavy tone.
“I’m better. What about Eddie?”
“Victor is taking care of it.”
I frown, confused. “What does that mean?”
“He’s talking to the cops and making sure the family name stays out of it. And then he’s making sure we get his body back, so we can give him the kind of proper funeral he deserves,” Luca replies. “Eddie didn’t have any next of kin.”
“We’re the only family he had,” I whisper.
“Whoever did this, they will pay, Valentina. Make no mistake about it.”
Nodding slowly, I take a few steps closer. “Do we even have suspects?”
“Aside from Mancuso?”
“What’s his endgame, though?” I ask. “That’s what I don’t understand. If he wants my son so badly, why focus on tormenting me? He could just look for ways to get closer to Michael.”
Luca’s eyes search my face, a twinkle of curiosity dancing across his handsome features.
“I completely agree, which is why it’s a mystery.
It also suggests that this goes deeper and to a much more personal, more hateful level.
It’s directed at you—and me.” He stands up straight and closes the distance between us.
“But this isn’t what I want to talk to you about. ”
“It isn’t?”
“No, we need to discuss your safety.”
I scowl. “You’re not keeping me locked up in here, Luca. I’m done with that.”
He grabs me by the neck, taking my breath away as he pulls me into a violent, ravenous kiss. His lips crush mine, his tongue eager to invade, to conquer, to melt my defenses until nothing is left. I moan harshly against his mouth, and he pulls back for a moment to peer deeply into my eyes.
“We also need to talk about your penchant for disobedience.”
I understand what’s happening now. Part of me loathes it, but the weaker part of me craves it. Submission will be my undoing, and Luca seems more than happy to push me into it.
“You can’t expect me to mindlessly obey you,” I whisper.
His grip tightens, igniting an all-consuming fire within my core, while his other hand works its way up my body, following the curve of my hip, the subtle dip of my waist, and then greedily cups my breast. I feel his touch through the layer of lace and cotton, his fingers digging, as he squeezes and torments me.
“You will give me what I want, because you want it, too.”
Damn it, he’s right.
“Oh, God,” I gasp when he yanks at my shirt and the buttons fly off.
He does the same to my bra, pulling it down until my breast spills over.
With his hand still around the back of my neck, he keeps me upright as he bends to wrap his lips around my nipple.
I whimper in his merciless hold as his tongue circles, his teeth nibbling until the most delicious sting spreads through my ribcage.
“Turn around,” he commands me.
I am eager to pay the price for my disobedience if this is the cost. With a shaky breath, I turn around, and he comes closer. His hand moves downward until it slips under my skirt and between my legs.
He finds me hot and wet and ready for him.
A low growl escapes his throat. “I knew it. You love to play with fire, Valentina,” he whispers in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.
“Are you going to burn me?” I whisper.
His cock jumps, wedged between my buttocks.
We still have our clothes mostly on, but that changes in a matter of seconds as Luca loses control and strips us both down with sudden, rushed movements.
Before I blink again, he brings my hands behind my back and uses his tie to bind them while I wait breathlessly.
The cool air and the arousal keep my nipples tight and firm.
Liquid desire trickles along my inner thighs.
And Luca, naked and hung like a king, moves around me, watching, admiring, deciding my fate, while I long to feel his lips on mine, to feel him splitting me in half over and over until I stop breathing.
“On your knees,” he says.
A devilish grin slits my face as I drop before him. His monstrous cock is at eye level now, and the hunger is impossible to deny. Without hesitation, I part my lips to receive him.
He slides down my throat until tears spring to my eyes.
“Fuck,” he hisses, holding my head in place. “What a good girl you become when I strip you down and have you on your knees.”
I can’t speak. I’m too busy delighting in the taste of him, sucking my husband’s cock until the vein that runs along his thick shaft presses against my tongue in rapid pulsations. The blood rushes to my head.
He caresses my cheek and runs his fingers through my hair. Then he grabs a handful, grunting as he pulls me back up.
“Enough,” Luca says. “Now…” He pauses to kiss me, then turns me around and bends me over. “Tell me, Valentina…”
“Oh, GOD!” I cry out when he spears me with his full length.
One hand is hooked through the tie around my wrists.
The other smacks my ass as he starts pounding into me with all his fury, all his desire, all his longing—the turbulence makes my breasts jiggle and my knees melt.
The sensation quickly becomes overwhelming, the pressure building up in my lower belly.
“Tell me, do you deserve this?” he asks, his voice raspy, his cock filling and stretching me mercilessly.
The rhythm accelerates.
He slaps my buttock again. It hurts so good that I clench tightly around him. It makes him go even harder, even faster, until I come gushing around his cock.
“Yes!” I scream in sheer ecstasy. “I deserve this, Luca…”
“You’ve been a little too naughty as of late.”
“I have, Oh, God, I have!”
Harder he goes, every thrust dismantling me down to my purest form. I remain soft and trembling in his grip, so slick and so welcoming that he loses his control.
“You’re mine,” he groans and stiffens for the longest, sweetest moment. “Mine, Valentina.”
“Yours,” I manage.
I feel him pulsating deep inside me, his seed heating me up. His climax dissolves into mine as he thrusts a final time, squeezing out every drop of our union, until there is absolutely nothing left of either of us.
“Mine,” Luca says.
He loosens the tie from around my wrists, then spins me into his arms. His naked body, hard and hot against mine. As crazy as it sounds, as irrational as it may seem, I will take this abandonment of myself a thousand times over.
“Mine to keep safe,” Luca reminds me, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.
“I am safe with you,” I agree.
Earlier, I survived a terrible ordeal. Now, I’m soft and dazed, wrapped in my husband’s arms, drowning in his deadly shadow while my core trembles from his delicious brand of punishment.
If this is going to be my hell, the price I have to pay for my past mistake of trusting Stefano Petrucci, then so be it.