24. Gio
Gio
The windshield wipers of the SUV drag a heavy, rhythmic squeak across the glass, clearing the Maine harbor sleet for a split second before the dark fog swallows the street again.
"You are violating a direct order from the New York syndicate, Gio," Dante drawls, his hands steady on the steering wheel as the engine idles. "Salvatore wanted you in Boston until next week's formal signing."
"I don't care what Salvatore wanted," I snap, my hand resting on the leather door handle.
My chest is a raw, tight block of ice. I haven't slept in ninety-six hours. Every time I close my eyes, I see her amber eyes looking at me with that gutting hatred before she walked out of the safehouse.
"Keep the perimeter tight. I am going up."
"He's got it bad, Dante," Marco murmurs from the passenger seat, not turning around, though I can see the slight shift of his broad shoulders in the green glow of the dashboard. "The don hasn't eaten a real meal since she left. He’s running on black coffee and sheer obsession."
"It is a security risk," Dante notes, his eyes scanning the rear-view mirror. "Matteo's remnants are still scouting the state line. If they spot your vehicle here—"
"They won't spot anything," I interrupt, my voice dropping to a low, warning rasp. "Marco, watch the south alley. Dante, if a single stranger enters the block, put them in the dirt. I will be back down before dawn."
"Six days," Dante sighs, shifting the vehicle into park. "You lasted six days, Don Giovanni."
"I couldn't do seven," I groan.
I push the heavy armored door open, the freezing coastal wind hitting my face like a fist as I step out onto the gravel.
The rusted metal of the fire escape is slick under my boots, the freezing rain of the Maine harbor biting through my shirt as I reach the third-floor landing, my fingers sliding along the window frame.
The lock is old, a cheap brass latch that I bypass in three seconds with the thin steel blade of my knife.
I slide the pane upward, the wooden frame letting out a soft, wet groan that is easily swallowed by the wind off the bay.
I step inside her bedroom, my boots silent on the hardwood.
The air is warm, smelling of dried lavender, clean sheets, and the faint, sweet scent of hazelnut coffee.
In the pale silver light of the window, Lina is sleeping, her dark hair sprawled across the pillows like a wild web.
Her shoulders are bare, her chest rising and falling in a deep, peaceful rhythm.
I stand at the foot of the bed, my chest heaving slowly under my wet coat.
I take off my coat, letting the heavy, wet wool drop to the floor. I walk to the edge of the mattress, my shadow falling over her face. She stirs, her eyelashes fluttering, and then her amber eyes snap open, wide and dilated in the dark.
She sits up fast, her hand flying to her chest, her breath catching. "Gio?"
"It's me, piccola," I whisper, my voice a quiet, gravelly vibration.
"You're not supposed to be here," she gasps, her hand clutching the edge of the blanket. "My father said we should wait. He said you were in Boston negotiating the security detail."
"I was," I step closer. "But I couldn't stay there."
"You climbed my window," she teases, a soft, breathless smile touching her lips despite her defensive posture. "Like a thief."
"I am a thief," I reply, sitting on the edge of the mattress. "And I came to take what is mine."
"I am not your asset anymore, Gio," she responds, her chin tilting up. "We are partners now. I set the rules."
"I don't want an asset, Lina," I say, my hand reaching out to touch her jaw.
"Gio, look at me.” she says, her amber eyes searching my face in the dark, her chest rising and falling fast against my shirt.
"I am looking, Lina," I reply, my voice rough and quiet.
"Why did you do it?" she asks, a single, hot tear spilling over her eyelashes. "When you called Salvatore at the safehouse... you knew dissolving the contract meant Matteo's shooters would hunt you down and Salvatore wouldn’t let you go either. You signed your own death warrant to let me walk."
"I did it because everything else stopped mattering," I whisper, my jaw clenching as the absolute, cold reality of my feelings strips away my last defense.
"I spent my entire life preparing to take my father's seat, playing every tactical move.
But I would rather be hunted for the rest of my days than have you look at me with that hatred again. "
"Gio..." she murmurs, her fingers trembling against my collarbone.
"I was a monster to you from day one, Lina," I mutter, my voice dropping. "I built a script. I lied over and over. But the man who held you in the storm, the man who took those bullets in London, that wasn't a game. I love you. More than my own life."
"I love you too, Giovanni," she whispers, her voice cracking as she pulls her wrists from my grip and cups my jaw.
Her palms are burning hot against my cold skin, her eyes bright with a fierce, unyielding certainty.
"Even when I wanted to hate you, even when I ran into the fog, I couldn't stop.
I tried to walk away, but my heart belonged next to yours. "
"No more lies, piccola," I declare, leaning down until my forehead rests against hers, my chest crushing hers.
"No more scripts. No more deceptions. From tonight on, we are partners.
If we are going to fight Salvatore and Matteo, I want you to know every scar, every secret, and every truth in my head. "
"Promise?" she asks, her fingers sliding into my wet hair, pulling my mouth closer to hers. "No more secrets. No matter how dark the war gets. We face it together. Entirely."
"Together," I repeat, my voice a quiet promise against her lips.
She reaches up, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of my neck, and pulls me down.
Our mouths collide with a sudden, violent intensity that shatters the last of my restraint.
This isn't slow or reverent, it is a raw, high-friction reclamation.
I take her deep, my tongue driving past her lips to taste her, my jaw clenching as her fingers claw into the muscles of my back, drawing blood where her nails sink in.
She lets out a broken, needy whimper against my mouth, her thighs instantly opening to drape over my hips as I drop down between her knees.
I reach down, my fingers hooking into the hem of her camisole, ripping it over her head and flinging it into the dark.
She is completely naked beneath me, her skin flushed a deep, breathless pink, her nipples dark and rigid in the firelight.
I don't let her breathe. I slide down her body, my mouth capturing her throat, biting gently at the sensitive column of her neck until she arches her back, her small frame convulsing with a sudden, frantic hunger.
"G-Gio... please," she gasps, her head shaking against the pillow. "I’ve missed you so much. I want you now."
"Look at me," I growl, my hands gripping her hips, pinning her to the sheets with an iron-hard pressure.
She opens her eyes, her pupils completely blown out, staring into mine with a fierce, unyielding certainty.
I slide my hand down between her thighs, finding the wet, slick heat of her core.
She is dripping, her body completely surrendered to the friction.
I drive two fingers deep inside her, the fit incredibly tight, suffocatingly hot.
Lina lets out a sharp, high-pitched scream, her hips rolling instinctively against my hand as I establish a hard, ruthless rhythm, my fingers bottoming out inside her wetness.
"Oh, god... Gio," she sobs, her hands flying to the headboard to hold herself steady as I pump my hand deeper, my thumb grinding hard against her clitoris.
She is shaking, her inner muscles clamping down on my fingers with a tight, pulsing desperation that nearly brings me to the edge before I even slide inside her.
I speed up, my knuckles rubbing against her damp skin, making her body rise and fall off the mattress with every hard thrust of my hand.
She is crying out, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps right against my ear.
Suddenly, she reaches down, her small hands closing over my wrists, pulling my fingers out of her wet heat.
I grunt, my jaw setting as she pushes my shoulders back against the mattress.
She scrambles over me, her wild hair falling across my face as she drops to her knees between my legs.
Her dark eyes hold mine for a single, breathless second before she leans down, her hot mouth wrapping completely around my rigid, throbbing length.
My eyes snap shut, a low, guttural growl tearing from my throat.
The heat of her mouth is absolute, a tight, suffocating friction that makes the veins in my neck stand out.
She takes me deep, her throat accommodating the thick ridge of my cock, her tongue swirling around the crown with a fierce, unpolished desperation.
She moves with a raw, stubborn intensity, her hands gripping my thighs, her lips dragging against my skin until my fingers sink into the mattress to keep from losing control.
"Lina... cazzo," I choke out, my chest heaving violently, my cock pulsing inside her mouth as the heat climbs to a dangerous, blinding peak.
I grab her shoulders, my fingers digging into her soft skin as I gently but firmly pull her up. I can't let her finish me like this. I need to be inside her. I need to feel her core clenching around me when I release.
I roll her onto her back in one fluid, aggressive motion, her legs flying wide over my shoulders. I line the crown of my head with her entrance, my breathing ragged, my face a cold mask of absolute possession.
"You are mine, Lina," I whisper, my voice rough.
"Show me," she breathes, her amber eyes locking onto mine.
I drive myself deep inside her in one heavy, bone-crushing thrust.
Lina lets out a loud, broken gasp into the quiet room, her fingers instant claws in the muscles of my arms as my chest smacks against hers.
I pull back, nearly sliding completely out of her wet heat, and then drive back in, hard, establishing a relentless, punishing pace that makes the old wooden bed frame groan violently against the brick wall.
Every slide of my skin against hers is a raw, blistering heat.
I take her hard, my boots digging into the mattress for leverage as I bury myself inside her over and over, my right hand gripping her jaw gently to keep her face turned up to mine.
She moves with me, her hips rising to meet every strike, her breaths coming in short, high-friction gasps right against my mouth.
"Gio...I- I'm going to... I can't hold it," she sobs, her thighs shaking against my neck as the tight coil of her climax begins to squeeze around me.
"Do it, piccola," I growl, driving into her with a sudden, violent speed. "Take all of it."
She screams my name, her body shuddering violently as the waves of her release crash over her, thick and unyielding.
The tight, pulsing spasms of her inner walls grip my cock with a suffocating pressure, pulling me over the edge.
I let out a low, guttural roar, my jaw clenching so hard my back teeth grate as my own release explodes hot and heavy to fill her completely.
I stay inside her, my chest rising and falling fast against her breasts, the sweat dripping from my forehead onto her collarbone.
The silence of the room returns, broken only by our heavy breathing and the crackle of the dying fire. I look down at her face. She looks completely spent, her eyelids heavy, but her lips are parted in a soft, dazed smile that hits my chest like a hollow-point bullet.
"You're a crazy, stubborn monster," she whispers after a long minute, her fingers running slowly through my hair.
"I told you I couldn't stay away," I groan, my voice rough against her skin.
"I'm glad you couldn't," she murmurs, her lips brushing my jaw.
I slowly slide out of her, the cold air hitting our wet skin, and pull her onto my chest. I wrap the heavy wool blanket around us both, holding her small, warm body tightly against me as the storm outside continues to rattle the windowpanes.
"Your stitches," she murmurs, her fingers gently tracing the white bandage on my shoulder. "Did you tear them?"
"I don't care," I reply.
"I do," she insists, her amber eyes looking up at me, clear and completely steady in the dark. "I need you whole, Giovanni. We have a wedding to plan."
"We do," I smile, my hand rising to trace the soft line of her jaw. "And a war to finish."
"We'll finish it together," she responds.
"Together," I repeat.
I pull the blanket tighter around her shoulders, listening as her breathing slowly deepens into a peaceful sleep.