Chapter 24
L EILANI
My back hits the door, and his hands wrap around my neck while his mouth crashes onto mine.
I can’t stop him. I don’t want to stop him. I don’t want to waste another moment.
I just need him inside me.
With one hand, he rips off my lace panties and slides my thigh to his hip. With the other, he unzips his fly, pulls his hard cock out, and thrusts it into me.
A scream peels off my lips as he gives it to me hard.
It feels as if I were disconnected from him for a moment, and now he connects me to his source of power again.
I gently bite his lip.
I suck on his tongue.
I moan against his mouth and tell him that I love him.
He grips the back of my hair, tilts my head back, and kisses my neck, holding my thigh up and entering me relentlessly.
He’s mad, and I need his pummeling into me now more than I need air.
At some point, the pleasure spirals up, and I stiffen against him as it soars through me and tips him over the edge.
He comes grunting, filling me up with his release. It drips to the floor, staining the bottom of my dress.
Somehow, my dress is still intact, the silent witness to the biggest lie of the evening.
Me being a virgin?
He’s nuts.
I’d laugh if I weren’t still in the throes of pleasure.
Moaning quietly, I sag against the door, a smile on my lips.
“This was so good,” I say, catching my breath before he pins his stare on me and gives me a beautiful smile.
A moment later, his lips meet mine in a tender kiss.
“You were great tonight. Keep it that way, and we’ll soon be free,” he murmurs before we kiss again, still not ready to go to the bedroom and fuck in bed as we should.
LEILANI
Two weeks later
I wish we could postpone the wedding so we could spend more time here.
It turned out to be our best vacation.
It was never meant to be a vacation, but these past two weeks have surely felt like one.
I talked to Rory every day.
We met Nona in town a couple of times.
She was excited to see me, and even more excited to see Cosimo.
It's obvious that they’ve fallen in love with each other.
Callum teases Cosimo about it, and Nona never negates that she has feelings for his right-hand man.
I never forgot what I’d promised her. If things go all right, she’ll have her freedom at the end of all this.
At one point, Callum and I snuck out of the compound at night and drove to a deserted, rugged beach where tourists never venture.
We made love on the sand, swam in the sea, and looked up at the stars as if the world belonged to us.
He told me that he loved me and promised me that, at some point, our life together would be more than that.
To me, it was enough as it was already more than I’d ever imagined.
He shows me that he loves every day.
He keeps an eye on me at all times and makes sure I’m happy and safe. What else could I ask of him?
Unfortunately, this time has come to an end.
We’re flying to Rome this afternoon––he meets some important people––and then we make a stop in Paris to pick up my wedding dress and have a final fitting, and then we head to New York.
It’s bittersweet.
I look forward to returning to New York, seeing Rory again, and going to Long Island.
I won’t be spending time in my childhood home.
He’s already rented a house for us, and we’ll live there surrounded by his people.
The most important part of this journey is upon us.
It’s the most significant part of his plan.
So things begin to slowly wrap up, and I know I can’t stop time, as much as I can’t stop myself from already longing for moments like the ones we’ve lived here in Sicily.
But life goes on, doesn’t it?
LEILANI
Rome
We sit in a hotel this time.
Callum assured me it’s safe to stay here. He knows the owner, and the entire floor is occupied by his men.
Tonight is the inauguration of a club, and the perfect opportunity to sneak into one of its secret rooms and have a meeting away from the prying eyes of anyone who could work with his enemies.
I’ve been blessed not to hear from my grandparents, and now that I think about it, knowing them, they must be relieved in a way that they don’t have to deal with my antics anymore.
I don’t know how much they trust Callum or if they do––frankly they don’t have a choice––but they may see a benefit in not having to deal with me.
For this event, I wear a sleeveless, beaded, fringe dress that hits above the knee.
The beads make a soft, sweet sound like chimes in the wind every time I move.
We’re not holding hands or anything, but his hand often touches my shoulder as he guides me through the crowd.
Lights swivel over our heads, and the music is loud, while sweaty bodies move in sync after the crazy beat.
We take the stairs up and enter a garden on a rooftop with tables, benches, dim lights, torches, and a quiet bar.
The area is cordoned off, yet we’re expected and invited in.
A bouncer leads us to a private table in the back.
Soon after, a few men show up. I’ve never seen them before.
They greet Callum, who seems to know everybody joining us right now, and before long, two other men leisurely walk to our table.
Callum rises from his seat for them. They greet each other cordially, hugging and patting one another on the back.
Callum introduces them to me.
The first man stretches his hand out.
“Tullio de Rossi.”
My hand meets his.
He’s broad, well-built, a tattooed sword peeking from his hairline.
He squeezes my hand gently.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, his eyes glinting with curiosity.
His lips are naturally curved into a tease, his raven hair only highlighting his chiseled face even more.
He has the type of face that could shift from expressing benevolence to announcing a death sentence at a drop of a hat.
The second man steps forward after exchanging greetings with Callum.
If Tullio de Rossi looks like a hurricane barely contained, the next man walks around shrouded in a cloud of mystery.
His blue eyes cut through me like ice.
His features are breathtaking, suggesting viciousness and callousness taken to another level.
He’s the type of mobster who’d probably order his enemies to be fed to wild animals just for fun.
He’d be more concerned with not staining his impeccable clothes with blood than with sparing the life of someone who’s wronged him.
Callum introduces him to me.
“Killian Diamond.”
Our hands meet. His touch is cold and firm. Mine is soft and warm.
There’s no curiosity in his eyes when I say my name.
He doesn’t even bother with me.
His eyes move to Callum again while I’m left studying the perfect symmetry of his face and the smoothness of his suit.
He’s just as big and muscular, and unlike the other men, he sends a shiver down my spine.
They sit with us at the table and have drinks before Callum appoints his men to watch me, and he retreats with Tullio and Killian at the bar to chat a little.
From afar, they look like three sharply dressed, handsome men having drinks on a fancy rooftop in Rome.
Looks are misleading, aren’t they?
They speak for about half an hour before the two men stay at the bar and Callum returns.
I try to read his eyes, but I can’t tell whether his conversation with them was fruitful or not. They are the reason we are here.
This meeting had been planned well in advance.
Callum slides into his seat next to me. I realize the rest of the men are part of his crew, and they’re here to ensure my safety.
“We can go whenever you’re ready,” he says.
“Is everything fine?”
“Yes. Everything’s fine,” he says with brevity.
“All right. We can go now. I just need to make a trip to the bathroom.”
“I’ll walk you there,” he says, already pulling out of his seat.
CALLUM
There’s a thing about us, men.
Something related to our primal nature.
The caveman in us.
The beast.
We want to chase and claim our woman.
And then we want to boast about her.
But that’s not always possible.
So, the next best thing we indulge in is seeing other men look at her, imagining the things we’d do to her.
It’s just as satisfying and arousing.
For sure, my men wouldn’t have those types of thoughts.They’d risk too much.
But Tullio and Killian are a different matter.
They’re Mafia Kings. They rule over other people’s lives. They see women every day. They want them. Take them. Sometimes dispose of them.
Long story short.
I’m so damn hard.
She exits the bathroom, smiling, and I watch her strut to me, swaying her hips as if on purpose, to make me lust after her even more.
The air cracks with electricity as she pulls up to me.
I have a shoulder propped against the wall, my hands tucked in my pockets, when she pushes up onto her toes, wraps her arms around my neck, and kisses my lips.
“I’m so happy,” she says,
“I’m glad to hear that,” I say a bit stiff.
“Are you all right?”
“More than all right.”
Even her voice turns me on. Her talking to me gets me hard.
This is comically bad.
I distract her with a smile.
“Are we going?” she asks, noticing that I’m not moving.
“Not yet.”
“Did I do something wrong?” she asks, truly concerned, reading my eyes.
“You did nothing wrong.”
“Then what is it?”
How should I tell her that her abdomen is half an inch away from my raging erection?
“I thought we should linger a little more,” I say with a playful grin in my voice.
Her eyes move back and forth as she reads mine.
And then she relaxes against my torso and presses herself into my hard length.
“Oh,” she says, amused. “I see. Are things that bad?”
“They’re not good.”
“We can wait,” she teases.
“Waiting is a possibility.”
I remove a hand from my pocket and rest it on her waist.
She bites her lip, taunting me even more.
“What’s the other possibility?’
“Use your imagination.”
A hand flies to her mouth as she feigns surprise.
“Here?’
“Here. There. Anywhere. We just need to make sure no one’s seeing us. If you suck me off, I’ll make it up to you at the hotel.”
She moves her fingers down, pondering. Pretending that she’s thinking about it.
She rubs the ridge of my erection through my pants, making everything worse.
Her naughty grin is an accomplice.
“Let’s find a place,” I say, pushing off the wall and taking her hand.
The place is right around the corner.
A dark part of the rooftop, a less traveled area, a couple of unoccupied tables, and plenty of greenery.
We step into the shadows, and I widen my stance while she opens my pants and straight out takes me into her mouth.
“Let’s make it quick,” I say, still taking into account that someone might see us, which is not what I want.
It doesn’t matter who it is; we can’t risk having this story reach Varela’s ears.
Whether he suspects something or not is a different matter. I know how these people think.
They make decisions based on hard, cold facts, not their imagination.
“Yes, Boss,” she says around my hard cock.
I press my shoulders into the wall and tilt my head back, enjoying her mouth on me, the way she moves her fist.
Even experiencing that makes me feel better, although the whole point is to have that high and then relief.
Keeping my eyes half-closed, I scan the area and make sure no one comes close to us.
Interestingly enough, I see the other end of the terrace where I met Tullio and Killian.
This is probably one of the closest instances we have ever come to doing it in public.
I rest a hand on her head and guide the rhythm of her strokes so we can get where I want fast.
A dialogue cuts through the air. Two males talk quietly. I’m trying to catch a few words, get an idea of who they are.
It seems impossible.
They’re far from us, so I don’t worry about them. And then they walk around a corner, and I can no longer see them behind a few potted shrubs.
I quickly forget about them as Lani gets lost in what she’s doing, and I enjoy every bit of it.
One small noise travels to me, but I’m already on that nice journey up, and I know for a fact that no one can see us, so, while palming my gun, I let her finish me and give me the relief I seek.
I grunt as quietly as I can while having her lick me clean. And just as I nudge her up and fix my fly, two male silhouettes register with me.
They haven’t spied on us, but they surely could’ve gotten a glimpse of us.
Maybe even more.
“Who was that?” she asks, and I check her mouth to ensure there’s not a trace of me on her.
“No one,” I say, taking her hand and walking her off the terrace, using the door we had come through.
“Anyone you know?” she insists as we finally reach the hallway, and I can inspect her face and dress a little better.
“Callum?”
Her hand stops mine from brushing away a few strands of hair from her face.
“Who was back there?”
I ponder whether to tell her.
“It was Tullio and Killian.”
Her eyebrows slide up.
“You’re not worried about them?”
“No. Not really.”
“Who are they?”
“They’re the men who’ll help me eliminate Varela.”
She studies my face for a few moments, making note of how serious I am about the matter, and then, without a word, we walk toward the exit.