Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Fabien
The present
The tussle’s broken up by Nic, with an angry Al bitching at us in the background.
But my focus is solely on my brother. “That’s the second time you’ve disrespected my wife.
” Having eavesdropped on the conversation between Angelo and Sienna, I would’ve broken his jaw then and there, but I wanted to hear what my wife had to say.
“Third time and you’re a dead man.” My hands work to straighten my tie; a distraction from using them to strangle my brother.
“I’d like to see you fucking try.” Angelo seethes, straightening his own tie.
“See yourself out before I do something I won’t regret,” I snap at my brother.
“With pleasure.” Angelo cracks his jaw back into place before storming off.
“I need a drink,” I announce to the onlookers, shoving my way to the bar.
Sienna appears with an ice pack, positioning it on my knuckles. She silently takes me in, and I can feel the disappointment wafting off her.
“Sorry, baby. This isn’t how I envisioned our party going,” I admit.
She cocks her head. “How did you envision it going?”
“Parading my beautiful wife for the world to see. Maybe pissing on my old man’s grave while I’m at it,” I admit quietly.
“Revenge on a dead man,” she muses. “How does that work, exactly?”
I release a heavy breath. “Don’t know.”
“You vowed to place me above everything, and yet the man who ordered my kidnapping is a guest at our party,” Sienna says quietly, hurt flashing in her eyes for the briefest of moments.
“Was a guest.” The ice pack slides off my hand as I shove it inside my jacket, retrieving my gun. Cocking it, I begin marching to the door.
“Fabien, wait!” She chases after me, grabbing my left hand, and I flinch in pain. “What the hell happened to your finger?”
“Part of the peace deal,” I tell her quietly as she examines my splinted index finger.
“Is peace even possible with this family?” She pries the gun from my hand, slipping it back into its holster; I let her be the voice of reason, only because I’ve already made a mess of tonight.
“If you want retribution, it’s yours.” A peace deal that creates war with my wife is no peace at all.
“And what if I still want retribution from you?” Sienna challenges.
“Then I would say meet me downstairs in the guest bathroom.”
Sienna
The present
My heart beats like a snare with each step. First, taking care of Fabien with the ice pack, and now this? All the excavation I’ve done on that second grave, and here I am, shoveling dirt into the hole with a shovel.
And I hate manual labor.
But I can’t deny the thrill that’s humming beneath my skin as I slip inside the bathroom. Fabien’s leaning against the vanity, and I’m keenly aware of the cell phone hidden in the tissue box behind him.
My fingers tremble as I work the lock on the door, and Fabien’s on me in a flash. Caging me against it, he leans in, examining me silently. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the little fox is nervous.”
“Please, don’t flatter yourself.” I duck beneath his arms and hop up on the vanity, hiding the tissue box behind my body. “Less talking, more crawling.”
With a smirk, Fabine falls to his knees and crawls across the marble floor, rising to his knees and sandwiching himself between my legs.
His hands squeeze my thighs. Big, sexy hands with those veins popping, and needing some semblance of control, I goad him, “Look at the big bad mafia boss, on his knees for a whore.”
Fabien rises to standing, gripping me hard by the chin. “What did I tell you? Don’t fucking talk about yourself like that.” He jerks my face to his, and I gasp in surprise as he steals a kiss.
That semblance of control is drowned out with lust, but in my defense, the man’s just as good a kisser as he was back when I was eighteen.
Fabien's tongue flicks my lower lip, and I open for him. His groan against my tongue sends a shot of heat between my thighs, and I find myself sighing into his mouth.
He swallows it. If I’d let him, I’m afraid he’d swallow me whole. And then spit me out, because that’s the Calvani way.
Unfortunately, I don’t heed my own warning as his tongue wraps around mine.
Need takes over, our kissing becoming frantic; wild tongue and teeth and the slightest bite of pain.
I’m a panting mess when he pulls back, his eyes having a feral look that’s driving me crazy. Without a word, he lifts my ass, hiking up my dress to my waist and ripping my panties off by the bands. My naked lower half is not so gently deposited on the cold marble, and I shiver.
Fabien silently begins working his belt, and I help him unbutton his pants and yank them and his boxers down.
“Uh-huh. This math still doesn’t math.” I’ve had years of being with a man on the smaller side, and now looking at Fabien’s huge, throbbing cock, I’m questioning how it ever fit.
He flashes a cocky grin. “It always math-ed, and it’ll still fit.” He grabs me by the hips, sliding my ass forward, and I wrap my legs around his waist as the crown of his cock kisses my opening.
A moan escapes me, but I try to be the voice of reason. “Maybe we could try just the tip.”
Fabien shudders as his head grinds against me. “You can’t let me crawl to the gates of heaven and deny my entrance. Let me inside.”
“Condom.” I breath.
“Don’t make me,” he begs. “You’d only be punishing yourself; you remember how good it feels with me inside you bare.”
It’s like I’m that silly eighteen-year-old girl all over again. “At least pull out when you come,” I say in a resigned tone.
With a triumphant smile, Fabien grabs my ass cheeks and slams forward, and I scream.
“Goddammit, Sienna, how did you get tighter?” Fabien grits through his teeth.
“Wait, give me a second.” I slap his shoulders in a panic, my pussy spasming violently around his cock. It feels like he’s everywhere.
“Take your time while I get out my trusty crowbar.” His hand snakes between us, and he begins playing with my clit.
Despite my best efforts, I laugh, burrowing my head into the crook of his neck. Bad idea, because he smells exactly as I remember: deliciously masculine and spicy and…
Not safe.
My nervous system agrees, an overwhelming sense of panic flooding my body.
“Where’d you go?” Fabien removes his hand and jerks me by the back of the head to where we’re nose to nose.
Back to reality.
“Pull out.”
He makes no effort to move. “Baby—”
“Pull out now!”
Fabien’s frustrated growl does nothing to help ease the confusing ache between my legs, but I ignore it, mentally armoring back up as he pulls out. “Sienna—”
Straightening my dress, I hop down.
“Dammit, Sienna, tell me what I did wrong,” Fabien begs.
“Excuse me, nobody coming through.” I march to the door, unlocking it as I hurry down the hallway.
But not before I hear Fabien cursing, and the sound of his fist smashing glass.
Fabien
The present
My fractured reflection stares back at me as I grip the vanity. My knuckles, already swollen from earlier, are now bleeding.
I swipe a tissue from the fancy decorative box, accidentally knocking it off the vanity. Cursing, I go to pick it up, and that’s when I discover the hidden cellphone.
Well. Well. Well. I’ve found the rat’s nest; now it’s time to flush him out.
Returning the tissue box to the counter, I reposition the phone inside, then place the decorative box cover over it.
I turn the faucet on and keep my right knuckle under the spray until the water turns from crimson to clear.
Wrapping my fist with toilet paper, I exit the bathroom and track down Saint.
“My office,” I tell him, and we head to the carriage house. Opening my office door with the hand sensor, I flip on the light and wait for Saint to get inside before closing and locking up behind him.
“What’s wrong, boss?” Saint asks.
“As soon as the final guest leaves, I want the entire property swept for bugs.” Explaining what I found in the guest bathroom, I tell him, “Make sure the phone isn’t sending out a tracking signal, and leave it hidden with new cameras installed in the guest bathroom. I want our rat caught in the act.”
“On it.” Except he lingers.
I let out a frustrated sound from the back of my throat. “Go ahead and say it: I fucked up big with my girl tonight.”
“Yes.”
My face twists. “Well, I did ask for honesty.”
“This party wasn’t for your wife’s benefit, but yours; a coronation of sorts.”
“Maybe not this much honesty,” I grumble.
“How did you win her affection before?” Saint wonders.
“Fuck if I know.” I rub the back of my head. “We just were….” Everything, until I was a fool and called her nobody.
My head falls into my hands.
“And so now you’re going to have to work for it. May I suggest another grand gesture, like the New York trip?”
“Yeah,” I say, dropping my hands.
“You don’t need the approval of the family; you’re the boss by right. You need the approval of your wife, and that doesn’t come by right, or by force.”
“Enough honesty,” I snap at him, locking up my office and rejoining the party.
Everyone mills about to greet my return, kissing the ring; kissing my ass. All pomp and circumstance, not real respect.
And dammit, I want real respect.
Angelo, from all accounts, ran this business well, if not a little OCD, but that’s my brother. What if I take the helm and fuck it up?
Proving Vitto right.
I release a harsh breath.
“Boss, did you hear me? What are your thoughts on opening back up the skin trade?” A capo asks me. “We’d all like to see it back up and running.”
Maybe I was wrong. It’s not revenge I’m after with Vitto, but like a dumbass, I’m still seeking his approval.
“Not happening.”
Fuck the family’s approval, and fuck this need to win the approval of a ghost. I’m the boss, and I’m gonna run things my way. And by my way, I mean not doing anything to hurt Sienna more than I already have.
Maybe I don’t deserve this second chance with her, but I’m going to do everything in my power to make things right between us.