Chapter 9
Mia
“You’re quiet, Mia,” Leo says, as he gives me that panty dropping grin of his and brings his glass to his lips.
Making our way into the kitchen a while back, Leo grabbed a bottle of wine, platter of assorted cheeses and fruits, and motioned for me to join him at the counter where we have sat for almost an hour now. After a few moments of awkward silence, I was surprised when he opened up to me and let me into his world. His life. His past. Although I can tell there are a few secrets he still keeps guarded.
I watch as he takes a drink and stare at his Adam’s apple while he swallows. My gaze travels south as I take in his broad shoulders and lean physic. He is built in all the right places and suddenly I remember the heavenly feeling of him pressed up against me earlier when he held nothing back and took me, gave me what I wanted, and denied himself any satisfaction in the lounge.
“I still don’t understand,” I question, as I pick up my wine glass and take another sip, attempting to bring us back to what we were just talking about. “The notebook, the one my father made, is powerful enough to bring down the whole mob?”
He chuckles and it makes me feel so small I find myself cowering in his presence. “Nothing will ever hold that kind of power, Mia.” He stands tall and looks at me sternly. “But I believe it holds more truths than many members of the family would ever like to admit. And I think it could ruin, a very good man, if given the opportunity.”
Put in my place, I straighten my spine and try and act tougher than I think I am, especially given the company I am in. “I still don’t understand how that involves me?”
A noise sounds behind us and I turn to look. A man I have never seen before dressed in a ships uniform comes through the door and quickly makes his way to Leonardo’s side. Leo’s face grows worrisome as he leans in and listens to what the gentleman says. I watch as anger flashes over his features, before he turns to the man and growls, “No, I’ll take care of it.”
The man quickly leaves the way he came, and my eyes watch him disappear before I find Leo’s again. He frowns before taking a couple steps forward. “I have to see to something,” he whispers. “But this conversation is far from over.”
He has got that right! The wheels in my head have only just begun to turn as they are quickly trying to put everything together. My father. My mother. The notebook. My kidnapping!
His hand raises before he trails it up and down my arm. “Wait for me?” He questions, as if I actually have a choice. “I need you to understand,” he whispers, as he takes a step closer. “Everything.”
“I don’t know where you think I’d run off to,” I tease, trying to buy some time before I see the edge of his lips quirk up in a gorgeous smile. “But where? Here?” I gesture around the cold kitchen trying to make sure he is asking what I think he is.
Shaking his head, he takes my hand in his and pulls me out and into a hallway in the middle of the ship. Walking quickly, he takes a left, then a right, before hastily pulling me to his side at a pair of large doors. Unlocking them with a key, he pushes them open and pulls me in after him.
A large bed with black silk linens sits across the room. The walls, a deep gray, look dungeon like with the little light that is coming in through the closely drawn curtains. I look to my right and see a door leading into an expansive bathroom with a closet at the far end. A quick look to my left side, and I see another large door, shut with no indication of what lies behind it.
This is a different room than I was in to begin with, and I wonder just how big this ship really is. This, no doubt, is the master and there isn’t a room more fitting for the tempting man that stands behind me. My eyes are still adjusting to the light, still trying to get used to my bearing’s when he comes up behind me and wraps one arm around my waist, pulling me close and breathing into my ear.
“I will tell you, everything, Mia. Everything I shouldn’t,” he whispers, as his hand trails up my stomach before his large palm harshly grabs at my breasts through my dress. A whimper escapes my lips effortlessly as I wait, needing him to give me more. “Everything that can get a man killed,” his hand raises higher before he wraps it around my neck.
I let out a gasp, but he doesn’t tighten his grip, just holds me still as our steady breathing is the only thing that fills the room. That, and our beating hearts which I can feel thundering from our connection.
Strong. Steady. Relentless.
“I shouldn’t trust you,” he growls, as his hand raises higher, forcing my mouth open before he trails his finger across my lips. “I shouldn’t care…” he whispers as desire takes over me and I take the opportunity the next time his finger grazes over my mouth to suck it in between my lips.
He groans, before his free hand grabs out and holds me against him tighter in the darkness. His length begins to harden against my ass and I let out a moan needing more of what he offered me in the lounge. Instinctively, I push back against him as his thickness forces itself slightly between my ass and makes both of us gasp from the pleasurable sensation.
Suddenly, he releases me and forces me around. My mouth open, I stare at him puzzled. “Stay here,” he insists. “Wait for me.”
But before I can answer, he lets me go, walks out the doors we just came in, and slams them behind him. My mind is still trying to catch up to what all just happened before I hear a click and realize the bastard locked me in. Frantic, I run to the door and yank on the handle. When I am finally sure it won’t budge, I turn around and fall back against it.
Now what?
He trusts me? Yeah fucking right! But looks like regardless of if I like it or not, here I am forced to wait until his return. Irritated, my face turns and takes in the bathroom. Figuring I must look like hell after what I’ve been through, I make my way in that direction and sigh heavily. If I am forced to wait, I damn sure am going to give him something he won’t expect when he returns.
Leonardo
My feet hit the deck in heavy strides as I make my way to the back of the ship. The last thing I wanted right now, when I have Mia so close to understanding, was any kind of a distraction. But shit can’t be helped when Matteo won’t cooperate and my men have to pull me away from what I never thought I’d ever surrender to in my life.
A woman, a fucking Goddess, more captivating than I could have ever imagined.
“In here, Sir,” I hear the captain say, as I turn a corner and come face to face with the fucker himself. Bound by his restraints, the bastard is hysterical as he kicks and screams, demanding to be set free. The heavy dose of sleeping meds I slipped him in the car have finally worn off and he stands before me delirious, mad, ready to stop at nothing to gain his freedom.
“Capo!” He screams once he sets his eyes on me. I give the men in the room a nod and they leave us alone, closing the door behind them as they go. I see confusion laced across his features, but still he holds up his wrists to me, begging me to free him. “I thought they had you too, Sir.” He gestures once more for me to come closer and I stand back, leaning against the wall.
