My head held low, I catch his eye and it is finally then that he begins to understand. “Matteo,” I begin in a whisper. “We have till morning until we hit Sicily. You’ll remain quiet, or I will have to make you, understood?”
His brow furrows and anger fills his expression. “The fuckingragazza,” he hisses, talking about Mia. But shit, she is a woman, not agirl, and I warned him once about keeping his mouth shut when it came to her.
Pushing off the wall, I take a few steps towards him in the darkness. “You know nothing,” I say sternly, catching the air of defiance still in his posture. “You say nothing, and maybe you’ll get to live.”
“You’ll never get away with this, Leo! Luigi will…”
“Know nothing about it,ho capito!”
He glares at me. “Yeah!” He seethes. “Iunderstand! I understand that Luigi will make sure your ass finally gets what is coming to it.”
In one large stride I cross the room and pull him into me before grabbing a knife from my pocket and holding it at his neck. “You say a word, you so much as breathe, and I will make sure it is the last fucking thing you ever do, Matteo. When I am done, you’ll be taken out with the rest of the fucking traitors. You are either in, or you are out. I seek justice, not alliance. Remember that the next time you fucking threaten me,” I hiss, holding the knife strongly against his neck until I see blood. “Or her.”
Pushing him away, I turn to leave, stashing the knife once more in my pocket. “You’ll never get away with this!” He repeats again, making my anger grow. “I’ll see to it.”
Turning quickly, my fist collides with his middle and he bows over in pain. I catch him and pull him upright by his hair. “That’s a warning. Which is more than you deserve. Keep pushing your luck, Matteo. And you’ll see exactly what that gets you. Fucking cement shoes and a nice long ride to the bottom of the ocean while you wait, praying your heart gives out before your lungs explode, your eyes burst, and you suffocate to death.”
I release him and turn to make my way back to the main deck, his yells assault my back as I step out the door, locking both deadbolts on my way out. There is no way in hell he will be freed before I accomplish what I set out to when we left Rome. His silence is my only chance at making this work. That, and Mia’s cooperation. Something I was on the verge of getting before I was pulled away.
My body calls to her. Longs to go join her in my bedroom. But I know there is more important business at hand, and so with a heaviness I turn and make my way to my study. Mia will have to wait, although I know I can’t stay away from her long. First, it’s time to set my plan in motion and pray like hell nothing else stands in my way of the one thing webothdesire more than anything else. The fucking truth.
Chapter 10
Mia
Sitting in the master bathroom’s tub, I attempt to soak away everything that has happened in the last 24 hours. Not just the being drugged, captured, and held against my will. But all that I feel, and all I never expected to feel when it comes to him.
My captor.
Is it weird to say that being held his hostage is slightly arousing? Or the way he commands my every movement, my every thought, breath - making it his – is slowly awakening something inside me I never knew existed?
My hands sink lower in the bath and dance above my entrance on my lower stomach. The strong urge inside grows as I dip them lower and imagine Leo, in all his dominance, making me do what he wants, craves, enjoys and thirsts after. My appetite for him is maturing, flourishing, spreading – like my knees in the water as every part of me cries out, needing so much more and wanting him to give it to me.
My fingers dance above my folds and I gasp lightly when I press them inside me and imagine it is him instead. My own wetness is no match for the water as the slickness builds and I shamelessly push another finger inside myself. Pulling them up to my clit, I moan out in ecstasy before imagining his strong body on top of my own. Instinctively my fingers drown inside me again and I close my eyes as a deep sensation takes over, needing me to play, tease, caress, feel him - even in his absence.
I hear a sound in the front room and quickly sit up in the bath. When I hear a few footsteps, I know only one person could be here and my body hums knowing he has returned. Grabbing a towel nearby, I rise and dry off as I attempt to calm my nerves before wrapping one of the robes I found in the closet around me.
I have never been so needy. I have never felt every part of me begging for another man’s next touch. Leo does something to me. His very existence sets my soul on fire. His presence makes me lose control. A heavenly feeling I don’t want to waste a minute more not experiencing. With butterflies in my stomach I cross the tile and make my way to the bathroom door.
But still, even with all these new sensations, something tells me there is a reason, beyond any we both know, that brought us together. As strange as that may sound. My hand grips the handle, but I wait a moment before I slowly pull the door open and I see him standing across the room. Everything I feel, everything I know is real, right, true, I can tell he feels too by the look in his eyes.
Pools of desire. Greed. Hunger stare back at me.
His look alone tells me one thing.
This man consumes me. Dominates every part of my soul. Now, I need him to devour my body. And never stop until we both agree it’s over.
Leo
I watch as the steam from the bathroom billows around her and she stands before me in nothing but my white robe and the string of pearls from this afternoon. She calls to me, stronger than ever before, but I can’t touch her. I shouldn’t fucking touch her. Not now. Not ever. Not after what I just learned.
Although I’m at fucking war with myself because damn it if I have never wanted anything more. The weight of that revelation almost too much for me to bare alone as she stands before me too perfect for my own damn good.
She takes a step closer and my eyes instinctively fall to her legs as they come through the break in the white fabric. I groan from the sight as she takes a few steps across the room to the wet bar I immediately ran to once I entered my sanctuary, needing to escape the truth only to find it staring me in the fucking eyes. Her hair deliciously disheveled on top of her head in a bun, I memorize her features, free of makeup and fucking more breathtaking than ever before.
When she reaches where I stand, she waits for me to speak, but I lift my scotch to my lips and take a sip, buying myself time before I tell her this can never fucking happen. I might not respect Angelo, but Luigi is a man I will never dishonor, ever.
There is more to her story than she could ever even fathom, even in her wildest nightmares. After a phone call to Giovanni on the island, damn near all my suspicions were made clear, although I fucking hoped like hell I was wrong earlier. Why? I may never know when she is the one thing my fucking dreams have always been made of.
