The last few days have been a whirl wind neither of us were expecting. I thought I was the only one with secrets, a past that could destroy us. I never imagined that what lay in his past would actually be strong enough to kill us all, if we let it. I would have never expected the truth we were just told. But from what I have heard, learned, remember of the man they call Luigi, I can’t say I am all that stunned when it actually comes down to it. There isn’t much more you can expect out of a man who has built his whole life, his whole existence, on one lie after another.
With carefully orchestrated steps I approach him. The darkness seems like a more fitting place for us to be right now, so I don’t even attempt to turn on a light. Leaning against the wall with his back to me, I realize just the kind of power the man before me has over me. The kind that will always have me needing more, wanting more, and will never ever be satisfied without it.
But as I take a few steps forward, I sense how lost he is without even having to speak a word. I can feel the distance wedging itself between us and worry for the first time tonight that the pull his old life has on him is too strong, even for me. He gave his life over to the mob. He took an oath, made a promise, one that he remembers greater than the one he made to me when we were kids. He might be willing to break it, but I know that decision comes with a heavy load. One that is weighing him down in front of me right now.
As I take a few final steps towards him, he turns and faces me. Anxiety. Confusion. Madness is etched across his features, and I can see them clearly, even in the darkness. We stare at each other for a moment before he lifts his hand and extends it towards me. An offering of sorts, accepting me, us, into his life when we both know in order to keep us there, he has to make a sacrifice. The life he knows, has always known, and I can tell he doesn’t know how he can go on living without it.
I reach out and take his hand, slightly intimidated by his touch. The second my hand slides across his palm, he forcibly grabs me into his embrace and wraps his arms around me tightly. I breathe him in, get drunk on us, as we stand still. As still as the darkness around us.
“I’m sorry,” he manages to whisper after a moment.
“For what?” I question, as his hands fall lower down my back and he keeps me pressed heavenly against him.
“For what I did.” He sighs, as his body sags against the wall behind him but he doesn’t let me go. “For what I have to do.”
His words startle me, making me realize just how lost he is. Pulling back slightly, I stare into his eyes and see them conflicted as he raises his hands and pulls my face closer towards his. His lips dance above mine but I deny him the satisfaction of our connection for as long as I can.
“I have always known you to do the right thing,” I state firmly. “When we were kids. When you took me captive on the ship. Even now after what Sofia and Vincent told us.” His thumb brushes against my bottom lip lightly as he leans in attempting to claim my kiss and silence me, but again I pull back. “Why are you sorry? Anything you do, anything that needs to be done, I trust you. Always have.”
His eyes rise from where they were contently focused on my mouth and he glares at me. “You shouldn’t!” He pushes off the wall and I back away quickly as I fall out of his arms.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I snap, needing to know now why after all this time, after the countless hours, days, he has demanded my trust, he now feels the need to break it.
“It means, you should have stayed far away from me, Maria. Far away from this. All of this!” He paces in front of me a few times before stopping and looking me in the eyes. “This fucking life isn’t for you! You’re better than it. Better than all of us! I don’t want this for you. Can’t you see that! Since you stepped foot in Italy your life has been in fucking danger. Do you really think that will change if we take down Luigi? Do you really think he will stand down, without the fucking fight of the century? Many fucking people are going to lose their fucking life. I don’t want one of them to be you!”
My body trembles from the weight of his words knowing that he means every single one of them and he’d gladly give us up if it meant keeping me safe. Something I can’t let him do.
“No!” I shout, as I take a step closer. “Don’t go there! You don’t get to decide what’s best for me, because what is best for me Leo, is being with you. Do you really think that I’d be more protected without you? That they won’t come looking for me anyways and kill me the first second they get. Maybe not Luigi after you take him out, but damn it, I am sure there are others. And you know that. Don’t push me away! Don’t make a decision for us that we deserve to make together.”
With his jaw set tight he frowns with a heavy sigh. “I promised Nitti, I’d do what I had to do. Same with the fucking promise I made to Luigi. You think that after one of them are gone I won’t be forced to make that promise to someone else? How can I promise to protect you if my whole life is spent making promises to someone else I can’t fucking keep?”
“So don’t make them promises,” I shout which causes him to roll his eyes and take a step back.
“It isn’t that easy.”
“Yes it damn well is!” I shout again. “End this. Once and for all. Do what you have to do,” I say and watch as he flinches from my comment. “But then walk away. Leave it. Come with me. Stay with me.” I plead quietly as I step towards him. “You promised me before you’d never stop.” I say, as I raise my hand and place it against his chest. “So don’t.”
He places his hand over my own and looks down to where our hands are laced together. “I’m sorry,” he whispers once more. “I could never stop, Maria. Not even after it’s all over.”
“Promise me?” I whisper, as I take his hand in mine and bring it to my body, placing it against my chest. “One more time.”
His eyes raise and look doubtful, indecisive. His fingers tighten around my own as he takes a step, making his body press up against mine. Instinctively I feel myself fall into him, his power, his control, his dominance as he stands with me in the darkness. Soon, his fingers loosen their grip as his hand frees and he runs it across my chest before his other hand raises and he brushes both against my breasts. But his eyes remain lost, distracted, consumed by things he can’t tell me.
He gave me a gift of silence before, now it is my time to return the favor.
“Stop!” I demand and watch as his eyes change instantly. His attention set on me, they look clear for the first time since I walked into the room and damn it if I don’t intend to keep them that way. Placing my hand on his chest, I force him to take a step backwards and he complies as his head cocks to the side and he questions just exactly what I am doing. When his knees hit the edge of the bed, I smile. “Sit.”
My insides dance as he obeys orders and starts loosening his tie, and a sexy as hell look graces his face as my hands drop to his slacks and unbutton his belt. He lifts his hips perfectly once I have him undone and I slide his pants down, lowering his briefs at the same time. Kicking off his shoes, he reaches out for me but I resist and stand back.
“Haven’t you learned what happens when you deny me what I want, Kitten?” He growls, as he loses his cuff links, unbuttons his dress shirt and pulls it from his damn near perfect body. Even in the darkness I can see every etched-out muscles across his chest. His biceps flex as my eyes lower and take in his forearms, strong and ready to hold me down and make me pay for my non submission if I am not careful here. The thought makes my wetness grow as confidence blooms and I take another step back as my hands reach behind me and undo the zipper to my dress.
“I’ve had a good teacher,” I purr, as I let my dress fall past my shoulders and pool around my ankles. Kicking it to the side, I stand before him in nothing but my bra, panties and heels and delight in the way his eyes roam my body. “One who taught me how to find myself, through him, when I was lost.” I take a step forward and place my hand against his chest, his eyes lift to my own and gleam with pride right before I push him back against the sheets. “Like I intend to help you,” I say, as my face lowers to his cock and I take it slowly in between my lips and enjoy every damn inch of him sliding into my mouth. He lets out a moan above me as his hands fist in my hair. Rising up, I let his length pop out of my mouth as I climb on the bed, my knees flanking both sides of his body. I look up and see him bite down on his bottom lip as I continue my climb.
“Silence your mind,” I whisper, as I let my wet core rock against his shaft slightly through my lace panties. His head falls back in pleasure but I continue to ascend higher. “Just feel,” I demand, as I grab his hand and force him to take my full breast in it. “See,” I moan as his hand forces my bra lower and his eyes look down and take in my perk nipple which has busted free. His head raises before he takes it in his mouth and sucks hard. My moans fill the room before I can speak again. I look down at him sucking me into his mouth I whisper, “Taste.”
He releases me but continues to mold both breasts in his hands. I climb higher as he is forced back on the bed. His hands run the length of my thighs as they come up to his neck before I straddle his face and force my lace panties to the side. “what is yours,” I moan as I stick my finger in my folds and watch his face fill with need. “What was always yours,” I whisper, as I take my soaked finger and run it across his lips. He licks up my juices like a man dying of thirst, before spreading my legs apart farther. “What will always be yours,” I groan, as his mouth raises, his tongue parts my sex, and he begins licking my pussy like I have never experienced before.
The pleasure is too much and I begin to pull back, but his hands roam around my back and force me down against his face. He pulls my thong out of my ass and dips his finger forward towards my center, gathering my wetness before running it back across my seam and pushing his finger in my tight hole. With his tongue in my sex, and his finger in my ass, my climax quickly approaches as I fist his hair in my hands and ride his face hard, greedy, and needing to cum faster, harder, more urgently than I ever have before.
