Chapter Five
“Gino!” Marissa banged on the door for good measure. “Wake the fuck up. I’ve left the two of you alone to do the nasty all freaking morning, but my patience has run out.”
Gino growled low behind her, and Rosa giggled at the vibration of it against her back. “What the hell, Marissa,” Gino called back. “It’s still fucking dark outside. What the hell are you bothering us for?”
“The room has black-out curtains, you moron,” Marissa snapped, and Rose giggled once more. “It’s almost noon, and if you don’t come out here and return the damn phone calls I have been taking for your hairy ass all morning, I will break this door down and drag you outta that room by your balls. I am not your damn secretary.”
Gino cursed as he unwrapped himself from around Rosa. She turned in her narrow bed to watch as he stormed across the room and threw open the door, completely at ease with his nudity.
“What fucking phone messages?” Gino practically snarled at her friend as he barred the doorway.
Marissa harrumphed as she smacked a small stack of papers against his chest, completely unaffected by the naked perfection that was Gino Esposito. “These fucking messages. I’ve taken three from Tony demanding that he get to talk to you, and two from Gavriil. The last one ended in a rather graphic curse, seriously questioning your parentage, and informed me that he was on his way here to, and I quote, drag your loved-up hairy ass away from your woman long enough to have a fucking conversation.”
Gino took the papers from Marissa’s hands. “Why is it that everyone thinks my ass is hairy?” He looked back over his shoulder at Rosa and gave her one of his half smiles that hit her straight between her legs. “Does my ass look hairy to you,cara?”
Rosa ran her gaze over his back, down across his perfect butt, then back up again. “Not to me, lover. Your ass has always looked perfectly bitable to me.” She heard the blatant invitation in her tone.
Gino’s gaze darkened, and she knew that invitation was received.
“Oh, for the love of all that’s holy, would you point that damn thing in another direction?” Marissa groaned from the door as she made a point of looking at the ceiling.
Rosa snorted as Gino winked at her. “Can’t help it, Marissa. When it comes to my Rosa, there ain’t no stopping that particular reaction.”
“Gino!” Gavriil shouted and everyone in the room froze. The man just had that tone. “If you have quite fucking finished—”
“Or,” Nico called out, amusement clear in his tone “finished fucking.”
“Or that,” Gavriil continued in a dry tone. “We got trouble coming our way. We need to come up with a plan.”
At that, all amusement left Gino’s expression. “I’ll be down in a moment.”
“Bring Rosa with you. This concerns her.”
Rosa inhaled sharply, her heart beating a little faster. She caught Gino’s gaze when he turned to look back at her. The feral look of possession that swept across his face was as beautiful as it was intimidating.
“Get dressed,cara,” Gino said in a quiet voice, at odds with the emotion that swirled in his dark eyes.
The two of them dressed quickly, and Rosa sent a look to the bed with its blankets askew, the pillows that clearly showed where they had laid their heads to sleep, so close that it was hard to imagine any space between them at all.
“Rosa,” Gino said gently, and she drew her gaze from the bed to meet his. “This was not how I wanted to start this day. I wanted you to wake up with my mouth on your pussy, showing you how much last night, and you, mean to me.”
Rosa’s heart stuttered within her, and heat pooled once more between her legs.
“Don’t let whatever Gavriil has to say change what we’ve started between us. Don’t even try because you’re mine and I will fight with every fucking thing I have to keep you.”
Rosa stepped closer to him and rested her hand on his chest. “I’m not going to let that happen, either.”
Gino stared into her eyes for a moment, and Rosa had a feeling he was looking for something particular. She didn’t look away or even allow herself to do anything other than blink. Gino finally nodded, taking a big breath as he did so. Rosa was suddenly very aware of how uncertain Gino was when it came to her. It made her a little less uncertain to realize he felt the same way.
Gino reached for her hand, entwined their fingers, and they left the room. Rosa’s mind was racing as they made their way to the room on the ground floor. When they stepped into the kitchen, a place that was usually bustling with staff and people looking for a meal, it was surprisingly quiet. Only Gavriil, Nico, and Tony stood in the room.
Tony smiled warmly at her. “How you doing, Rosa? Those two assholes your father sent didn’t scare you too much, did they?”
She shot a quick look up at Gino and cursed the heat she felt rising in her cheeks as she shook her head. “Not at all, I’m doing fine. Thanks, Tony. Gino took very good care of me last night.”
There was a loaded silence and further heat exploded in her cheeks as Nico burst out laughing. “I’ll just be he did.Ow!Christ, Tony, what the hell was that for?” Nico groused as he rubbed the back of his head.
“For being a dick, Nico,” Gavriil explained. “You embarrassed Rosa. You’re just lucky Gino was too far away to do it. He would have knocked you on your ass.”
