Fuck Vincenza and fuck her manipulative power trip. Tomorrow, I dealt with the Vero Famiglia and let them know how this was going to go down.

I hoped I sounded convincing when I said, “I’ll get it back to them.”

I must have because when I attempted to scoop her up a second time, she let me and her mouth worked my pulse point, sucking and kissing, the entire way up to our bedroom. Her eagerness meant what should have been a nice, comforting welcome home turned into an impatient fuck against the column post of my bed with one arm twisted behind her back while the other scratched at my forearm as my hand wrapped around her throat.

But afterwards, exhausted but sated, we dozed wrapped in each other’s arms. I stoked her luscious hair and she ran her fingernails over the coarse stubble at my jawline. Our faces close, we breathed as one, unable to stop from planting barely-there kisses wherever they could reach. And when Vittoria nuzzled into my throat, my heart thumped hard in my chest. I didn’t think there was more natural feeling in the fucking universe than being here like this with her.

I liked it a lot.

Together, we slept.

We slept soundly.

18. Boundaries

Chapter 18

Boundaries

Ettore

“Tor?”

I tried to be quiet as I readied myself for the day. Obviously, not quiet enough because she blinked sleepily through one eye, holding herself up on an elbow as she drowsily asked, “Where are you going?” Her sleep softened face had me pausing just to take it in.

My heart did the strangest thing.

The next time it beat, it beat for her.

She looked utterly edible. I couldn’t help myself from stepping forward and sitting myself down next to her. My head dipped and I pressed my lips to her exposed shoulder. “To take care of a small problem.” As if it were a compulsion, my hand settled on her hip but refused to behave, roaming the softness of her curves in ownership. But I didn’t have time to play this morning. “It’s early. Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you when I get home. We’ll have breakfast.”

She was too tired to argue. She blew out, “Okay,” through a stifled yawn and when her head hit the pillow once more, her breathing steadied almost instantly.

I watched her sleep a moment longer before I stood and made my way to my car. The sun hadn’t yet risen. I drove to the modest looking two-story home. The alarm system was basic and took me less than seven minutes to disarm, less than three minutes to find a way to let myself in and less than two to find him, cloaked in darkness, asleep in his bedroom.