Page 106 of Brutal Heir

I jab my finger at the call end button and heave out a breath, tension radiating through every blood vessel. My entire life I’ve battled with the idea of taking overPapà’s business, and now there would be no going back. But for her, I would do anything. Absolutely anything to keep her safe. This whole damned thing is my fault. I let the skimming issue at the Velvet Vault go on for too long. La Spada Nera thought they could take advantage of my injury, of my absence, and now I would teach them what happens when they fuck with Alessandro Rossi.

The soft sound of feet across the marble registers an instant before a voice seeps into my office. “There you are…” Rory stands in the doorway, her nightgown slipping off her shoulder and her hair a wild tumble of auburn tendrils. Just the sightof her has the tension waning, and a different sort of tightness swelling beneath my sweatpants. “You should be resting.” She waggles a finger as she closes the space between us. “Come back to bed.”

“To bed ortobed?” I raise a flirty brow, all thoughts of revenge pushed to the back burner at the sight of her.

She swats at my chest, the uninjured side. “You’re crazy, McFecker. You were just shot yesterday.”

“I feel just fine.” I curl my arms around her waist and drag her hot little body against mine, so she feels my growing arousal. “Must be the incredibly talented nurse who stitched me up.”

“Well, you’re not wrong there.” She grins up at me. “But any sort of physical activity could risk tearing one of your new stitches.”

“What if I swear to just lay there and let you do all the work?”

A devious chuckle parts her pretty pink lips, and it’s all I can do to keep myself from devouring them. “Then what fun would that be for me?”

“Oh, Red, I’m sure I can find a way to make you come with minimal effort.”

“Cocky, aren’t we?”

“It’s not arrogance if it’s true.” Slanting my mouth over hers, I claim those lips, the hunger I thought I’d lost long ago building with every brush of our flesh. My hands dive lower, curling around her ass and pressing her body flush against mine. With only my boxers and her panties between us, I can already feel how wet she is for me. I could bend her over my desk and take her right now. And damn, do I want to.

But fuck me, I have to meet Jimmy at the Vault and by the time I get dressed and drive over there… there’s not much time.

Still, I press her harder into the edge of the desk, the fine silk of her nightgown hiking up her thighs with a little help from mygreedy hands. One slip of fabric and she’d be right where I need her.

A sweet groan purses her lips, and fuck, I’m going to lose my mind.

“Don’t tempt me,” I growl against her lips, my voice rough with need and the agony of restraint. “I have to go meet Jimmy.”

Her fingers slide into my hair, tugging just enough to send a bolt of fire down my spine. “Then don’t tease me, Rossi,” she whispers, her breath hot against my jaw. “Unless you’re gonna do something about it.”

“I thought you wanted me to rest.” I drag my mouth to her throat, nipping at the spot just below her ear that makes her squirm.

She gasps, her hips rolling against my cock like she’s trying to drive me insane. And it’s working.Dio, I’m already half feral.

“Eh, rest is overrated.”

“Cazzo, Rory…” My voice is nothing but a rasp now. “You keep moving like that and I’m going to fuck you right here. Gunshot be damned.”

Her laugh is low, dark, a sound that shoots straight to my dick. “What’s stopping you?”

“I have to go.” I bite down on her collarbone, not hard enough to bruise, just enough to feel like a warning. But I know she can feel me trembling. “Jimmy’s waiting.”

She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes, and all the teasing vanishes from hers. What’s left is fire. No, something wilder. Something that looks a hell of a lot like possession.

“I’m going with you,” she says softly, but there’s nothing weak about it.

“Rory…” Flashes of the last time she saw me at my club surge across my vision. She ran. She saw the real me and raced out of there so quickly she was nothing but a memory. “I don’t want you involved in that part of my life.”

“Well, tough shite, Ale. I’m already involved. They shot at you, atus. There’s no way in hell I’m going to let you deal with that alone. I told you I’m not running anymore.” She reaches down and slips her hand into my sweatpants, her palm wrapping around my cock in a slow, devastating grip. “And don’t think for one second, I’ll forget how hard you were for me. After we find the gobshites who did this, we’ll come home together, and I swear I’ll ride you until you forget your own fucking name.”

A broken curse tears from my throat as I grab her wrist, but not to stop her, just to ground myself before I explode all over her hand like a goddamn teenager. I’m two seconds from saying fuck the meeting and the gunshot and bending her over my desk anyway.

But I don’t.

Because if I give in now, I’ll never stop.

I capture her mouth one more time, a kiss brutal and claiming, then force myself to step away. My hands linger on her hips like I don’t want to let go. And I don’t.