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CHAPTER TWELVE

ROYCE

There’s a knock on the door before Gia walks in wearing nothing but an old shirt I haven’t seen in nearly two years.

Her nipples are pebbled, pressing against the threadbare fabric. The vinyl design that used to be on the front is long gone, leaving only small pieces of neon color against the white background.

She closes the door behind her. “Do you have a couple minutes?”

I glance between the files in my lap and her. They’re only profit and loss statements from one of my businesses. “Yeah. I have a few minutes.”

The circles beneath her eyes are darker than they were last night when we arrived at the house, but she’s still as beautiful as she’s always been. There’s a piece of me that wants to pull her into bed and run my fingers through those tangled strands the way I used to.

What does she want?

The words play through my mind like a chant. I don’t know what she would be doing in here dressed like that.

Not after everything that’s happened between the two of us.

Although, if she is here to fulfill everything that’s been haunting my dreams since she walked back in my life, I don’t think I have the willpower to turn her away.

I don’t want to.

Gia walks closer to the bed, perching on the edge of it and crossing one leg over the other. “I know that this is going to be an odd situation for the two of us, but we’re going to have to figure out how to get along for the long term if we’re going to make this work for Bianca.”

I set the files to the side on the nightstand. “Is that really what you came in here for?”

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, twisting to face me as she leans forward to put a baby monitor beside the files. “No.”

When she doesn’t offer anything else, I lean back against the pillows, but I don’t miss the way her gaze drags down my bare chest, lingering for a moment before flicking back to my face.

“Are you going to tell me what you came in here for, or are you going to sit there, barely dressed, and hope that I do something about it?” I ask, tone low and gruff.

In the early days of our relationship, we could barely keep our hands off each other. I don’t think there were many days either of us spent without being wrapped up in the other. It felt right, back then.

And there’s something that feels like that now.

Maybe it’s the way she’s looking at me, or the shuffle she does to get closer, but it’s all there in black-and-white.

“I don’t know,” she says, her voice breathy. “It could be fun to make you wait. To keep you barely in the know.”

So, this is payback.

Well, if this is my punishment for pissing her off, then I’m more than happy to endure it.

My cock twitches, the front of my shorts tenting as Gia takes a deep breath. It’s like she’s trying to pull herself together and get enough confidence to do whatever it is she feels like she wants to do.

I link my hands together, putting them behind my head. “You want to play games?”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing this entire time?”

If this is what she wants, then I’m not going to make it easier on her. She’s going to have to work for it.

Gia gets to her hands and knees, crawling up the bed to straddle my lap. Her core grinds against my cock as she drapes her arms over my shoulders. “You told me that the next time I got off, I should come find you.”

“I’m pretty sure I told you that you were going to have to ask me.” I keep my hands behind my head, knowing that the second I start touching her, I’m not going to be able to stop.

All I want to do is tear that shirt from her and spend the rest of the day losing myself in her body.

Her fingers sink into the hair at the nape of my neck. “Do I really have to do that?”

“If you want anything from me, then yes.” I smirk, lifting my hips slightly and grinding into her, my cock throbbing as her back arches. “You should be thankful I’m not making you beg.”

Gia glares down at me, but it’s playful. It’s the kind of look that’s begging me to take control, toss her on her back, and fuck her until the only thing she knows is my name.

Her tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip as she leans back, her hands leaving my shoulders.

She reaches for the hem of the shirt, specks of paint surrounding her fingernails.

The material climbs higher up her body, showing off the soft curves that only make me harder. I squeeze my hands tighter together, holding back even though I know I’m on the verge of breaking through the last of my restraint.

Gia smirks. “Are you sure I have to ask?”

“Are you sure you want an orgasm?”

Her laughter fills the room as she whips the shirt over her head and tosses it to the floor. “Please, Royce, will you fuck me? I’m horny and I can’t seem to find the vibrator I know I left at the last house.”

I run one hand up her thigh, enjoying the small bumps that form on her skin. “I didn’t see a reason to bring it with me.”

“That confident that I was going to cave?”

“You always do.” I trace the curve of her hip and the dip of her waist, up to the swell of her breast.

Her nipples pucker tighter at my touch as my cock throbs. Her breathy moan has me aching while she presses down on me, grinding hard.

I shift down the bed, taking her with me.

She lets out a small yelp as I flip us over, claiming her mouth with mine.

Her lips are soft, molding to me the way they always have. My tongue traces along the seam of them, dipping into her mouth when she gasps.

I drag her bottom lip between my teeth before kissing my way down her body, tracing patterns on her skin with my tongue until I’m between her legs, mouth closing over her clit.

“Yes,” she says, voice breathy as her fingers weave through my hair. She tugs on it, grinding against me as I press two fingers into her.

My cock throbs as her pussy squeezes tight around my fingers, pulsing as I suck on her clit. Her moans get louder, her arousal coating my fingers.

When her legs start to shake, I thrust harder and faster, working in time with the movement of my tongue against her clit to push her over the edge.

Her orgasm comes hard and fast, body tensing before releasing around me.

I keep teasing her, pressing against her inner walls as I slide out of my shorts, letting them join the shirt somewhere on the floor.

When I kiss my way back up her body, she wriggles beneath my touch.

“You’re taking too long,” she says, hooking her leg around my hip.

She flips us over in a quick move, planting her hands on my chest and sinking down onto my cock.

I moan, gripping her hips and hauling her harder against me as her pussy clenches around me. My balls draw tighter as she starts to rock, fingers digging into my skin as she rolls her hips.

“Good girl, get yourself off on my cock.” I drive up into her, making each thrust deeper.

Gia leans back, cupping her breasts, her fingers sliding down her body to circle her clit.

My fingers dig deeper into her flesh, her pussy milking my cock as it stiffens, and I come. I give her long and slow strokes, one hand weaving in her hair and pulling her head back.

Her back arches, the angle deeper. “Fuck, that feels so good.”

“Then come for me. Come all over my cock.”

She rocks her hips faster, coming hard as she clamps down around me. Her nails bite into my skin, dragging down my chest as she rides out the orgasm for as long as possible.

When she finally slumps to the bed beside me, her chest is heaving and there’s a rosy flush to her skin.

She rolls onto her side, facing me, and tucks one arm beneath her head. “I forgot how good it used to be between us.”

I snort and face her, fingers trailing along her hip.

When she shivers, her gaze flickers to mine, something lingering there that I don’t quite understand. She looks as conflicted as I feel.

“If you fucking your fingers to the thought of me is the same as you forgetting how good it used to be between the two of us, then your memory is pretty good.”

Her cheeks flame as the corner of her mouth curls. “You’re not going to go around spouting that when other people are around, are you?”

I arch an eyebrow, hand stilling. “You trying to keep me your dirty little secret, Gia?”

“And what if I was?”

“Not going to work for me.” I shift and sit up in bed, leaning back against the headboard. “I’m not going to be your secret again, Gia.”

She sits up beside me, pulling her knees to her chest. “I don’t think being anything more than that is a good idea.”

“We can have sex without being secretive about it. Or we could just do the best we can to get along, but you’re not going to sneak in here when you’re lonely, get me to fuck you, and then go back to icing me out. I’m too old to play those damn games.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the two of us enjoying each other for the time being, but do you really want Aiden to find out about it?” She picks some of the paint specks from her fingers. “You know that it’s only going to blow up in our faces if he finds out.”

“He’s going to find out sooner or later, and I don’t think you give him enough credit. He’s not some bloodthirsty asshole like your brother.”

At least not all the time.

He has been getting worse, his obsession with the Rinaldos seeming to grow stronger since he was taken captive. More than once I went to speak with him in his office, only to find him pouring over files of the Rinaldos and their last known whereabouts.

Gia scowls at me. “Aiden is hardly standing in line to welcome me to the family.”

I take a deep breath, scrubbing a hand over my jaw. “I know. I’m not saying we run around telling everybody that we’re sleeping together, but you don’t get to erase me out of your life again when this ends.”

Gia glances at me, a muscle in her jaw ticking before she nods. “I can agree to that.”

“We’re going to be the only person the other is seeing for as long as this lasts. I don’t think it would be a bad idea to keep this as just sex between the two of us.”

“I was thinking the same thing this morning.” She stretches out her legs in front of her, pulling the sheet up her body. “I don’t want to be miserable here and Bianca doesn’t deserve to have a miserable mother taking care of her either. I want to do everything I can to keep her happy.”

“She seems like a pretty happy baby.” I try to speak around the lump in my throat, but it feels like it’s forcing all the air from my body.

Though I didn’t think that I would ever have a child, I didn’t think that I would be kept out of a child’s life either.

As annoyed as I still am with Gia about the entire situation, I do understand it.

Gia nods, reaching over for the baby monitor and handing it to me. “You see the way she’s sleeping on her belly with her arm stretched all the way out and the one leg hiked up? You sleep like that.”

“She’s cute.”

“You know, it used to annoy me so much that I was the one who carried her for nine months and then she came out looking like you.”

I chuckle, staring at Bianca. “She looks like you too. Some of her mannerisms are the same and the glare she gives me sometimes has you written all over it.”

“I wish I knew what was going to happen with the war and the drama between our families.” She releases a deep breath, shoulders slumping. “Are you still not going to tell me what the plan is? If I knew what the negotiations were about, I might be able to help.”

“Holding you hostage is the most help you’re going to be able to give us.” I slide out of bed and grab my shorts, pulling them back on.

Was all of this just so she could talk to me about what was going to happen?

Did she think that sex is how she can manipulate me?

Gia gets out of bed, pulling the shirt back over her head. “I know you don’t trust me, but maybe you should. Don’t you want to bring an end to all this bullshit? We have a daughter, Royce. I may like living the life we lead, but I’m not going to if it means I have to worry about family taking her from me.”

I whirl around, invading her space and looming over her. “I thought you came with me because you know I’ll keep her safe.”

“I did.”

“Then trust that I will, and maybe when you earn my trust, I’ll tell you what’s going on.” I haul the bedroom door open as Bianca starts crying in the other room. “Until then, you’re on an information diet.”

Gia scowls, stepping forward, the stubborn set to her jaw suggesting that she isn’t going to let this rest. However, she needs to learn that when I say the conversation is over, it’s over. And this conversation is done .

“I mean it, Gia.” I pause, hand gripping the doorknob until my knuckles ache. “Drop this. Now.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then there will be consequences.”

“Fine,” she snaps, the words more of a growl as she crosses her arms over her chest.

We’ll work on the attitude later.

I leave the room, shutting the door behind me, though I could still feel the daggers Gia glared into my back. As I head down the hall to Bianca, I’m unable to shake the feeling that Gia won’t accept staying in the dark for long.

I shouldn’t be surprised, considering how far she’s willing to go, but if she tests my boundaries on this, it could put us all in a lot of danger.