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ADRIANO

A fter the most awkward breakfast of my life, I hop in my Mercedes, feeling the drag of last night’s drinking like a fist to my face.

But it’s still better than having to sit in a room with Dom and my fiancée and pretend I’m not supremely irritated. Not to mention the fact that I had to sleep at Dom’s house last night.

That’s what I get for drinking.

And to be fair, my real intention was to pursue Gloria when I got there and let her have it after embarrassing me. But I passed out on the ride there and woke up in a guest bedroom, hungover as shit.

All that said, seeing Gloria at breakfast still got me riled up.

She’s got a way of turning things around in my head. I can’t make sense of her.

One minute she’s sweet, smart.

The next she’s razor sharp and cutting deep.

And still after that, she about-faces and acts like her father.

That, I am convinced, is for his benefit, to show him she has what it takes to survive in this life.

Except that I’m still not even sure how much she knows about everything we do. I mean, she has to, right?

Managing money, assets, legal, for a crime boss would have so many red flags built in.

Unless Dom was extremely careful to keep her in the dark.

So that’s why my plans for the day formed while Gloria and Dom chatted about the early heat rolling in for the summer and what that might mean for the wedding in a few months.

A roundabout drive and a few swigs from my flask later, I’m feeling slightly more lucid and a lot less frustrated, trotting up the steps to the office. Glancing around, I let myself in the side door.

I have every right to be here, even on a day off, but I’d rather not attract undue attention.

Because I want to continue my search through the backlogs.

Somewhere, there is evidence of what Dom is up to.

More than that, though, I’m looking for…something else.

First, I need to make sure that the records haven’t been altered to incriminate my brothers and I. Turn us into scapegoats if Dom has to cut and run.

We were always supremely careful to keep things looking above board.

But there are files, copies hidden somewhere that hold the dirt on all of the leaders that owe us. The politicians that needed favors. Dirty cops. Celebrities who wanted the hottest new drugs for their parties.

And Alessandro and I kept them stashed among the rest of the books.

Encoded.

I have to hope that they made their way here to this new office when Dom moved our holdings.

It might be the only bargaining chip I can get ahold of to keep the twins and I alive. If I play my cards right, and my gut isn’t way off base, Dom needs that information, and wants it badly.

He’s had accountants and secretaries scouring the books ever since I got back and trying to keep it on the down low.

But I’ve been rubbing elbows with the everyman and low-level nobodies of business now for weeks. You hear things when they think the bosses aren’t around.

The cool interior of the office waiting room soothes my still pounding head as I saunter across the marble tile floor. It’s quiet.

It’s tough to get even a moment alone these days.

Maybe I’ll catch a nice cool nap while I’m here.

Except that I smell the fresh coffee wafting out of the breakroom a second later and my shoulders tense instantly. Someone else is here.

Not unheard of for Dom’s secretary to stop by.

But then I notice the basement door open. The door requires a key.

Creeping down the steps, I draw my piece, slowing my breathing to listen for any sounds. Never hurts to be extra careful.

Also never hurts to catch somebody in the act doing something they’re not supposed to be doing.

Flickering fluorescent lights have me jumping at shadows, adrenaline heightening every sense.

That’s when I hear it, a frustrated grunt and a thump from the back corner.

Sounds like a woman, muffled. Familiar.

“Hello?” I ask without thinking, immediately kicking myself for announcing my presence.

The responding voice stops me dead in my tracks.

And the sight of Gloria jammed between file cabinets and covered in sheets of paper has me biting my tongue to keep from bursting out laughing.

“Gloria. You need a hand?”

I can almost hear her teeth grinding as she glances back over her shoulder, barely able to get a look at me from her oddly bent angle.

And bent she is.

Bent over, her ass molded through the crisp fabric of her miniskirt. Just a little lower, the silken, creamy skin of her thighs parts as she wiggles, trying to get free and I catch a glimpse of crimson lace.

Pulse. Racing.

“Are you going to stand there staring all day, or are you going to help me?”

“I could definitely stare at that all day…” Another chuckle slips from my lips and that damned giddy, heady feeling she gave me last night comes flooding back.

Dammit.

Even worse when I see the flush of embarrassment flood her skin.

“What’s the matter, Gloria?” I tease, leaning into the room a bit farther so I can see the look on her face.

“I’m caught?—”

“With your pants down?”

Her eyes bulge slightly at the comment, the realization dawning.

“Do you want me to … ?”

“Hold on, I can just—” She squirms, trying her hardest to get out of the mess she’s in. But it’s no use, and she winds up thrusting back into me instead, brushing against the front of my pants.

And instantly I can tell I have a problem.

I could just take her. Right here. Tear that shirt off…

Then she wouldn’t be stuck anymore. Then I could flip around, set her ass on one of these tables and…

She glares back at me, her head tilting.

“Turnabout, huh? Is that what this is?” she grumbles, still pressing into me.

“How long do you think it would take for someone else to find you?” I ask, a smirk tugging at my lips.

“Don’t you dare leave me here all weekend!” she grits out, her hands slipping. The motion pitches her forward, tugging up her skirt in the process. Right before she slams right back into my crotch.

Good God.

The curves of the bottom of her ass cheeks peek up at me, shooting straight through my chest, down my spine, and boiling my blood.

At the exact same moment, something inside me slaps me across the face mentally. As much as I want revenge…

So, I do the chivalrous thing and reach down, pulling her skirt down to cover her ass. Surprising her and pitching her forward, taking me with her.

Throwing out one hand, I catch myself on the cabinet above her.

Leaving me bent over her back, pressed completely against that perfect ass.

“Oh!” Gloria exclaims softly, bracing herself.

“Shit, sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She swallows hard as I try like a floundering idiot to get back over her.

Her tongue tip touches the bottom of her front teeth.

She’s watching me tentatively. Almost like she’s waiting to see if I’ll pull away. I don’t. And then she shifts, wiggling under me slightly.

And I still can’t move.

Like some fucking game of chicken. Who’s going to break first?

And suddenly it’s unbelievably fucking hot in this closet.

“Uh, how did you get into this—” I fumble, nerves getting the better of me.

“My blouse is hooked on…Um, just see if you can—” she gasps, our lips just inches apart.

Pushing up with one hand above her I reach down, feeling the fabric, trying to find…

“Uh.” My hand is full of lace and silk.

Our faces are less than an inch apart as she turns her head to look at me again. Her cheeks are flushed, her breath hitches.

“Adri…” she whispers, and I’m gone.

Our lips brush once, then again. That hand cupped around the magnificent swell of her breast squeezes lightly, drifting back out of her blouse and down her front.

A soft moan slips between us as she gasps. “Undo the…buttons…”

“That’s … what … I’m trying to do …”

But that’s only partially true.

After popping two buttons, my fingers find the satin flat of her tummy, grazing down along the groove, and lower, into her skirt. Imagining the red of the silk when my fingers find the edge of her thong has me twitching my hips involuntarily, grinding into her from behind to relieve some of the pressure of my jeans that just became way too tight.

Gloria’s eyes flutter closed as she presses back in response, arching her back and leaning into the motion. Even more so when I drag one fingertip down between her legs, just to the top of her sex.

“Oh, fuck…” Her softly sung words set me into a blaze of excitement, heat flooding my limbs. Or maybe it’s the fact that I’m holding myself up over her with one hand, balanced on my toes behind her.

But the strain is peripheral, and her neck is stretched out, begging me to kiss it, suck it, lick it.

“I need…” she growls, slumping forward as her blouse catches again and knocks her off-balance.

“To get out of that fucking thing,” I growl right back, planting my feet and reaching around her in one movement. With a swift jerk I tear her away, looping my arm around her and dropping back to pull her with me.

And her shirt completely rips in half, sliding off of her shoulders as I catch her in my arms, her push-up bra and impressive cleavage mashing into my upper chest, shoving them right in my face.

There’s a pause, both of us holding our breath.

Right before I bury my lips between those perfect orbs, swooping one hand down to grip her ass and pull her closer. As I do, I feel her legs part and I walk her back, setting her on one of the lower cabinets, rucking up her skirt and guiding her legs around me.

Our lips collide again, and her fingers scrape up my back, up my neck, into my hair, fingernails tingling along my scalp.

I want her so bad.

I need her.

With a snap I unclasp her bra, dragging it off and tossing it aside. She’s still pressed against me, her skin warm. I need to taste her, to…

My tongue circles her nipple and I bend down, taking one sumptuous, immaculate tit into my mouth, my fingers finding the peak of her pleasure again, her legs spread and her skirt up around her waist.

It’s not enough.

I can feel her soaking through the silk. And I need to feel more.

“Yes … just like that,” she moans.

“Gloria …”

My hand is down the front of her panties in a heartbeat, spreading her folds, dragging one fingertip through the slick of her arousal. Another inch lower and I tease her entrance, desperate to know how she feels inside.

Like lightning, she jolts as I touch her, her back curving into an arch that makes me long to see her on her knees, on my bed in front of me, waiting for me to bury my?—

“Hey, is it just me or does it sound like someone is fucking in the basement?” I hear the loud, echoing voice shout down from the lobby.

And both of us freeze in a full panic.