Page 33

Normally, I’d run, tail between my legs like some kicked dog. But I’ve spent a lifetime choking down cowardice, and I’m done. In the car over here, I wrestled with the what-ifs, the maybes, every piece of doubt. They all led me back to him. I can’t leave

“Move. I’m here for Adriano.”

He crosses his arms. “Heard you loud and clear. Answer’s still no.”

“Tell him it’s me. Now.”

The other guy chuckles. “You deaf? Get lost.”

“Adriano! Adriano! I’m here! Please, I need you!”

“That’s it!” the stoic one roars, lunging forward. His meaty hand clamps around my arm, pulling so hard I yelp, pain searing up to my stomach in a hot, sick wave. “Get the fuck out!”

I’m about to scream again when the door flies open, and there he is.

Adriano, shirtless, bandaged, his arm a mess of blood and stitches.

He is barefoot like some untamed king. His eyes lock on mine, then drop to the hand bruising my arm.

His face twists from shock to molten fury in a heartbeat.

I brace for him to turn that rage on me, to spit me out like trash. But he doesn’t.

“Get your fucking hands off my woman!” he bellows, voice a guttural snarl. His knuckles white like he is ready to smash bone. The man drops my arm fast, steps back, and bows his head.

“Sorry, Don—”

He stalks toward me, all predator and heat, and before I can breathe, his hands cup my face, and his lips crash into mine, a brutal, consuming kiss that stops the world dead.

I’d forgotten the sheer force of him, the way his tongue claims mine, so filthy and desperate.

I unravel, my legs trembling, my core aching.

“Woman, you taste like heaven,” he rasps. “I’ll be right back.”

Then his glare snaps to his men, and he stalks past me, his bare feet hitting the ground hard, and stops in front of the first guy, towering over him.

“What the fuck did you just say to her?”

The guy shrinks, shoulders hunching. “Boss, we didn’t know—”

“Didn’t know?” Adriano grabs him by the collar, jerking him up so fast his boots leave the floor.

“I said I don’t want to see anyone. She’s not anyone, you fucking idiot.

She will never be just anyone to me, is that clear?

The next time she says she wants to see me, you let her see me.

I don’t care if I am with the freaking president, you let her through.

And don’t you ever treat her like that again. ”

The second guy shifts, smirking like it’s a joke, and that’s a mistake. Adriano releases the first one, letting him stumble back, and turns on the other. He moves fast, grabbing the guy’s throat with his good hand, and slams him against the wall.

“You think this is funny? You laugh at her again, I’ll rip your tongue out and shove it down your throat.”

The guy chokes, hands clawing at Adriano’s iron hold, face turning red. “Sorry, boss,” he wheezes.

Adriano squeezes harder, his knuckles whitening, then shoves him down. The guy hits the ground, coughing. Adriano steps back, blood seeping through his bandages, staining his skin red. He points at them both, voice a snarl.

“Next time you disrespect her, I’ll bury you alive. No warning. No mercy. You touch her, you die. Got it?”

They nod quickly, heads down, muttering, “Yes, boss,” like scared dogs. He then turns to me. His eyes soften, just a flash, but the fury’s still there, simmering under his skin.

“Come here,” he says, rough but steady, holding out his good hand.

I run to him now, legs shaking but sure, and crash into him. His arm wraps around me, tight and possessive, pulling me against his bare skin. Blood smears onto my jacket but I don’t care.

“You’re here,” he murmurs, voice raw, his breath hot against my hair.

“I had to,” I whisper, fisting his skin, my nails digging in. “Gianna told me you came. She sent you away, but I couldn’t stay away.”

His thumb brushes my cheek, smearing a tear I didn’t know was there.

I kiss him, hard and desperate, tasting salt and him, my body pressed tight against his. He groans, pulling me inside, slamming the door shut. We stumble to the couch, his hands everywhere, mine tearing at him like I can crawl inside him.

“I love you,” I gasp between kisses, raw and unfiltered. “I’m done fighting it.”

He stops then straightens. “You can still walk away. I’m not good for you. You know that.”

I shake my head, closing the gap until our boots nearly touch. “I don’t want to walk away. I tried. It sucks.”

A rough laugh escapes him. He reaches out, brushing his knuckles along my jaw. “I haven’t been myself since I’ve been away from you. I want you. All of you.”

My breath hitches. His touch sends sparks down my spine, but it’s his words that gut me. “Then take me,” I whisper, grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer.

He hesitates, eyes searching mine. Then he crashes his mouth against mine, hard and desperate. I kiss him back, just as fiercely. He groans, backing me against the wall, pinning me there with his body. His lips move to my neck, teeth grazing my skin, and I gasp, digging my nails into his shoulders.

“You sure about this?” he murmurs, voice low, rough with need.

“Shut up and fuck me,” I say.

He growls, lifting me off the floor. I wrap my legs around his waist as we stride through the penthouse and he takes me to his private office. There, he plants me on the edge of his desk. Papers scatter, a glass tips and shatters. He doesn’t care. Neither do I.

He’s on me in a second, hands tearing at my shirt, buttons popping loose. I arch into him, skin burning where he touches. It’s messy, frantic, perfect.

But then he slows, pulling back to look at me. His eyes soften, just for a moment. “You’re my everything, you know that?”

I freeze. “Don’t get soft on me now.”

His lips curl, but there’s warmth in it. “Too late.”

I pull him down again, kissing him deep, letting the world fall away.

“He touched you, Pen,” he growls. “No one touches you.”

“I know…” I kiss his jaw, his stubble scraping my lips as my shaking fingers fumble with his shirt buttons. I can’t breathe, can’t think, not until he’s buried inside me, filling the void that’s been clawing at me anytime he is away. “But they didn’t know, right?”

He tugs my skirt down, hoisting me up with one rough tug so it peels off my hips and pools on the floor. No panties. His eyes catch it, and the grin that splits his face is pure animal, teeth bared like he’s ready to devour me whole.

“Nothing underneath. Jesus Christ, you’ve got me by the throat, don’t you?”

My finger drags down, tracing the hard ridges of muscle, those tattoos sprawling across him like a map of sin. My skin prickles, hypersensitive, drinking him in.

“You’re perfect,” I rasp, voice trembling with need.

Adriano grabs my shirt, tears it over my head, and tosses it to the floor like trash.

His mouth dives for my nipple, hot and wet, tongue swirling rough around the stiff peak.

I arch into him, spine bowing as electric jolts sear through me, but he freezes, and I choke down a frustrated growl, feral and needy.

“You smell so damn good, sweetheart,” he murmurs, voice thick with hunger.

“Adriano…”

He slams into me without warning, and my vision explodes into a haze of colors.

“Fuck, yeah,” he snarls, grabbing my ass to pull me closer, driving deeper until I feel him in my bones.

His moan rips through the room, raw and primal, and my body answers with a matching desperation, a filthy ache I can’t shake.

“I’ve thought about this pussy every damn night. You don’t know how many times I’ve fucked my hand to the memory, Pen. I’m a grown man, and you’ve got me begging. Put me out of my misery.”

“Fuck me,” I plead.

He shifts, his cock hitting that sweet spot, and I cry out, loud and shameless. Then he stops, pinning me with his stare.

“Look at me, Pen.”

It’s a command, hard and unyielding, not some soft request, and it sets me ablaze. I crave every piece he gives me, and lately, it’s more—more skin, more heat, more of his soul bleeding into mine.

I lock eyes with him.

“Keep looking,” he growls, thrusting again, slowly and so harshly. “See how we fit. Feel my cock stretching you. Tell me you love it.”

“I love it,” I scream, voice breaking as he pounds into me. “Don’t stop. Never stop fucking me like this…”

Sweat glistens on his forehead, his chest, dripping as he hammers into me. His groans are loud, deep and guttural, swallowed by the depraved rhythm of our bodies. I’m lost in it, drowning in the slick, messy heat of us.

“No one else,” he rasps, his onslaught merciless, splitting me open. “You’re the only woman. The only one.”

This isn’t tender. It’s not sweet. His thrusts are brutal, animalistic, ripping screams from his throat that echo off the walls.

I don’t care who’s outside, who might hear the wet slap of skin, the raw cries.

Neither does he. He doesn’t slow, doesn’t ease up, and I don’t want him to.

My nails rake down his back, digging in, drawing red lines I know he’ll wear like a badge.

“I want to come,” I whimper, teetering on the edge, body coiled tight.

He slides a rough finger between us, rubbing my clit with bruising pressure. “Come for me, sweetheart,” he grinds out, voice strained, dripping with effort. “Drench this cock. It’s yours. All fucking yours.”

I shatter, screaming, shaking beneath him as the orgasm rips me apart. “Oh my God!”

He stiffens, grunting loud and ragged, and I clutch him tighter. He spills inside me, shuddering, his release a hot flood that leaves him trembling. I kiss his neck, tasting the salt of his sweat, sharp and addictive, and let out a breathless giggle.

“You’re so good to me. Have I told you that?”

A soft but wicked grin spreads across his face. “Yeah, but I’ll spend my whole damn life waiting to hear it again. That’s how deep you’ve got me hooked.”

“I love you,” I whisper.

“I love you too,” he says, claiming my mouth again, his kiss a promise laced with something I’m not sure of but is bound to be exciting.

Outside, his life is chaos, filled with blood, power, death.

In here, it’s just us. And I know, staring into his eyes as he starts to move inside me again, that I’m fucked.

Not just now, but for good. I’ve accepted that love is a cage, and I’ve locked myself in willingly.

No idea where the damn key is and no regrets. Just him.

THE END