Page 22 of King of Obsession (Kings of the Underworld #1)

I wake up just as I fell asleep, spooning her.

I should go to work, but instead all I want to do is stay in bed with her. I took her two more times last night, both in the hot tub and in my bed. By the time I returned from the bathroom after I cleaned her up, she was asleep.

Her scent drives me insane, her sensual smell mixes with mine heavy with the sex permeating the room.

There’s this pressing urge that I need to take advantage of every moment with her, as if someone will rip her from my arms. The thought that I will lose her and all the delight she has brought in my life debilitates me. Not liking where my thoughts head, I roll out of bed, letting her sleep longer.

Taking my phone with me into the bathroom, I quickly check my messages and emails.

I text Mika that I am postponing our meeting and then instruct my assistant to cancel all my appointments for today.

I can’t remember ever taking a day off, but work is the last thing on my mind.

My brain floods with thoughts of her while my body burns for her.

Turning on the shower, the warm water cascades down my back. Palming the wall, my head hangs. I am in so deep with her.

A dainty hand snakes around my waist. She embraces me from behind, placing a soft kiss between my shoulder blades, her lips lingering there. This intimacy blankets me, pushing me deeper into my obsession.

Turning around, she smiles brightly at me, single-handedly becoming my personal sunshine.

She tilts her head, demanding all my attention. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“That I am screwed.”

She absentmindedly traces my chest with her hands, exploring every muscle and humming appreciatively.

“Don’t betray me, Luciana. Don’t fucking do it. I’ll lay this world at your feet. But—”

She silences me by clutching her fingers around the pendant. Dragging me down to her eye level, she plants a hard kiss on my mouth. It doesn’t escape me that she doesn’t reply and that fucks with my head.

As we wash each other, I ignore my raging hard on—eager and desperate motherfucker.

Nothing compares to being inside of her.

I know I am big, and considering she was a virgin a few days ago, I need to tame my desire.

She is most surely sore and tending to her satisfies another part of me that loves to spoil and take care of her.

I have already decided not to work today, so I’ll just show her that my promises are not empty. I’ve earned respect through my actions but also because I always keep my word.

“Let’s test that spending affinity of yours.”

“You will regret this,” she says teasingly, sounding excited.

Impossible. I’d spend every cent to my name on her.

After the shower, we walk inside my walk-in closet, and she discovers her belongings neatly arranged on one side of the closet. I have a woman who comes to clean and cook several times a week.

“What did you do? What does this mean?” she inquires, looking at me contritely.

“You know exactly what that means.”

“Enzo…,” she starts. Whatever she was about to say is irrelevant and she’s aware of that. Shaking her head, she gets dressed and so do I. Then she slips inside the bathroom with her makeup bag.

I am waiting for her in the living room when the elevator pings and my best friend strides inside, looking pissed as fuck. His hawk eyes peruse the room as if he can see she’s here somewhere.

“I thought you were sick, but I see you’re doing more than fine,” his passive aggressiveness is not lost on either of us.

“The world won’t end if I take one day off,” I grumble.

“I think you need a reminder of who we fucking are, Enzo.”

Stalking to him, I say, “I could never forget that.”

“Good. So where is she?” he asks, scrubbing a hand down his face.

Right then, Luciana comes out from the bathroom, looking like a supermodel in a white dress with black polka dots and matching black sandals.

“You have lost your fucking mind for good,” he groans, casting a dark look at her.

Luciana doesn’t even flinch, and she approaches him. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced. I am Luciana Rossi.”

He gnashes his teeth. “I fucking know who you are.”

“I thought you forgot. Watch your tone.”

My best friend hikes a brow, sweeping his incredulous gaze from me to glowering at her. “You’re in my city, assassin.”

“Shh, we don’t want your men to go hide and leave you unprotected.”

“You’re too busy fucking.”

These two bicker worse than I do with my sister.

“The show who has the bigger balls ends right now. You both have big balls,” I say, playing the referee.

“Please, his are tiny compared to mine. Don’t make me remove yours,” she snickers while looking at her nails, knowing exactly what buttons to press.

Right here and now, I see the Luciana everyone talks about. I grin, proud that I’m the only one who knows a different side of her.

Mika’s irritation is so apparent that the vein in his neck bulges. I need to defuse the situation before these two kill each other.

“Anything else?” I ask him, pinning him down with a ‘get a grip, man’ stare.

“You’re so fucked, I pity you.”

He stalks out, stabbing his finger in the elevator’s panel.

The moment the doors slide shut, Luciana offers me a small smile. “I told you. No one will like me. I am not the one who will be disappointed.”

“I don’t care if the whole fucking planet hates you.”

Expelling a sigh, she nods, and I place a hand on her back, leading her inside the elevator.

“What car?” I ask once we reach the garage.

She shrugs. “I have a driver for my meetings, but I prefer a bike when I have a mission to complete.”

“You’ll have a driver then.”

She giggles, waggling her brows at me. “A sexy one?”

“Forget it. There would be too many killings even I can’t cover them all up. I’ll drive you around,” I grumble, the thought of another man in her vicinity unleashing deadly anger.

Her giggles turn into a full belly laugh, surely reading my tight facial expression.

Until I get my new Lamborghini Sian, I switch between my Ferrari and Aston Martin. What to drive today is a quick decision as she trails her nail over the hood of the Aston.

“You’re betraying Italy.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” she murmurs, and I get the impression we’re talking about more than cars here.

She plasters a smile on her face and tilts her head. “The Aston is more elegant, less flashy, and it seems more comfortable.”

I open the passenger door for her, and she slips inside, making herself comfortable in the dark brown leather seat. Buckling herself in, she crosses one leg over the other.

As I move to the driver’s seat, she nods more to herself. “Bulletproof.”

“All my cars are.”

“Good,” she says as she brushes her diamond necklace.

I jerk my chin toward her neck. “Does it have a story?”

“It’s the numbers of my kills. And in my fashion, I chose diamonds.”

“Fits you.”

“And yours?” she asks, looking at my cross and rose pendant.

“The cross is the symbol of my father’s family and the rose of Mika’s. We combined them and I wear this pendant while he has his tattooed.”

Her eyes narrow on it as if to check how sturdy it is, even though she fucking loves to hold on to it when I am balls deep inside her.

The drive passes too quickly for my liking, but the moment I stop in front of a three-story boutique downtown, she can barely contain her excitement.

We walk inside, and the seller greets us, welcoming us. Before she can open her mouth surely to offer her help, Luciana says, “Follow me.”

Then she takes her sweet time, going through every department while I take a seat in the velvet armchair and enjoy my coffee.

When she returns, the seller drags two racks of clothes, eyeing me apologetically.

“Regretting it?” Luciana asks, sashaying to me.

The moment she’s in grasping vicinity, I pull her between my spread thighs. “I expected more.”

“That can be arranged.” She smiles and kisses me, taking me by surprise with her public display of affection.

I said I would take the day off, but while Luciana is occupied by her shopping spree, I check my phone to see that my assistant has pushed today’s appointments to tomorrow. I will have a full day. Fuck.

Lifting my eyes from my phone, I see she found lots of stuff, from lingerie to ten pairs of shoes, and two bags that cost more than some cars, to jewelry.

“I am done,” she says after two hours. She takes everything, unable to decide, and I like her in all of it.

We move to the checkout, and the seller blushes a fiery red as she says, “That will be five hundred thousand dollars, sir.”

I give her my card and tip her ten percent for enduring Luciana’s commands.

As they bring the bags into the car, she says, “You’re not easily scared away, are you?”

I shake my head, brushing my knuckles along her cheek. “Of my woman’s wishes? Not a chance.”

Since it’s time for lunch, I take her to my favorite Italian restaurant, where she has tagliatelle, and I have a steak.

“I think you’re showing me the best of Reno on purpose.”

“If you say so,” I say with a playful tilt. I have a plan and nothing will deter me.

Rolling her eyes at me, she returns to her food, and I give in to my quest to find out everything about her.

“If you’re so important to Augustus, why doesn’t he offer you a seat at the table? It’s a known fact that you’re his right hand, keep his ass alive and take care of all his dirty business.”

“It’s called the Council of Twelve for a reason. It’s twelve families.”

That’s not reason enough.

I wave a dismissive hand through the air. “There have been exceptions throughout the years, like Donata taking the seat instead of her brother, heirs dying, my father relinquishing his seat. Nothing is set in stone.”

She pins me with a hard stare—I am hitting a sensitive spot.

“Traditions, rituals offer a sacredness to this world riddled with sins. And Donata loves her power. That woman thinks she opened the door for other women, but she closed it shut right after her.”

“I sense there is something.”