Page 172 of Madness & Mercy

ENZO:Already handled. You’re welcome, by the way.

NICO:For what? Doing your job?

ENZO:For keeping your boy out of prison. Or worse.

My gaze flicks to the feed upstairs. Julian’s sprawled on the bed, restless, jaw tight, fighting himself. The sight makes heat curl low in my gut. He doesn’t even realize how damn obvious he is.

NICO:Yeah. Thanks.

I kill the screen and shift focus back to the last of the work. I move some money around, shift accounts, try to scrub Braga and Silvio’s remains from every corner of my territory. Ports, routes, and trades are locked down tight with Luca, Enzo, and a small army to watch my back. The near-bust Julian stumbled into is a complication I can’t ignore. Killing a criminal is one thing. Killing a cop is a whole different beast.

But I’m done keeping him in the dark.

Julian Cross deserves to know the truth about the operation, about the enemies waiting to carve us open, aboutme.About the fact that as much as I want to own him, I want him beside me too. Not just as the man who drives me insane, but as my partner.

He won’t be running into fire anymore. No more hits, no more contracts. If I have my way, he’ll never pull a trigger again. But he could oversee things like finances, maybe even operations. He’s clever enough, cautious enough. And it would mean having him here, anchored to me in ways he can’t wriggle out of.

He probably wouldn’t say yes without a fight...but that’s fine. Julian doesn’t come quietly.

I shut the laptop, done with business for tonight. My empire’s secure.

Now I need to claim the one thing that isn’t.

I walk upstairs, swinging open the door to find him spread out across my sheets like temptation itself. His hair’s a mess, shirt halfway unbuttoned, chest rising sharp with every impatient breath. He hears the door and immediately tenses, like he doesn’t know whether to jump up and fight me or beg me to touch him.

I lean against the doorframe, letting my gaze drag over him. “You really think I wouldn’t notice?”

His eyes flick to me. “Notice what?”

“That you’ve been dying for me to come up here.” My voice is low and steady, meant to cut through that pride he hides behind.

Color rises in his face, but he doesn’t move. Doesn’t deny it.

I step inside, shutting the door behind me. The lock clicks. He swallows.

“Careful, piccolino,” I murmur, leaning closer, slipping my jacket off my shoulders. “You don’t want me to think you’ve been disobedienttwicein one night.”

His throat works. He’s trying to act unbothered, but I can see the tremor in his fingers, the way his body arches.

“Your body’s already wrecked,” I murmur, my fingers dragging down his torso, watching him arch into the touch before he even realizes. “Think you can take any more,caro mio?”

His chest rises sharp and shallow, eyes blown wide, almost pleading. The desperation there is enough to unravel me.

“Give it to me,” he breathes, tugging at my waistband like a man starved.

Fuck.

I’ve never seen him like this…so bare, so honest.

“You sure?” I ask, gripping his chin, forcing him to meet my eyes.

He doesn’t answer, fumbling with my belt until my cock springs free. Then his mouth is on me like he’s been starving for it. He takes me deeper, nails biting into my thighs, choking on me but refusing to let go. I fist his hair, forcing him further down until his throat spasms around me.

When I finally release him, he rips back, gasping for air, spit slicking his mouth. His eyes find mine, wide and desperate.

“More.”

I smirk, grip his jaw, and drive into his throat again, harder,deeper. He moans around me, one hand stroking himself, the other clawing at my skin.