Page 29

Chapter 29

Massimo

When I walked through the door into the safe room, I must've walked through a portal to an alternate universe.

An hour ago, when I ushered Nova in here to keep her hidden from Vito, she was stiff with hurt.

When I admitted why I'd sent all my staff away and was keeping people from the house, I knew exactly what went through her mind—that's she's just a pawn for me to use against her father. Which was reinforced when I sent her into the safe room like she was some dirty secret.

But after making her wait in there for so long, I was expecting any reaction except this.

"What?" I can only stare at her, sure I've misheard her.

"I want you to take my virginity, Massimo." She stares up at me. No longer is she the meek, demure princess, wilted and hiding. But this isn't the fire and fight I've witnessed in her, either. This is…something else entirely.

And it's unsettling.

Her walls are back up, that much I can tell.

"Nova…" I wet my parched lips. "Where is this coming from?"

She tilts her head, regarding me. "You don't want me?"

Jesus Christ. I've never wanted a woman more.

I have every intention of being the one blessed with her virginity—of fucking course, I do—but this is way out of left field .

Tightening my hands on her waist, I pull her against me so she can feel the steel rod in my pants. "Does this feel like I don't want you?" I growl.

Uncertainty flashes across her beautiful face before it's gone.

Slipping my hands lower, I scoop under her ass and hoist her around my waist, walking us toward the wall. Pinning her against it, I grind her along my length, slow and hard. "Do you want me to take your virginity, princess?" She squirms against me, her cheeks blooming pink. "Do you want me to pin you down and slam my big dick—because it is fucking big, princess—into your tight virgin cunt?"

Her mouth drops open as she stares at me.

"Do you want me to prove to you I'm that kind of monster?" I hiss, both in anger and at the sensation of her hot pussy pressed against my aching shaft. "Do you need it to be that way for you to justify in your mind if we fuck, princess? Because you had no choice, and I forced you?"

My stomach revolts at the thought, but I keep the emotions off my face.

She's gone completely still. "That's not what I meant. Massimo…" More uncertainty and doubt flash over her face before she ducks her head down to hide.

"Then tell me what's really going on here, Nova."

She sags against me. Hope blooms within me that she's finally going to trust me a bit, but when her lashes sweep up to reveal her soft brown eyes, the walls are still there.

"I… Because I want you," she blurts, and her cheeks morph from pink to red. "Because, for the first time in my life, I'm doing something for me and what I want."

"Nova." My tone is softer, and she peeks at me through her lashes. I nuzzle my mouth against her temple. "I want nothing more than to have you, all of you. I want you to bless me with being your first."

Your only.

But I keep that to myself because she isn't ready to believe that.

"However, you're not ready for that, princess."

"And if I feel I'm ready?" She quirks a brow at me, and I love her fire .

Holding her tight, I step back from the wall, and she loops her arms around my neck. The motion is so natural it makes my chest squeeze. I walk to the door with her hoisted around my waist.

Leaving the safe room and my office, I walk us through the quiet, darkened house to the curved staircase and upstairs.

I would love nothing more than to take her into my bedroom. She'll be moved in there soon, but she's not quite ready. Plus, I want everything in place and perfect before that.

Stepping into her bedroom, I kick the door closed and head straight for the bed. There, I sit with her straddling me.

She pushes up onto her knees so she's taller than me, looking down. "Are we going to talk now?"

I grin and bite her chin, making her gasp. Then I kiss it to soothe the pain. My hands snake up her back and tunnel into her hair, gripping it at the nape and holding her where I can stare into her eyes.

"You're not ready yet, princess." She's about to protest again, but I push on, painting her a picture of why I feel she's not ready yet.

"When I work every fucking inch of my throbbing, iron hard cock into your wet little pussy"—her mouth has parted into an O, and her pupils have dilated—"I will be doing it bare. There will be nothing"—I tighten my grip on her hair—" nothing between us. I will slide into you, I will thrust into you"—I bring her down onto the rigid length that's tenting my pants—"and I will fill you with my cum."

Her breaths are shallow little pants, and her pupils are fully blown now.

"Every. Last. Drop. Of my cum goes into you, Nova. And we need to get you on a contraceptive first."

Her slender throat bobs as she swallows. She is clearly aroused, but darkness passes over her face. "Why would you want a snake's spawn?"

Bile pushes into my throat, and panic flares within me that she somehow overheard my false words to Vito.

And I didn't mean those fucking words; I only said them to throw my predator brother off the scent of potential prey .

I've referred to her father as a snake before, I try to rationalize her specific choice of phrase. And both my office and the safe room are soundproof.

Her dark look eases. "I don't want an illegitimate child, either, Massimo. Once this is all over with my father, the Mancinis and Santoros are done. Your family will be free of my kind."

She says it so matter-of-factly, it shreds my heart inside my chest. "Nova…That's not what I meant."

Her smile is sad as she cups my face. "We are who we are, Massimo. Your family will never want a Mancini around; I wouldn't either, even if a quarter of what you suspect my father is guilty of is true.

"All I ask is that, once this is over, if I'm still alive"—more bile pushes into my throat at her words and her look of acceptance—"I just ask that I might be able to live my life in peace. To be free of all the monsters."

The last words are said with a broken whisper.

On the inside, I'm screaming and raging, ' Hell no! ' because there's one monster she'll never be free of, but I'm outwardly stoic. I'm more convinced than ever of my plan.

"Are you already on a contraceptive, princess?"

Even if she is, I'm still not having sex with her tonight. One, because I want her to have time to decide if this is what she actually wants. And two, because in less than twelve hours, I'm leaving on a plane for a few days and won't have her feeling abandoned and used.

Another dark look passes over her features, but she shakes her head and looks away.

I gently turn her face back to me. She doesn't try to turn from me again, but she still won't meet my gaze.

"No more hiding from me, Nova. What is it?" When she doesn't answer, I press, "Is it about the contraceptive?"

She finally glances at me, and there's pain that she's trying to hide. "My father always told me my purpose was to serve my master and be bred by him."

That motherfucking son-of-a-bitch.

I'm going to rip Silvestro Mancini apart slowly and make it as fucking painful as possible .

Her eyes shimmer with tears, but she fights them back. There's still pain there, along with something else—she's not telling me all of what's weighing on her about this.

"Nova. Please, what is it?"

Her eyes lift to study me for a long moment. "When you forced me to strip…"

God, if there was one thing I could take back in my life, it's that moment.

"You asked me if I shaved…my…"

I understand the something else that's in her eyes now: shame. I understand because it's raging inside me.

"I was wrong to do that." I nearly choke on the words. "And to say what I said."

"I was forced to get lasered…" She speaks through uneven, stilted breaths. "For my future…husband."

"Fuck." I hang my head. The only thing that could make this worse was if I were the one who forced her. "I'm so fucking sorry, Nova. Can you ever forgive me?"

I lift my head, to beg her for forgiveness, but the hope in her beautiful big eyes makes me lose all words. Then that fragile hope fades, and her walls are coming back up.

I frame her face with my hands. "I'll spend a lifetime making it up to you if I need to, princess."

A soft cry rattles from her lips, and she shakes her head. "Please…don't. Don't do me dirty like that, Massimo."

She thinks this is a test, a game. Something where I'm going to draw her in, then drop the hammer to make her learn another hard-learned lesson that the monsters in her world are the ones in control and always win.

She has part of it right— her monster will win—but she has yet to learn that she's the one in control.

I tilt my head back to stare at her. I love her in my lap, and I fucking love taking care of her. "May I undress you, princess?"

She bites her bottom lip. "I thought… "

Leaning forward, I tug her lip free with my teeth and suck it into my mouth. The shiver that courses through her and the immediate tilting of her hips, trying to seek contact with me, makes me smile.

"I may not be sinking every inch of my big cock into you tonight, but I plan on worshipping that beautiful pussy"—her breath hitches—"along with every inch of you, princess."

A devious glint sparks in her eyes, and she lowers to put more pressure on her jean-clad pussy over my obscenely tented pants. "You've mentioned a few times now how endowed you are. Are you possibly overcompensating for something?"

The little hellcat.

I absolutely love that she feels brave enough to let her real self show with me.

I give her a lazy smile. "How about you see for yourself, princess?"

Uncertainty flashes over her face; partly, I think, because I'm not taking control and driving this scene.

Then she slowly nods.

I lean back on the bed and prop myself up on my elbows so she has easy access. There's a slight tremble in her hands as she reaches for my belt, but her movements are steady and sure. She undoes my belt, then the button of my pants before slowly pulling down the zipper.

When she parts the fabric of my pants, my cock doesn't spring free because I wear tight boxer briefs. I wasn't overcompensating or over-inflating—no pun intended—my size. The boxer briefs keep the beast in my pants caged, so to speak.

She stares down at the thick bulge outlined by the compressive, black material. When her hand reaches for the waistband, and her skin connects with mine, we both suck in sharply at the sensation. Having her naked and pressed against me will be goddamn heaven.

Biting her bottom lip, she pulls the waistband, and I lift my hips so the boxers slide down. My thick length springs free and slaps my stomach.

"Holy shit," she gasps, her eyes popping wide. My cock jerks as she stares in something akin to fascinated horror and panic ripples over her face. "That will never fit. "

She scrambles back like my cock is a weapon aimed at her, and I sit up, pulling her into my lap. I run one hand up and down her back while the other catches her chin.

"Massimo." She's scared and on the verge of whimpering.

"We'll take it slow, sweetheart."

I have to remind myself she's entirely untouched and pure. She admitted she's never even touched herself—which is something I need to unpack with her because I'm certain it has something to do with that house of horrors she grew up in—but I don't push that topic for now.

She's staring down at my cock nestled between our clothed bodies. When her eyes lift to mine again, there's still panic and alarm, but there's desire and need there now, too.

I brush my lips over hers. I've never been this tender with anyone; I've never wanted to show anyone this side of me. Hell, I didn't even know this side of me existed.

"Let me take care of you, princess."

Her hands settle on either side of my face, her breath mingling with mine. Her hair is like waves of silk as it falls forward to frame us.

She nods. But before I can do as I intended, she eases off my lap and stands.

Standing before me—so small, but her might and strength growing infinitely—she does as I had regrettably ordered her to do in the basement.

She strips. Slowly revealing every glorious inch of herself to me.

Then she stands before me, naked—not vulnerable and broken, but strong and defiant.

She's completely bared to me, her walls gone.

She's a fresh slate wiped clean of the wrongful hard lessons she learned.

She's ready to walk through the flames and emerge on the other side, forged by the fires of hell, strong and fierce.

And soon, she'll be ready to stand by my side as my queen.