Page 24 of Ruin

“I told you I didn’t fuck Lexi,” he growls.

I scoff. “Lying is not something I recommend when you’re trying to manipulate someone. You never know what facts they hold, and bluffing will just get you in trouble.”

He shakes Ann off and closes the distance between us in two steps, grabbing my shoulders and pinning me against the wall. “Take your own advice. You can’t possibly know what I do in bed because I’ve never taken anyone to bed that you know, including Lexi. And that is not a lie, Giovanna.”

I roll my eyes, even though my pulse has just skyrocketed, taking my blood pressure with it, making it hard for me to see straight. “That’s not what Lexi says—”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You believe Lexi over me?”

I waver. I don’t think he’s lied to me before, but men lie. My father lies. Antonio lies. And now after two weeks of ignoring me, years of shutting down my advances, Tommy is suddenly giving me this forever bullshit and trying to fuck me?

“Giovanna!” Tommy’s voice is so loud and harsh that even Ann jumps.

I start to shake, feeling like I’m about to burst into tears,and I don’t know why. “It doesn’t matter. Ann can take care of you from here. Good luck at your interview, Tommy.”

I try to pull free, needing air, needing distance before I unravel completely, but he won’t let me go.

Ann clears her throat. “Excuse me, but I need the shirt and pants, sir.”

With his gaze locked on mine, he roughly drags his hands down my arms to my wrists, forcing my hands to his chest.

“Take it off me.”

It’s an order, a command that triggers a pulse in my pussy. My stomach jumps into my chest as the energy between us practically crackles.

“Do not test me, Giovanna,” he growls. “You may think you know how I handle people who don’t do what I ask, but you don’t. And you won’t like it.”

His eyes are fiery black coals, and my father’s warnings echo in my head. I’m shaking with a combination of rage and fear, half that rage aimed at myself. Because I want him. Even if he’s fucking with me, playing me, thinks I’m going to fall for some stupid love con bullshit, I fucking want him to be the one to teach me, to hurt me, to make me come.

I don’t want forever. But I need him right now.

I try to steady my fingers as I slowly undo each button, glaring up at him until I reach the bottom buttons. I drop my gaze down to his waist, can’t stop myself from trailing my nails lightly underneath the shirt, along the ridges of his chiseled abs. Just below his waistband, the black ink of his tattoos drips and winds across his muscles, and I trace them gently.

A shudder runs through him, and I look up to find him watching me, his eyelids growing heavy. I pause at hiswaistband, and he gives a harsh nod. Undoing the hook and bar then unzipping his pants, his hard cock twitches when my fingers brush over it. The pants pool at his feet, and Ann grabs them as he steps out.

His bare chest is heaving with short, jagged breaths, and the way his muscular thighs and hard ridge of his cock look in his boxer briefs has me breathing erratically, too. Everything about this man is beautiful, even the wicked way he’s practically baring his teeth at me.

Slowly, he lowers his head, mouth hovering above mine, and growls, “Everybody out.”

10

Tommy

Ican barely breathe this close to Giovanna, her lips wet and parted. She is visibly shaking, and my cock is so hard it hurts. I place my hand in the middle of her chest, feel her heart pounding beneath my palm. This scared, submissive version of her is brand new, and I fucking love it.

Her big hazel eyes glimmer with flecks of gold when I cradle her cheek in my palm, dwarfing her face. Her breath catches, and I can’t resist leaning in, my lips just barely brushing hers, breathing in her heat, her need.

This is it. Our first kiss.

Fuck, she’s everything. I’ve played this moment in my head a thousand times, dreamed of tasting her mouth. Her lashes flutter closed, but when I don’t kiss her, she opens her eyes again and nearly stops breathing when she sees me staring.

“Tommy,” she whimpers.

That’s all it takes.

We slam into each other, mouths frantic and desperate, tongues tangling. Her arms lock around my neck as I slide my hands under her shirt, rough palms over smooth skin,tracing her rib cage until I graze the silky underside of her breasts.

She gasps when I push her against the wall, my cock grinding against her stomach. She fits into me perfectly, tall in her heels, hips arching up to meet mine.