Page 18 of Runaway in the Mafia (The shadows of Cosa Nostra Chronicles #3)

My footsteps were hurried. The room behind the kitchen was my sanctuary.

It was as dark as my mood. Wine red walls and dark oak shelves that had no doubt seen the war.

The rush of panic in my chest faded away as I walked across and reached up on my toes to grab a jar packed with olives.

I would have combusted if I’d stayed in there.

But when the door clicked shut behind me and the smooth, mellow scent of rich spice whiffed in, the weight of a wrong decision sank into me.

He confirmed it. “Should have stayed out there.”

My hand tightened around the jar like it was a rope hanging off a cliff.

Shit.

One heartbeat and he was three steps in.

“I have to say I’m disappointed.” His voice draped over my back like a winter coat on a chilly night.

Warm, familiar, comforting. “When I told you to hide…” Another step, and his heat brushed my back.

My eyes fluttered shut under the burden of his delicious scent.

“I didn’t expect you to obey.” His hand curved around mine, wrapped around the jar.

Smooth, rough, and intensely warm. He carried the weight and brought both our hands to the counter, setting the jar in front of me.

“Are you going to listen to me now?” His hand clasped my clenched fingers.

His thumb rasped along it. I didn’t give permission, but goosebumps reverberated along my arm.

His heated breath touched the back of my ear.

I bit the moan crawling up my throat. “Just when I thought there wasn’t an obedient bone to be found in your body. ”

There was something to be said about his arrogance.

I yanked my hand away and spun around. I stumbled when I found him closer than I had thought. He was two feet away from me, leaning forward with his upper body and arms caging me. My hip hit the counter. My breath was shaky.

He was in all green again, but his eyes were nearly black. Dark and edgy. Like the lunatic he was. I worked my throat, trying to push sane words out of my mouth.

“Aren’t we a tad obsessed?” My tone was as firm as fresh jelly. I pushed through. “My actions have nothing to do with you.”

“No?” He tilted his head and cocked one brow. “So, you are just an arrogant girl who likes to disobey everyone?”

“What?” My eyes stung. “I never said that.”

“So it’s only me then?”

Frustration itched on my skin. “Ugh, you are not my boss. I’m not listening to you.” He made my head spin so much that I couldn’t follow the conversation anymore.

“Ha. So it’s only with me.”

“No!”

“I agree.”

“What?”

One hand flew to his chin, and he rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “You aren’t exactly agreeing with Mamma, either. Now me, I am a forgiving man, but Mamma… she’ll be so disappointed, and she deserved better. Wouldn’t you agree?”

My eyes narrowed. “Little low even for you, don’t you think?”

He shrugged, unbothered.

“Is this how you do your...” I lifted my hands in little quotes, “Mafia business?”

“Wouldn’t know. This isn’t business.”

“What is it then?”

“Pleasure. Payback time. Call it whatever you want,” he growled, and his hand landed on the counter as he stepped one foot forward. “One kiss is all I am asking.”

There wasn’t a single bone in my body that believed him. I glanced longingly at the shut door.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Resignation followed with a tinge of anticipation. I told myself it wasn’t much of a choice. Something fluttered in my stomach, like the curtains were about to go up and I was about to perform. Anxious. Frightened. Excited. “All right then,” I croaked.

His gaze sparked. He acted like I’d spread my legs and told him to take me. My hands wrapped around the counter, a tangible grip on my sanity. I glued my hip to it and leaned forward. A press was all I needed to do.

His lips were feather-light. Smooth silk underneath mine.

But I hadn’t set any rules, and giving carte blanche to a man like him was bad news.

I realised that when he stepped forward and took what he wanted.

His hands landed on my fabric-clad thighs and trailed them up to my hip, carrying the linen of my skirt along with them.

He lifted me up to him, pushed me back to the counter, and dropped me on it.

He was refined. All polished and effortless in his moves.

When he closed the gap between my legs and stood within my thighs, his tongue had already slipped in.

He carried an undertone of spice and smooth moves.

His crotch warmed my core. He was already thick and hard, and for a woman who had never felt anything like it, it fed me like an aphrodisiac.

My hands crawled up, wrapped around his neck, and roamed in his hair like I was looking for my sanity.

A thick groan spilled from his body, and he was pushing me back to the wall as his tongue traced my mouth.

He was all over me. He didn’t leave an inch untouched.

When he pulled out and nipped a trail along my bottom lip, I abandoned the effort to hold back a moan.

Shit.

I could just come like this. I’d never been kissed.

I hadn’t even realised it. Rajesh had never—cold ice chilled in my veins.

My hands flew out of his hair, and I shoved him off me with both hands on his rashly beating chest. His eyes were glassy, insane, and dancing with lust. Pure and unbidden.

His breathing was all messy. Fast, hard with no rhythm to it.

Pleasure, pure but sinful, heated my skin.

A crazy thought rushed through me. I’d never had an effect on a man like this. I could get used to it.

An annoying sound broke through the fuzziness around my brain. My attention snapped to the door, and alarm bells shot through my body as the handle rattled. “Ahana, are you in there?”

Thank God he’d locked it.

My panicked eyes snapped to his. His breathing was loud in the room. Then again, so was mine. But we didn’t have time to catch up. The handle twisted with impatience. “What’s she doing in there?” Mia’s curious voice came through.

My panicked gaze flew to the door. This was bad.

“That’s weird.” Lara. I think.

“What?” Chiara, maybe, or her sister. They weren’t only similar in looks. I couldn’t think.

“Mamma never locks the door.”

“Oh.” A chorus of girls’ voices sounded, just as my mouth popped open in an O.

You’d think the man between my legs would be worried. At the very least, bothered. He only stepped closer, like he planned to eat me. Again.

No.

I leaned away and shoved him. “I can’t believe you did this!” I whispered angrily.

“I locked the door. Imagine your plight if I hadn’t,” he growled.

No. I wasn’t going there.

Shit.

“Mamma Mia, what’s going on?”

Unbidden panic spiralled in my chest. My hand curled around his forearm. Ada was outside. She was going to lose faith in me. I bit the inside of my cheek and blinked rapidly to hold the dam forming behind it.

“Fuck’s sake.” He frowned as he pushed off and dragged his hand through his hair, frustration etched into every move. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“What?” I croaked.

He didn’t spare me an answer, but I had it a second later, when his fist punched the wall right next to me. The brick dented, and plaster chipped off. My hands flew to my mouth.

What the hell?

He stalked off to the door, shaking off my desperate clutch on his arms. I shrank against the counter, wishing the wall would eat me up.

His voice was full of rage when he yanked the door open, his bloody hand clear to everyone on the other side, his body hiding me from view.

“What’s a man got to do to get some work done here?

You want to help me shove my fist in an idiot or you want to fuck the hell off? ”