Page 74 of Scream (Duchess & Devils #1)

He nuzzles his face into my neck and kisses my clavicle. The silence between us stretches for a few minutes, but it’s not overwhelming. Sitting in silence with Parker has always felt like a special gift we share. With another kiss to my temple, still cradled in his lap, he asks, "Are you okay?"

I nod, knowing that he’s asking about all of it, not just my throat. I run my thumb along my bottom lip before answering. "I know quitting the firm may have been spontaneous, but it didn't feel spontaneous to me." I reiterate to him exactly what I told Raven.

Rubbing his enormous hand over my thigh, his forehead creases, but I press my thumb to it. "So medical school, huh?"

"I really need you to teach me self-defense. Kane is still in New York – who knows for how long? He already found me once easily, Parker. I don't want to be caught off guard again. Because what if next time, it isn't him? What if it's one of the goons in the Syndicate?"

"Goons, huh? Mafia wife through and through."

I laugh and place a hand on his neck, peering into his glittering, beautiful eyes. "Shut up. I'm serious. They have Watchers everywhere, you know?"

"I know."

"They blend in with society. I could be anywhere, and they could be anyone."

He places a tender kiss on my temple. I love the freedom he feels to be able to touch and kiss me whenever he wants.

"I don't like the way you're talking, but I understand it.

Go on. Let's go change. We can go to the penthouse.

Maks has gym mats there, and we're gonna need them.

I won't be taking it easy on you, Bri. Men, women. If you gotta fight off a baby-"

I roll my eyes and groan. "Parker! Don't be a numpty."

"That poor little baby won't know what's coming for 'em." He grins that gorgeous grin, dimple popping just for me. Kissing my cheek he says, "I love you, baby girl. If this is what you need to feel safer, then we'll do it. I don't like it, but I understand it."

He shifts to lift me off of him, but I stop him. "Can you just hold me, for a little while longer?"

He settles back into the sofa and tugs me a little closer. "As long as you need, baby."

"Throw your elbow in, Sabrina!" Parker screams, arms around my torso. "They're expecting you to freeze! That's when they can-"

"Che cazzo è questo?" What the fuck is this?

Maksim bellows from the doors of his hidden gym.

Parker's arm slips a bit and that's when I twist, my elbow connects with his throat, and then I drive my heel onto his toe.

I turn around – ready to kick at his crotch – but he puts his hands in front of it and steps away, sinking to the mat on his knees while he chokes down his spit.

"That was.... fucking great." He rasps out, inhaling a large breath, eyes red.

I smile up at Maksim and go to him. "Ciao, marito." Hello, husband . I press on my toes, and his arms automatically come down around my waist to accept my kiss.

His Italian comes out in rapid-fire succession as I grab a water bottle, hand it to Parker, then sit on the bench press. I lean back on one hand, listening to my husband yell some more. He throws in a bit of Russian, which throws me off, but when the Italian comes back, I catch on again.

My husband is very irate with us.

He is silent for a moment, only to scrub his hand down his chiseled jaw in a swiping motion, but then he points at Parker. "E tu!" And you!

"Hey!" Savage screams back. "There's no ‘ e tu!’ She asked for this, Maksim.

She's been asking for this for a while now.

After what happened with Kane, and a few other things today, I agreed.

You want her to take a taekwondo class where she's practicing for weeks on a dummy, or get to the nitty gritty fast with someone she trusts, huh? "

"That's my problem, Parker! My wife should not have to learn this stuff! Not what she has you, me, Niko, Sasha. She has an entire army at her back – at her beck and call!"

Oh, he's fuming. I love it.That’s okay. I know how to fix a grumpy, big, bad, Italian mafia husband. I stand, walk toward him, and pout. "Daddy..."

His dark glare softens, accepting me as soon as I reach him. But I surprise him by dropping to my knees – undoing his belt, unzipping his slacks, fishing for his already hardening thick, mouthwatering length – and fisting him.

"All the other wives know this stuff, I should, too."

"All the other wives are not my wife, Sabrina,” he groans.

I swirl my tongue around the head of his massive length while stroking him. I keep my eyes on his when I take him as far as I can, loving the way his knees buckle a bit. "It's important I know this."

He nods, a masculine rumble in his chest when I take him deeper into my mouth, wiggling my tongue on the underside of his shaft, while I jerk him off. He pulls the elastic from my messy bun off. My hair tumbles down in gold and pink waves in his hands. "Duchess..."

"Do you like it?" I ask, but he pushes his dick back into my mouth until he hits the back of my throat. I guess he does.

"Tits out, Sabrina. Dannatamente bella," fucking beautiful . He groans when I obey. "Christ, Sabrina, deeper. You're the queen amongst the others, wife."

"Mmm... I like ‘Duchess’ better, husband," I moan, continuing to suck him while fisting him and lightly squeezing his balls. I withdraw only to say, "I think you should train me with guns, since Parker is training me with self-defense."

"Duchess, you- oh, Cristo."

I shove the entire first half of his cock into my throat, swallowing around him. "It's just a little gun safety, darling. Isn't that better than no training at all?"

He nods again, transfixed by the way I'm doing my best to swallow him whole.

"A little... oh fuck... don't stop... training.

.. Christ, Sabrina ..." his hands come to either side of my head, holding me by the temples, fucking my face in languid pulses until I can feel him growing thicker in my mouth.

"Gun safety... s'good... good idea... ugh, yebat, fuck , cazzo! "

He yanks his cock out of my mouth, and I hold my tits up for him while holding my tongue out.

Each splash of his cum landing on my tongue, chin, chest, and tits has him cursing in every language he knows.

He taps the head of his dick on my tongue, squeezing the last of it out.

I lick it up with a happy small hum. "You are.

.. a viciously clever little thing, wife. "

Parker exhales heavily from behind us. "Yeah, that's how she got me, too."

2 weeks later

I’m standing outside of an empty warehouse with Maksim, Parker, Niko, and Sasha in Staten Island on a gorgeous July morning.

And by gorgeous , I mean it’s drizzling, and it’s cooled down about ten degrees.

It reminds me of home, and I’m hit with even more guilt that I haven’t visited Charlie’s grave.

The building reminds me of one I visited a while ago, and I shake off the memory as quickly as it came.

“Is this where you murder me?” I ask Maksim.

With a laugh, he takes my hand, and I very reluctantly accept it. The looks down at where we’re joined and he makes a contented sound, as though he’s content to simply hold my hand. Dark eyes find mine. “This is where Bianchi and Rossi train our guys to fight and how to use weapons properly.”

I take a quick peek over my shoulder, eyeing the ten foot fences surrounding the warehouse – barbed wire crowning the top. “Guns.” I whisper.

“Si, Duchessa, guns . Are you sure you still want to learn how to use them?”

Looking at the large building which seems to need a few repairs and a fresh coat of paint, or fourteen, I incline my chin once and we carry on.

As soon as the doors open, I gasp in utter shock.

The floors are waxed, and a blaring white, gleaming under the bright lights.

There’s an older Italian lady working as a receptionist. I see Samantha leaning over her, peering at something on the screen.

She stands straight when she sees me, walks around the large desk, and stretches her arms out for a hug. Holding back a shudder, I return it.

“Sabrina! Vincenzo told me you’d be by today! You look beautiful, I love the pink. It fits you. Maksim! Niko! Oh, who is this? ”

“Oh, this is my bodyguard, Parker.” I hate saying that. It feels wrong .

“Hi Parker! Welcome! Give me just a few minutes. I’m sure Vinny is on his way up here, but we can meet him halfway.

" She smiles, rounding back to the desk, but the small woman sitting behind it shakes her head and a makes a small shooing motion. Samantha chuckles. “Never mind, then. Come on, I’ll take you to my husband.”

We go through the corridor leading away from the vast receptionist area, and I’m dying to ask why such a large space is needed.

But as soon as we exit the hallway, I’m met with what looks like a scene from a war movie.

Men in tactical boots and pants, wearing tight black Under Armor shirts, walk past us carrying manilla folders. It almost looks like an army.

I murmur “bodyguard school,” under my breath, and Maksim squeezes my hand, muttering back, “Yeah, this is exactly that.”

If I thought the receptionist area was an abyss, the range here expands for what seems like a football field or longer. There is an area towards the back that opens like a garage. There are about eight desks in the last corner, and I see a familiar face. “Is that Aleksi?”

Maksim nods. “Samantha, hold on. I need to properly introduce Aleksi and my wife.”

“Oh, sure. Vincenzo is about to be here. Sabrina, I’ll see you for our brunch on Tuesday?” she queries, soft brown eyes on mine. She leaves with a hug and goes back the way we came.

“Aleksi!” Maksim calls out, and I have to take a step back when Aleksi gets closer.

He’s young, but he’s huge – like a bear.

He towers over me and Maksim, and I wonder how I missed him at the wedding.

Gigantor has dirty blonde hair in a neat knot on his head, warm honey eyes framed with dark brown lashes, his dark glasses, and tattoos on every inch of skin that’s visible.

“Sabrina!” he says with excitement and familiarity.

He reaches down and wraps his arms around me in a very tight hug, and I yelp.

“Put her the fuck down!”

Aleksi’s soft brown eyes widen in concern, brows bunched together as he puts me down.

His full lips frown, and I giggle, nervously shifting from foot to foot.

He’s young – maybe only a few years younger than me – and the top of my head is still at his ribcage.

He looks down at me. “Are you okay? I’m sorry.

I think you’re the coolest woman I’ve ever met.

Virtually, of course. The way you had the FBI raid Donahue’s was fucking fantastic.

It was like watching an episode of Criminal Minds .

Are you friends with that guy?” He talks a mile a minute, and he’s almost bouncing on his toes.

I nod.

“Can I meet him? I know he was at the wedding, but then there was food…” he trails off.

I giggle again, my nerves uncoiling in his puppy-like demeanor – reminding me of Jonas. “I’ll see what I can do. He’s a professor now and prefers his involvement with the FBI on the DL.”

Aleksi nods. “I can understand that. You’re still a baddie even if you can’t. You have any sisters?”

I shake my head. “Unfortunately, my sister is set to be engaged pretty soon.”

“Bummer,” he replies, then looks at Maksim. “What are you doing here?”

“My wife is meeting with Bianchi and Rossi to be trained.”

“Fuck, you just got way cooler.” Aleksi says with admiration in his tone, and I snicker.

“I’m not so sure. I just felt that with everything going on, I should probably be trained in the right environment.”

He nods. “Yeah, that’s actually a good idea. Let me know if you ever want to get together, and I can show you the tech side of everything we do.”

I scrunch my nose. “I may have to take you up on that. The most I can do on a computer is turn it off and on properly. Oh! You know, I do have my former assistant Lillian. She’s a law student.”

“I’ll look her up.”

“I-” before I can ask how he can simply look her up by just her first name, I hear-

“Maksimo, Nikolai, Sasha,” from behind me.I turn to face the other capos in Tom ford suits. They stretch out their hands, and I take them. “Sabrina, it’s so nice to see you again. And this is?”

“This is the man my mother pays to report back to her - Parker.” I reply.

They nod with matching Cheshire-like grins on their faces.

I’m inclined to say they’re very handsome for being older, but they’re dull in comparison to my men.

Fierce Italian features – where I’m starting to see Maksim has more rogue-like Russian features that highlight certain traits.

“Come, we only have a short span of time before we need to be home with our wives.”

“Samantha is here.” I reply.

“Samantha does not like to wait to be fed,” Vincenzo laughs. “She gets… what do you call it? ”

“Hangry.” I laugh.

“Yes, more so now that we’re expecting our first child.”

I gasp. “Oh! She did not tell me that!”

“We haven’t told many people outside of our little bubble. She wants to wait until it’s appropriate. But a blessing is a blessing, and I’m excited.”

Maksim slaps a hand on his shoulder. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you, old friend. What about you? Children in your future soon?”

Maksim beams at the older gentleman. “We want to enjoy each other a little longer.”

Vincenzo shrugs as we all step into a large steel elevator. “You’re still young. Look at me. I’ll be forty-three this year.”

Maksim hums, but the look he gives me says it’s a conversation he wants to have later. I gnaw on my bottom lip as the whirs of the steel box begin our descent. I keep my head down. Is it a conversation I can have?

The lift stops, and doors open. One by one, the men exit.

I’m the last to step out, and I am in awe as every step we take, light after white light turns on.

The space is immense . The floor is a blinding white, waxed to perfection, and it’s chilly down here.

I’m glad I decided to wear my sweats and trainers.

On one side are all types of guns ranging from small to large behind a glass wall.

Then, there are stalls and stalls – like a gun range – with the distance to the target going farther and farther, until I swear, one of them is nothing but a dot.

Mr. Bianchi turns slowly with a grand smile on his face. “Are you ready to begin?”

My smile widens to epic proportions. “Fuck yeah.”