Page 40 of Sin City Obsession (De Salvo Empire #1)

The gun on Rocco’s calf had been intended as a backup for one of them from the beginning.

It was why he’d worn a looser pant, and why she’d held her position on that side of his body specifically.

So she hadn’t thought twice before dropping to the ground when Lobos whipped out his gun, letting herself act like a scared damsel who just wanted to disappear behind her lover.

And as she’d anticipated, Lobos had written her off.

When he’d pointed his gun at Rocco, despite that they really had intended to interrogate him, all she’d seen was the threat.

In retrospect, she knew why neither Ignazio nor Marzio had shot him down immediately.

They’d had clean lines of sight to do so.

But Rocco had made it clear he had questions for the bastard. Technically, Alessa had overstepped.

But letting the spy even possibly put a bullet in the man she loved had not been an option.

She dropped her head back, against the seat. The man I love. It felt like that had snuck up on her, yet at the same time, she was finally sure. And, really, that complicated a lot of things. Or it should.

Except she also remembered Rocco doing the stupid, heroic, macho thing and stepping between her and a gun only seconds after she’d shot a different gunman down for him.

One of his own men, one who hadn’t seen her face before they’d rendezvoused for the apprehension of Lobos, had probably seen her bodily aimed toward Rocco with a gun in her hand.

The only other thing that man knew was that they were there on the hunt for a spy, a traitor.

Rationally, distrusting her wasn’t the wildest reaction.

Rocco had clearly not agreed. And again, for a moment, there was a man pointing a gun at the man she loved.

She could barely hear anything over the thunderous beating of her heart as they climbed from the SUV and took the elevator up to the penthouse. Rocco was still beside her, unharmed but understandably frustrated, and she was becoming quickly overwhelmed.

Most of her first week was already over. She was in love. She would be expected to return to Newark at the end of her vacation time. She would be expected to return to work. But she was in love with the head of a different family, almost clear across the country.

Alessa twisted a hand in the fabric of her shirt, her gaze absently tracking as he moved into the living room.

He stripped off his suitcoat and began divesting himself of his guns, starting with the holster hanging on his shoulders.

“What a fucking mess,” he said with a grunt, as if grumbling to himself.

He certainly wasn’t wrong. On top of having to present confidence and strength simply for being the new Don, and having to worry about everything with his father’s recovery, now he was faced with a war .

Her throat constricted and she moved closer as he added the second gun to the coffee table. She didn’t have a perfect solution for how to make anything work long-term, but she absolutely did not want to see him cut down, either.

Rocco looked up when she stepped between his knees and arched a brow at her. “Something on your mind, beautiful?”

“Lots of things, actually,” she admitted.

Too many things. She reached out and trailed her fingers over his shoulders.

“What you did back there … was incredibly stupid.” She made sure to smile as she spoke, and only briefly paused.

“You keep calling me your ‘queen,’ but I kept not letting myself think about what that really means. And then all of a sudden, you were stepping in front of a gun for me. When I’m sure you knew you didn’t have to. ”

How did she articulate to him how much that meant? That she understood the weight of the risk he’d taken— shouldn’t have taken—and it had brought everything into such stupidly bright clarity?

Rocco sat back and raised his hands to take hold of her hips.

“There are different kinds of ‘have to’, Alessa. Was there another way to get that moron to not point his goddamn gun at you? Yes. Was there another way to make my point? Probably.” He tightened his grip.

“Could I stomach the thought of taking the risk, no matter how small, that he might pull the trigger before I could say the words, or that knocking his arm aside might cause him to involuntarily squeeze? No. I could not.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs, beating harder, louder, and she felt her smile broaden as warmth bloomed in her chest. She swept her hands up his shoulders, up the sides of his throat, until she was cupping his jaw. “You could have startled him, and we might both have ended up shot.”

“Better together than letting it be you.” And he meant it. She could see it in his eyes.

Alessa fought a sudden surge of tears and leaned down, brushing a kiss to his lips.

She ghosted her lips along his, once, twice, then went back and let him catch her mouth long enough for their tongues to slide together.

Her fingers slipped into his hair, like he’d done to her in that hallway.

Then she eased back, retreating from his heady kiss to meet his gaze.

“There’s something,” she whispered, “I think I should tell you.”

He worked his fingers beneath the hem of her shirt and pressed them directly into her skin. “Hmm?”

I should keep it to myself. But she wouldn’t. Because she would regret that choice more than the other. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Rocco Cavallo.”

He stared at her for a long second, as if he hadn’t heard her, or as if he were struggling to comprehend her words.

Then he’d pulled her down, his lips crashing against hers in a hard, demanding kiss.

His hands swept up her shirt, teasing her breasts, and he broke the kiss in the interest of ripping it over her head.

“You understand what you’re saying to me, right?

” He bent his head and trailed his kisses down her throat, ran his tongue over her collarbone.

“You realize that you not loving me was the only thing that held me back?”

A strange combination of a moan and a laugh bubbled up her throat.

“Since when were you holding back?” Feeling emboldened, she pushed him upright and leaned forward, enabling herself to whisper into his ear.

“Did you think I hadn’t noticed my birth control went missing after you moved me in?

” Granted, she suspected she hadn’t noticed right away.

And she hadn’t exactly ever managed to slip away to any store that might sell any Plan B.

Rocco chuckled. “I did wonder.” His hands slipped beneath her skirt, pushing it up as he reached for her ass. “Now get naked so I can fill that sweet pussy again. I need a break from phone calls.”

Alessa clicked her tongue, pointedly fished his phone from his pocket to set it beside him, and pressed his back into the sofa as she sank to her knees.

“Sorry, sir. You really need to make at least one phone call…” She offered him a sultry smile and went to work on his belt.

“As your queen, I would advise, in the current situation, it would be smart to request some extra manpower that can both be trusted and double as temporary leadership. I believe that sort of situation is the true purpose of an allegiance?” She pulled his cock free from his slacks and boxers as she spoke, then trailed her fingers up his length.

Rocco groaned. “ Fine , I’ll make one more call.

On two conditions.” He tangled a hand in her hair, pulling it taut enough to sting in the best way.

“First, I want you swallowing my dick nice and deep like I know you can, but don’t suck me dry until I’m done.

I plan to come all over those gorgeous tits of yours. And second, you promise to trust me.”

She was one hundred percent sure that second condition was a trap, but her brain had become too fogged with lust to figure out how. So she nodded. “Whatever you say, sir.” She slipped her fingers beneath his partially untucked shirt. “Let me help you relax.”

He snorted, grinned, and moved his hand to support her jaw. “We’ll get to that part eventually, too. Now, be a good girl and open wide for me.”

She licked her lips and did as he asked, slipping her tongue out over her bottom teeth in the process. With her eyes, she attempted to nod to the phone.

He guided his cock over her tongue, teasing both of them for a moment before tilting his hips and rolling forward.

Her hands flew to his waist as his girth filled her mouth and in seconds he was pushing against the back of her throat once more.

No matter how many times she sucked him off, she always had a split-second of panic thinking he would just end up choking her with his size.

Then she adjusted, as always, and swallowed him deeper.

Her eyes watered and her tongue writhed against the underside of his cock.

Rocco let out a low groan of pleasure and buried his hand again in her hair. “You really give the best fucking blowjobs. Fuck.” He dragged in a deep breath. “Better make this call quick.”

She moved her hands up until she could feel his skin again and let herself work him, just a bit. He’d asked her to draw it out, and she didn’t know how long his conversation with Dante would need to be.

She tried very hard not to think about the fact that this would make the second time she’d been doing something sexual, and therefore highly inappropriate, with her boss on the phone.

Rocco put the call on speaker again, of course.

And he wore a smug-as-shit grin on his face when the voice that answered was not one Alessa immediately recognized.

“It’s me,” he said to whoever the hell he’d called, never breaking eye-contact with her.

“Get the jet fueled and prepped. Alessa and I are flying out to Newark tomorrow. And make reservations for the crew for the entire weekend, I don’t plan on being home before Monday. ”

Her brows shot up her forehead. On reflex, she pulled backward.

He tightened his grip of her hair and rocked his hips forward, keeping her well attached to his cock.

“Understood, sir.” There was a distinct pause. “And … will Ms. Adimari be returning?” The more he spoke, the more he did sound kind of familiar.

Rocco stroked a thumb across her cheek. “Yes, Ugo.” He paused for just a beat to draw a breath. “I expect I’ll be bringing back some very good news, on both fronts.”

“I look forward to it, sir. Please don’t worry about anything here. For just a few days, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Make sure that paperwork on the rehabilitation facility doesn’t get dropped while I’m away,” Rocco said. “I want to depart in the evening, so we can arrive in Newark early. Arrange it with the pilot and text me the details.”

“Consider it done. ”

The line clicked and Rocco shoved the phone away before plunging his free hand into her hair opposite his other.

He spread his legs a bit wider, eased back, and pushed into her again.

“Fuck, you’re so sexy on your knees for me.

Suck my dick now, beautiful. Bring me to the edge so I can bathe you in my cum again. ”

The questions that had built in her mind, the almost awkward awareness, disappeared under the onslaught of his dirty words and the physical sensation of his movements.

Her body ached for him in other places—places she knew he wouldn’t give her until she did what he was asking here.

So she curled her nails against his skin and complied, hollowing her cheeks at intervals and swallowing around the length of him.

He groaned again, the sound thicker than before, and suddenly pulled out of her mouth altogether.

A wet smacking sound filled the air as he pumped himself only twice, his other hand curling around her throat in order to keep her head tilted up, and then his release shot free and all over her face and chest. Just as he’d promised.

And damn him if she didn’t want to immediately climb onto his lap, work him into another frenzy, and this time swallow it inside.

Alessa licked her lips, catching a bit of his salty tang in the process, and held his hooded stare as she swallowed it down. “You do like making a mess of me, don’t you, sir?”

His grin returned. “It’s the only kind of mess I like seeing you in, my queen. Make no mistake about that.”

She drew an unsteady breath. “That … wasn’t the call I thought you were going to make. ”

“I know. But when asking a man to lend his soldiers to another for war, in person is better.”

Alessa pushed to her feet and reached for the zipper on her skirt. “Is that your only reason? You remember I’m not supposed to return to Newark until the week after , right?”

Rocco’s gaze dropped to follow her hands.

“It is not the only reason. I also want to meet your parents.” He stood as her skirt hit the floor and curled his fingers again around her throat, this time loosely.

“As for whom you work for … we’ll talk about that in a day or three.

But let’s just say, I no longer agree.” Then he swept a thumb up, wiping his cum from her cheek, and pushed it past her lips.