Page 22 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)

MATTEO

A n hour after we finished baking the cookies, Leo yawned and rubbed his eyes. “I’m sleepy.”

Lila brushed his hair back from his head in a move so motherly and sweet I couldn’t stand to look away. “I’ll be right back.” She carried Leo from the room for a late afternoon nap, and I busied myself with cleaning up the dishes.

By the time she returned, I’d convinced myself she intended to stay away, and I wouldn’t blame her. I gathered up the last of the dirty dishes and put them in the dishwasher, closing it with a hip and turning it on. The low hum broke the silence, and I propped my hands on my hips.

“Okay. I cooked, and I cleaned. Do I get a reward?”

“Only a guy would think they deserved a reward for things a woman is held responsible for every day.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and hopped onto the counter. “I never understood why gender roles were so strict.”

“Because men like to be responsible for things like protection and fixing problems. We’re basic animals at our core.” I placed my hands on either side of her hips and kissed the tip of her nose. “And I was joking. I don’t need a reward for doing household tasks.”

“Really?” Her heels hooked around my thighs and tugged. “You don’t want anything?”

“Oh, I want a lot of things.” I winked slowly. “I want to strip you naked and fuck you right here in the kitchen. But I want you to want it too. I don’t want sex that feels like an obligation or a pat on the head for a job well done.”

She slipped a hand between our bodies and squeezed my thickening dick through my pants. “You sure?”

“And here I thought you didn’t understand my sense of humor.” I nibbled on her earlobe and dragged her to the edge of the counter. “Is this what you want?” My cock pressed hard into her core, the thick material of my slacks contrasting with her thin cotton shorts.

She moaned and arched her back. “I need to feel something besides fear and worry. Sorry if that’s not what you want to hear.”

I was worried too. Alessio and Renzo could handle themselves, but that didn’t stop the fear that I was in over my head with Lila’s and Leo’s lives in my hands.

“I need you, Matteo.” Her hand dipped beneath my waistband and stroked my cock. “I need you to fuck me into forgetting.”

I’d used women as a distraction, so I tried not to be offended that she needed the same of me.

“I can do that.” I dragged my hands up her waist and yanked her off the counter and twisted her back to my chest. Her shorts hit the floor, followed by her panties, and I cupped her pussy. “You’re already wet for me, sweetheart. Been having naughty dreams?”

She wiggled her ass over my dick. “You have no idea.” A gasp rocked her backward when I slid two fingers deep and pumped them hard and fast. “More. Please, Matteo. More.” Her groans and bucking hips met my thrusts.

I worked my belt and zipper with one hand, freeing my cock and giving it a long stroke between her legs. “I got you, Lila.” I removed my fingers and gave her my cock in one savage thrust that bent her over the counter.

She grabbed the opposite side with both hands and rose onto her tiptoes.

I braced my feet on either side of hers and rolled my hips, my entire length stretching her. “Take what you need. I’m right here.”

“Harder.” She panted when I grabbed her hips and forced her legs wider, deepening the angle and giving her what she needed.

The slap of flesh mingled with our matched groans. I rode her ass with every thrust, and when I tangled a hand in her hair and pulled her head up, her body quivered with a sudden spike as her orgasm barreled through on her.

“Come on, sweetheart. Let me feel you lock that sweet pussy on my cock.” I pulled out completely, then filled her again, repeating the action when the throaty groan ripped free from her throat.

Our bodies moved together. I loved that about her.

Even in this position, she was a willing participant in every movement.

Her body undulated, her pussy seizing and stroking my cock and urging me toward my own release.

A shudder wracked her spine. “I need you closer.”

That was all the encouragement I needed to withdraw and flip her over.

Her ass landed on the counter. Spreading her legs wide, I pounded into her, burying my head in her neck and lifting her right leg over my shoulder.

I fucked her so deep my balls smacked the cabinet.

I yanked her closer to the edge, using my body to keep her from falling.

Her groans and pants turned savage, her nails raking across the back of my neck and biting into my shoulders.

She came apart, crying out my name and driving her hips down hard onto my dick.

“Fuck.” I followed her over the cliff with one last thrust and filled her with my cum. Our bodies shook together until we both recovered enough to stand on our own.

She kissed me gently, her lips tracing the outline of mine before she slid off the counter and pulled her clothes back on.

I’d hoped spending time with me would help Lila relax. It did, to a point, but she still jumped at every strange noise and the color had yet to return to her face. By the time Leo woke up and joined us in the living room where we’d settled in with a deck of cards, she was making me twitchy.

“Let’s go for a walk.” I offered my hand to her and laced our fingers together. “We’ll stay inside the perimeter.”

Leo jumped up and down, his energy as boundless after his nap as it was first thing in the morning.

“Can I run? I want to see if I’m faster in my new shoes.

” The black shoes Renzo bought him to replace the light-up ones covered his small feet.

A twinge of guilt settled in my stomach at the small reminder that Leo was in this position in the first place.

I watched the potential argument build in Lila’s expression then drift away. She squeezed my hand and the three of us stepped into the gathering twilight.

Leo immediately dashed away, his whoop of delight making Lila smile.

“Thank you.” She raised her head to catch the faint breeze. “I needed this.”

“All you have to do is ask.” I ran my fingers up the soft inner flesh of her arm. “I draw the line at foot massages, though. You’ll have to ask Renzo for that.” I pretended to shudder. “Feet. Yuck.”

Lila rolled her eyes, but a tinkling laugh slipped out. “You’re impossible.”

“There’s no such thing. I refuse to let anything be impossible.”

“Except massaging feet.” She bantered back at me with a gentle smile, the light catching her eyes and sending them dancing.

“Right. So maybe there’s one impossible thing. But I might be able to make an exception. For you.” I held up my free hand. “Only for you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She swung our hands back and forth and followed along behind Leo, always keeping him in sight. “I worry what happens when this is over and I have to take him back to the real world.”

“Why would you do that?” Genuine worry shoved aside all the happy go lucky that I used as a front to hide my real self. “I thought you were happy here.”

“Happy?” A tiny head shake, then a sigh. “This place is remarkable. You’re remarkable. But this isn’t real.” She waved at the house almost glowing in the fading light. “This is all a dream. A nightmare.”

“What about Leo?” I pushed despite knowing better. “Isn’t Alessio his father?”

The timing matched up from their time together, and Leo looked too alike to Alessio to deny it. We just needed Lila to admit it, to quit covering obvious truths so we could begin to truly move forward.

She stopped abruptly and released my hand. “That’s none of your business.”

Which meant yes. I’d watched her long enough to know more than she suspected. I’d seen how her eyes went soft when she saw Leo and Alessio together. I knew that look, and if Alessio wasn’t Leo’s father, there was no reason to avoid and deflect from the question.

“I’m here for you, Lila. Whatever you need.” It was the best I had to offer, and I refused to continue pushing and risk pushing her away with questions when the answers changed nothing about my feelings.

Relief crashed over her expression and sent her into my arms. “Thank you.”

I nuzzled her neck and held her as close as I dared.

We stood out in the open, but I trusted Renzo’s fences and gates to protect us, for my tech to ensure we’re alone.

Rattling from the front gate drew me away from Lila.

I faced the sound and eased her behind me.

Even from across the yard, I recognized Alessio’s car.

Still, something about the way the driver inched up the asphalt and around to the front entrance set my nerves on edge. “Get Leo inside.”

She called the boy to her and rushed to meet him, hurrying toward the side door and into the house with me so close on her heels I nearly tripped us both.

I checked my pockets for the weapons I’d started wearing two months ago and motioned for Lila to stay behind me. Dammit I didn’t have my phone on me to check the security system. “I’m going to see who it is. Stay here.” The need to protect her obliterated everything else. “Promise me.”

“I promise.” She cradled Leo in her arms. “What if it’s bad. How will I know?”

“If you hear shots, get to the panic room.” I considered giving her a gun, but hesitated.

She’d gotten a kill shot last time, but I didn’t know if it was beginner’s luck or actual training, and I didn’t want to risk her shooting Leo on accident.

“It’s probably Alessio and Renzo, but I want to be sure. ” They hadn’t been gone long enough.

“I can watch your back,” Leo piped up. “I did good last time.”

“You were amazing last time.” I chucked him under the chin.

“And I appreciate the offer, but I need you to stay here this time.” I pushed through the front door and stopped on the stoop.

The stretch of stairs gave me the high ground, but I was exposed while the driver remained safer in the enclosed space with the tinted windows hiding him from view.

The passenger side window rolled down. “Matteo, it’s Lawrence.”

I jumped down the steps at the sight of the familiar face. “What are you doing out? Robert drove Alessio and Renzo.”

“They called me in. Sent me with a message.” The black suit stretched taut over his shoulders, his fingers flexing on the wheel. “The Verducci syndicate has put a bounty on Leo’s life.”

My body turned to ice. I tried to move, but his words locked me in place. Their own attack on us was one thing, but a bounty changed the game.

I had to tell Lila. That thought broke the shackles and forced me into action, sending me crashing up the steps and through the front door where she stood waiting.

“What happened?” Her voice trembled but she stood rigid.

I had to tell her. It was the right thing to do. She needed to know. Alessio would hide the truth, but I couldn’t do that to her. “They’re not just after Alessio. There’s a bounty on Leo.”

“What does that mean?” Every bit of color in her cheeks fled.

“It means they’re willing to pay. It means every mercenary with a gun will be on your tail.” I didn’t have to tell her the rest, that they wanted him dead. She knew what it meant, and she clutched Leo tight to her chest.