Page 3 of Single Mom’s Mafia Daddies (The Forbidden Reverse Harem Collection #22)

ALESSIO

O ne night. I promised myself one night with Lila and then I’d let her go. Better to free her before my world tainted the purity of hers.

Giving into the desire pumping through me for one night was bad enough. Selfish enough. I’d never forgive myself if I allowed more.

I listened to her directions without giving her any indication that I knew where she lived, that I’d parked outside her small apartment on more than one occasion and considered walking up to knock on her door.

My world in Italy had yet to cross over into the U.S.

, but there was always a risk, always a look over the shoulder to ensure my safety and the safety of those who walked at my side.

I pulled the Mercedes into the open spot closest to the building and motioned for Lila to stay put.

She grinned, a tiny flash of a smile that might mean anything but that I took as thanks.

When I rounded the car and opened her door, she peered up at me through thick lashes made darker by the moonlight.

“I never understood men opening doors for women until now. It’s kind of sweet. ”

I tucked her hand in the crook of my elbow and walked her up to the building entrance. “I’m anything but sweet, Lila.”

“Pretty sure I know exactly what you are.” She chuckled and unlocked the door, leading me into a dimly lit hallway with blue carpet and beige and white striped walls. It smelled like citrus and reminded me of the caretaker’s cottage in the villa with its soft colors.

I pressed my lips flat to stop the argument brewing in the back of my throat. She had no idea who I was, what I could do, or the things I’d already done. If I had any say, she’d never learn the real man I hid each and every day.

“This way.” Lila led me down the hall, to a nondescript door with a ring of daisies painted around the peep hole. Her hands remained steady as she unlocked it and led me inside.

The desire to push her against the wall and give myself over to the passion coursing through my body almost overwhelmed me.

I was better than that, better than those groping boys who knew nothing about the art of lovemaking.

I’d seen her reaction to the last one, her balled fist and fighting stance, and I’d stood and shook my head at the boy, the full fury of my father’s ruthless bloodline roaring into my expression and driving him away.

It was then that I knew I could no longer resist. I must have her. Once.

The door closed with a soft click, followed by the turn of a deadbolt.

“Locking me in?” I asked with a laugh.

Her smile bloomed with electrifying beauty. “Now that I have you here, you bet your ass I’m locking you in.” She walked toward me, her limbs loose and a prowling look in her eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I want this? You?”

I met her on the second stride, slid a hand around her waist, and brought her flush against my straining erection. “Do you?”

Her lips parted, and I claimed them again with the same zealous frenzy that had overtaken me in the car. She brought out a fever in me, a wildness I’d always tamed during sex. Lila blew through my barriers with a single stroke of her tongue and a whispered need for me.

I hooked my arm tighter and walked us deeper inside.

Her nails dug into my spine, then she was tugging my shirt free of my pants and scoring my skin.

Her back hit the wall, and before she had a chance to move, I locked my hands behind her knees and lifted her into the air, eliminating my need to stoop to reach her mouth and bringing my cock to her center.

The black dress rode up around her hips, and I caught a flash of lacy black underwear already damp with her desire.

One night, I reminded myself again as I worked a hand between us and cupped her wetness with a growl in the back of my throat.

She lifted her head and let it fall back with a soft thud. “Pretty sure I’m going to die if you don’t fuck me right now.”

“Not yet.” I dipped a finger into her, my cock swelling thicker at the way she bucked and rode my hand. I’d take my one night and make it last until dawn crested the horizon. “Bedroom?”

“That way.” She pointed to the left, toward an open door.

I carried her, my finger deep in her pussy and every step grinding her harder onto my knuckles.

We entered a small room with more of the blue carpet, a large bed covered in a satiny yellow duvet and pictures of far-off places lining the walls.

She’d spoken of adventure. Perhaps these were the locations she hoped to visit.

A cedar chest rested at the foot of the bed, and a small dresser and nightstand were tucked into the corner of the room facing the bathroom.

I glimpsed the edge of a white tub and a plastic curtain before pulling my attention back to Lila.

I was safe here. No one knew I’d come here.

She trembled in my arms, her low pants and featherlight kisses grazing my ear. “I want to feel every inch of you.”

“You will.” It was easy to promise. I had no intentions of making this quick. I used everything I’d learned in my thirty years to bring her pleasure. “But first, you have to come for me.”

I lowered her onto the bed and pumped my fingers, curling them into that soft pleasure center that drove her hips off the bed and unleashed a string of curses in time with her pulsing hips.

She barely noticed me pulling the dress down over her shoulders to reveal her perfect breasts…

until I sucked a nipple into my mouth and added another finger to her convulsing pussy.

“Damn you, Alessio.” Her words spiked my pulse and her head thrashed. “I’m going to make you pay for this.”

I sucked harder, thrust faster, and added a third finger. She shattered with a shriek and dug her fingers into my hair, trying to pull my mouth from her nipple. I growled and shook my head, releasing her only to pull the dress from her body and throw it over my shoulder.

“I’m not finished.” It was a promise and a warning all in one.

“When”—she sucked several deep breaths and continued—“do you want me to give you a blow job?”

“No.” I grinned to take any hint of misunderstanding from my denial. “I’ve dreamed a million things I want to do to you. Having your lips on my cock is one, but not yet.” I pushed her legs wide and ran my palms up her inner thighs until I reached her apex. “Let me worship you a little longer.”

“What are y?—”

I licked her before she finished speaking then thrust my tongue into her and worked it with slow, delicate precision from her pussy to her clit and back again.

There were no words that described what tonight meant to me, so I tried to show her instead.

Her thighs trembled around my head, her body moving in time with my thrusts and licks until a deep shudder wrenched her entire form and her toes curled in the sheets.

She hooked her heels beneath my ass and pulled.

Straightening, I removed my clothes piece by piece. The Armani suit was one my father bought me, and I treated it the way I treated anything I treasured. I folded each piece and set them on the small chest at the foot of the bed.

Lila licked her lips and curled her fingers in a “come here” gesture. “Please, Alessio. I need you inside me.”

“With pleasure.” I sank once more between her legs, my cock thick and heavy.

She wrapped her arms around my waist, lifting her hips to take me in.

I gave myself over to the pleasure and sank deep.

Sweat broke out on my brow after holding back so long.

I withdrew and thrust again, then again.

Each slow thrust set off tingling in my body.

I braced my weight on my hands beside her head and looked at her, taking in the beautiful lines of her face, the plump lips, the sweet curve of her breasts, memorizing everything .

I memorized the way she said my name, the feel of her hands in my hair and the way her body accepted mine and rose to meet me, the two of us becoming one as we climbed to the peak and flew off together.

“Lila.” I groaned her name. “My sweet Lila.” I came hard and fast, with a series of jittering thrusts that spiked another, smaller orgasm in Lila just as she came down from the last.

I fought off the urge to collapse on top of her and shifted off to the side, bringing her with me to rest flush against my chest.

We lay there with our legs tangled together and our breaths heaving for several long minutes. Lila traced the lines of muscle on my chest and across my arms. One finger brushed over an old scar and she paused, came back to it, and leaned to the side for a better look.

“What happened?”

“Fencing accident when I was sixteen. My father wanted me to learn. I was stubborn and thought I was better than my instructor. He taught me differently.” The lie came easy, too easy.

I’d spent years lying about my life, and though I’d hoped not to with Lila I had no choice.

If I told her that the wound had come from an attempted assassination when I was sixteen because my father was the leader of the Italian mafia, I’d lose her.

I had no chance of keeping her, but for tonight I lied to keep the questions at bay.

“Sounds mysterious.” She grinned up at me, her smile soft in the darkness, as a roll of thunder rumbled through the room.

My world would destroy that light in her eyes. All that was bright and beautiful would be torn away. I’d seen it happen before. My world was corrupted with violence and the power that ran through my blood, my family.

But for tonight, I had a chance to simply be Alessio, the professor’s assistant.

One night turned into a week. Then a month.

I cursed myself for the recklessness Lila brought out in me.

She cut through the bullshit and stripped my willpower with the same keen precision my father used to destroy those who stood against him.

Lila’s warmth and curiosity peeled away the layers of armor I’d built.

She asked questions that drew out pieces of my heart and soul, learning about the man she called an enigma.

I’d been given a month where I hoped for a single night.

A month of stolen moments in hidden corners of campus, long drives to secluded hideaways, and nights wrapped in Lila’s loving embrace.

All for it to come crashing down with a single message from home.

Standing at the foot of the bed, I watched her sleep and reconsidered my next steps. I could tell her the truth and ask her to join me in a world where death stalked our every step. Or I could do the right thing and walk away before I destroyed her.

“I can’t stay.” I brushed a hand over her head and down her shoulder. We’d made love tonight with a frenzied passion that turned slow and languid. I savored every second in her arms and locked the memories away. “I’m going to ruin you if I do.”

Her lashes fluttered, a soft sigh escaping her parted lips.

Part of me prayed she’d wake and stop me.

I backed away step-by-cautious-step until I reached the doorway and paused for one last look.

She lay on her stomach, one hand stretched toward my pillow and the other tucked beneath her cheek.

Dark hair splayed across the mattress, the curve of her shoulder and spine illuminated in the moonlight.

“I’m sorry. You will never know how much I wish to stay.

” My body betrayed me with a pulse of pain that staggered my steps.

I ground my teeth and checked that my note was tucked safely beneath her coffee cup where she’d find it first thing in the morning.

I’d told her nothing, not a word that my father had been murdered and I must return to Italy.

Nothing of the pain of leaving her behind, the love for her that consumed me.

The drive to my private airstrip passed in a blur of heartache and regret. I stepped onto the plane and dropped into the first available seat on my jet. It wrapped around me, a false sense of security and comfort.

“Drink?” A woman in a crisp blue suit motioned toward the wet bar. “I can prepare it for you as soon as we’re in the air and the captain gives the signal.”

“Whiskey.” I rubbed the tight line pinching my forehead. “And keep them coming until we land.”

My father despised drinking for any reason other than business. I’d failed to follow his footsteps in many ways, this one included.

An easy smile graced the woman’s face. “Celebrating?”

I drove my spine into the seat and stared at the ceiling. “Mourning.”

A ruthless word for an elaborate feeling that had no beginning, no end, no true existence except to shred me to pieces. I’d lost Papà and Lila on the same day, and I mourned for the vow I’d made to protect Lila by staying away.

Better to break her heart than risk her life in my world of shadows and blood debts.