by L A Cotton
“I can see that.” His cheeks burned. “Matteo.” He gave him a stiff nod.
“I’d say it’s good to see you again, but I’m loyal to my cousin so—”
“Matt!”
“What?” He shrugged. “You should probably wrap this up before Enzo comes back.”
Fuck my life.
Why did this have to be happening?
All I’d wanted was to have dinner with a friend, and now I was stuck between a rock and a hard place again.
“Matteo’s right, you should go,” I said. “It’s late and the crisis is averted. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?” I started to close the door, but Luca’s hand flew out, stopping it.
“I suggest you back the fuck up.” Enzo growled from down the hall. A shiver ran through me at the sheer anger in his voice. But there was something else there too, under the surface.
Something that sounded a lot like possessiveness.
“Me?” Luca balked. “If I recall correctly, it wasn’t your apartment Nora spent the night at.”
A gasp slipped from my lips, anger flooding. “You should go, Luca. Now!”
“Shit, Nora.” He ran a hand down his face. “I didn’t mean—”
“Just go. Maurice, please escort Luca back to his apartment.” I stepped aside letting my bodyguard usher Luca away. His eyes pleaded with me, but I didn’t concede. I was still too shocked he’d said that.
Enzo came closer, anger radiating off him. But he didn’t berate me… he didn’t say anything. Just stalked past me and disappeared into my apartment.
With a heavy heart, I followed him inside. Everything was such a mess, and this, it was my fault.
Enzo was discussing something with Maurice and Matteo. They looked over, but I disappeared into my bedroom, shedding the t-shirt Luca had let me borrow and pulling on my ‘let’s avocuddle’ t-shirt and some pajama shorts.
When I went back into the living room, Matteo and Maurice were gone.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
But Enzo didn’t hear me, his dark gaze drinking in the sight of me. When his eyes landed on my t-shirt, an amused smirk tipped the corner of his mouth.
“What?”
“You are so fucking weird.”
“Gee, thanks.” I went over to the coffee machine, needing to distract myself from his intense stare.
I set about making a fresh pot and waited. I didn’t feel him move behind me until his hands slid around my waist.
“Is it true?” he whispered, so quietly I almost missed it.
“Is what true?” I sucked in a harsh breath as he pulled me closer to his chest. His mouth dipped to my ear.
“Did you sleep with him, Gattina. Did you let him fuck you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, my eyes fluttering closed as he breathed against the curve of my neck.
“It matters. You know it does.”
“The last time I checked, you didn’t want me.” The words cut me deep.
“There isn’t a single second of the day when I don’t want you, Gattina. But it doesn’t change the fact I shouldn’t want you.”
“Enzo.” I tried to turn in his arms, but he had me caged against the counter.
“Just put me out of my misery and tell me…”
God, I wanted to tell him. I wanted to drive a knife through his heart the way he’d done so many times to me.
But I wasn’t cruel and even now, I still didn’t want to hurt him. Not when I knew he was dealing with so much.
“Enzo…” My voice cracked.
“It’s okay, Gattina.” His lips ghosted over my collarbone sending bolts of electricity zipping through me.
“I didn’t sleep with him.”
“What?”
“I went over to have dinner with him. There was wine. Too much wine. I spilled a glass all over me, so Luca gave me a clean t-shirt. I got embarrassed and a little upset. I didn’t want to be alone, so he let me stay. We didn’t—”
Enzo spun me in his arms. “You didn’t fuck him?”
“I wanted to. I wanted to do it so much. I wanted to get back at you for hurting me. But I couldn’t do it because no matter how much you don’t want me to care, I do. I care, Lorenzo Marchetti.” Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes as I slid my hands up his chest. “I care and I don’t know how to stop.” The first tear fell right as Enzo splayed his hand around my throat and kissed me. His lips were hard and bruising, every lick of his tongue steady and sure. He didn’t just kiss me, he devoured me without hesitation.
“Fuck, Gattina,” he rasped against my mouth. “I thought I’d lost you to him.” Enzo grabbed my ass and lifted me slightly, grinding into me with impressive restraint.
My heart soared at his words, at the possessive way he held me, as if he would never let me go. I didn’t want him to. I’d only ever wanted this. Us. Together.
“Never,” I breathed. “He knows I’m yours. Only yours, Enzo.”
He hoisted me higher, forcing my legs around his waist and walked me through the apartment until we were in my bedroom.
Liquid lust coursed through my body, I wanted him so much. But Enzo didn’t kiss me again. Instead, he placed me on my feet and moved around my bed, pulling back the covers.
“Get in.”
“But—”
“Get in the damn bed, Gattina.” He smirked before yanking his sweater off. Heat flooded me as I traced the ink covering Enzo’s body, every ridge and muscle. God, he was perfection.
He kicked off his boots and unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them over his hips and letting them pool at his feet. The thick outline of his erection didn’t help the firestorm building in my stomach.
He climbed into bed and pulled me into his arms.
“Are you hugging me?”
“No,” he said, “I’m avocuddling you.”
A wide grin tugged at my mouth as I lifted my face to his. “Is this a dream? Did I bump my head and wake up in some alternate universe where bad boy Enzo Marchetti’s got jokes?”
“Don’t push it.” His fingers attacked my waist, tickling and pinching, making me shriek.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry… I won’t mention it again.” My laughter subsided, silence filling the space between us. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” Enzo swallowed thickly. “I am so fucking sorry to bring this to your door.”
“What can I say, I’m a magnet for deranged murderous psychopaths.” It was supposed to be a joke, but the second I said the words, I regretted them. “Enzo, I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant.” His fingers began stroking my skin, sending shivers skating up and down my skin. It was my turn to swallow. “Is this okay?” His voice crackled with lust.
I nodded, mesmerized by the way he looked at me. As if I was a precious stone, fragile and breakable.
His hand dropped to my thigh, hitching my leg over his hip. I leaned in to kiss him, but Enzo moved just out of reach, smirking. “I want to watch you,” he said. “I want to see your eyes flutter and your cheeks flush when you come for me.”
His hand moved higher along my thigh, stroking the skin there. Back and forth, back and forth, until he slid it between my legs and found my center. Hooking my panties aside, he pushed two fingers inside me, curling them deep while his thumb rolled over my clit in firm, lazy circles.
“God, that feels…” I pressed my lips together, trying to catch my breath. My eyes fluttered, but Enzo growled. “Look at me, Gattina. I need you to look at me.”
He worked his fingers deeper… faster… touching some place inside me that made my toes curl and my stomach clench.
“Come sei bagnata. Mi fai impazzire.”
My Italian was rusty, but I knew he was talking dirty to me.
“I want you,” I breathed, clutching the sheet between my fingers as he took me higher and higher.
“Just let me do this for you.” His eyes were almost black as he watched me slowly come undone, st
roke by stroke.
“At least kiss me.” It was a breathy plea as I arched into his hand, desperate for more.
“So fucking beautiful,” he rasped, dipping his head and dragging his tongue along the column of my neck. His teeth nipped my jaw, chased with tiny kisses but Enzo didn’t give me what I wanted. Instead, he teased me. Licking and sucking, tasting and touching. He trailed hot, wet kisses over my skin, burning me from the inside out, while his fingers worked me into a boneless, breathless mess.
“God, more…” I chanted like I was praying to some invisible deity. “More… I need—”
Finally, Enzo kissed me, hard and punishing, stealing the air from my lungs, as if he thought I might disappear at any moment and he wanted to imprint the taste of me on his lips forever.
My body began to tremble as intense waves of pleasure crashed over me.
“Come, Gattina,” he whispered against my lips. “Come for me.”
His name spilled from my lips.
Enzo. Enzo. Enzo.
He kissed me gently, drawing out every last drop of my orgasm. Then he lifted his fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. “So fucking good.”
My tummy clenched.
“I want to return the favor,” I said, ready to shimmy down the bed and give him the best blow job of his life. But Enzo pulled me against his big, warm body and said, “Sleep, Gattina.”
Sleep?
He wanted me to sleep, nearly naked and wrapped in his arms? It would be almost impossible, my body hyperaware of every place we were joined. Hip to hip, chest to chest, my lips pressed against the hollow of his neck, tasting his salty skin.
How could I possibly sleep when all I wanted to do was jump his bones?
But as he held me tight, a sense of peace washed over me, and I found myself drifting. I didn’t want to. I wanted to capture every second of this moment because Enzo had a history of flipping the switch on me once the sun chased away the shadows. And I didn’t want this to end.
I never wanted it to end.
I woke to an empty bed. My stomach sank as I searched for any signs of Enzo. His clothes no longer littered the floor, and his side of the bed was cold.
He’d been gone a while.
I wanted to be angry at him, but I was only angry at myself. I should have known he would run. He’d been jealous, and jealousy made people act all kinds of crazy.
You foolish, foolish girl.
I let out a weary sigh. Enzo had been so different last night. So warm and tactile. He’d held me most of the night. I knew because I’d woken up at least three times. But the sun was up now, and like a ghost in the night, Enzo was gone.
My cell phone started to ring and I leaned over, snatching it off the nightstand, smiling at my best friend’s name.
“Good morning,” she said. “How are you?”
“Surprisingly, okay.” All thanks to a certain blue-eyed bad boy.
“I can’t believe it’s happening again.”
“Whoa, there. It isn’t happening again. It was a package, Ari.”
“It was a threat, Nor, and you need to take this more seriously. I’ve been talking to Nicco and we want you to come and stay with us.”
“No,” I said a little too hastily. “I mean, thank you, it’s very kind of you to offer. But I’m not going to run, Ari. I won’t do that.” I couldn’t explain it, but I didn’t want to leave. This was my home. It had taken me long enough to feel safe here after what happened before, so I’d be damned if I let some asshole out for revenge chase me off again.
“Nora, just think about it. It isn’t safe.”
“I’m probably in the safest place I can be right now. Antonio has an army of guys here. No one is going to come or go without them knowing about it.”
“When you put it like that… And Enzo is there, that makes me feel a lot better.”
“Actually,” I hesitated, “he left.”
“He did? But Nicco just spoke to him and he said something about breakfast.”
“He did?” Hope blossomed in my chest as I climbed out of bed. “Ari, I’m going to have to call you back.” I hung up, and quickly pulled on my avocuddle t-shirt.
He left… Enzo left.
Didn’t he?
But sure enough, when I opened the bedroom door, I found him cooking shirtless in my freaking kitchen.
Now I know I definitely died and went to heaven. I creeped up behind him, but Enzo sensed me, turning around right as I reached him. “Good morning,” I said around the biggest smile.
“Good morning.” His eyes dropped to my t-shirt, darting lower to my legs peeking out from under it. “While you eat your breakfast, I’m going to eat you.”
His dirty words hit me right in the stomach.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
“A while. I don’t sleep very well.”
“Nightmares?”
He nodded, and I folded myself into his chest. Half of me expected him to pull away or reject me. But it was a morning of many surprises because Enzo wound his arms around my back and held me close.
“You stayed,” I whispered.
“Yeah, Gattina,” he looked down at me, eyes shining with possession. “I stayed.”
Chapter 25
Enzo
I watched her talking and laughing with Matteo over pancakes. It felt fucking weird, but something had shifted last night. Something I couldn’t take back.
Something I didn’t want to take back.
The second I’d heard Maurice’s voice on the other end of the line, something had slammed into me. Fear that Nora was hurt. Fear that I’d never get to see her again, hold her again… kiss her again. It had ploughed through me like a wrecking ball.
It didn’t matter that she was at Luca’s, wearing his t-shirt and sleeping in his bed. Nora Abato was mine. Even when I hadn’t wanted her to be, she was under my skin and on my mind.
Fuck. Admitting that still felt strange. But I was done fighting it. My number one priority now was finding this motherfucker and making sure he didn’t come within an inch of Nora ever again.
The thought he’d been here, at her building, was enough to send me postal. I wanted to tear the fucker limb from limb.
“Are you going to stand there all morning?” Matt asked. “Or join us and eat?”
I pushed off the wall and went to them. Nora smiled up at me and my chest constricted. I guess this was what it felt like to be gone for a girl, all twisted up inside, wanting to make her happy, to see her smile, and soar… while wanting to shield her from anything and anyone who might try to hurt her.
“Are you sweating?” Matteo taunted and I flipped him off.
“It’s hot in here.”
“I hate to tell you, big guy,” Nora shuffled closer, laying her head on my arm, “but it’s not that warm.” Her soft laughter was like music to my fucking ears.
Jesus, I was turning into a pussy already. I inwardly groaned. Matteo caught my eye and smirked, but I saw no malice there, only understanding.
He’d known. The fucker had known for a while now, and he’d been right.
I’d just been too unwilling to accept it.
“These are really good,” Nora said, nibbling a pancake.
“You sound surprised, Gattina?” My brow quirked.
“A little.” Her cheeks pinked and she looked so fucking adorable. I wanted to pounce on her and kiss the shit out of her syrupy sweet lips.
“You think just because he’s a grumpy fucker with about as much charm as a cardboard cutout that he can’t cook?” Matteo chuckled. “Then you would be sorely mistaken. My mom used to teach us. Said the only thing an Italian man needed to know in life was the art of cooking.”
“She sounds like a wonderful woman.”
“You met her at the wedding, no?” I asked her, immediately regretting it. “Shit, Nora, I didn’t—”
“It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t.
She’d been kidnapped after the wedding.
Yanked right out of bed beside me and taken by Scott fucking Fascini. My fist clenched against my thigh, anger trickling through me like acid.
“Hey.” Her hand covered mine. “I’m okay, Enzo. See.” She took my hand and pressed it against her chest, right over her heart.
“You’re in so much trouble, cous,” Matteo howled with laughter and I flipped him off, keeping my focus on Nora.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “I think you’re right.”
Nora frowned, but a knock at the door interrupted us.
“If that’s your neighbor, I swear to God—”
“I’ll go.” She got up, but I beat her to it.
“Like hell you will.” I grabbed my pistol off the counter and marched toward the door.
I heard Matteo mutter something about letting me get it out of my system. But disappointment washed over me when I saw Nicco and Arianne standing on the other side of the door.
“Expecting someone else?” he said, eyeing the gun in my hand.
“Don’t ask,” I grumbled, letting them in.
“You look different,” Ari remarked, seeing straight through me.
“Nice to see you too.” Closing the door, I followed them inside. Nora jumped up, running to hug Arianne.
“I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I feel like we say that too much these days,” Nora glanced at me and guilt shredded my insides. But she was in this life now. Whether I stood by her side or not, Nora was inextricably tied to the Family.
I realized that now. I realized why Nicco had refused to let Arianne go. Because whether he claimed her or not, she would forever be a target to his enemies just for the simple fact that she loved him.
The girls went to make everyone coffee while I sat with my cousins.
“Do I need to be worried about that?” His eyes flicked to Nora. She felt him staring and glanced over, smiling when her eyes collided with mine. “She’s Arianne’s best friend. If you break her heart—”
“It’s not like that,” I said, feeling myself grow tense. “I—”
“E has a serious case of heart eyes,” Matteo said, but there was a strain to his words. “Isn’t that right, cous?”
