Shielded Wrongs: A Dark Mafia Romance (Bellandi Crime Syndicate Book 4)

by Adelaide Forrest

  I bet on the latter.

  My eyes landed on the bag on the bed, on the clothes spilling out and unfolded and in complete disarray. I knew I should wait until I got home because I'd just need to fold them again, anyway, but the sight of them made me twitchy. Unable to help myself, I switched off the overhead light, leaving only the bedside lamp to cast a dim glow around the room.

  It was just enough for me to see what I was doing as I emptied the clothes onto the bed and set to refolding them, tucking them back into the tote as neatly as I could when I finished. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in the bed and sleep the night away, what remained of it anyway, but that wasn't in the cards for me.

  Once I'd finished, I switched off the light and sat.

  I counted to fifty in my head. Then I did it five more times.

  Only when there were no more sounds in the rest of the house did I let my need to move take over. I eased to my feet, doing everything I could to remove my weight from the bed gradually so it wouldn't make a sound. Nothing could alert Enzo to the fact that I was moving.

  That I was awake, and prowling through his house like a creep. How quickly the tides had turned. Draping my bag over my arm, I eased open the door that I'd been very careful not to let latch when I closed it. It creaked ever-so-slightly, and I froze.

  Listening for movement.

  When there was none, I slithered out the door and into the hall, hurrying along it and down the stairs as quickly as I could manage without making a sound. With the front door in sight, I drew in a deep breath.

  I'd seen the intensity of his security system. I knew the alarm would sound the second I opened that door.

  I just had to be ready to run. The good news was, I was fast.

  I was willing to bet I was much faster than Enzo, even with the advantage his long legs gave him. My petite muscles could work to my benefit. I'd just have to be smart.

  Crossing the room, my hand touched the doorknob for the briefest second before the kitchen lights turned on and blinded me. A scream tore itself up my throat, loud and shrill as I dropped my bag to the floor. There was nothing stealthy about the pure terror that filled me as I clutched my chest and spun to face Enzo with red cheeks from my own humiliation.

  Not that I'd been caught.

  That I'd sounded like such a fucking girl.

  He stood frozen solid, staring at me with oddly blank eyes. With my heart in my throat, I pushed through my discomfort because of the sudden change in his behavior. "What in the name of dick is wrong with you?! You scared the hell out of me!" I hissed, picking up my bag of disturbed clothes with a dejected sigh. He shook his head with a sudden snap, his face filling with animation once again as he opened his mouth.

  "I'm a lot of things, Baby Girl. But I ain't stupid. March your ass back to bed or I can carry you there and tie you to it," he ordered, leaning against the kitchen counter like the freaking sexy ass Neanderthal he was, clad in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs that clung to his thickly corded thigh muscles. I swallowed down my nerves and budding arousal.

  He had broad shoulders, and with his arms crossed over his diaphragm, the faintest trace of abs peeked out below them. The word “Ride” stretched up the underside of his right bicep. The word “Die” served as an echo on the left. On each of his pectoral muscles, a black crow with tribal details faced his sternum with the letters “O” and “R” framed in negative space inside them. A smattering of smaller crows displayed over his ribcage and abs. He wasn't ripped, wasn't incredibly defined with his muscle mass. But he was massive, with a sort of real-world strength, and the light shadow of hair below his belly button and at the top of his pecs was uniquely him.

  Pure Lorenzo Vescovi.

  "Well, that got kinky real fast," I teased, twisting my lips up into a pout as I hefted the bag on my shoulder. Standing across from him, with his body on display and looking sinfully irresistible, felt oddly intimate.

  I'd been naked with men before. I was no virgin.

  But none of them were Enzo.

  "I'm dying to know how you taste when you come on my tongue, Carina. Say the word, and I will find out." He grinned, his challenge issued. The man didn't know me, aside from the rumors he might have heard from our shared friends, but seemingly what they’d said had been enough for him to know just what the challenge would do to me. If the arrogant smirk on his face was anything to go by, at any rate.

  I stomped my foot and turned on my heel, marching my ass back to bed while he roared with laughter behind me.

  "Prick!" I yelled, tossing a middle-fingered salute over my shoulder as I trudged up the stairs to sleep.

  I'd stab him in the morning.

  10

  Enzo

  I came awake quickly, snapping off the bed and to my feet in a fluid motion. The alarm hadn't sounded. My systems hadn't alerted me to movement in the living room, but given what I knew of Sadie from the way the others talked about her, I wasn't willing to linger in bed.

  The house was silent as I crept out of my master bedroom on the main floor and deactivated the motion sensors in the main room when I entered. It didn't appear the little escape artist had tried a second time, and I hoped that exhaustion had finally gotten the best of her. Considering it had been nearly three in the morning when she tried to sneak out my front door, I suspected as much. Even a woman as tough as her needed some beauty sleep.

  I climbed the stairs quickly, pushing the door to her bedroom open. Sprawled on the bed, she'd tossed the blanket to the floor in her sleep, so nothing covered her except for a thin white sheet caught around her waist. Having stripped out of the pants and jacket I'd forced on her when we left her place, there was very little fabric obstructing my view of her as she slept.

  Sleep shorts shoved up to the tops of her thighs, her crop top tight enough that it thankfully hadn't budged in her sleep. Judging by the bra folded carefully on top of the clothes in her bag, I'd have gotten quite the eyeful.

  The contents of the bag stood out, neatly folded with all the corners pressed tightly. They hadn't been that way when I’d shoved clothes into the bag the night before, so that meant she'd taken the time to fold her clothes before trying to sneak out in the night.

  I didn't understand it at all, but I felt like a pervert staring at the small of her back and the two indents just above her ass. They beckoned to me, made for my thumbs to dig into while I held her still as I fucked her.

  Retreating out of the bedroom, I made my way back down the stairs and reactivated the motion sensors so I could have a bit of peace in the shower. They would alert me if she woke up and left her room. I didn't lock the door behind me as I made my way into the master bathroom and turned on the shower. Brushing my teeth, I tried to shake the image of her lying in bed. So toned and tiny and perfect.

  What I wouldn't give to roll over in bed and have the sight of her greet me first thing in the morning, but something like that would never happen for me. She'd have to be okay with that.

  It would come. In time.

  Shoving the boxer briefs down my legs, I stepped into the shower. I resisted the urge to wrap my hand around my cock and get off to ease the pressure that had been building in me since I laid eyes on Sadie. The next time I came, it would be in her.

  On her.

  I wasn't picky.

  I went through my shower with the efficient movements the Army had ingrained in me, getting out less than two minutes after I'd gotten in. Anything longer than that felt extravagant and unnecessary. I dried off with equally hurried movements, dressing in one of my suits and mourning the fact that we'd have to take my Range Rover to Indulgence. I'd loved the feel of her riding behind me on my bike and reveled in the warmth of her arms wrapped snugly around me.

  When she still hadn't woken up, I made my way back to her room. Both eager for the sight I knew would greet me and dreading it since it made me a complete creep, I pushed the door open. She still hadn't budged, her face turned to the side as she snuggled into her pillow.
Oblivious to the killer in the room, and it wasn't hard to imagine how her attacker had made it into her apartment without waking her the night before.

  The things I would do to her while we slept, before she ever woke up, only cemented the fact that I could never sleep in the same bed as her. It had never bothered me in the slightest to have to leave a woman's bed after we finished fucking, but the thought of doing that to Sadie tugged at the pit in my stomach.

  I needed food.

  Sitting on the edge of the bed, I watched her back rise and fall with steady breaths. "Wake up, Carina," I said, shaking her shoulder gently. When she gave no response, I pulled my hand back and gave her ass a sharp smack that sent her jolting up the bed and grabbing at the sheet instantly.

  "Ow!" she enunciated, staring at me as if I'd lost my mind.

  I grinned right back at her, biting my bottom lip in the same place she had, to bring that pain back to the surface. If she thought that hurt, my Baby Girl had an enlightening experience coming the first time I took her. I was not a gentle lover, and I didn't think I could be. Even for her.

  "Get up. We've got to be at Indulgence soon," I said, standing from the edge of the bed and moving toward the door.

  "Woah, Big Guy," she laughed. "I have to be at the gym. I'll be fine there, just give me a ride and you can go to the club. I have to go in. I work six days a week."

  Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "You can't miss one day? Just to give me enough time to get something set up at the club for while I’m guarding you indefinitely?"

  She crossed her arms over her chest, digging into her position and shaking her head. I knew there would be no give on her part. I could drag her to Indulgence, or I could at least try to make it work for her.

  My sisters would kick my ass if they found out I didn't at least try, so I pulled the phone from my pocket and called my second. Seb would step up to the plate, no questions asked.

  That was his duty.

  It turned out Seb was already at Indulgence, filling in, at Matteo's orders, since I'd be out of commission for an indefinite time to keep an eye on Sadie. It wasn't practical for me to be away from my command station so much at a time like this, so Sadie and I would have to work out a system. The good news was it meant I didn't have to wear a suit, and Sadie's arms were wrapped tightly around my waist again. Her chest against my spine felt like a beacon of heat, the best possible way to fight back against the cold of Chicago winter.

  The gym was already lit up inside, and as I slowed the bike to pull into the parking lot, I watched as eyes snapped to attention to look at us through the windows.

  I'd known it, this being a boxing gym, but that did nothing to appease my fury as a dozen sets of male eyes landed on Sadie's jean clad form behind me. She needed a new job, but I also valued my balls.

  From what the others said, this place was everything to her. I wouldn't be the one to take that away; I'd just need to establish some ground rules with the other guys. In a way that wouldn’t piss her off too much, somehow.

  She hopped off the back of the bike as soon as I rolled to a stop in the parking space, tossing me the helmet as she turned to walk backwards toward the doors. Her hair fell out of the helmet in long waves, looking every bit the part of a pinup girl in a short video as she shook it out. I strapped both helmets to the bike, following her inside as quickly as I could. The woman had no concept of waiting for a bodyguard, and it was only my long stride that let me catch up with her in her eagerness to get inside.

  She shoved the front door open, entering with an energy I hadn't seen from her the night before. This was more than work for her.

  It was home.

  She came alive as soon as the scent of baking soda and cedar chips hit our senses, but it was preferable to the alternative. Sweaty boxing gloves appealed to no one.

  "Hey, what's up with the lickable man meat?" the woman at the front desk asked. I smiled back at her, turning my gaze down to Sadie.

  "Am I lickable, Baby Girl?" I asked, watching in fascination as a blush crept over her cheeks. I didn't think Sadie would have been the type to blush, not with the way she tried to embarrass others.

  I hoped it was a reaction somehow exclusive to me.

  "This is Enzo," Sadie said instead of answering, turning and going for the women's locker room. I didn't follow, but kept my eye on the door for when she came back out. "Enzo, Beth," she said over her shoulder on her way in.

  "So how do you know Sadie?" Beth asked, and I didn't bother taking my eye off the door as I answered. The only reason I held still was because I knew she wouldn't run from her own gym. Small miracle.

  "I'm her man," I said with a smirk.

  She studied me suspiciously. "She didn't mention you. That isn't like her."

  "That's because she didn't know it yet," I said, stepping forward as Sadie emerged from the changing room. My hands clenched into fists, my desire to smack her ass fighting against my careful control. The shorts she wore to work out were even skimpier than the ones she slept in, and every line of toned muscle in her body showed, between those and her sports bra. Male eyes followed her as she made her way toward the ring at the back with a breathtaking smile on her face.

  In that moment, I understood a lot more clearly Matteo’s desire to kill anyone who looked at Ivory the wrong way. A growl sounded through the room, and when Beth gave me wide eyes, I knew it came from me.

  Making my way to Sadie, I wrapped a fist in her ponytail from behind and tugged her head back until I could smash my mouth down on hers. She parted for me instantly, giving under the pressure of my rage so I could plunder her mouth with harsh sweeps of my tongue until there wasn't a crevice left that I hadn't claimed.

  She was panting when I drew back and stared down at her, her fury dancing in her eyes, but her pupils dilated with the lust that ran between us. No matter how much she might want to deny it, the attraction pulsed from her skin to mine in a steady wave of sparks. She was already mine, even if I hadn't been inside her yet.

  Her fury melted behind a mask of amusement that I immediately recognized for what it was. I knew, because I wore one of my own so frequently it felt a little like looking into a mirror.

  How much of the wild child everyone else saw when they looked at her was for show, and how much was genuinely Sadie?

  She took my hand, guiding me toward the bench where she wrapped her hands in tape. "Spar with me," she said.

  I studied her adorable little hands, wondering how something so small could be so lethal. But there was no doubt, not after her quick reflexes grabbing my junk and nearly punching me in the face the night before, that she would surprise any opponent who didn't know what he was dealing with.

  She was in full command over her body, claiming it as the weapon she trained it to be.

  "The last thing I want is for people to know exactly what I'm capable of before I knock them on their ass, Carina. I'll pass on that." I watched as she climbed into the ring, holding out her hands like she was Rocky trying to challenge me. The smirk on her face was repayment for the challenge I'd thrown down when I kissed her.

  She wanted to knock me on my ass. The problem was, she already had.

  "Fine. You're no fun." She smirked, and her lips twisted like they might form a pout. Instead, the smirk turned to a full-blown grin, and she crooked her finger at one of the guys hitting the bags a few feet away.

  He dropped his gloves on the bench on his way over, wrapping his hands up the same way Sadie had and moving to the ring. Flinging himself inside, he looked far too large with the added height. I hated every second of seeing him near my woman, but refrained from interceding.

  His smile was too familiar as he grinned down at her. "Why no gloves?" I asked, instead of expressing my irritation. She gave me a knowing look, and I had to assume she knew exactly how much she was poking the bear when she stepped closer to the guy in the ring with her. I didn't want to feed into that energy or let her know how bothered I was.

  I'd j
ust show her later.

  "He's not going to punch me. I know this is a boxing gym, but I'm not super big on boxing itself, personally. I let the trainers handle that part," she explained.

  "Sadie mostly runs the business end and teaches women kickboxing and self-defense, but she's got more of an MMA style because she has an eclectic background, thanks to her dad," the guy in the ring answered. "She just enjoys taking men to the mat as part of a healthy breakfast."

  I cast disinterested eyes his way, crossing my arms over my chest and standing taller. "And you are?"

  "Mike," he said with a grin, and there was something in his expression that was too knowing as he studied me. "What'd you do to get yourself a Bellandi boy?" he asked, turning to Sadie with an eyebrow raised.

  He shot an arm out towards her, his open palm coming only inches from her sharp cheekbone when she pulled her face back to avoid the strike. Grinning back at him, she danced on the balls of her feet like the bundle of energy she was. Moving constantly, she looked more in her element than I'd ever seen, and I begrudgingly had to admire Mike when he stood still and just watched her movements without so much as a twitch of nerves. "Oh, you know me. They caught me throwing used condoms at Bellandi properties to remind Matteo to wear one now and then," she teased, smirking at him as she feigned with her right hand. When he moved to the left, she lifted a smoothly toned leg up to tap at his abs in warning.

  He didn't miss a beat, snatching the foot into his grip. He tucked it into his elbow, pressing his other hand down on the top and holding her steady. Where any normal person might have fumbled for balance, Sadie flung her weight into him quickly so that her entire body left the floor. Wrapping an arm around the back of his head, she grabbed his chin and wrenched his head to the side until his face twisted in pain.