The Marker: Book One in the Bridge Series

by Howes, Ann

  “Callous? The fuck you talking about?”

  I study him and see no deception there. Could it be he doesn’t know Gina’s in love with him? Well, I’m not gonna be the one to put any thoughts in that handsome head. “You know what, Gianni…never mind. You’ve had your dance and now I’m done.”

  His eyes flare. “We’re not done because I’m not done. Not even close.”

  “That’s not what your text said,” I point out.

  “My text said I was done with this shit. I’m not done with you.”

  He’s not done with me?

  Oh boy.

  “Why are you making this so hard for me?”

  “Hard for you? Jesus, woman, you’re clueless.”

  The music ends. We stop moving and I untangle my fingers from his, but he keeps his arm around me. The other couples separate and leave the dance floor and we’re left standing alone.

  “Let me go.”

  “No.”

  “Go to your date, Gianni. She’s waiting.”

  The look he gives is so intense, it burns through my skin, through my bones all the way to my soul. His free hand slides up the side of my neck until his thumb finds a place under my chin.

  “You’ve got it wrong,” he says. “I’m gonna make you listen to me until you get it and we’re gonna do it private.” With that, he whirls me around, gripping my upper arm and walks us off the floor. A path between the crowd magically clears, because that’s what people do around Gianni. They move out of his way.

  “What are you doing?” I try to yank my arm from his grip, but his fingers tighten even more. I look back at Rory, who’s grinning like he just won the lottery, making away-with-you gestures with his hands.

  What the hell?

  Traitor.

  Next, we’re out of the Crown Room, marching towards an elevator, passing elegant couples sipping on their drinks. He stabs the button with his thumb.

  “You can let me go now.”

  “Are you gonna run?”

  “Depends on where you’re taking me.”

  “Somewhere private.” My mouth opens to protest, but he steps into my space and cuts me off. “Shut it, De Luca,” he says quietly. “Not gonna do you any good.”

  So, I shut it. Instead, I watch him watching me, fascinated by the muscles working in his jaw as his eyes move over my body, lingering on my breasts. I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t turn me on because my nipples prove otherwise. What is it about him that, even pissed off, he does this to me?

  By the time the elevator doors open and he directs me inside I know exactly how weak I am. The air is thick, laced with sexual tension and I avoid his gaze, afraid to show how much I want him.

  At his floor, he walks me down a long, plush, carpeted hallway. When we stop, he pulls a key-card from his pocket and slips it into a lock.

  “You have a room here?” My voice reflects my panic.

  Good God. Was he planning on bringing Gina here?

  “In.”

  “No!” I back away. “Why are you doing this?”

  “I want to talk where we won’t be interrupted.”

  “Do you have to be so fucking cruel?”

  “Cruel?”

  “You bring me here?” I’m yelling now. “To your little fuck-nest? So you can rub it in my face while you’re here with someone else? What is wrong with you?”

  I turn to run back to the elevator, tears prickling the corners of my eyes. “Don’t do this, Gianni. Just leave me alone.”

  His fingers lock around my wrist pulling me back. “I can’t, dammit. God knows I’ve tried.”

  “Try harder, asshole. You’re here with another woman.”

  “No.” He shakes his head. “I’m not with her. I came alone, Shelley. Gina just happened to be here. I’m here for you. Cass set this up and the only woman I’m planning on taking into that room is you.”

  “Why? For another installment on your damn marker?”

  “Fuck the fucking marker.” Now he’s the one yelling. Both hands scrape through his hair in frustration. “Was stupid for letting you think that.”

  “What?”

  “I wanted you…thought it was the only way I could get you past fighting this thing between us. Once the words were out, I couldn’t take them back.”

  Is he for real? I search his eyes. They’re dark, filled with an urgency that makes me want to believe. To trust…because I want it so badly.

  “Was gonna tell you that night of the fire…before he took you.”

  I’m too confused to speak and a million thoughts jumbled into one race through my head.

  Cass set this up?

  “Will you come inside with me?”

  I nod and his grip on my upper arm becomes a caress as he swipes the key card again. My heart hammers as we enter a suite.

  With a huge balcony.

  Figures.

  He follows me in, past the lavish couch and chairs to the double glass doors leading outside. I push one open, step outside, grateful for the air and wander to the wrought-iron railing. It’s a gorgeous evening. Cool, but with no fog. Only a slight breeze and the view’s monopolized by the twinkling lights of the Transamerica Pyramid, that new monstrosity they’re building in SoMa and the Bay Bridge. Marine craft and party boats dot the smooth water but none of this does anything to calm my nerves.

  “Wow,” I whisper. He sure knows how to charm.

  “Something, isn’t it?” he says coming up behind me, so close his breath is hot on my ear. A shiver slams through me and I bite my lip to stop a hiss escaping when his lips touch the curve in my shoulder.

  “You’re trembling. Are you cold?” Arms come around me, grasp the railing. Caging me with his warmth, yet barely touching. All I have to do is lean back but his particular mix of heat and sex is too dangerous.

  “Gianni…”

  “That space you asked for? Eight days is enough time away from you. That stops now. How I see it, we have two options.”

  “Gianni…”

  “Shh,” he says in my neck. “First, either you and I are a thing or…” He lets out a breath and I hear him swallow. “Or…and I really hate this option. One I’m not willing to accept without a hell of a fight. And only if you convince me you don’t want me. We stay away from each other because I can’t be around you and not have you.”

  My brain must have seized because I got stuck on two words. “A thing?” It comes out hoarse as my throat’s suddenly dry. “What exactly do you mean by thing?”

  Big hands clasp my hips, slowly swinging me around. Staring into his eyes, which are still dark, but now determined, makes my heart pound harder than is healthy. Makes me hope things I shouldn’t dare to hope because I’m so afraid I’m misreading what I’m seeing and hearing.

  “You asked me,” he replies, “if I’d ever had a long-term relationship and I told you I never wanted one.”

  I capture my lip between my teeth, not sure I want to know.

  “That was mostly true.”

  Oh shit…I’m not prepared for this—to hear about some woman he loved. My eyes drop to focus on his Adam’s apple bobbing and I lean back slightly.

  “You see, the only woman I’ve ever wanted a relationship with…is you.”

  That takes a while to penetrate. To sink into my cells and then into my psyche.

  “What are you saying?” I finally whisper.

  Those big hands come to my face, one thumb strokes my bottom lip. Goosebumps pop up all over my skin.

  “God help me, I’m saying I’m obsessed with you, De Luca. I can’t ever get you out of my head. You’re in my dreams every damn night. Mornings,” he pauses and takes a deep breath, “I wake up wanting you so much I could drill through concrete.”

  God, his words—ones I’ve wanted since I was sixteen—have me buzzing to my toes, but scaring me all at once. They’re hot and wild and crazy.

  “Um…the obsession part kinda freaks me out a little.”

  “It should. Freaks the h
ell out of me. Always has. As much as I hate Melnikov, I can’t deny I understand him.” His lips move to the corner of mine, his breath teasing, yet hesitating. “What scares me more than anything, is never being able to do this. Never touch you, never hear you make those sexy little noises when you come, because fuck, Shelley, I wanna make love to you more than I want my next breath. And probably will for the rest of my life.” He rests his forehead on mine and stares into my eyes. “And that was why I lied. Because I was so afraid of losing the chance to be with you.”

  The way he’s focused on me, so honest and exposed, fills me with want and heat so intense I think I might die if I don’t have him.

  “Gianni…” I don’t have time to say more as he takes my mouth, not gently or sweetly, but raw and desperate. A groan, low and primal in his throat, rumbles through his chest. He crushes me against him like he can’t get close enough. Our tongues meet in a frantic, frenzied dance. All my hunger, all my longing in each stroke manifests in the hot, empty ache between my thighs.

  Somehow, we’ve moved inside. His jacket comes off while I tug on his shirt, pulling it free of his pants. I want, no…I’m compelled to touch his skin, the firm muscles and the silky hair. Every inch of his body’s hard and heated, causing that ember, smoldering all evening, to burst into flames.

  Gianni’s mouth, the scrape of his stubble as he tastes me, nipping and sucking, takes me closer and closer to what I need.

  He slips my dress strap off one shoulder, following with little bites and kisses, then the other shoulder, allowing it to drop to the floor and steps back. A shaky breath escapes him as he examines every curve of my naked, aching body.

  “Most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, De Luca. You slay me.” His voice is rough, and his eyes, heated and glazed with lust, land on my pebbled nipples.

  This time the kiss is slow and deep and unbelievable. I might explode before I unbuckle his belt, undo his zipper and push his pants down over lean, hard hips, freeing him. It’s intoxicating and dizzying and overwhelming. Everything about him—his smell, his taste, like wickedness and whisky—undoes me. He cups my breast, taking one nipple, rolling it between his fingers, the other in his mouth, sucking. Exquisite sensations pulsate from my breasts, and my hips arch. Then, supporting me with those strong, steely arms, he lowers me gently onto the bed like I’m something precious and prowls between my legs, teasing my knees wider. Slowly he moves those rough palms up the insides of my thighs, followed by his mouth and tongue.

  I want more. His mouth in one place and everywhere. As his face inches an agonizingly slow path, my fingers wind themselves into his hair, guiding his mouth to my greedy, pulsing little place, and he complies, laughing a little while my hips rock to meet him.

  It doesn’t take long for my orgasm to slam through me, or for him to roll on a condom and push inside and take us both on a ride so hot, so crazy and so beautiful I never want it to end.

  * * *

  “I’m a little confused,” I say. “You said always has?”

  We’re on our sides, under the sheet of the king-sized bed, facing each other. I twirl that lock of his hair around my fingers, marveling at how dark and shiny it is.

  His lips curl into his lazy-ass smile, deepening the grooves in his cheeks.

  “For as long as I can remember, I always wanted you, but you were underage and so damn tempting. Felt like a dirty old fuck obsessing over you. That’s why I went to Boston instead of Stanford. Too hard to be near you. When I graduated and came back, you were so beautiful, you stole my breath.”

  Happy sensations fill my chest, making it expand to the point I think it might burst.

  “Couldn’t stop thinking about you, even when I was gone.” His thumb traces little circles around my belly button. “And you and Joey were a thing. I wanted to kill him, but he was my little brother. Knew him and knew he’d fuck up at some point. Figured I’d wait it out. I couldn’t touch you anyway, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed watching you together.”

  “Is that why you were always an asshole to me?”

  He chuckles. “Like the kid who’s mean to the girl he likes? Yep. I kept waiting for you to figure it out. Didn’t know who I was madder at, you for being so young and untouchable or him for having you. I couldn’t stand it. I never told him, but he knew I wanted you. He always knew. Called me on it after we pounded on that asshole Darren McGee for abandoning you at that freshman party.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Didn’t deny it, and told him if he didn’t treat you right, I’d beat his ass and take you from him first chance I got. Then tried to avoid being around you. You’ve no idea how hard that was with all the family shit that went on, yet if I knew there was a shot at seeing you I couldn’t stay away.”

  Suddenly it occurs. “Oh my God. You knew he was messing around on me, didn’t you? Is that why you kissed me at the marina?”

  His brows shoot up. “You knew about that?”

  “Gloria’s boobs weren’t the only big thing about her. That girl couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”

  “I didn’t want him to hurt you. He didn’t deserve you if he was gonna treat you that way.”

  I let out a smirk. “Funny. Dean said the same thing. And you”—I tug on that little lock—“you drove me crazy. There were so many women. They were gorgeous and I hated them. I knew I couldn’t compete.”

  He shakes his head and sighs. “You didn’t have to. That necklace you’re wearing…the tiny letters in the silver?”

  Huh? How would he know about those?

  “G and L?” I never thought much about them, just always assumed they were the jeweler’s marks.

  A smile lifts the corner of his mouth, doing ridiculously delicious thing to my insides. “Take a look at the bottom point.”

  I turn the heart and after a moment of examination, I find it hidden in the intricate filigree.

  A tiny C.

  Holy fizz pops. My eyes widen and slide to his when it hits me. “What’s your middle name?”

  “Luigi.”

  GLC.

  “Wait…why are your initials on here?”

  “Had it made for you in Boston, babe. Your eyes always reminded me of amber. I wanted to give you something when you turned eighteen that showed you how I felt.”

  I take a moment to let that settle, then blink away tears as the reality washes over me, warm and sweet and so glorious it makes my body tingle.

  God!

  God!

  That means everything.

  “But I couldn’t hold off. What I knew about Gloria. I’d warned Joey, the little fucker, and figured it wasn’t my fault he didn’t take me seriously. You weren’t to be played with. So, I pulled an asshole move and used his phone to text you, then erased it. Was gonna give the necklace to you that day, to let you know you had…options. Plant a seed in that stubborn head of yours.”

  His thumb moves to my breast, tracing little patterns and raising goosebumps.

  “But I couldn’t find it. Searched everywhere and thought I’d misplaced it. That was why I was late meeting you.” He stops and swallows. “Ironically, I wasn’t planning on kissing you. But you stood there with the wind blowing in your hair, looking so pretty and so hurt. When I got closer and you realized it was me, you got that look you get in your eyes and I lost my fucking mind.” He sighs. “Then everything went to hell…with all the drama I forgot about it, and you left, so it didn’t matter anymore.” He scrapes his hands over his face. “I didn’t know Joey took it until I saw you wear it at his funeral.”

  Oh…wow.

  “Now it’s starting to make sense. I didn’t understand why you were so angry with me.”

  He snorts. “I was angry for so many reasons. I didn’t know you didn’t know Joey killed your dad. Thought you were there to fuck with us. When it became clear that wasn’t the case, I was angry because I took one look at you and all those feelings were back. Feelings I’d never had for any other woman. Ever. You have no idea how long
it took for me to stop thinking about you and you just walked back in like nothing happened. And later…knowing you’d been with both Melnikov and my brother…” He grimaces.

  “Gianni?” I wait till he meets my eyes. “You should know I never slept with either of them.”

  Every muscle in his body seems to lock up as he searches mine. “You serious?” He whispers.

  “As a heart attack. I wasn’t ready for Joey. Probably the reason he slept with Gloria. And with Dean, it was too soon. It just never went there.”

  “Aah…Christ.” He falls on his back covering his eyes with his forearm. “You don’t know what that means,” he says after a minute. “Fucking hell.”

  “And the necklace? I forgot I had it too,” I say. “Hadn’t worn it since the day he gave it me.”

  “When was that?” he asks, raising himself back up to rest on his elbow and traces my hip with his finger.

  “The day before you kissed me…the day before my dad died. Joey told me it was an early birthday present and then later that same day I found out about Gloria. I assumed that was why he wanted to meet me at the marina. But of course, I never saw him and right after that, everything went down and he sent me that note, dumping me.”

  “He didn’t dump you. My parents doped him up and put him on a private plane to Italy the next day to keep him from you. But it does explain why he followed me to the marina. He knew I knew he was fucking around on you and I was going to make a move.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Fuck, if I’d known, I’d have done things differently.” Agony and guilt flicker through his eyes, making the blue smoky gray, like the rolling fog beneath the bridge. “All the pain I’ve caused.”

  I lean over and touch my lips to his scar, tracing around it with my tongue.

  He hisses, those hard torso muscles go taut and he grabs a handful of my hair.

  “I kissed you back, remember?” I murmur against his skin, loving the feel of its texture and the way he reacts to my touch. “I wanted you too. I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen.”

  Those fingers in my hair tighten, then a moment later he pulls my head back so he can look into my eyes.

  “I’m as much to blame for my dad’s death as anyone. But in some strange way, I can’t help feeling Joey intended us to come together now. When I put the necklace on that first time, I felt his presence. Because of him, Dean hit me. And if Dean hadn’t hit me, I would never have been in that drugstore at that exact moment when Cherry Meloni told me he’d been murdered.”