Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

by Kate Stewart

  I had no clue of the amount of threats Daniello had earned after the reign of revenge he had brought down on his enemies or the families of those whose lives he took.

  Contract killer.

  Daniello watched me closely as Tula poured more wine. “You will get used to the pressure. And eventually it will become your life. We are a very close family.”

  I moved my gaze away from Daniello to face her. “I don’t think I’m staying.”

  Tula frowned and glanced toward her brother. “He is in love with you.”

  My lips parted as he ignored the chaos and chatter around him to watch me.

  I mouthed his way. “Stop staring.”

  He ignored me and kept guarded eyes in my direction.

  “He was away so long from Italy, and not just here, but from himself. I had hoped one day he would return. I think you are responsible for bringing him back.”

  “I’m responsible,” I whispered too low for her to hear. For his demise.

  We’d ruined each other’s lives with our love for each other.

  Still, the paths we were on were destructive in their own way. The lives we’d formed separately were leading to a different kind of death. One where our humanity was stripped away, and we survived as lost souls. No second reality, no love, no life. Machines.

  I felt the weight of it all as I gripped my glass and met his eyes.

  “Where in America are you from, Taylor?” one of his aunts asked as she stood with a bottle of wine and began to fill every empty glass.

  “Tennessee.”

  She was a robust woman with a booming voice dressed to the nines. “I don’t know of Tennessee. Daniello, have you gone?”

  “I have,” he answered as one of Tula’s boys came up to him. He looked to be around three years old. “Uncle Nello, take us on the plane.”

  Daniello could only give him a small smile. “Not today.”

  The boy stomped his foot as his mother scolded him. “Daniello, this is Mia’s party. Let him be!”

  The boy’s—who had my lover’s name—lips began to quiver. “You are never home, Uncle you promise me too many times!”

  Daniello offered Mia to the woman next to him and pulled the boy to his hip while whispering in his ear as he kept his eyes fixed on me. The boy smiled and looked in my direction and nodded. “Okay!” He jumped from Daniello’s lap and made a beeline for me before he stopped and gripped my face, placing tiny hands on my cheeks before kissing me on the mouth. He pulled away with a whisper. “Ti amo, Taylor.” I love you. My chest exploded as I met Daniello’s gaze while his nephew looked back and squeaked. “Okay, Uncle?”

  Daniello nodded, his eyes filled with emotion as I bottomed out. My breath hitched in my throat as I stifled a sob, and Tula gripped my hand under the table. She spoke to those sitting near her, keeping our moment in a cocoon as life moved on around us, as if we weren’t being torn apart. Unable to handle another second, I ripped myself away from the table with a curt, “Scuzie.”

  I walked away slowly, as not to draw attention to myself, and then ran deep into a row of olive trees as I let my tears fall. I placed my hand on my chest, unable to breathe through the pain. Daniello appeared a few seconds later.

  Raw and exposed, we crashed together before he took my mouth in a hungry kiss. Our tongues mingled as he tasted me for endless minutes, his touch turning carnal as he pulled up my dress. “I have to have you right now.” He snatched my panties from my body and pulled out his cock. He lifted me onto him, and we both cried out as soon as we connected. “I love you,” I whispered as he buried himself deep and reclaimed my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ground into him as we kept our eyes locked, our bodies immersed. Lips parted, we lost ourselves in an alternate reality where we were possible, our souls and heart in sync. He whispered kisses along my jaw as he took me to the safest place I’d ever been. “Taylor,” he rasped out as he thrust himself deep. “Mio amore, mia sola vita.” My love, my only life, he murmured as he again took my mouth and absorbed everything between us.

  “I’ll stay. I’ll stay with you. I’ll be with you, Daniello. I want to stay,” I pleaded as he kept us connected. The voice of a shrieking child brought us back to reality, and he reluctantly let go of me to pull up his slacks. His eyes never left mine.

  “I cannot be both men.”

  “You can, you have.”

  “No, Taylor.”

  I faced him head on, fighting for a different life. “It’s my decision.”

  “I will make sure it is not. You will be a happy woman. You will live a long life. You do not deserve this one. I will not let my life taint yours again.”

  I took a step forward and wrapped myself around him. “Please, don’t do this. We can leave.”

  “You do not understand. He will not stop until I am his slave.”

  “Then I’ll stay.” I looked up at him as he cupped my face. “I’ll stay. I won’t leave your side. I’ll make you happy.”

  “You have made me very happy. You have brought me back from a dead man.”

  “Please, Daniello.”

  “You will leave tonight.” He whispered a kiss on my lips and grabbed my hand to lead us back to our end.

  As the party wound down and guests began to say their goodbyes, Donato took his leave with Rocco, who only showed at the end of the party. The man I’d met a week before, who had disguised himself as a friend only to become my worst enemy, walked my way, kissed both of my cheeks, and before I could utter a word, turned his back to me. Rocco sneered my way before he nodded at Daniello, a warning in his callous eyes. Daniello remained silent as the guests trickled out of his villa. The wait staff cleaned up the table, and in less than twenty minutes, there wasn’t a trace of a celebration. Packing up her daughter’s toys, Tula and Daniello argued briefly as her Capo gathered their children. They spoke far too rapidly for me to catch any of it. Once alone, Daniello and I stood staring at the sun that threatened to set on the both of us.

  “Daniello,” I whispered as I walked over and entwined my fingers with his. He stared at our clasped hands and then turned pain-filled eyes to me. I walked him into his bedroom and slipped out of my dress as he watched, his eyes murky. I undressed him slowly and stood bared to him. His chest heaved with rare emotion as I sank to my knees and wrapped my lips around his cock. He gripped my hair as I enveloped him in my ready mouth in worship.

  “I need you,” I prayed as he looked down. “Fuck me.” He closed his eyes. and I could feel the rip as he broke and began to fuck my mouth. His hands gripped me as he pulled himself from my lips and brought me to stand. He pushed me gently onto the bed as he followed, our mouths colliding in need. With the first thrust, my body coiled tight as he branded me with his bite, and I screamed out a welcome. He wore through me, the ache radiating through his strokes and between both of us. He bruised us both and buried himself so his mark would never fade. “You will belong to me, Taylor.”

  “I do.”

  “Goddamnit.” He thrust harder, and we both fell apart, our body’s convulsing together. Our breathing erratic, he lifted me to a sitting position, my legs wrapped around him as our hearts pounded.

  “Again,” I begged. “Take me away. This hurts too much. Please.” Daniello buried his head in my shoulder as he grew hard beneath me, and I began to move to keep us tangled in our fantasy. It was all we had.

  Sometime later, fully exhausted, we lay tangled in his sheets, our fingers lazily exploring the other.

  Daniello’s sudden chuckle broke the underlying tension.

  “What?” I asked as I turned to study his face. A small smile played on his lips as he palmed my stomach.

  “What would you do here?”

  Hope rose in my chest, and he shook his head, stifling it. I ignored his dismissal in an attempt to convince him, to convince myself.

  “I would figure it out.”

  He harrumphed as he looked down at me skeptically. His dark lashes hit his cheeks as he looked down to w
here his hand rested before deep brown inquisitive eyes met mine. “You would let me pregnant you?”

  “Impregnate me?” I shrugged. “Why not?”

  He chuckled as he kissed my shoulder. “Do you have any idea how mean those children would be?”

  I grinned up at him. “Pig heads?”

  “And chicken heads.” We both laughed as Daniello looked down at me. “I would give you no choice. I would fill you with my sons and daughters.”

  “Mutts.”

  Daniello smiled. “Yes, red head, south mutts.”

  I gripped his face with wide eyes. “Whiskey filled baby bottles?”

  Daniello grinned. “Of course. And you would marry me.”

  I felt my heart began to pound. “I would marry you. Make mutts. Ask me.”

  Daniello sighed as he pulled me tightly to him. “You do not want this life.”

  I cupped his jaw. “I want you.”

  Daniello sat up in alarm as his phone pinged. “Get dressed. We are not alone.”

  Less than a minute later, we were dressed and waiting on the patio as Donato emerged from the trees with Rocco behind him.

  “Your meeting.” Donato nodded in Daniello’s direction.

  Daniello stepped forward without hesitation. “If you want me to be your new dog, I want him dead.”

  I gasped as Rocco stood back with smug features. “You seemed to have forgotten your place, cousin.”

  Donato stared at Daniello with interest as he spoke, never once looking at Rocco. “He has caused much trouble. He is the reason we were discovered in the States. He is the reason your pocket is short.”

  Donato turned to Rocco. “Is this true?”

  Rocco shrugged. “I did what you asked me to. She was a distraction and he had plans to stay in the States. I told you this.” Rocco glanced my way. “As long as she lives, he will never truly be family.”

  “And so you attempted to take her life?” Donato’s presence was different from the kind man I’d baked with. I could feel the malice within him. I suddenly understood what Daniello meant by not being able to be both men. He had struggled with his demon long enough. One or the other had to take over in order for him to be what he needed to be. And he had to let the demon win to save me.

  “I did what I had to do to make sure he returned to Italy.”

  “You are a fake man, Akhom,” Daniello hissed. “You are not even of Italian blood. You are my father’s bastard. You have no place in this family.”

  Rocco stood, mouth gaping, as Daniello took a step forward. I could feel the hate emanating from him as he lifted his chin and commanded Donato’s attention.

  “This is not the truth,” Rocco said weakly as he frantically flicked his eyes back and forth. “These are lies.” Rocco looked at Daniello, his olive skin paling as he pleaded to Donato. “I have been loyal to this family.”

  “You are my father’s bastard. But you will never be my brother,” Daniello declared as Rocco turned back to stare at him incredulously.

  With an exasperated sigh, Donato retrieved a gun from his jacket and pointed it at me.

  “I have pledged my allegiance!” Daniello reminded him as he stepped in front of the gun. “If you kill her you must save a bullet for me. I will not do your bidding. I will not so much as lift a finger for Di Giovanni.” Heart pounding, I eyed my bag on the bed that held my gun before I glanced back at Rocco, who smirked at me just before his face exploded. He went down with a thud on the concrete as his remains bled out onto the colored tile.

  Daniello didn’t flinch as he shielded me from Donato, who took a menacing step forward with anger clouding his face.

  “No more fucking games, Daniello. As of this moment, you belong to the family. You will follow orders. You and your affair with this woman have just cost me a loyal captain. This ends here.” Donato glared in my direction. “No harm will come to you or your family. You leave now and never return.”

  “No.” I moved from Daniello’s back and faced Donato head on. “No! Donato, please don’t do this. Please.” He took a look at Rocco and returned his resentful gaze to me. “It’s done, Bella. Go home.”

  “No,” I whispered to Daniello as I saw the light in his eyes grow dim with defeat.

  “Daniello, come,” he ordered as he made his way into the trees.

  “Wait, no, NO!” I shrieked. “Please.”

  Daniello paused his back to me, his frame stiffened with my plea as if I had just shot him. He remained there only a moment before following behind Donato.

  Every piece of my heart ripped apart in those seconds I watched him disappear. I knew without a shadow of a doubt it was final.

  Minutes later, with absolutely nothing left but an empty soul, I was escorted by one of Donato’s men to a black SUV for what I was supposed was transport to the airport, or to my certain death. I had no will to fight, no will to keep breathing, but I owed it to the man who had just chained himself for my protection. I ripped my arm away from my escort as I slid into the back of the SUV. I looked back at the villa, praying for just a glimpse of him, just one more kiss, a touch, a moment, and was splintered when we pulled away.

  I gasped out a throaty cry, my heart making its final descent as the driver watched me curiously. Unashamed, and for the first time in my life, I cried openly for a man. The irony was not lost on me. My walls were down, and there was absolutely no reward behind that. What existed there now belonged to a man I could no longer have and would never see again. I hiccupped as my chest heaved with my endless tears. No relief came as I tried in vain to flush out the pain radiating through me. My life was spared, my sister was safe, and there was not a single fucking scenario in life that waited for me that I wanted to return to. Before him, I was an empty woman, void of love. Without him, I’d lost my soul. Uncontrollable sobs racked my body as I wept for the man who had continually tried to save me since the minute we met—from myself, from the dangers of my own life, and his. He’d walked into the fire to save me.

  And I’d asked him to.

  The SUV came to a sudden stop and my door opened. Daniello pulled me from the back seat and sandwiched me between him and the door. The same pain I felt twisted his features as he watched me fall apart.

  Raw and out of my element, I confessed the truth. “These tears are for you. They will always be for you.” He cupped my face and kissed a trailing tear down my cheek before he whispered. “Phoenix.”

  “What kind of monster does that make me? I’m so sorry, Daniello. I can’t bear what I’ve done to you. You fought your whole life against this.”

  “I did the same as you. I am your mirror. Never forget that. You did nothing but protect who you love. And I will stay and do the same. I love you, Taylor Ellison, with my whole soul. I will not regret this. We did nothing wrong. Our love is not wrong. Do not take this on yourself.”

  “I can’t do this. I can’t leave you like this.”

  Daniello’s eyes surveyed the villa before he pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. My breathing slowed as I fought for control. “Listen to me. You are stronger than this, you will see. You can come back from this. There is no other way. I would do anything to change this. I wanted you to be mine. I wanted to dine on your body every day and live inside you. That is where I feel I belong. You honor me with what your eyes say, and I cannot deny it anymore. Each breath I take when I am with you goes easy, and I fear I will never breathe again when this door is closed. But I made my choice, and there is nothing I can do, no solution but to obey. And my soul hates me for it.”

  I crumpled in his arms, gripping him tightly to me. “Daniello, you are the only thing that I have ever wanted in my life that I didn’t have to earn. And you are the only thing I want to keep.”

  “Look at me,” he pleaded. I looked up into his eyes as he confessed to me, “Taylor Ellison, you have won me in every way. My love for you fills my every cell brain.”

  A loud and inappropriate laugh escaped despite the horrific crack in my chest as he looked
on at me, amused.

  “Daniello,” I pleaded.

  “Yes,” he asked, his eyes searching mine.

  “Shoot your tutor.”

  He leaned in before his next confession. “I did not speak fluent English the first time I saw you.”

  “What?”

  “I wanted to approach you, I wanted to know your name, but I spoke so little English, the conversation would not have gone far.”

  Shocked by his confession, I stood, mouth gaping.

  “I wasted no time when you returned to the club. I had to know you, speak with you, so I forced Rocco to teach me, and then I listened to a tutor on the plane. Thirteen hours a day every day for months I listened, just to meet you.”

  More tears slid down my cheeks as he looked down at me, just as ripped open as I felt.

  “You are the strongest, most beautiful woman I have ever known. You have forever changed me as a man. I will miss this, I will think of you, and I will not want another.”

  “You won’t be alone,” I whispered before he claimed my lips slowly. We clung to each other tightly, desperately kissing and losing ourselves in each other one last time. When he pulled away, fresh tears emerged as I felt my heart being ripped away from me a second time. His eyes shimmered with unshed pain. “Go, Taylor.”

  “I’ll wait for you,” I promised.

  “I will not come.” A sob escaped as I tried in vain to pull myself together.

  “Taylor, go.” He gripped my neck as his mouth descended one last time, and all too soon retreated. “Please, go.” I heard the watery edge to his voice and saw the break in him. I climbed into the truck and braced myself as another wave of searing finality hit me. I studied Daniello and realized out of all the men in my life, he was the only one who taught me the truth about love.

  He had come into my life as a threat to all my principles and fully wrecked my line of thinking. Order and excellence had their place, but so did passion, spontaneity, and love.

  “I love you,” I whispered to him as he lingered at the door, his hands on either side of the frame. “Thank you for showing me it was still possible.” He closed his eyes tightly as if to keep what I said burned into his memory.