The corner of his lips curls up slightly as he cups me roughly, causing a moan to escape.
“I never play fair when it comes to you,” he comments.
Moaning louder, I open my wool trench coat as Luca skillfully unbuttons my black jeans with one flick.
“I’m pulling over before we have an accident.” His tone drips with desire as he rounds a building and pulls into a parking garage and into the first vacant spot he sees.
We both unbuckle our seatbelts, and I shed my coat. His hand disappears into my opened jeans, under my panties, and two fingers rub over my wetness as he leans sideways toward me. Luca’s roguish, cocky smile shoots a sensational tingle directly at my center.
“So wet already. Take off those jeans and shoes and touch me,” he orders.
Luca strips his suit jacket while I excitedly kick off my boots and push down my jeans. I fumble with his buckle and the button of his dress slacks where his erection is already bulging. The windows are steaming up from our ragged breaths as I kneel on my seat and lower my mouth to him, flicking my tongue against the tip of his arousal and then wrapping my lips around it. Luca lets out an unrestrained growl. He laces his fingers in my hair as I reach down to cup his balls and caress the top of his thighs while his other hand drifts down my back to palm my ass under my panties, and his middle finger slides down the center until finding my core to plunge in. I start pumping with one hand and suck hard while whimpering in pleasure and pushing back against his finger, but he pulls out and spanks me startlingly hard, making me shriek and groan simultaneously.
“Don’t come yet,” he demands through labored breathing and circles leisurely before curling in two fingers. “I’m going to taste you and make you come on my mouth.”
Luca’s hips start to move up as he fists my hair roughly, and I tighten my fingers around his erection while sucking hard until he comes with hints of a groan in his rasping tone. “Ah…fuck.”
Swallowing, I sit up and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand as we lock eyes, his half closed with a lazy grin on his satisfied face.
Suddenly, lightning fast, he moves and drives his tongue into my mouth, teeth clash as we kiss briefly before he pulls back to hook his hands behind my knees, letting me fall back against the seat as I shriek in surprise. The tear of my panties sounds loud in the vehicle. He adjusts my body easily so that I’m leaning back against the side of the seat, almost against the door. One foot is placed on the headrest of his seat while the other is propped on the dashboard, spreading me wide for him, and he dives in after throwing me an excited smirk.
“Oh shit!” Is all I can manage to croak out when he starts feasting on me like a man starved, so I entwine my fingers in his hair while pushing him between my legs. Luca’s hands stroke down the inside of my thighs, and his thumbs spread me open to taste every delicate part of me as he groans. One thumb starts to rub fiercely while his tongue is pushing in, which makes me climb to release so rapidly that it hits me unexpectedly fast, and I writhe unabashedly against his face.
“Luca!” My orgasm explodes when his tongue hits my most sensitive part, making my eyes roll back as I tug his hair. I come down from my climax, and he keeps licking slowly, up and down, with the flat of his tongue.
“Hmmm,” he murmurs as I open my eyes gradually and look down to watch him taste me.
My body keeps trembling from his pleasurable licks and just seeing him between my legs. Finally, he comes up and kisses me as his hands caress my naked legs and hips. He has no idea how badly I needed his seduction. How badly I needed to feel desirable by him again. But there’s still a small part holding me back from taking the next step; however, he doesn’t push it and actually retreats with a satisfactory gleam in his eyes.
“I missed your taste,” he admits the one thing I want to hear.
“Me too.”
We dress in silence, and I hold my ripped panties up by my forefinger.
Luca grins and snatches them out of my hand to toss the piece of fabric into the compartment of the door.
In mocking disgust, I remark, “Hey, those are my panties. I don’t think I would want anyone to find those in your car.”
“They’re my panties now.” He throws me a wink.
“That sounds very weird.”
We both break out in a laugh as he pulls out of the garage. In comfortable stillness, we head to my apartment to retrieve some of my belongings with our laced fingers in his lap.
CHAPTER 27
Luca
On Thursday, all three of us wait for Camilla at Sylvia’s office, but we’re almost certain she won’t show because our soldier screwed up and wasn’t as smart as she was.
Monday night, Adriano called me, enraged that the soldier lost Camilla immediately after she left the therapist’s office. I called her with Fallon’s disposable phone that night, but it was already disconnected, much to Adriano’s chagrin. It’s clear that she ran again.
Sylvia’s door opens, and Fallon has to start her session.
“Can you pick me up later?” she asks in such a sweet tone.
“Of course. I’ll be waiting downstairs.” Cradling her head, I press my lips to hers before she enters the office.
Adriano’s foul mood is vibrating off of him as we drive through the snow covered streets of The Loop, which is slightly amusing because only about Camilla would he get this worked up.
Sal calls when we’re on our way to drop off papers at Security Simplicity.
“The hostess is definitely the fucking leak,” he states when I answer. The agitated timbre of his voice is booming in the vehicle.
“Where is she?” I request calmly.
“Gone. She didn’t come in to work Tuesday. She was tipped off, and we both know by whom.”
Adriano is balling a fist, and I can see the rage firing inside him because we’re losing control over this entire situation, and now his ‘friend’ Camilla is causing even more trouble for herself because she warned the hostess.”
While stepping on the gas to hurriedly catch the green light at the intersection, I comment, “So she’s missing too? Did you already send someone to her house?”
“She’s missing,” Sal confirms on a sigh.
“And Ashton?”
He replies, “Status quo.”
Now my own exasperation is rising because Ashton has been getting away with everything for too long and that’s unacceptable to me. I grip the steering wheel. “Sal, I want him off the streets. He’s a liability, not only to me, but also to my girl. This is starting to really grate on my nerves.” Sal knows I crave to avenge Fallon’s parents’ death and retaliate for Ashton waterboarding me.
It’s quiet for a moment before he says, “I have one other boss I can reach out to. Perhaps he can be of assistance.”
“Grazie.” Thank you.
After I end the call, Adriano is unnervingly silent and rubs his hand over the back of his neck.
I try to calm him. “We’ll find her.”
“I fucking miss her, and we were so close. I’m concerned as to what kind of shit she’s gotten herself into,” he confesses for the first time.
“I promise you that we will find Camilla and help her out of this mess.” Adriano has helped me repeatedly with regards to Fallon, so I won’t hesitate to support him with whatever he needs when it comes to Camilla. And as of now, her mess is connected to Fallon’s predicament, definitely making it high on my list of priorities.
***
That night, I arrive at my penthouse to find Fallon curled up on my sofa watching TV. She peeks from under the white blanket. “Hey.”
I loosen my tie while edging closer and press my lips to her forehead. “Please don’t tell me you’re watching Charmed again.”
She chuckles and sticks out her tongue. “No! The news.” And she holds open the blanket for me to join her.
Her warm welcome eases all the stress of this week. “Let me go change first. Did you eat?”
“No, I waited for you
.”
“Order something.” I disappear into my bedroom to change into comfortable sweatpants.
It’s amazing how relaxed we are with one another again and how much I look forward to coming home every night knowing she’s here and that she’s safe. For a man who rarely wanted anyone in the sanctuary of his home, I can’t imagine being here without her – even though she’s only been here for four days. Little by little, we’re becoming Fallon and Luca again.
After agonizing months apart, it only took a few weeks for us to find comfort in each other again. She’s still my positive counterpart to every negative characteristic I have. Where I am dark, she’s light. Where I am controlled and guarded, she’s open and free-spirited. Not even her grief changed that part of her, and I’ve come to love her even more because of it. However, I do believe it’s time we talk about us. The conversation we’ve been avoiding needs to take place because I require a commitment from her. I won’t push her too hard, but I want some kind of promise that she won’t leave when all is said and done.
And I also want an answer to the one question that constantly infects my mind. I still wonder what happened the night she was in the hospital with Doc. What caused the distance between us and her sudden reliance on Wade the next day?
She’s standing at the kitchen island with different takeout menus scattered on the granite top, and without looking up, she shouts, “What are you in the mood for?”
“I’m here. No need to yell.” I grin and shake my head as I stand across from her.
“You are so quiet.” Her eyes move from my grey sweats to my naked torso. “What’s with you and no shirt lately?”
“That’s to entice you.” I wiggle my eyebrows, and she breaks out in a huge laugh.
“I’m actually not in the mood for anything savory… I just want dessert.”
“Then order something savory for me and dessert for you.”
“Yes! I love how you never complain about my addiction to sugar.”
I perk a brow. “I would never. I love how your hips and ass are filling out.”
After she’s placed the order, she rounds the island to head back to the sofa, but I wrap my fingers around her wrist, swirling her pulse gently with my thumb.
CHAPTER 28
Fallon
I walk past Luca after ordering an arrabbiata pasta for him and a blueberry panna cotta for me, but I’m stopped when I feel my wrist being lifted from behind, trapped in the heat of his hold.
“Fallon.” Firmly yet slowly, he pulls me to him, closing the already short distance between us as my shoulder hits his chest.
“What happened that night at the hospital?” he asks as he sweeps his nose over mine, and I close my eyes.
Luca is referring to the night of the abuse, and this is the moment when I decide to tell him everything because we’ve grown so close in such a short amount of time. No more lies, no more deceit, no more dancing around each other. Because life can end in a split second, and I don’t want to die with regrets. Only it’s too difficult for me to speak the words, so I lead him to his bedroom.
Grabbing the diary from my suitcase in his walk-in closet, I clutch it against my chest and stand before Luca, who’s sitting on the edge of his bed with a frown.
“I didn’t start therapy because of my parents’ death. I actually started prior to their murder.”
He places his hands on the back of my thighs and tugs me to him. Then he looks up with expectant eyes as his palms slide over my hips, urging me to continue.
I swallow back my impending tears. “You’re right; something happened that night, but I’d rather you read it from my diary than for me to relay it and have to relive it. Please just read it entirely before you say anything, and try to understand why I couldn’t tell you.” I hand over the diary hesitantly, and he takes it with a serious expression. “Promise me, you won’t be mad.” He lifts a brow yet slowly nods, making me believe he realizes that he will learn something dreadful.
“I promise.”
I try to turn, but his hand that’s still holding my thigh stops me.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“Uhm… I don’t know if I can stay.”
“Let’s go to the sofa together. Lie with me there.”
We return to the couch where Luca stretches his legs, feet resting on the table, so I can lie with my head in his lap as he strokes my hair while reading the diary.
CHAPTER 29
Luca
From the moment she hands me the diary with moisture pooling in her eyes, I sense that I’m going to read appalling words, so I want her near me. She places her head in my lap, and I cover her with the white blanket as she watches TV.
Opening the purple hardcover diary, I scan through several pages and notice that not much has been written yet, so I just start at page one. By the third sentence, I’m already clenching my jaw while trying to hide my reaction from her by calmly winding my fingers through her hair. Nothing could’ve prepared me for the unadulterated rage storming through me as I read about how Ashton raped her at the police station. My hands are sweating, and I can feel her tensing up as my entire body becomes rigid, but I keep tangling my fingers through the strands of her hair in an effort to soothe her.
My sweet Fallon. The woman I will grow old with has been through so much more than I could ever imagine. Sweat trickles down my neck and my fingers dig into the paper of the diary as I have to read how that fucker assaulted her in the worst way.
When Collopy attacked her, I was already infuriated like never before, but now there’s no limit to the carnage I’d wreak. My need for retaliation against Ashton just magnified a hundredfold.
I will get you vengeance, dolcezza, whether you want it or not.
A newfound respect for Wade grows as I read how he helped her, and I’m beginning to understand the nature of their relationship. I wipe the sweat from my upper lip, but I can’t control my enraged breathing anymore. She sits up with wide eyes, anticipating my reaction, so I immediately hug her to me, and she climbs onto my lap, burying her face in my neck as unbearable cries rake through her body.
Caressing the back of her head, I soothe, “Shhh. Why would I be mad at you, sweetheart? My god, I would never be mad at you. But I do hurt for you.” My own eyes water as her tears pour down my neck, and I press my lips to her hair.
I swear to god, Ashton will pay!
Her arms clasp tightly around my middle, and I return her embrace, needing her to feel safe with me as guilt darkens my soul. I was horrendous to her the day after she was raped. The day I decided I was done with her. The day she probably needed me most.
She hick-ups while trying to speak. “I’m…sorry for not—”
“Don’t. There is absolutely no need for you to say you’re sorry – you did nothing wrong.” With both my hands on the side of her face, I pull her back to lock eyes with mine. “You don’t need to apologize, okay?”
She nods almost unnoticeably, and I kiss her forehead.
“You are so brave, and you’re one of the strongest women I know. After everything you’ve been through, look at how you keep going.” Not only did I underestimate her strength, but I completely undervalued the warrior hidden inside Fallon. “Do you want to talk about it with me?” I ask cautiously.
Shaking her head, she rejects the offer. “Do you?”
“I want what you want.”
“Then no, not now.”
“Let’s—” I’m cut off by the buzzer announcing that our food has arrived.
We eat on the sofa in companionable silence, sitting intimately close together, and I touch her continually to reassure her that I’m not angry in the least. Not at her, anyway; my fury will be unleashed on Ashton.
My resolve to talk about our relationship evaporates after reading her diary, and I can’t bring myself to push her for answers right now.
That night, as we fall asleep with our bodies entangled, arms and legs hooked together to find comfort in the warmth
of each other, I come up with an idea to surprise her this weekend.
***
“Where are we going?” She grins at me excitedly as the sun is setting on this cold winter night.
“Stop fishing, Miss Impatient. And get in the car.”
After almost an hour of driving, we pass the sign she recognizes and beams at me. “The cabin. I love that cottage.”
“But wait, there’s more,” I counter while parking my Maserati in front of the cottage, equally eager because I want to spoil her, take her mind off of everything. Jumping out, I round the car to help her out and lead us to the door. After I unlock it, she steps inside, and her mouth drops open at the décor.
“Oh, Luca.”
Dozens of scented candles light the room, and the already-fired-up hearth warms the cottage. The aged wooden table is filled with desserts: chocolate muffins, crème brûlée, red velvet cake, and dark chocolate cake.
Swiveling around, she jumps into my arms, twining her arms and legs around me. I hold her up by her ass and lead us to sit in front of the fireplace while she presses her soft lips to mine.
I trace her mouth with my tongue before excitedly delving inside as she grinds her hips against me, and I hurriedly remove our coats while avoiding to break our kiss.
She lies back on the white angora rug, pulling me down with her. “I need your touch to make me feel safe again. I need to know that I’m still desirable to you. Make love to me.” Fallon rubs her palm over my hardening length through my dress slacks and coaxes my mouth open with her tongue.
All rational thoughts fly out the window. I grab her hips and push myself between her legs. Her soft moan spurs me on. “You will always be desirable to me, but I want you to talk to me, tell me what kind of intimacy you want. I want you to take the lead, and if at any time you want to stop, we’ll stop immediately, okay?” She covers a hand over my jaw, and I rub my cheek against her palm. “Talk to me.”
For Luca (Chicago Syndicate Book 2) Page 22
