Wife (Betrothed Book 1)

by Penelope Sky

  Gustavo didn’t even bother to look at the paperwork. Instead of being interested in my report, he seemed more annoyed that I’d brought it up at all. “Leave it on my desk, and I’ll look at it later. I need to get going.”

  The odd conversation with my stepfather worried me. He seemed like a good man who would never betray my mother, and if he did have his own agenda, he never would have allowed me to work with him every day. Obviously, I would catch him, figure out any wrongdoing. Money always left a paper trail.

  Unless he thought I was too stupid to follow it.

  I found that unlikely, but still I couldn’t explain what I was looking at. I couldn’t ask my mother about it because then I wouldn’t be allowed to work with Gustavo at all. She would tell me to keep my mouth shut and find a husband instead.

  She was a real piece of work.

  I worked as a concierge that night, standing at the front desk and taking phone calls from guests who wanted to book activities when they came to visit. The rest of the time, I stood in the quiet lobby, thinking about my last conversation with Hades.

  He said I would change my mind.

  But he hadn’t tried to make that happen.

  Did I want him to make that happen?

  My eyes were downcast as I looked at my computer, typing an email to a guest who wanted to inquire about dinner reservations at our Michelin star restaurant within the hotel. I gave them a list of available times then hit send.

  When I lifted my gaze, he was standing there.

  Hades Lombardi.

  With brown eyes, dark hair, and beautiful Tuscan skin, he looked at me with the same hostility as before. It was a penetrating stare, as if he read my thoughts like words on paper. He was dressed in a black suit and tie even though it was unlikely he was working this late at night.

  He’d caught me off guard, so I didn’t know what to say.

  I maintained a calm expression, borderline indifferent, and held his gaze. I tried not to think about our kiss on the sidewalk in the dark, the way I felt his hard chest and wished he would grab me and pin me against the wall. Now I’d kissed him twice…and each embrace got better and better.

  He pulled his hand out of his pocket and set a keycard on the counter.

  I didn’t glance at it, but I recognized it. It looked just like the keys we used at the hotel.

  “Room 402.” He held my gaze for a few more seconds before he walked to the elevators and stepped inside.

  When the doors were shut, I stared at the card he’d left behind, the key he wanted me to have. The other receptionists didn’t seem to notice, so I dragged it off the counter and slipped it into my pocket.

  My eyes returned to my computer screen so I could pretend I was working, but all I could think about was what was waiting for me in room 402. It was one of our deluxe suites, so it had a nice view, a large tub…and a king-size bed.

  I shouldn’t go. I should clock out and just go home.

  But I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  The elevator took me to the fourth floor.

  I stepped into the deserted hallway, thankful I wouldn’t have to see someone who might recognize me. Even if they did, they couldn’t report me to anyone. One day, I might be their boss, so it would be stupid to piss me off.

  I reached the door. The room number was in gold letters.

  I stared at it with the key in my pocket, still considering my other option—take off and run. The key was grasped in my fingertips, and all I had to do was slide it through. But then Hades would have all the power. He would know he was the sexy bastard he claimed to be.

  But fighting this feeling was getting me nowhere.

  I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

  Standing in front of the open window was Hades. Shirtless. His belt was pulled out of his slacks, so the pants hung low on his hips. The dramatic V-line was noticeable over his hips, even from where I stood several feet away. His side profile was visible, and he continued to stare at the city even when he heard the door.

  The muscles of his sides were tight, chiseled, and defined. They wrapped all the way around until the muscles of his back were visible, bulging with strength. I’d never seen him shirtless, but I’d imagined it a couple of times.

  I walked into the room, my heels lightly tapping against the carpet. I tossed my purse on the nearby table and stood there, waiting for him to address me. On the table was a bottle of scotch and two glasses. There was a golden-colored residue on the bottom of one, so he’d obviously started without me.

  I stood behind him and examined his reflection in the glass. His eyes took in the scenery in front of him with a relaxed expression, but his jaw was slightly tight, like he was thinking about something.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “What exactly do you do for Gustavo—”

  “You aren’t here to talk.” He turned around and faced me. With his bare feet, he walked across the carpet toward me, unbuttoning his slacks as he went. They came loose and slowly slid down his body, his black boxers emerging. “Neither am I. So let’s just fuck.” He pushed his boxers over his hips and let an impressive dick emerge. It was at half-mast, but even then, it was still something to show off.

  I didn’t take my clothes off as an act of defiance, but that wouldn’t last long. I’d lost all power the second I’d stepped into his hotel room. He knew I wanted him, so there was no point in hiding it. There was also no point in keeping my clothes on when I could just walk out the door to demonstrate my independence.

  “Take off your clothes.” He kicked his pants and boxers away, standing there proudly with that big dick and ripped physique.

  The longer I looked at his naked body, the less I cared about how stupid this was. The less I cared about the consequences. Maybe this would be a one-night stand, a good memory I could use with my vibrator in the future. Maybe there was no point in overthinking it. I unzipped the back of my skirt and let it fall over my hips until it hit the ground.

  His gaze immediately dropped to my thong.

  I unbuttoned my collared shirt and stripped it away. Underneath was a white cotton bra, not the sexiest piece of underwear I owned, but then again, I hadn’t expected an erotic night like this. I peeled it off and let it fall into our pile of mutual clothes.

  Hades looked me over, slowly walking toward me as he cherished the sight of my body. He took in my curves, my small nipples, my belly button. He saw everything. When his lips were close to mine, his arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me into him, making my stomach press against his hard dick.

  My god, it was big.

  His hand slid into my hair, and he looked at me for a moment, treasuring the heat before the explosion. He fisted my strands and got a good grasp before he leaned in and kissed me, finishing the kiss we’d started last week.

  When the desire started to burn my lips, I relaxed my body, and my brain turned off. My hands glided up his powerful back to the enormous shoulders I’d admired on so many occasions. My nails tested his neck, pressing deep into the surface to see if the skin would puncture.

  His large hands moved to my ass and squeezed both cheeks as he kissed me, as he made love to my mouth with his. The kiss was so slow and tight, not sloppy and rushed like it was with inexperienced men. Every embrace was purposeful, deep. Sometimes there was tongue, but there was never saliva. Sometimes there was a deep breath, a masculine moan. Sometimes he could feel my lips tremble with desire, and he gave me a moment to catch my breath.

  He touched me the way a man had never touched me before, his large hands squeezing me everywhere. My ass cheeks were practically bruised under his fingertips. My tits were handled like water balloons. He didn’t treat me like a delicate woman who needed a soft touch. He touched me like I could handle it, could handle everything he was about to give me.

  He guided me backward onto the bed, and we rolled together, the back of my head hitting the pillow. He pulled a condom from somewhere and slipped it on before he parted my legs with his
knees, bringing us close together. His face rested over mine, and his arms pinned behind my knees as he sank inside me, his big dick stretching my little pussy.

  He moaned against my lips, like he could feel just how tight I was. He sank deeper and deeper, stopping when his balls tapped against my ass. Now he breathed into my mouth, enjoying the way our bodies fit together like lock and key.

  I felt the stretch of my body, felt my pussy ache from his intrusive presence. I’d never been with a man so big, who pushed in so deep. I was moaning against his mouth because I felt two things at once—pleasure and pain.

  He started to rock into me, our breaths in sync.

  “Fuck…” My fingers dug into his hair as I cradled his face close to mine. Our noses touched as we breathed together, my slickness oozing down my crack and onto the bedding underneath us. This was what I’d been craving for weeks, a big man to press me into the bed and fuck me good.

  He thrust at a regular pace, making the headboard tap against the wall at a steady beat. It was the perfect speed, a rate that allowed me to enjoy every single thrust, treasure his tip to his base. I felt him completely fill me every time, his rock-hard dick pressing against every wall in my channel.

  It was fucking incredible. “Yes…yes.” I was just one of many, another notch on his bedpost, but I couldn’t care less. I was honored to be there, honored to be fucked so good that night. “Don’t stop.” My hands moved up his chest, and I bit my bottom lip as I felt the climax approach, felt the heat numbing my fingertips.

  He shifted his body closer to mine and fucked me harder, fucked me at a deeper angle.

  “God…” I buried my face in his neck and released, my cunt squeezing his dick with the strength of a machine. I sheathed him with more slickness that traveled between my cheeks and to the sheets beneath me. It was so good, just to lie there and enjoy this sexy man fucking me.

  He grabbed my hair and pulled me back to the pillow so he could look at me, could see the satisfaction in my eyes from the climax he’d just given me. “We aren’t done yet.”

  His muscular arm was wrapped around my chest, his hand squeezing my tits as he fucked me from behind. We were spooning on our sides, his hips thrusting so he could get his dick as deep as possible. His lips rested against my ear, and I got to listen to his sexy breathing as he fucked me, as he enjoyed me.

  I bounced my ass back against him, taking that girth with the same enthusiasm he gave it to me.

  He held his weight on one elbow and leaned over me, supporting the back of my head as he turned my face toward his. Our lips came together, and he kissed me as he continued to pound into me.

  My hand reached for the back of his neck, and I held on to him as we kissed, as we moved together, our bodies slick with my come. Hades ignited dreams I forgot I had, dreams of having a passionate affair that made me forget about everything happening outside those four walls. He was the lover I’d been waiting for, someone to waste my time until I had to grow up and make better choices. He was a mistake…but such a good one.

  His lips hesitated as he came, filled another condom while being deep inside me. He grabbed on to my hip as he finished, giving me his entire length as he stuffed the tip of the latex. He closed his eyes for a second as he enjoyed the high before he rolled away and cleaned himself up.

  I lay there, my body more satisfied than it’d ever been. All the guys I’d been with before were just practice.

  This was actual fucking.

  I could lie there and go straight to sleep.

  I turned to the nightstand and noticed the time.

  Shit, I had to get home.

  I got out of bed and got dressed, doing my best to smooth the bird’s nest on my head. I looked in the mirror on the wall and fixed my smeared mascara and reapplied a coat of lipstick from the tube in my purse. Even then, I still looked like I’d been thoroughly fucked. Hades had taken me over and over again, ready to start up again just minutes after the last go.

  He returned to the bedroom, over six feet of masculine nakedness. Even when he wasn’t hard, he still had a nice dick to show off, the kind that was big even when it was soft. He sauntered inside, carrying himself like a knight. He grabbed his boxers off the floor and pulled them up his muscular legs. “I can take you home.”

  And have my mother see? That was a crazy idea. “I don’t mind walking.”

  “It’s midnight.”

  “I like walking in the dark.”

  He rose to his feet and gave me a cold look. “That’s too damn bad.”

  “Then I’ll take a cab.” My mother didn’t care about the guys I ran around with, but she would definitely care if Hades Lombardi was the man I was sleeping with.

  He pulled on his slacks then came toward me, so sexy that I wanted to jump into bed all over again. He looked me over, like a part of him still wanted more. The backs of his fingers reached my cheek and gently tucked my hair behind my ear.

  When I’d walked into this room, I just wanted one night. I wanted to get his toxicity out of my system so I could move on with my life. But now that I’d had him, I was addicted. If sex was always like that, then why would I go anywhere else? “Give me your number.”

  That charming smile moved onto his lips, the affection reaching his eyes. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at me. “Want to see me again?”

  “I want to fuck you again.”

  His smile faded, and his eyes dropped their playfulness. He grabbed the phone out of my hand and typed in his number before he handed it back. “At your service.”

  “Good. Do you book your room under an alias?”

  “I don’t need to.”

  “My stepfather might wonder…”

  “He won’t wonder anything.”

  I didn’t argue. “See you soon.” I was tempted to kiss him goodbye, but to keep this casual, I didn’t. I turned around to walk out.

  “Sofia.”

  I turned around before I reached the door.

  “This is all you want, right?” He stood with perfect posture, his shoulders back and his muscular arms tight. He was tanned everywhere, like he lay in the sun naked on a regular basis.

  He probably wanted something casual, because he picked up women in bars and did whatever the fuck he wanted. Women probably wanted more from him, fell in love with him when they promised they wouldn’t.

  I wasn’t one of those girls. “Nothing else.”

  5

  Hades

  The conference room was filled with my associates. All dressed in suits to blend in with the rest of the clientele of the hotel, they looked like royalty instead of the scumbags they really were.

  Conversations filled the air, talking about money or pussy. Usually both. When I walked in, they all took notice of my presence, and as a sign of respect, they shut the fuck up. All the men relaxed in their chairs and turned to me.

  I buttoned the front of my suit jacket as I stood at the head of the table. I surveyed all of them, holding back my rage because someone in that room was a traitor, a fucking rat that stepped out of line.

  They would pay by the end of the night.

  I snapped my fingers and turned to the doorway.

  Maximum and Diesel pushed a cart into the room and closed the doors behind them as they left. Then they stood on guard, their guns concealed under their jackets just in case an employee happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  I opened the container and pulled out a plastic bag. White crystals were inside, looking like small pieces of glass from a broken pitcher. I tossed it on the table, making all the men crane their necks to take a peek. “How many kilos do you think that is?”

  No one was stupid enough to answer.

  My hands slid into my pockets, and I walked around the table, passing behind the men like a really fucked-up game of duck, duck, goose. “It’s five kilos. And at eight thousand euros per kilo…you can do the math. My chemists work in the best labs money can buy. Products aren’t spilled. The yield is always
the same. So, if someone skims cash off the top, I’ll know about it.” I kept moving, not looking any of them in the eye. If I made eye contact with the man who crossed me, I’d probably rip out his throat then and there. “Gentlemen, I’ve got eyes everywhere. My birds fly all the way to Russia, to Africa, to anywhere on this fucking planet. So if my shit is sold, I know about it. And I know exactly how much it’s selling for. Do you know how much that is?”

  The men glanced at each other, quickly figuring out that someone did something wrong.

  “Eight thousand euros a kilo.” I came full circle back to the front of the table. “But someone here is selling it at a higher price. And you know what they say…more money, more problems. That’s only true if you aren’t me. That money isn’t coming back to me. I’m getting exactly the same amount as always. So…where did that money go?” I stopped when my eyes settled on Holton, the distributor working in Russia.

  Our eyes locked for just seconds before the panic set in. “I don’t know what you’ve heard—”

  “Shut up.”

  He rose to his feet. “Hades, my guys are selling it at the right price. If they aren’t, I can’t control what they do.”

  “Really? Because when I tortured them, they said you raised the price.”

  Holton was shocked by this knowledge because he was stupid. How could he possibly think this shit would go unnoticed? Just because we worked thousands of miles apart didn’t mean I didn’t know exactly where he took a shit every day.

  Holton glanced around the room, looking for an escape route.

  “You want to leave?” I asked.

  He stayed silent, knowing it was a trick question.

  I nodded to my guys.

  “No!” Holton tried to run around the table, but Maximum blocked him in. Diesel went the other way, cornering him like a scared dog. The remaining associates in their chairs didn’t look up from the table, pretending to ignore what was happening right before them.