“I’m shocked. I wouldn’t have thought you’d have time to work with all of your frat bro duties and manwhoring to attend to.”
Luca smirked. “Well, I guess you’re in for a lot of surprises because there’s more to me than hot chicks and frat parties.”
Concetta appeared from the kitchen. She was singing a song in Italian under her breath, which made me smile. My childhood nanny, Domenica, who still took care of Grandfather, even in her late seventies, would do the same thing when she cooked. Concetta set a pizza with thick slices of pepperoni on a circular tray in the center of the table. Starved, I lifted a slice off the dish and bit into it. I moaned as the spiciness of the meat exploded across my tongue.
Luca laughed between bites, wiping a speck of sauce from the corner of his lips. “I take it, you like it.”
“Like it? I love it. This sauce is amazing, and it has real pepperoni for a change. Hardly anyone does that around here. It’s always that thin, greasy nasty shit out of a package. Hands down, this is the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.”
“It’s a family recipe.” He lifted another slice onto his plate and looked up at me. “The real secret is using fresh ingredients. That’s where most places go wrong.”
“Hmm,” I said, finishing off my slice. “Damn, I was hungry. I think all I ate today was dinner at the SAC.”
“Rookie move.” Luca flashed a broad grin and a perfect set of white teeth. Everything about him was flawless, so much so that it sickened me. “Next time, I’ll make sure you’re fed.”
“Oh.” My shoulders slumped against the back of the booth. There will be a next time? How presumptuous.
We finished off most of the pizza before a group of drunken boys stumbled through the front door, yelling and punching each other in the arms.
“Did you hit that or what?” a tall dark-haired boy said, nudging his friend in the arm.
He shook his head.
The boy said, “Fucking pussy.”
Luca rested his arm on the back of the booth and snapped his head in their direction. “Yo, dickheads, I’m trying to eat over here. You mind?”
The boys strolled toward us with purpose. When the leader of their group laid his hand on Luca’s shoulder, my stomach twisted in knots.
“Hey, brother, sorry about that.” He stared at me, and then Luca. “Are you on a date?”
“Nah, Luca doesn’t need to buy a chick dinner to get laid,” the scruffy blond boy behind him said, turning to his friend for confirmation.
“All it takes is a ride in the Benz,” another one chimed in, laughing.
The Rinaldis had a fleet of cars, so it wasn’t like I’d be impressed. I flashed Luca an irritated look and sighed.
My skin burned at their comments, and I wanted nothing more than to punch one of them in the face. I wasn’t some whore Luca could parade through the Delta Sigma house.
Luca latched on to my hand as I attempted to slide off the bench.
“Bella, don’t go.”
I sensed a hint of desperation in his voice.
“My name is not Bella! You’re such a…” I hesitated for a second, trying to think of the words for pig and asshole in Italian so that I could yell at him without these morons understanding. “A porco…a stronzo.” I thought of a few other choice words, but my voice caught.
The corners of his mouth turned up into a devilish grin. “Baby, I love it when you talk dirty to me. Sit down, and yell at me some more, preferably in Italiano.”
His goofy look forced a smile I tried hard to suppress. Luca insisted that the boys apologize, which I refused to accept. I sank back against the padding, my hands folded across my chest, as I waited for them to leave.
Concetta announced the kitchen had closed, and after they exited, I slinked off the bench and walked toward the door. “Thanks for the food, but I need to get some sleep.”
Chapter Seven
IZZIE
Luca pleaded for me to come back. I refused to turn around, not even to do a cursory glance over my shoulder as I pushed open the door. As I started walking down the dark street, I wished I’d waited for him. The streetlamps barely provided enough light to navigate, and I wasn’t sure which part of Broad Street I was on because of the detour we’d taken.
Luca caught up with me a few minutes later.
He clamped his hand on my shoulder to slow my pace. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. Those guys are assholes.”
I pushed his hand away and planted my feet, glaring at him with pure hatred. “Why are you doing this?”
He shrugged, completely unaffected by my attitude. “Doing what? Can’t a guy buy a pretty girl some food?”
I rolled my eyes and continued to stagger down the street. “I don’t want to be lumped into some category. Is this what you do with every girl? Stalk them, and butter them up with food, so they’ll sleep with you?”
I looked over long enough to see him smirk.
“It’s not usually food they’re after.”
He tried to hold my hand, and I grunted, unable to control my disgust as I moved away from him. “You are so gross, you know that?”
He reached out again, but when I slipped from his embrace for the third time, he finally got the hint. “Okay, look, I’m sorry. What do I have to do to make it up to you?”
“I don’t know. Stop acting like a pig.”
As we walked, I stared at the ground, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. That somehow made it easier to contain my sickening emotions. Every time his long fingers brushed against my skin, I’d feel a rush of heat burn through me like wildfire. With each touch, the sensation would intensify, spreading to my cheeks, running down my arms, and settling between my thighs. I hated his effect on me—the same uncontrollable desire I’d bet every girl had for him.
Swaying onto the lawn outside my dorm, I did my best to dodge him. “You only want me because you can’t have me.”
“That’s not true.” His tone grew serious, defensive, as if I’d struck a nerve.
Apparently, there had been a party at Jefferson Hall. I counted the number of plastic cups strewed along the lawn to keep myself from glancing in his direction. I stopped at thirty-four before I lost count, the mixture of red and blue cups blurring together.
“Then, why do you keep calling me bella?”
Luca brushed his fingers against mine, sending a chill down my spine that took me off guard. I damn near lost my balance, not that I was very steady to begin with, but I couldn’t allow him to touch me.
“I told you, it’s because you’re beautiful.”
I sighed, feeling somewhat defeated by his persistence to win me over. He would never give up, not as long as I kept averting his advances.
But I would still try to make him hate me. “You probably call every girl bella, so you don’t have to remember their names in the morning,” I said, layering the sarcasm and anger on thicker.
Luca laughed under his breath, enjoying a private joke. “They don’t last that long.”
“See? This is what I’m talking about,” I snapped.
What was it about him that made me hate him and like him all at the same time even though he was wrong for me on so many levels? We had almost nothing in common, yet every time he spoke, I would melt like chocolate on a hot summer day.
“I was kidding—well, not really.” He used his hands in a animated sort of way when he spoke that irritated the hell out of me.
But I still found it entertaining, maybe even a little sexy. Who was I kidding? Everything he did, I found unbelievably hot.
He took a hint, no longer searching for my fingers as we climbed the stairs of the residence hall. Luca opened the door for me, gesturing for me to step inside. “I know you think I’m an asshole, that I call every girl bella, but you’re wrong. It’s just you. You’re different.”
I figured he said that to everyone, and I didn’t bother to acknowledge him. We coasted down the second floor, and although still in party mode, the senior dormitory was
n’t a full-blown rager.
When we reached my door, Luca tugged on my hand and every nerve ending in my body sparked at once. He smiled because he knew the power he had over me, over all women. No one could resist his charms, not even me.
The pad of his thumb was rough against my skin. Rich boy had worked a day or two in his life. That much I deduced from his calluses. Somehow, that made me hate him a little less than I had five minutes before.
I lifted my chin to sneak a peek of his gorgeous face. My eyes settled on his mouth as his tongue rolled over his pouty bottom lip. God, I wanted to bite that lip and then taste every inch of him.
“Tell me something, Izzie.”
“Something.” I couldn’t resist being a mega bitch.
“You know what I mean.” He frowned at my snide remark. “We can start off with something small. What’s your major?”
“Pre-law with a minor in international business,” I muttered.
“I’m a Criminal Justice major.”
I had expected liberal arts or something noncommittal even though I had known by some of our mutual classes that his degree had some concentration in law. But the fact that he’d picked a real major shocked me.
I laughed into the crook of my arm. “You’re more criminal than justice.”
I could tell by the look in his eyes that he understood the meaning behind my words. The son of a Mafia don pursuing criminal justice degree was hilarious. What was next? That he aspired to join the FBI or state police after college?
“Maybe we can be study buddies,” I deadpanned, stopping at my door.
A whirl of drunken boys in their boxers ran past us, hauling half-naked girls over their shoulders. I stepped back, and Luca moved with me, our fingers interlocked.
“Yeah, sure.” He hadn’t seemed to notice my sarcasm until I chuckled. Then, his demeanor stiffened, and he tried his best to recoup from our exchange. “I mean, if you want to.”
“I was kidding. Thanks for the offer, but I didn’t get awarded the Penn scholarship for academic excellence because of my looks.”
“What do you have against me?” He sounded annoyed, maybe even offended. “Did I do something to piss you off? I like you, and you’re not making it easy to get to know you. At all.”
“I know what you want, and I will not do the walk of shame out of a frat house, so forget about it.” I pointed my finger at his chest. “Luca, you can have any girl you want. You’re hot. You know you’re hot, and everyone else on campus knows it, too. I mean, look at you. You don’t need me.”
I immediately regretted my words, but it was too late because he was already flashing that panty-dropper smile at me. He knew he had me. I’d be a liar if I didn’t admit I wanted to be with him more than any man I’d ever encountered.
“I know I keep telling you this, but I’m not that bad. Just give me a chance.”
Luca moved closer, and for a second, I thought he would lean down and kiss me.
“I want to take you somewhere next weekend. Do you trust me?”
“How could I trust you? I don’t even know you.”
I fished the key from my purse and inserted it into the lock, and as I turned the doorknob, I felt Luca’s breath on my neck. I pushed the door open, and I leaned against the frame, unable to face him.
His hand gripped my side, and he leaned into me, his lips grazing my earlobe. “Izzie, c’mon, I’m serious. You know me whether you want to admit it or not. I’m still the same person I was when we were kids. Just say you’ll come with me.”
As long as he touched me, I couldn’t function, and my body went into total shutdown mode. As his fingers moved along my hip bone, my breathing picked up.
“Where?” I asked.
“South Philly.”
I pressed my finger to my lips, pretending to think it through. “Okay, but on one condition. I want to go to Tony Luke’s for lunch.”
His eyes shot wide open, and a tiny smile splayed across his lips. “Most people want to go to the usual tourist traps, like Geno’s or Pat’s.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not most people or a tourist, and I don’t want cheesesteak. Even if I did, it wouldn’t be from either of those places. I prefer a chicken cutlet sandwich over a greasy Cheez Whiz–steak any day.”
He placed his palm on the wall outside my door, the other now on my stomach. “So, I guess it’s a date.”
I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath before quietly blowing it out my nose. His body tensed against mine, and the fact that I didn’t move made my intentions clear. I tried hard to suppress my emotions, but the alcohol wasn’t making it easy. In a moment of weakness, I moved my curls off my neck and looked up at him, flicking my tongue over my lips.
With that, he lifted me, carrying me into my suite.
Luca kicked the door shut, and we crashed into the entry wall. Luca gripped my ass with one hand and my face with the other. I could feel his erection pressing against my thigh through his jeans. Moaning, he sucked on my bottom lip. A flicker of acknowledgment sparked in his eyes. Then, he parted my lips with his tongue and slipped it inside my mouth. For a second, I let myself enjoy the sweet scent of his skin and the way his hips rocked against me.
I separated my lips from his, moving my head to the side, but he kissed my neck instead. “What are we doing, Luca?”
“Dunno,” he mumbled. “I want you so bad. I can’t even think straight when I’m around you.”
I didn’t want his hands to leave my body or his tongue to stop doing whatever he did that made my toes curl. Wanting to fight something and having the willpower to do it were two separate entities.
His tongue caressed mine as he kissed me with an animalistic passion I craved. Heat ran over my body in waves as his hand slid up my thigh.
He lifted my shirt over my head, threw it on the floor, and then unhooked my bra and slid the straps down my shoulders, exposing my breasts. Luca’s palm fell to my back, pulling me closer, as he leaned down to suck on my nipple, gently tugging it with his teeth. The tiny bud hardened at the flick of his tongue. He took his time as he expertly navigated my body. I was to the point of convulsing, an orgasm on the verge of ripping through me.
Luca unbuttoned my jean shorts, slid them to the floor with my panties, and dropped to his knees. I pushed them aside with my foot.
As he licked the inseam of my thigh, Luca stared up at me. He slid his finger inside me and drew it back to suck on it. “You taste good, baby. How do you want me to fuck you?”
I bobbed my head and moaned, but that wasn’t good enough.
“I want to hear you say it, Bella. Tell me what you want me to do to you.”
“Luca, you’re killing me.” I groaned so loud that my neighbors probably heard me.
“No, I think you’re the one who’s killing me, babe.”
“Fuck me with your mouth.” I slid my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. “Then, I want you to fuck me with that big dick of yours.”
“Dio mio, woman,” he whispered.
Luca gripped my hips, and that was when I heard a key turning inside the lock of my front door.
I tensed up, pointing at my clothes scattered around us. “Shit! My roommate is home.”
Like a ninja, Luca scooped my shirt, bra, and shorts in his hands, and we slipped into my bedroom.
“Hey, Izzie Bear. Are you home?” Silvia yelled from the other side of the door. “I have company, so you might wanna stay in your room.”
My mind needed time to recover from what had almost happened, and my breathing was so ragged that I had trouble speaking as I said, “Okay.”
For the first time since we’d started kissing, I realized Luca still had all of his clothes on. “Not fair. You’ve seen me naked, and I didn’t even get to see you shirtless.”
Luca unbuttoned his dress shirt, set it on top of a chest of drawers, and then kicked off his jeans. He stood in black boxer briefs that hugged his perfect package. It was like someone had sculpted him by hand and
taken their time in creating every single part of him.
When I gripped the waistband of his boxers, he pressed his chest against my bare breasts until the backs of my knees hit the edge of the bed, and we fell onto the mattress.
He breathed against my neck, slipping two fingers inside me, his thumb circling over my clit. “I love how wet I make you. I did this to you. Remember that when you come all over my fingers.”
“Keep that up, and I’ll come right now,” I moaned.
“Good. I want you to come for me.” His mouth traveled over my nipple, his breath alone enough to send a shock down my spine.
By the time his tongue massaged my clit, my brain stopped working. I ran my hand through his hair, my body trembling.
As a ripple of orgasms tore me to pieces, he peeked up at me from between my legs and said, “Wow!”
Before I could get myself together, Silvia banged on the wall that separated our bedrooms. “Good for you and Luca, but I think you woke up the entire campus. Keep it down over there.”
I had been so entranced by Luca’s magical tongue that I didn’t even notice how loud I had been or the fact that I’d been screaming his name.
I slapped my hand over my mouth and laughed out of sheer embarrassment. “Shit, sorry.” I wasn’t sure if she could hear me, but that completely ruined the mood.
Luca sat next to me on the bed, our backs flat against the wall, as we tried to compose ourselves. He kissed the top of my head and my cheek, before making his way to my lips. “What time should I pick you up on Saturday?”
“Oh,” I said, surprised he still wanted to take me to South Philly. “Eleven okay?”
“Yep. So, I guess it’s a date.”
“It’s not a date. Think of it as a peace offering. Now, go before I change my mind.”
“I just ate your pussy. We’re not exactly friends.” He flashed a crooked grin, maintaining eye contact for a few seconds. “Call it what you want, beautiful.”
He dressed almost as fast as he had taken his clothes off, his fingers working on the last button of his dress shirt. “Can I get your number?”
Corrupt Me Page 6
