He whipped through the suburbs and took the highway toward Westchester, determined to get us there. Stephan held the wheel with one hand and tapped his fingers on my inner thigh—a single act that had me dripping wet for him.
“I have to tell you something,” I muttered, afraid how Stephan would respond to my bad news.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to go to a charity ball this weekend. Karl Vos will be there.”
His mouth twisted in anger. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you saw my name on the guest list.”
“Yeah.”
“In case the man you’re fucking runs into the man you’re going to marry?”
I looked at him with so much hatred I wanted to slap him across the face. “Don’t talk to me like that.”
“What? It’s true. If you think we’re ever going to be more than sex, you have another thing coming.”
“Stop being a jerk, Stephan.”
“I’m stating the truth. Just because it’s not what you want to hear doesn’t make it untrue.” He drove like an animal. My body tensed, mostly because I wanted him to handle me the way he took each curve, and also because I was furious with him.
“We never should have started this,” I admitted. “This was a mistake.”
“Keep talking like that, and it will hurt worse later.”
My pussy clenched from his promise. I smacked my legs together, and he glanced down, noticing my sudden gesture.
“You think you can hide from me?” Stephan pushed my thighs apart with his hand with so much force I yelped. “Don’t fight me, princess. I told you I’m not the hero in your story. I’m never going to be the man to save you. I’m not the man you’re going to marry. I can’t have attachments. My life is too dangerous to get you involved.”
He moved my panties to the side and hissed when he pushed two fingers inside me. “Fuck, baby. You’re so wet for me.” Biting his bottom lip, he drove and continued to finger fuck me, groaning with pleasure the more he spread me open. “If we weren’t on the highway, I would pull over now and shove my cock inside you.”
He was like a ravenous beast. I saw the hunger in his eyes, felt the intensity with every thrust of his fingers. I clamped down on him, holding his fingers like a vise.
“Come for me,” he growled, his eyes still focused on the road.
My breathing was erratic, the jolt of adrenaline rushed through my body, causing my heart to pound. I gripped the handlebar on the door and rode my orgasm along with his fingers, shoving him further inside me until I could comply with his request.
He withdrew his fingers and held them to his mouth, forcing me to watch as he sucked my juices from them. “Even after you marry that rich prick, it’s my fingers that will make you come. My cock you’ll be sucking.”
“I’m not marrying anyone.” I moved my panties back into place. “Between you and my dad, I don’t know who I’m more angry with right now. I can’t believe you want me to marry Karl. What happened to me being yours? You really want to share me with someone else?”
“Of course not. But what choice do I have? I’ll take whatever I can get.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “You’re such an asshole.”
“I never promised you anything more than sex. Did I?”
“No.”
“And remind me again who lured who up to that hotel room.”
“Me.” I gritted my teeth and stared out the window, too mad to look at him anymore. “You don’t have to throw it in my face, Stephan. This conversation is making me regret ever talking to you. I hate to say it, but maybe my dad was right. I should stay away from you… if only I knew how.”
We rode the rest of the way without speaking another word. Stephan parked at the valet stand in front of a semi-crowded restaurant.
A short man wearing a red-and-black valet jacket opened my door and said, “Welcome to Bellissima.”
“Thank you,” I replied as the man helped me out of the car.
Stephan patted him on the shoulder and dropped the keys along with a hundred-dollar bill into his palm. Then he guided me toward the restaurant with his hand on my back. I felt like smacking it away but decided not to fight him.
Another man, middle-aged with short, dark hair, held open a massive oak door for us. We stepped inside, and the scents of garlic and herbs assaulted my senses. It smelled so amazing I could practically taste it on my tongue.
The space was deceptively large with an open kitchen you could see into from every angle. The walls were brick, and the floors were red oak. In the far corner, I noticed a wine bar made of casks, set up for tastings. The place was simple yet elegant.
Behind the host desk, a young woman with long dark hair smiled at Stephan. He informed her of our reservation, and she scanned the book in front of her. “Mr. Carlisle, your table is ready. Please follow me.”
I narrowed my eyes at Stephan, wondering why he made a reservation under a fake name. He didn’t as much as acknowledge my sideways stare.
She escorted us through the dining area to a private room in the back, checking out Stephan over her shoulder as she made polite conversation. I snorted at her not so subtle eye-fucking of him. Stephan caused the same reaction from other women. It was hard not to notice him.
French doors opened to an impressive space with leather couches built into the walls and circular tables at the center of the room. On our right was a bar and entrance to the kitchen. We slid into an oversize semicircular booth beneath a massive crystal chandelier. The hostess unfolded a cloth napkin on my lap and poured us each a glass of wine before closing the door behind her.
I touched Stephan’s thigh, taking a sip of Merlot. “What is wrong with you?”
He laughed. “Probably the same thing that’s wrong with you.”
“That’s not an answer. Why are you being so mean to me?”
“I’m not. The sooner you realize the world we live in is brutal, the faster you will understand why we can’t be together. We shouldn’t even be here right now.”
I took another sip of wine. “How did you manage to get this private space just for us?”
“I paid a lot of money to take you here. We can’t afford to have anyone recognize either of us.”
“How come you’ll be at the event this weekend?”
Stephan stroked my shoulder with his fingers. “Because my dad contributes money to the hospital. All of the donors were invited.”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “I had no idea your dad was so charitable.”
He shrugged. “It helps us look clean in the eyes of the law and in the community.”
“But your dad is the boss of a crime family.”
“Allegedly,” he shot back, his expression unreadable.
We stopped talking long enough to glance at our menus when the waitress strolled into the room with a wide grin on her face.
“Benvenuto,” she said in the worst Italian accent I’d ever heard. Clearly, she was forced to greet customers this way.
Stephan slid his hand across the back of my neck and spoke to her in Italian. She stared at him confused for a few seconds before she admitted to not knowing more than a few words in the language.
We placed our order, and then the waitress disappeared into the kitchen, leaving us alone. With Stephan rubbing my back, I melted into him, too consumed by the scent of his aftershave. I couldn’t stop my stupid heart for leaping out of my chest when he was around.
I brushed my lips against his and tasted wine. He smelled so good I stuck my tongue out to taste him, and he parted his lips for me. Stephan made love to my mouth, his tongue working in harmony with mine. At first, he was soft and sensual, each flick of his tongue making my pussy clench. But then he deepened the kiss, his movements more rough and passionate, as if I was his last breath, and he wanted to steal it back.
We stayed this way for so long neither of us heard the waitress enter the room again with our food. She
cleared her throat at the edge of our table. We started with the antipasti.
Stephan fed me a slice of mozzarella, sticking his finger in my mouth after I finished chewing.
“Go lock the door.” He tilted his head toward the French doors, and I gave him an apprehensive look.
“We’re in a restaurant. Don’t be crazy, Stephan.”
“Money makes people look the other way. The only thing I’ve been able to think about all day is you sitting on my cock. Now, go. Lock the door.”
I did as he asked and then crawled onto the bench toward him. He gripped my hips and lifted me up to set me down in his lap, hooking my legs behind his back. Moving his hand up the inseam of my thigh, he tickled my skin, taunting me as he pushed my panties to the side.
He slammed two fingers into me with so much force he tore a moan right from my lips. “Mmm…” Stephan withdrew his fingers long enough to add a third and thrust them into me, filling me completely. “So fucking tight.”
“Stephan…” I moaned, gripping his shoulders.
He owned my body. Claimed me so I could never be with another man. Skilled with his fingers, he worked my inner walls, pushing past the thin barrier to make room for another. I felt so full, my pussy milking his fingers until I felt like I could burst. It wasn’t long before I came so hard my orgasm rocked through both of us.
He sucked on his fingers and slid some of my juices along my lip. “See how good you taste. I can’t get enough of your pussy.”
“Good,” I whispered. “Because I never want this to end.”
My comment earned me a quick wink and a cocky smirk.
Even though I knew our time together was temporary, I didn’t care. It only made me appreciate what we had when we were together.
He unzipped his pants, quickly rolling a condom on, before he lifted me up and thrust into me. I moaned from the sheer force of his cock filling me. Stephan spread me open, breaking through the thin barrier. My body was getting used to Stephan and his size.
“Rub your clit for me.” He moved my dress up to my stomach and held it there, staring down at my pussy. “I want to watch you touch yourself.”
I did as he asked, almost feeling ashamed of what we were doing in a restaurant. But neither of us cared. Stephan’s eyes filled with lust and insatiable hunger, and when he leaned forward, he gripped my neck and sunk his teeth into my flesh, dragging his teeth along my skin. It hurt, just like his cock, but it felt too good to make him stop. I moaned so loud I sounded like a porn star, though the screams he stole from me weren’t the least bit forced.
He covered my mouth with his free hand to silence me. Each time his teeth scraped my skin, Stephan did the same with his cock. My entire body hurt, but it was the good kind of pain that sent a ripple of pleasure down my body.
I repeated his name until it was nothing more than a whisper on my lips. My throat was raw and my body so high from Stephan it was like an outer body experience.
“That’s it,” he growled against the shell of my ear. “I love it when you purr my name. Strangle my cock with your pussy. Come for me, raven.”
I loved when he called me that. It reminded me of high school and the promise he made to one day free me.
“Stephan…” I moaned, and this time, he removed his hand from my mouth to kiss me.
He kissed me like he wanted to swallow me whole, devour me with the madness that fueled him. When Stephan had his cock buried deep inside me, it was as if he was somewhere else. And we were somebody else. I didn’t focus on the fact we couldn’t be seen together, or that we would never have a future.
An orgasm rocked through me like a hurricane, its violent force causing my entire body to tremble. Stephan kept his lips on mine, invading my mouth with his tongue until I hit the full peak of my climax. He gripped my hips tighter when he came, his body jerking several times before he leaned back against the bench.
“That was…” he closed his eyes for a second, his voice trailing off. “We don’t have a lot of time left. What do you want to do with it?”
“Fuck me until I can’t walk out of this room.”
He checked the watch on his left wrist and smiled up at me. “That I can do.”
Chapter Seventeen
Stephan
After an angry phone call from Nino, he picked me up at the restaurant where I’d fucked Isabella one last time before she went home. I got in the car, and he peeled out, the tires screeching as we left.
“Do you know how much I hate lying to Alessio and Dad so you can hang out in Westchester with Isabella?” Nino clutched the steering wheel, grinding his teeth together.
He was pissed that I refused to stay away from Isabella. My brother had every right to be mad when I’d asked him to cover for me. But I would have done the same for him, and he knew it. Our bond was unbreakable, something no one could touch.
“We have to do a favor for the Senator,” he told me.
“What now? I’m getting sick of cleaning up after him.”
“Me, too.” He turned onto the highway and punched the gas pedal, zipping past the cars in the middle lane. “I almost got clipped by Carmine over whatever beef Dad has with Rizzoli. Dad is helping Parisi. That’s what pisses me off.”
“I don’t get it.” I shook my head, annoyed. “We have to do all the heavy lifting while that asshole sits behind a desk and orders us around.”
“More like he orders Dad around.”
“Same difference,” I shot back. “We’re the ones who are handling shit on our end, and without even knowing why we’re doing it for him.”
“He’s got something on the old man.”
“Yeah, I know. But what?”
“I wish I knew, then maybe we could do something to stop him.”
“He has a lot of connections and friends in high places. He keeps the Feds off our backs as long as we help him out, but there has to be more to it than that.”
Neither of us ever asked questions. We did what we were told, followed orders, and executed them without as much as a word. But once I became involved with Isabella, I wanted to know why our father’s fought so hard to keep us apart, when all we wanted was to be together.
I rested my elbow on the center console and stared out the window. “Where are we going?”
“You know Mark Parisi has a major drug problem, right?”
I nodded. “Everyone knows that.”
“He’s on a bender. It’s worse this time than before. The Senator tracked his cell phone to a house in Williamsburg. Dad wants us to bring him home.”
I sighed and raised my arms above my head to stretch. “Great. So, now we get to drive to Brooklyn to babysit a spoiled rich kid who can’t handle his load?”
He switched lanes, his eyes fixed on the road. “If this keeps us out of jail, then who cares?”
Over the years, we’d become fixers for a lot of people. We had enough reach and power to push our weight around and get things done. Small favors, like this one, were part of the normal exchange between my father and his business associates.
Once we were in Brooklyn, Nino parked out front what appeared to be an abandoned house and turned off the engine.
He eyed up the place, suspiciously. “This looks kinda sketchy.”
I nodded in agreement. “Let’s get this over with.”
Once inside the dilapidated house, I almost vomited from the overwhelming stench. I thought the room in the warehouse where we killed people had a sickening smell, but it was nothing compared to the mixture of rotting food, cigarette smoke, and unwashed bodies. Some of the druggies laid on the torn, stained shag carpet, while others were either passed out on mattresses or fucking on them. The sight was appalling.
For a while, Nino was getting mixed up with some of our dealers and doing stupid shit. But I pulled him back, forced him to get his head in the game. Having any weakness in our business was a liability, and being high on drugs would have been a sure fire way to guarantee Nino would have ended up at the bottom of
the Hudson River.
I walked next to Nino through the dark house wondering why someone like Mark would come here. A man in his late twenties tried to grab my foot. I kicked him away from me with the tip of my dress shoe. My jaw clenched, still pissed I had to leave Isabella to clean up after her brother.
Nino stopped first, his hand held out in front of me to block my path. “That’s him.” He nodded at a man who was so wasted and dead to the word that his eyes were rolling in the back of his head.
I squinted to get a better look, unsure if he was Mark, and glanced at Nino. “Are you sure?”
Mark’s track pants and T-shirt were covered in dirt, his lip busted as if someone had punched him in the face.
I crouched down in front of Mark and attempted to lift him over my shoulder. Moving a drug addict was no different than lifting a dead body. I wasn’t even sure if he was still alive until I felt his chest move. One of his eyes was open, the other lolled into the back of his head.
I looked up at my brother. “Can you give me a hand? He weighs a ton.”
With Nino’s help, I was able to drag Mark outside. We threw him into the back seat and got in the car. In silence, we drove until we reached the gates of the Parisi estate. Nino entered the passcode into the keypad, and the gates opened inward to allow us to drive onto the property.
“A doctor is supposed to meet us in the pool house,” Nino muttered.
“We don’t have to stick around, do we?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Dad said to drop him off and leave him with the doctor.”
Instead of steering to the left to continue to the main house, we followed the path to the right that led to a pool large enough to entertain guests at a hotel. Farther back, there were residency quarters for the servants along with an oversize bungalow where we were headed.
My family had money, but not the kind of old money that passed through the Parisi family. Generations of politicians, Wall Street bankers, doctors, lawyers, and technology moguls at some point lived in this house. It had been in Isabella’s family for over one hundred years, though from the outside it didn’t show a bit of its age.
Cruel King: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Page 10
