“Don’t,” he said harshly. “Don’t thank me for that night. You don’t have to thank me for doing what needed to be done.”
“Vinnie.” I felt myself soften toward him, and didn’t even realize that the nickname had slipped from my lips. “I didn’t exactly see what happened that night, but Agent Russo said it looked like Paul was going to shoot me if you hadn’t shot him first. You saved me. So you’re wrong… I do have to thank you for that.”
Vincenzo’s body tensed and his grip tightened on me. “He would have sold you, Maria. That son of a bitch was working with a trafficking ring. If we hadn’t gotten to that warehouse in time…”
“But you did,” I said, remembering that night. Paul Fernelli had made a move to oust Vincenzo’s father as the head of the family business, and had formed an alliance with the Russian bratva. The Russians had taken the opportunity to try and take control, until Paul had discovered that they had actually killed his brother, not Angelo.
Mad with grief, Paul had killed the head Russian mobster, and then everything had exploded in violence when the FBI had stormed the warehouse. I still remembered it, all that trauma, all those guns. Angelo had nearly lost his mind when Karen was slightly injured in the shoot out, but I had walked away unscathed. And part of that was because Vincenzo had protected me that night.
“You talked to Agent Russo?” Vincenzo growled, interrupting my memories. “He didn’t tell me anything about you having a gun aimed at you.”
His words were so clipped I knew he was angry, and I knew the reason why. I smiled. “Yes, I did. He actually came into DeSilvo’s last week and we had lunch.”
“Is something going on between you and him?”
I bristled at his tone. “I don’t think that is any of your business.”
“That’s where you are wrong, princess. Everything you do is my business.”
“Stop it, Vincenzo. It’s been years since I have even had a conversation with you. You don’t get to ask me questions about my life, or act like I answer to you, because I don’t. You gave up that right a long time ago. I wanted to thank you for protecting me that night, but that is it. I don’t owe you anything else.”
I jerked from his hold, keeping my face rigid to hide my emotions as I walked away. The simple truth was I had never gotten over him, and that irritating little fact pissed me off uncontrollably.
I headed over to the bar, needing another drink. I ordered another glass of champagne and took a sip to settle my nerves.
“I’ll take one of those.”
I smiled at Karen as she joined me at the bar and I ordered another glass for my new sister-in-law. She was exactly what I needed to cheer me up.
“So, Mrs. DeSilvo. How are you feeling?”
“Completely and utterly happy and in love,” Karen said, beaming at me. “God, Maria. This day has been the best of my life. I mean it. Everything has been so amazing! I can’t believe we were able to pull this off in such a short amount of time.”
“You and Angelo deserved the perfect day,” I said, appreciating the happiness that seemed to radiate off of her in waves.
“It was perfect,” Karen sighed. “I’m so happy I can barely stand to be around myself right now. Being with Angelo…I never thought I could love someone as much as I love your brother.”
“You make him happy,” I said. My throat went tight with emotion when I saw the tears glistening in Karen’s eyes. “Angelo is the best man I know, and as his sister I want the best for him. And you are, honey. The two of you are perfect for one another.”
She smiled. “You don’t know how much that means for me to hear you say that. I’m so happy we’re sisters now.”
I handed Karen the champagne flute the bartender placed in front of us and clinked my glass against hers. “To sisters.”
Angelo walked up as we toasted. “Ah, and here are my two favorite women.”
I turned to smile up at my brother, and he kissed my cheek affectionately. “Angelo, I was just telling Karen how happy I am to have a sister now. Between the two of us we should be able to keep you in line.”
He snorted at that. “You are trouble, brat. I think I’ll be safer keeping the two of you apart.”
Karen and I laughed. One of Karen’s relatives called out to her and she sighed. “Sorry, I have to go take care of that. My family is a little intimidated by yours, and I have to make sure no one runs screaming from the room.”
“Make it quick. I want to leave soon, cara mia.”
Karen’s eyes widened. “Angelo, it’s our wedding. We can’t just leave!”
“Sure we can. I want to continue the celebration with my wife in private.” His voice had gone soft, intimate, and it made me blush when I saw the heated look they shared.
“I’ll hurry,” Karen whispered breathlessly before she left.
Both Angelo and I watched her as she walked away. “She is perfect for you,” I said softly.
“She is. Her family isn’t close. I was worried her parents wouldn’t come to the wedding. I’m glad they did, but even if they didn’t, she has us now. Thank you for everything you’ve done to welcome her.”
Angelo turned to me, a fierce expression on his face. “I’m lucky to have you.”
I shot him an impish grin. “You are. You don’t have to thank me, fratellone. You know I would do anything for you. Now go, enjoy your honeymoon. I’ll take care of everything here, so don’t worry.”
“I won’t. I know you can run DeSilvo’s and Bliss better than I can.”
“Of course I can,” I quipped easily. I kissed his cheek again then watched as he stalked over to where his new wife spoke to some of her family members. When it came to Karen, Angelo was a beast most of the time. He couldn’t seem to be away from her very long, and seeing them together always made me envious. I wanted someone to look at me with that type of hunger and raw need.
Vincenzo. The name slipped into my mind like a phantom that haunted me, and I ruthlessly pushed back the desire to search the room to look at him.
I had to get over him. Somehow. Straightening my shoulders, I covertly glanced around the room. Jonathan always said that the best way to get over someone was to get under someone else. Perhaps that’s what I needed tonight. Seeing Vincenzo, feeling his arms around me as we danced had stirred up all kinds of emotions that I thought were long dead.
It was time for me to move on.
I turned as I heard my uncle call out my name and took a deep breath as I made my way over to his table. My uncle Giovanni was standing with a younger man who was darkly handsome and I felt a spark of interest as he smiled at me. It didn’t matter, though. I would never get involved with one of my uncle’s associates, no matter how good looking he was.
“Buon Natale, Maria. Merry Christmas, darling.”
“Buon Natale to you as well, zio. Are you having fun?”
“Of course, everything is wonderful, my dear. Maria, I would like to introduce you to Nicholas Argenti. He just moved to New York. Nick, this is my darling niece, Maria DeSilvo.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Maria,” Nick said as he lifted my hand to his lips. “Perhaps you would honor me with a dance?”
Smiling at the handsome man I took his offered hand with mine. “I’d love to.”
He led me back onto the dance floor and I allowed him to pull me into his arms. Nick was a charming man, and as we chatted he told me he had recently moved to New York from his home in Florida.
“I bet you aren’t used to the weather yet,” I teased.
He laughed. “No, all this snow is going to take me some time to get used to, but I like the city. It’s a far cry from Miami.”
“So, what brought you to New York?”
“Business,” he said. “I just opened a club down in the village called Rumba. It’s different than your cousin’s place, a little more casual,” he said, talking about the club my brother and cousin Tony owned named Fever. I held back a shiver as I remembered the last time I was there
I had been kidnapped. “Your brother Tony and I have been working together to cross-promote our clubs. You should come check it out sometime. I’d love to show you around.”
“Sure, that would be fun,” I agreed, relaxing now that I knew he didn’t work for my uncle. I let him lead me in the dance and made the mistake of glancing over his shoulder, silently cursing as I did. I had to force myself not to stiffen as I watched Vincenzo dancing with Shelia, one of my cousins that was well known for spreading her legs for any good-looking man who asked.
As if he could feel me watching him, Vincenzo’s head turned and our eyes met. For a moment I thought I saw them flash with heat. I forced myself to look away, but the damage was already done.
I saw him, and I wanted him.
Thankfully, the song ended in another moment. Nick raised my hand to his lips and thanked me for the dance. I smiled, barely paying attention to what he was saying as I watched Shelia slither her body against Vincenzo. Excusing myself, I left Nick, needing a moment to myself.
I had to get over this insane obsession with my former lover, and I needed to do it tonight.
Chapter Three
I slipped into the empty room next to the reception hall at the hotel, seeking the solitude for a much needed moment alone with my thoughts. The room I’d taken sanctuary in was dark, and I could see it was normally used as a storage space. Taking a seat on one of the extra tables set up in the corner, I took a deep breath and tried to slow my frantically beating heart.
I had been enjoying myself dancing with Nick…until I saw Vincenzo. It had always been like that. All he had to do was walk into a room and my full focus was on him. Hell, who was I kidding? Thoughts of him invaded my mind even when he wasn’t with me. There was no room for anyone else.
I had been in love with Vincenzo for years, but he had never seen me…not really. If he did he would have never been able to walk away from me so easily. That was what stung the most. All those times we’d been together couldn’t have been a lie, could it? He had said he loved me, vowed that he always would, but it had all been a lie. Vincenzo had loved how I had made him feel. I had loved him completely, and made him feel like a god that could do no wrong.
How naïve and foolish I had been.
Over the years I had seen Vincenzo with his bevy of beauties on his arm, watching from afar, feeling envy and a little hurt. And on top of that had been anger. He had walked away from me after I had given him so much of myself then threw it all away, and I had never forgiven him for that… the son of a bitch.
I’d learned to mask my feelings for him, especially around my brother who had forbid me from having anything to do with Vincenzo after he had taken over as his father’s second in command. I knew it was for the best, but I couldn’t forget what we had once shared together.
Our paths had crossed more frequently when I took over as manager of DeSilvo’s. Vincenzo often came to eat at our restaurant, and since it was considered neutral territory for all the Italian families, I couldn’t exactly stop him. Thankfully, he never brought his dates there, sparing me from the mental anguish of seeing him slobber over whatever floozy he was sleeping with at the moment.
When he came in it was usually with his little sister, Rose, who was a sweet young woman that I had once been very close with. I enjoyed seeing her, and would always spare a moment to say hello to Rose, even though it was torture seeing Vincenzo. I always ignored him, but his intense eyes followed my every move whenever I saw him.
I sighed as I leaned back, closing my eyes for a minute. Over the years it wasn’t as if I had been sitting around pining for the bastard. I dated, quite frequently really. I just couldn’t find a man that captured my attention for longer than a few months. I enjoyed sex, and loved feeling the pleasure a man could give me. That wasn’t the problem. The issue was that I had never been able to give someone my heart, not after what Vincenzo had done to me.
I knew I needed to get over it. I had to purge him from my system so I could move on and be happy with someone else. It was crazy, really. I was a strong, passionate, independent woman, with a quick temper that was known to sear a man straight to his ball. But when it came to Vincenzo, I was weak.
It pissed me off that I had just left a very good-looking man back in the reception hall that was obviously interested in me, and for what? Because I had gotten irritated at the way my cousin was rubbing herself on Vincenzo? He wasn’t mine, and I had nothing to do with who he was with.
It was time for me to truly accept that.
“What are you doing in here, princess?”
I stiffened at the sound of Vincenzo’s deep voice. Damn it, why did he have to seek me out? Bracing myself, I turned to look at him.
God, he was handsome, but he wasn’t mine. Not anymore…
“Hello, Vincenzo. I’m meeting someone, so—”
A dark frown settled over his face. “That isn’t funny.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
“Don’t push me, Maria,” Vincenzo warned.
My heart slammed against my chest as my eyes narrowed on him. “I’m doing no such thing.”
“You are if you are even considering meeting that fucker you were dancing with in here,” he growled. His nostrils flared with anger and I couldn’t help the lust pooling in my belly as he glared at me.
I smiled sweetly at him. “You have no right to say anything about who I meet.”
Vincenzo stalked forward, an unusual glint in his laser beam hazel eyes that I had never seen before. “You would be very wrong about that. Have you forgotten so easily?”
I laughed bitterly. “That is funny coming from you. I mean nothing to you. I think you made that perfectly clear when you ended things between us.”
“You have no clue what you’re talking about,” Vincenzo bit out, fury evident on his handsome face.
I slid off the table and opened my mouth to blast him with my anger, but I could only gasp as he jerked me to him, pressing his hard body against mine. His arm was a steel band around my waist while his other hand wrapped my long hair around his fist so my head was pulled back. I felt the steel-hard spike of his erection against my stomach and it made me freeze in shock.
He lowered his head so his lips were a breath away from mine. “Feel that, princess? You may be willing to try deny what is between us, but you can’t deny how you respond to me anymore than I can fight what you do to me.”
“Go to hell,” I spat at him.
“I’ve been in hell for the last five years,” he snarled, before his lips crushed down on mine.
It was a kiss that stole my senses.
Vincenzo groaned in pleasure and his grip changed, moving from my hair so his large hand could force my mouth open for his. He took advantage of the opening and stroked his tongue deep, consuming me.
Good god, it was like coming home.
I moaned as the taste of him exploded on my tongue, and I instantly wanted more. Lust curled in my belly, and I felt a flood of liquid heat spill from between my thighs. I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my own blood roaring in my ears. I moaned as I pressed myself closer to him, letting the flames of passion take over so they burned me alive. I angled my head to the side to take the kiss deeper. Lips crushed together, slanting over one another and I met him beat for beat as we all but devoured one another.
Sanity came back like a slap to the face and I wrenched myself away from him, gasping for breath.
“Stop, stop! I can’t do this!” I cried.
“Yes, you can,” he growled out. “I’ve never stopped wanting you, Maria. I would have tried to leave you alone if you’d moved on and found someone else to love you like you deserve, but you haven’t. You think I didn’t notice? Maria, I can’t let you go.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I cried out, trying to break free of him, but his hold on me was too strong. “You broke my heart, you bastard!”
“I know,” he whispered, trying to kiss me again as I fought him. He p
ulled back to stare down at me, eyes filled with a blazing hunger that I had never seen before. “I didn’t want to, princess. You have to believe me.”
“I don’t believe a fucking word you say,” I snapped at him.
He spun me around, pushing me down against the table so I was bent over with him over me. He pressed his arousal against me, grinding hard so that the pressure of it both infuriated me and made me ache for more.
“Stop fighting me! Damn it, listen to me! I never wanted to leave you, princess. I had to,” he growled out. “And I know you still love me. Admit it.”
“Get off of me, you son of a bitch!”
Vincenzo was a strong man, so much larger than me that it gave me a sick thrill at how easily he controlled me. He was holding me so tight, with my hands held down on the table over my head and his body pressed against my back. I could feel the steel-hard spike of his desire, thick and hot, pulsing against my core, and I wanted it. God help me, I wanted him more than I wanted my next breath.
I turned my head to the side and I felt his lips on the curve of my neck. “There is so much to tell you, so much to explain, but I can’t think. I can’t do anything but want you until it feels like I’m going to lose my fucking mind if I don’t have you right now.”
“Vinnie, we can’t do this,” I moaned, allowing the nickname to spill from my lips.
“We can,” he countered. “We are.”
I could hear the hunger in his voice, and I groaned out in frustration as I tried to get my hands free from his grasp. Shifting underneath him, I ground my hot, wet pussy against his cloth-covered cock, making us both moan. He thrust his hips against me, rubbing his cock against me. I wished our clothing would simply disappear so I could feel him moving inside of me. It wasn’t enough. I wanted to feel him slamming into me, fucking me so hard that I couldn’t think of why this was such a bad idea.
As if he knew what I was thinking, Vincenzo kicked my legs apart with his own so I was spread wide for him. “You want me, princess. Tell me. Give that to me, at least.”
Maria's Christmas Angel: A DARK ANGEL Romance (Alpha Male, Erotic Mafia Romance) Page 2
