The Vatican: (Standalone) (The Holy Trinity Series Book 5)

by M. E. Clayton

  My heart started racing, and foolishness started creeping up my spine. How could I not know any of this? How could I have been so blind to both what our parents had been planning and Francisco’s feelings for me?

  “So, here’s the thing, Ria,” Dante continued. “I’m not saying you don’t have the right to be mad, but if you’re going to be mad, be mad justly. Don’t be mad at Francisco for something our parents did. Don’t be mad at our parents for something Francisco did. Don’t be mad at us for something we had no control over. And don’t play the innocent, because all the signs were there. You just didn’t bother to pay them any attention.”

  I wiped at my tears. “So, just like that huh? It’s that easy?”

  “Be mad at our parents for lying to you. Be mad at Francisco for keeping it for you. But we don’t deserve your wrath, and neither does the rest of the world,” he said. “And if you’re worried your marriage isn’t going to be full of love and happiness, it’ll only turn out that way because you’ll be the one withholding the love and happiness, not Francisco.”

  “If I cave, then that sends a message that what they did was okay, and it’s not okay.”

  Dante let out a soft chuckle. “Saveria, after what you just told me happened at your wedding, trust me when I tell you, they are all very aware that what they did was not okay. Mom, Aunt Remy, and Aunt Robbie are probably in a puddle of tears right now, and Dad, Uncle Luca, and Uncle Ciro are probably doing everything they can not to burn the city to the ground.”

  “I always just thought Uncle Luca took to me because Mom’s his best friend,” I remarked lamely.

  Dante paused, then asked, “So, tell me, Ria. How do you really feel about Francisco?”

  I couldn’t lie to him. I came to him because I needed facts to help sort out my emotions. He couldn’t help me understand any of this if I lied to him. His clarity was what I needed to help me…move past all this anger.

  “I think I’ve probably been half in love with him for years,” I told him truthfully.

  Dante’s face softened. “Don’t sentence yourself to a lifetime of misery if you don’t have to, Ria. Don’t punish yourself just to punish everyone around you. Sure, we’ll all be miserable, but so will you. Do you really want to be unhappy for the rest of your life?”

  I shook my head. “No,” I whispered.

  “You’re married to him now, Ria,” he said. “There’s no getting out of that alive. Exhaust all that anger, cry out your pain, and then do what you’ve been raised and trained to do. Be the Benetti you were supposed to have been all along.”

  I threw myself at my brother.

  He held me in his arms and let me cry out everything that’s happened and everything I’ve learned here tonight. He didn’t soothe me or baby me. He just held me and gave me time to get my head on straight and sort through what I was feeling.

  And it wasn’t until he said, “And don’t forget, Ria, Cira is the next oldest in the Benetti lineup. For the love of God, sort out your shit with Francisco before you kill each other, or else we’re all doomed,” that I found my first laugh in days.

  A couple of hours later, I received the text summoning me home, and I went upstairs, packed a bag, and had Mica drive me home.

  To my husband.

  Chapter 16

  Francisco~

  Her footsteps echoed in the silence of the entire penthouse. I knew she’d find me eventually as she’s been to my house a million times. She knew this place as well as her own.

  I was sitting in my office, my suit jacket and tie long gone. The top two buttons of my dress shirt were open, and the sleeves were rolled up to my elbows. I had needed to breathe after leaving my parents’ house, but it hadn’t helped.

  I still felt like there was an anvil on my chest.

  Saveria’s footsteps stopped in the doorway of the office. I was sitting at my desk, my eyes on the third glass of bourbon in my hand, not even pretending to know what to do next. She stepped farther into the room, and when I looked up, I noticed her eyes were rimmed in redness.

  I had made the girl cry on her wedding day.

  “Would it change anything if I told you I loved you?” I asked, knowing I had nothing left to lose. “That I’ve always been in love with you?”

  She didn’t say anything at first, but when she did, I laughed and downed the rest of my drink. “I’m going to go take a shower.” She lifted her overnight bag for emphasis.

  I couldn’t look at her anymore. I nodded my permission and resented that I had the power to give it at the same time. “Fine.”

  I don’t know how long I remained in my office, but I knew I needed to get away from the liquor. I headed towards the bedroom, knowing I wasn’t going to be sleeping in my bed tonight, but when I passed the bathroom door, I heard crying, and it nearly sent me to my knees.

  The door wasn’t locked, so I pushed it open, and when I did, I saw Saveria with her arms wrapped around her waist, the water pouring over her, crying.

  I quickly undressed and opened the glass door. Saveria looked up and the regret in those rare eyes of her was like a punch in the chest. “Baby…”

  “Make me believe you, Francisco,” she pleaded, and my name falling from her lips was enough to push me over the edge.

  I grabbed her thighs, lifted her, and slammed her against the wall as her legs wrapped around my waist. It wasn’t lost on me how we’d been in this same exact position the first time we ever came together and now we were coming together the same way for the first time as husband and wife.

  Her arms came around my neck, and she was kissing me back with the same desperation I was feeling in my soul. Her hands were tangled in my wet hair, holding me close, and afraid she might stop or change her mind, I rammed my cock into her tight pussy so hard, I could feel the tear in her flesh.

  Saveria broke off the kiss and let out a blood-curling scream.

  But I didn’t stop.

  I pulled out and slammed into her again. “I love you,” I chanted, even though I was fucking her as if I didn’t. “I love you, Luca.”

  Her nails were digging into my skin, and this night was becoming every bit as violent as the night I first took her. This wasn’t about sex. This wasn’t about self-gratification. This wasn’t about love, or respect, or any of those things.

  This was Ria begging me to steal all her pain and anger away. She wanted the physical to drown out the emotional. She wanted to feel how sorry I was.

  “More,” she cried out. “Please, Francisco…” My cock pulsed at the sound of my name coming out of the mouth that always called me Benetti.

  My mouth found the sensitive skin along the delicate column of her neck, and I bit down on that motherfucker until copper spilled on my tongue. Satisfied with my mark, I ran my lips up her neck until I had her earlobe between my teeth. “Is that what you want?”

  “Yes,” she breathed shamelessly. “Give me everything.”

  My fingers dug into her thighs as her back kept breaking against the wall. I shoved my cock into her tight warmth as far as it could go. “You want my cock?”

  Saveria moaned and dug her nails deeper into my flesh. “Yes.”

  I pounded into her over, and over again, trying to prove with my body what she didn’t believe in my words. “I’ve always loved you,” I grunted. “It’s always been you. It should have always been you. Only you.” My thrusts became more forceful with each word. Resentment at our parents pushing me to drive our shared anger from both our broken souls.

  “Francisco…” she whimpered, taking the beating.

  Taking me.

  It was the first time in my life I realized I wasn’t above begging. “Forgive me, Luca. Fucking Christ, please forgive me,” I growled against the softness of her neck. “I’m sorry. So fucking sorry.”

  “Please…” she moaned. “Harder…more…”

  Saveria was so petite, it was easy to hook my arms under her knees and spread her open farther. Using all my weight, I pinned her to the wal
l and crashed into her body as far as I could go in this position. I didn’t stop until she was screaming my name and cumming all over my cock. I didn’t stop until the water sizzled against the gashes on my back from her nails.

  The second Ria fell limp in my arms, I carried her out of the shower and sat her on the toilet. I left her only long enough to turn off the shower, then I picked her up again and carried her to the bedroom. Not giving a fuck that we were both wet, I laid her on the bed and covered her body with mine. I was still hard as fuck, but I wasn’t going to rush this.

  Her eyes fluttered open and I told her, “I told you to get used to this view.”

  “Yeah, you did,” she whispered lethargically. Her eyes closed, and I feared she was going to fall asleep on me.

  I wasn’t going to let her.

  Even if this wasn’t a true wedding night, this was my first time having her completely naked before me with all the time in the world to explore every inch of her. And with a body like hers, I planned on tasting every inch of her skin.

  I kissed my way down her neck and Ria’s hands slid into my hair as she let me savor her body. And because I was an insecure, possessive bastard, I made sure to leave marks everywhere I went. She had two more marks to add to the first one I put on her neck by the time I made it to her tits.

  When my mouth circled around her tight, hard nipple, Ria moaned and tightened her hands in my hair. I grabbed as much of her as I could in my hand, and laved special attention on her magnificent rack. “I’ve wanted these in my mouth for years, baby,” I told her in between ministrations.

  “Francisco…” she whimpered as she opened her legs wider to accommodate where we both knew I was headed.

  “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to come up behind you and fill my hands with your tits, baby?” I knew she didn’t, but I wanted her to know. I wanted her to feel how long I’ve waited for her. I wanted her to wake up tomorrow and know that there’s never been anyone else for me but her. “Do you know how many times I’ve jacked off to the image of sliding my cock through your tits and cumming all over your perfect fucking face and chest?”

  “Oh, God…”

  After leaving four different marks on her tits, I kissed my way down her soft stomach, leaving two more marks there in a path down her body.

  When my face finally reached its destination, I had to close my eyes and take a few precious seconds. I had Luca Saveria Fiore Benetti spread eagle on my bed, her hands tangled in my hair, my possessiveness marking her body, with all her secrets mine for the taking.

  It felt like I’ve waited my entire life for this moment.

  The first thing I noticed, though, was how tender and torn she looked. I wanted to regret how roughly I had taken her in the shower, but I couldn’t bring myself to. It was what we had both needed. What we both still needed.

  When my tongue finally licked at her tender folds, Ria’s moan echoed throughout the room. “Oh, God…yes…”

  “You like that, baby?” I didn’t wait for her answer, I worked my tongue over her folds, her clit, and finally circled it around that precious hole I was dying to shove my dick back inside.

  Her hands tightened in my hair and her knees dropped wider as my lips, tongue, and teeth danced all over her perfect, pink pussy. I wanted to shove my fingers up her cunt, but I didn’t have bitch hands. Mine were rough and knew hard work, so I didn’t want to slide them in knowing she was tender. Instead, I focused on her clit until she was shaking beneath me.

  “Cum on my face, baby,” I cooed. “I’ve been dying to fucking taste you for years.”

  “Yes…” she agreed, and a few licks and sucks later, Ria was detonating all over my face. I worked my way to her opening and lapped up as much of her cream as I could, trying to capture all the years I missed out on.

  And Ria tasted like fucking magic.

  And I wasn’t going to hold back with my wife. Any cream that escaped, I followed it until my tongue circled that little rosebud of hers, and I wanted to beat on my chest when her whimpers became desperate groans repeating my name over, and over again.

  But I didn’t stop there.

  I knew I had hurt her when I took her in the shower, so I worked my tongue until she came two more times, stopping me only because the sensitivity had become too much for her. I wanted her soaked before driving into her again.

  After leaving more marks on the inside of her thighs and near that trimmed triangle of hers, I worked my way back up her body. Once we were face-to-face, I kissed her, letting her get a taste of what was driving me crazy. “That’s how you taste, baby,” I murmured against her lips. “Like fucking Heaven.”

  “Mmmmm,” she moaned.

  Her eyes were closed, and she looked like she was ready to pass out, but we were far from finished. “Look at me, Luca.” She opened her eyes, and I pushed my hips forward, impaling her with my entire length.

  My name, a scream from her lips, never sounded so good.

  Chapter 17

  Saveria~

  It was painful but needed at the same time.

  I didn’t need pretty words or delicate touches. I didn’t want a sugarcoated version of Francisco. I was still working through all my emotions, and just because I was letting him take me, it didn’t mean that I wasn’t still hurt or angry. And that’s why I wasn’t telling him to stop even though the pleasure and pain were battling equally. I needed a way to purge my hate and mixing in the pain with the pleasure was helping with that.

  I also couldn’t deny the view was spectacular.

  Francisco Benetti hovering over me, with his body crashing into mine, was a vision that would be burned into my mind forever. “More,” I demanded, no matter the price my body was going to pay tomorrow.

  He told me he loved me. He told me he’s always been in love with me and I wanted him to prove it. I wanted-no, needed to feel that he did. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life believing my marriage was just an arrangement, even if it was.

  Francisco was looking down at me, and there was determination in those black eyes of his to give me what I was demanding of him. He looked beautifully violent and I wanted him untethered. “Baby…”

  “Please,” I begged him. “Please, Francisco…”

  He pushed into me hard enough to move the bed. “You want me to tear you apart?” he asked, and it was a terrifying but thrilling notion.

  I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

  “Motherfucker,” he growled, but he delivered. Francisco started slamming into me with enough force to put dents it the wall. I had no doubt the entire building was shaking all around us, but I still needed more. I needed this man to erase all signs of doubt from my mind and all signs of betrayal from my heart.

  “Yes,” I hissed, my nails digging into his back and my legs pulling up higher around his waist. “Make me cum, Francisco,” I said, issuing demand, after demand. “Make me cum.”

  The challenge must have touched that male nerve that was as old as time because he hooked my left leg over his arm, opening my body wider, and his thrusts were full of every inch of his impressive length. I felt my entire center being stretched impossibly wide and I loved it.

  “Like that, baby?” he panted. “Is that how you want to be fucked?” I moaned at his filthy words. “Do you need every inch of my cock stretching out that tight pussy of yours?”

  “Yes!” I screamed, not caring who heard me. I could feel the pressure building, and I knew I wasn’t going to last much longer.

  “I’m going to have you cumming on my cock every fucking night, baby,” he promised. “I’m going to keep you fill with my cum, Ria. No one will ever doubt who you belong to ever again. You’ll never doubt it.”

  I came.

  My entire body trembled with waves of pleasure and white spots danced behind my eyes. But then he rode me through another one, and I was about to beg him to stop when he finally seized above me and emptied himself inside me. He was the only man I’d ever been with without the benefit
of protection and there was something dangerously erotic about the feel of him flooding my body.

  “Francisco…” He was still pushing into me even though his dick was beginning to soften.

  “I can’t get enough,” he gritted out. “Fuck, Ria, it’s not fucking enough.”

  I knew what he meant.

  I knew how he felt.

  When he finally rolled off me, he pulled me into his arms and the only thing I could hear was his rapid heartbeat underneath my ear.

  I must have fallen asleep because, suddenly, I jerked awake to find the bed empty. I reached over and the spot where Francisco should have been was cold. I sat up and, when I threw my legs over the side of the bed, I winced at the tenderness between my legs. I wasn’t about to put any underwear or pants on, so I went over to the closet and pulled out one of Francisco’s shirts.

  I knew this penthouse as well as I knew my apartment, so I padded around barefoot until I found him in his study again. He was sitting at his desk, his laptop fired up, his perfect face lit with the backdrop. It’s amazing how I’ve always thought Francisco was a sexy, gorgeous man, but now…now, he was just simply beautiful in my eyes.

  He looked up as I walked into the room. “Couldn’t sleep, Benetti?” I didn’t stop until I perched my ass against the edge of his desk.

  “I think my shirts look better on you than they do me,” he remarked, a sly grin on his lips.

  I glanced at the laptop. “What are you doing that’s more important than being in bed with me?”

  He smirked as he stood up and walked around his desk. I looked into those black eyes as he grabbed my hips and perched me on top of the oak. I noticed he took care to set me down carefully.

  My heart warmed.