by Bethany-Kris
“Christ, you’re so fucking tight around me … soaking me, Kim,” Gio muttered.
She was right there at the precipice of a second climax. Kim didn’t need to tell him, he could see it in the way she panted for breath but couldn’t catch air and the shake in her thighs. Gio decided right then whenever Kim was under him, he was in heaven.
“Oh my God, Gio …”
Kim tensed, her orgasm blowing over her features. Fingernails cut into his hand. The sting of the pain kept Gio from losing control of the pressure building in the base of his spine that signaled his own oncoming release. He couldn’t come, yet. One more … that was what he wanted. To see Kim let go like that just one more time because of what he was doing to her.
“It’s gonna get better, Kim,” Gio told her again. “Just feel.”
Gio let himself get lost in the way he felt surrounded by Kim. Her body. The smell of their sex. Moans in damp air. She squirmed under his weight, her cries reaching higher with every pound of his body into hers. The panties holding her wrists secure above her head pulled taut over and over as she writhed and begged him for more.
When Kim’s third climax rolled through her, Gio didn’t hold his back, either. At that point, it wasn’t like he could. Swift and destructive, the blinding release beat away all thoughts until nothing was left but raw sensation.
Yeah, just like drowning, but in a really good way.
• • •
“Yeah, fuck … Ciao?” Gio mumbled into the cell phone he barely managed to find on the floor of the car.
The light shining in through the car window hurt his eyes like nothing else, so he covered his vision with his arm. It was a little chilly in the vehicle but nothing he couldn’t handle. January in Vegas wasn’t cold like a January in New York. It was the only damn thing Gio thought was good about Vegas.
“Happy birthday, little brother.”
Gio blinked at the sound of Lucian’s voice in his ear. How had he managed to forget his own birthday? Twenty-six was too close to thirty in his opinion. “Thanks.”
“You sound rough,” Lucian noted quietly. “Celebrating last night?”
Rough wasn’t a good enough word for what Gio felt. Memories of the night before flashed through his head without prompting. He didn’t drive under the influence. Not after almost killing himself a few months ago. Getting Kim back to her dorm safely and without one of Franco’s lackeys outside the building noticing hadn’t been hard. Gio gave her a hoodie to hide her face and hair, plus she kept his leather jacket.
He loved that jacket. Didn’t matter. Not really. It looked better on Kim.
Gio distinctly remembered Kim mentioning the bus routes, but he was adamant about making sure she got back. He hadn’t stopped touching her the entire time. His face nuzzled into her neck, fingers tracing loopy pathways on her lower back. It was just his fucking luck the one woman in the world who could get him from zero to sixty and keep him there was off-limits.
So, last night was a dream, then, his mind whispered.
Because off-limits means off-fucking-limits and Gio broke that rule with a bang.
Gio cringed, knowing he fucked up again. Badly. He still smelled Kim in the car and the remnants of her sex left behind on his flesh. Shower, smoke, and water. That’s what he needed.
“Celebrating,” Gio echoed, staring up at the roof of the rental car. “Something like that.”
“Mom’s been ringing your phone off the hook. She’s thinks you’re fucking dead or something. Call her back, Gio.”
Merda.
“It’s like eleven in the afternoon there. What are you doing still asleep?” Lucian asked.
“Shut up, asshole,” Gio grumbled. “You can’t bother me when I’m not in the same state as you, Lucian. There’s got to be some kind of law about that shit. Go pick on Dante for a while.”
“He tried calling you to wish you a happy birthday, too.”
Gio resisted the urge to toss his cell phone at the window and bang his head into the seat. “I’m not in the mood right now.”
“Hung-over?”
That and more.
“I hate Vegas,” Gio said instead. “How’s my boy?”
“Cain’s good, as far as I know,” Lucian replied. “Dante hired some girl to walk him in the afternoon when he’s working. I guess he won’t travel around in the day with Dante for whatever reason.”
“Because he’s not me.”
“Yeah, Dante knows. Probably why he’s being extra patient with him.”
Gio missed his pup like nothing else. This would be the longest Gio had been away from Cain. Cain didn’t have the best behavior when his master was absent, but he didn’t do well flying. Gio learned that after trying to take him on a weekend trip to Washington. Apparently, Cain tried to kill anyone who came within feet of his cage during flight changes.
“How was Maine? Jordyn do okay meeting her dad?”
Gio and Lucian hadn’t gotten a chance to catch up when his brother returned from his trip to Maine after the Commission meeting. Jordyn, Lucian’s wife, hadn’t been in the same room as her biological father in over a decade.
“Went okay considering the circumstances,” Lucian answered, but something sad colored his tone.
“Really because it sounds to me like someone stole your fucking party balloons.”
Lucian chuckled. “A lot of missed time for Jordyn, that’s all. He’s got a couple of older kids, a life of his own, and he’s moved on from the past. Jordyn had nothing growing up, not even him. It was hard for her to separate from her resentment, even if he wasn’t entirely the cause.”
“Don’t fault her for having feelings, Lucian.”
“Didn’t say I was.”
“Good. Mom pissed at me?” Gio asked as he dug into his pants pocket to seek out a small metal case he knew should be in there.
Gio finally pulled out the case from his jeans. Flipping the top open, a joint and a couple of cigarettes stared back at him. Instead of lighting the joint like he first wanted to, he rested the case to his stomach as he continued the conversation with his brother.
“Nah, just worried, like I said.” Lucian sighed heavily. “She thinks you’re avoiding her or something because it’s your birthday and she babies you.”
Well, his mother’s concern wasn’t entirely off the mark. Gio wasn’t ignoring her calls, but her constant mothering got under his skin more often than not.
“I was sleeping, man.”
“Whatever. Just call her, Gio. And don’t be a prick about it when you do. Until she’s got some grandbabies to love, we’re the next best choice. What’s happening in Vegas, anyway? Dad is being secretive as hell. Dio, I hate it when he does that shit.”
Gio cocked a brow at his brother’s admission about their father being tight-lipped. It wasn’t like Antony to not explain things. It was another hint that his father’s intent for sending him down here was more about his friendship with Maximo than his concern over Franco making some kind of move on the Marcellos in the future.
Even so, Gio didn’t see the issue with telling Lucian. “So far nothing. Franco said some stupid shit to me at the Commission about the Marcellos falling short in power. Antony overhead and sent me down here to scope out Franco’s fools under the guise of doing business.”
“How thick are you in with Franco’s guys?” Lucian asked. “I mean, are they going to talk real business around you, or just pretend like you’re an outsider?”
“I had dinner at his house yesterday. Is that thick enough for you?”
“Getting there. Listening and not talking might help you a lot here, Gio. I know that kind of thing is tough for you, but make it work. Try not to kill Franco while you’re at it, yeah?”
Gio snorted. His dislike of Franco was clear even over the phone. It probably didn’t help his case that Franco had a new reason for Gio to hate him. That reason being Kim. “Yeah, I’m doing my best in that regard. For today, he’s still breathing. Lucky fucker.”
> Plucking up the joint out of the metal case resting on his midsection, Gio twirled it between his fingers, considering if he wanted to light up or not. The weed would cure the shitty feeling left over from popping Molly, but the idea of being stoned just didn’t appeal to Gio.
That wasn’t like him at all. What in the hell was going on with him?
“You okay?” Lucian asked, seemingly picking up on his younger brother’s silence.
“Yeah, I just …”
“Spit it out, Gio. Some of us have real jobs to go to today.”
“I work and you know it. Vegas is not a vacation for me. You can suck my left nut for that comment.”
“No, but thanks for the offer. Seriously, what’s up?”
Gio sighed. He needed to talk, even if he couldn’t be one hundred percent truthful about his current predicament. Lucian was the better one of his two brothers to chat with about the kind of shit Kim made him feel. Dante was as cold as ice in the emotions department when it came to females.
“Met a girl,” Gio said vaguely.
Lucian choked on the other end. “What?”
“Mmm, but keep your mouth shut about it.”
“Yeah, sure. What’s her name?”
“Doesn’t matter right now.”
Gio tossed the joint back into the case, closed it, and slid it back into his pocket. Sitting in an upright position on the seat, he rubbed circles into in pounding head. Damn. He probably should have taken a cab back to the hotel instead of sleeping in the car. The kink in his neck was a killer.
“So you met a chick with no name. Is that all you’re going to leave me with?” Lucian asked jokingly.
“She’s fucking bellisima, man. Legs for days. Blue eyes. A little sweetness with just the right amount of sarcasm below the surface to knock you on your ass.”
“Sounds like someone you’d like.”
“Hooked up with her twice and I’m already thinking about a third go-round, Lucian.”
“She’s caught your attention, I take it.”
“Yeah,” Gio mumbled into his palm.
Gio didn’t sleep with the same girl more than once if he could help it. People might label him a womanizer because of it, but that was their problem. He wasn’t in the market to date and the friends with benefits thing never did work out well. Feelings tended to get involved and never from his side of the equation. Gio didn’t want to lead a woman on, as it wouldn’t be fair to her, so it was easier to just avoid it altogether.
“What’s the problem, Gio?”
Other than Kim being unattainable? Besides the fact what he already did with her was worth a bullet, never mind he was more than ready to go for another session? Well, not a whole hell of a lot. He couldn’t tell Lucian that, though.
“I don’t know,” Gio settled for saying.
His thoughts stumbled back to the early morning hours when he walked Kim across her dorm’s parking lot. The hood of the sweater he gave to her had kept her face hidden and the one he wore shielded his. It wasn’t keeping her from being seen that he thought about. It was his arm around her shoulders, holding her close to his side while her fingers interwove with his. And he kissed her goodnight, softly on her cheek.
Kim’s final words to him, before she slipped into the dorms unnoticed, had not been what Gio wanted to hear. He couldn’t even let them cross his mind without his anger sparking. It wasn’t her fault—not really.
“She makes me want to be affectionate,” Gio said.
Lucian cleared his throat. “I didn’t realize that was a bad thing.”
“It’s not.”
Or it wouldn’t be if Kim wasn’t engaged to a made man. What had he gone and done getting mixed up with her? Maybe he did have a death wish.
“Falling in love is scary shit,” Lucian said. “Especially for men like us.”
Gio’s gaze caught the panties he used to restrain Kim still wrapped around the door handle. “I’m not in love.”
It was the truth.
But, he bet she would be damn easy to.
Chapter Nine
“We can’t do this again.”
“Why agree to marry him? What is it about him you want?” Giovanni asked. “Tell me.”
Kim took a step back from Giovanni, needing the space between them to clear her head. “I’m sorry. Never again, Gio. Please understand why.”
“Kimberlynn!”
Kim jerked out of her thoughts at the pissed off voice coming from outside the bathroom door. “I’m almost done, Franco.”
“Hurry it up, sweetheart. You’re making us late.”
Perfect. Something else to add to the pile of crappiness in her life today. Kim bit her tongue hard. It was the only thing keeping her from barking at Franco that he was the one who demanded she change dresses … twice.
Usually, Kim wouldn’t care to dress up but Franco’s father and step-mother invited them to dinner at a restaurant known for its suit and skirt dress code requirements. Really, that was putting it mildly. The place was three-hundred dollars a plate.
Kim didn’t want to be rude, but the gourmet, high-end nonsense Franco enjoyed was not to her tastes. Her preferences were simple. Pasta or burgers. As long as she could eat while wearing jeans. The dinner reservation with the Sorrentos was not going to be pleasant.
Kim chanced another glance at her reflection in the vanity. By tipping her chin upwards and to the side, she could plainly see the faint red mark Giovanni had left behind her right ear. It was almost a week since he gave her that hickey and the damn thing still wasn’t gone. Instead, it served as a reminder of her stupidity and lack of control every time she fixed her hair or looked at herself in a mirror. Worse was the fact Kim couldn’t stop looking at it or touching it, almost like a compulsion.
Kim pulled out a small bottle of concealer from her clutch. Since her hair was half up and half down, she wasn’t worried about the hickey being noticed, but she didn’t want to take that chance. Rubbing in a small dot of the flesh-toned makeup made the red splotch disappear. Unfortunately, touching the spot where Giovanni’s mouth marked her only caused her sex to clench with need.
God, she did not need those memories right now.
The hickey wasn’t the only thing Giovanni left behind. The dress Franco finally decided was appropriate enough for her to wear did little to hide the scrapes on her shoulder. When Giovanni shoved Kim against the rough wall at Pulse, it scratched her skin. Most of the abrasions were healed and they didn’t hurt. Kim hoped Franco wouldn’t notice. She didn’t have an excuse to explain the marks away.
“Hurry up, Kimberlynn, or I’m coming in to get you myself,” Franco warned.
Kim tossed the concealer back into her clutch, fixed the blonde curls she’d spent hours making with a curling iron, and turned to leave the bathroom. Franco stood outside the doorway with a frustrated expression and his shiny leather shoes tapping on the hardwood floor.
“Is it good?” Kim asked, presenting the new outfit to Franco with as much false enthusiasm as she could muster. It wasn’t very damned much.
“Good enough,” Franco muttered. “Better than the other two pieces of garbage.”
“You were the one who bought the other dresses, Franco.”
“Well, I don’t like them, now. They show off too much. At least with this one you look older and not—”
“Like the twenty-one-year-old college student I am?”
Franco’s eyebrow cocked. “Exactly. There’s nothing wrong with me wanting you to act like a grown, mature adult. Or at the very least, a woman appropriate enough to be my wife. And don’t interrupt me again, Kimberlynn. I can’t stand that bullshit. Get your coat and I’ll meet you outside.”
The ceiling took the brunt of Kim’s glower as Franco waltzed down the hallway and out of her sight. Not wanting to hear more complaints, she wasted no time grabbing her coat from the hallway closet and leaving the house.
The person talking with Franco out in the driveway was not who Kim expected to s
ee. Her heart leaped into her throat. Giovanni didn’t notice Kim, but Franco did. The jerk waved his hand as if to speed her up. Franco’s action drew Giovanni’s attention her way.
Briefly, their stares met and as Giovanni looked her up and down, Kim felt a shudder work its way over her entire frame. Just as quickly as he glanced at her, he looked away dismissively. Kim was positive there was anger in his eyes though she didn’t know why.
It was only then Kim noticed the bright orange Lamborghini parked on the side of the road with the engine still running. The color was ugly as hell. Kim wasn’t entirely sure how to act or what to say to Giovanni as she came to stand beside Franco, so she settled for a polite, “Hello, Gio.”
Giovanni smiled, but it didn’t ring true. “Kim. Nice to see you again.”
Franco didn’t notice the awkwardness at all. “No problems getting it, then?”
“Nope. Cody gets the take for it,” Giovanni said, turning to toss a look over his shoulder at the car. “Don’t turn off the laptop or the transmitter; you won’t get it running again.”
“Got it. What did the electronics cost for the boost?”
Giovanni shrugged. “About seven hundred or so, which is worth it considering what you’ll get for the parts. The laptop and transmitter can be reused so long as it continues to maintain Wi-Fi connection. The programming is child’s play. Keyless entry isn’t safe if everything is run by transferrable wavelengths. I imagine some of your guys are using the same setup for their takes.”
“How long until someone notices?”
“An hour, give or take a few minutes. Get it gone as quickly as possible.”
Kim had no clue what they were talking about. She was going to try and find out.
“Where did that come from?” Kim asked, nodding at the ostentatious vehicle.
“Gio picked it up for me,” Franco answered vaguely. “Thought it might be nice to take to the restaurant before it disappears. Pretty girls should be driven around in pretty cars, after all.”
