by Bella Rose
“And do you realize that you’re making it very tempting to kill you for what you supposedly know?” Antonin growled. “I’m tired and our men are too drunk to render a verdict on your fate. But tomorrow you will die. I will see to it.”
Antonin plucked the man off the floor and carried him out of the room without garnering any notice from the other men assembled. Yes. Tomorrow would be soon enough to decide Josef’s fate.
Chapter Fourteen
JULIET WAS IN shock. At least that seemed to be what kept her from speaking up and trying to take her own fate into her hands. Her grandfather and Giovanni were speaking in hushed voices as they planned out her future without bothering to ask her opinion about anything.
“Juliet?” Carlos leaned around Giovanni’s bulk to better see her. “Do you think you can whip up some kind of wedding ceremony in two weeks? That seems to be the best time for the rest of us.”
“Oh sure,” she said sarcastically. “Since I don’t want to get married, I’ll just wear my street clothes and stand in front of a judge. Just think of how much money it will save you.”
Carlos actually laughed. “You were ever sarcastic, little Juliet. But you are right. It would be much easier to just go to the justice of the peace. What are your thoughts, Giovanni?”
“I would prefer a real ceremony.” Giovanni had the nerve to turn and look at her, and then the man actually gave her a soft smile. “I want everyone to know that I’m marrying the woman that I love.”
“It’s a good thing I’ve seen you in a fight,” Carlos said with a hearty laugh. “Because you’re acting like a woman.”
“He really is,” Juliet agreed. “In fact I can’t imagine why you would condone my marriage to a man like this.”
“I condone your marriage to the man who fathered your child.” There was a hard edge to her grandfather’s voice. “We need your children to rebuild our family, Juliet. You should be pleased and proud that you can do this service to your family.”
“But the other part that I’ve been doing,” she said bitterly. “The part where I put together lucrative deals, gain capital, and protect our territory from other crime families, that doesn’t count.”
“A woman’s place is in the home,” Carlos insisted. He moved around Giovanni and closer to Juliet. “Why have you never understood that it is not a woman’s place to rule as a capo?”
“Because that notion is antiquated and barbaric,” she told him sweetly. “You’re a sexist pig. You both are. And now you’re going to make me some broodmare for the family.” It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that her eldest child wasn’t even full-blooded Italian, but she didn’t want to rock the boat. At least not yet. She would leave them to their planning and scheming. She had no doubt that across town the Russians were doing the same. Why did nobody realize that if they couldn’t broker some kind of agreement, they were going to destroy each other until there was no one left?
“I’m going to bed.” She announced it but didn’t expect a reaction. Then she looked pointedly at Giovanni. “You are not welcome in my bedroom. Understand?”
Giovanni nodded but didn’t speak. Juliet closed the door on her grandfather’s blustery teasing about brides who suddenly want to wait for the wedding night. She’d had more than enough for one night.
***
ANTONIN CREPT ALONG the ledge just outside Juliet’s window. He had stopped wondering how the Italians could be so lax in their security that they would never notice a man crawling along the eaves of their house. First of all, their ignorance was his blessing. It allowed him to visit Juliet whenever he wanted. Secondly, who was he to talk about vigilance or security? Most of the Bratva were at this moment passed out in his father’s office after imbibing far too much vodka in celebration of something that hadn’t happened yet.
Finally he saw a soft light in Juliet’s bedroom. Antonin watched her walk out of her bathroom and into her bedroom. She wore a filmy lace peignoir. The pale ivory color of the garment made it almost transparent. He felt his body responding instantly to the enticing sight of her.
She moved to the full-length mirror in the corner of her room. Standing in profile, she gazed at herself. He realized that she was having a closer look at the baby bump on her abdomen. A shot of pleasure and pride whipped through him. This woman was carrying his child. She was strong, ruthless in her own way, and sexy as hell.
Wanting to be closer to her, he pulled a knife from his back pocket and easily opened the latch on her window. Seconds later he was standing in her bedroom. She looked over at him as though she wasn’t at all surprised.
“I wondered when you would show up,” she murmured.
Antonin looked again at the ivory lace that barely concealed her body from his gaze. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”
“They’re making me marry Giovanni.” She turned to gaze at him.
A flare of anger nearly took his breath away, and then Antonin forced himself to calm down. Her blue eyes were huge and haunted. Something about the way she looked brought to mind a certain fragility he would have never applied to this woman otherwise. She had been shaken by these events, and she was looking to him for help whether she realized it or not. He opened his arms and she came to him without question.
The feel of her soft body against his chest was heavenly. Then he realized that she was sobbing quietly against his shoulder. He stroked her long soft hair and murmured nonsense words to her in Russian.
“I don’t know what to do,” she finally whispered. “I just want to be with you. How can something so right be so wrong?”
JULIET HUDDLED IN Antonin’s embrace and wondered why she wanted him to make things better. Was she truly ready to just give up and cast her fate into someone else’s hands? Then he pulled away and stared down into her face. Cupping her cheeks, he kissed her so very gently. Arousal rose instantly inside her, and she wondered how he could turn her on so quickly. It was as if her body was completely attuned to his.
He placed his hands on the soft lace of her peignoir. The heat of him was intoxicating. He continued to kiss her, moving her back toward her bed as he did. She stretched herself against his body and reveled in the sensation of his heat.
She found the fastenings of his pants with her fingers and desperately clawed at the buttons and zipper. It was suddenly too much. She needed him. Now. It didn’t matter that her grandfather and Giovanni were right down the hall. The door was locked and he was here and the only thing she wanted was to have him inside of her.
Shoving his pants down over his hips, she was glad when he pulled his shirt off of his own accord. He was scarred from head to toe. She’d seen the ones on his face. His chest was even more dramatic. She brushed her fingers over what were surely knife wounds and even a few bullet holes. The heavy muscle beneath his skin twitched and trembled at her touch. She didn’t know what other women might think of these scars. To Juliet they were badges of honor earned because this was a man that didn’t give up or surrender.
He kicked his clothes off, stepping out of his pants even as he toed off his boots. When he was naked, she spun him around until she was the one pushing him back onto the bed. She climbed up and straddled his waist. Her pussy was hot and wet. The way he gazed up at her made her shiver with delight. It was as if she were the only one for him. There was nobody else. She felt special and she felt wanted and it made her crazy with lust.
Running her hands over his chest, she traced the twin grooves bracketing his abdomen until they reached his cock. He was so hard. His erection strained upward from his body as though it sought her attention. Her lace panties were soaking wet. Letting herself rest gently on his shaft, she ground on him just a little. It was enough to rub the fabric of her panties against her swollen clit. Closing her eyes, she focused on the intense sensation of friction, and within seconds she enjoyed her first orgasm of the night.
ANTONIN WATCHED JULIET come so prettily just by rubbing her pussy against the hard length of his cock. He put
his hands on her waist and encouraged her to move. Then he twisted his fingers in the narrow elastic bands at her hips and ripped her panties apart.
The fabric fluttered away, and he tugged it out from between them. She moaned as the shaft of his cock made full contact with her wet slit. Her juice coated his erection. The feel of her was intoxicating. He pulled her closer, forcing her to adjust to the pace he set. And when the tip of his cock caught at her opening, he did not hesitate to angle his hips and enter her body in one long thrust.
“Antonin!” she gasped.
Her eyes flew open and she stared down at him in wonder. He was so very deep inside her. The position left her utterly exposed to him. He had impaled her fully until his entire length was embedded within her body. She wriggled against him and then gasped in delight. He watched as she discovered the ways that she could move in order to grind the length of him against the sweet spots inside her body.
The friction left him almost insensible. It felt so good to be with her. She was made for him. He caressed the curve of her buttocks and savored the smoothness of her skin. Her breasts bounced gently with each movement of her hips. She was riding him as though she had been born knowing exactly how he liked it.
“You know what I like,” he growled. “Fuck me, Juliet. Take your pleasure. Make me come.”
She placed her hands flat on his chest and used them to brace herself. She pushed harder against his cock. He felt the spread hood of her clit kiss the root of his erection and nearly died from the intense pleasure she brought him. Heat lanced through his limbs. He felt his balls tighten between his legs as he approached the point where he would no longer be able to hold back.
He had never seen a more beautiful sight than Juliet undulating against him as she rode his cock for her pleasure. She threw her head back. Her long hair brushed his thighs. Her nipples hardened and peaked. He lifted his hands and caressed the curve of each breast. She sucked in a deep breath, and then he felt her melt against him as she came.
“Antonin!” she groaned. “I’m coming. I’m coming!”
Yes she was. He had never seen or felt anything like it. She trembled and whimpered as her whole body convulsed with the power of her release. He held back for only a moment more. Then he clenched his haunches and thrust upward as he let go. His climax thundered through his veins. Seed spurted from his cock, and he spent every bit of his essence inside her body. This was where he was supposed to be. This was his woman, and somehow he was going to make sure that she always would be.
Juliet collapsed to his chest, pressing her cheek against his pectoral muscle and gasping for air. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her silky head. “I love you,” he whispered. “And somehow I’m going to figure this out.”
Chapter Fifteen
JULIET WALKED AROUND in a happy daze the next morning. He loved her. Antonin Mikhailovich loved her! It was like a crazy gift. It was as if someone had handed her the moon, and now she didn’t know what to do with it. There were still so many barriers between the two of them she hardly knew where to begin. Yet Antonin had told her he was going to figure it out. Not that she had any intention of just sitting back and waiting for things to work out. She was going to “figure something out” too.
Carlos appeared at the breakfast table. He sat down and opened his paper, glancing at her over the top of what was probably the sports page. “You seem awfully happy this morning, Juliet.”
“No more than usual,” she told him stiffly. The last thing she needed was for him to assume that Giovanni was the cause of her good mood.
Carlos was still staring at her. “Do you feel all right?”
“Of course,” she said automatically. Then she realized that he was referring to her pregnancy. It was a little novel that she could now talk about it as though it actually existed. “I’m almost four months along.”
“That far?” He raised his brows in surprise. “When will we know if it’s a boy?”
“It’s a girl,” she told him, watching his face to see how he took the news.
There was very obvious and immediate disappointment in his expression. “Oh well,” he said dismissively. “You’re obviously fertile. You can have this girl and then set about populating this house with boys. A good dozen or more would be nice.”
“A dozen?” Juliet was hard-pressed to keep the panic out of her voice. “Are you kidding? A dozen babies would mean I’d need to be pregnant every waking moment of my life.”
He just looked at her. She could not help but feel like his expression was essentially telling her that a woman had no other purpose in life, so why wouldn’t she want to be pregnant every moment? The man was positively medieval! Did he really not notice any of the other accomplishments she’d managed for the family in the last three months since her father’s death?
“I have a brain, you know,” she told him stiffly. “I can do other things beside breed children.”
“Of course.” Carlos shrugged. “You need those traits to pass on to your children.”
Juliet wasn’t hungry anymore. She stood up and glared at her grandfather. “I’m starting to understand why your wife and my mother both decided to go ahead and die in childbirth.”
“Excuse me?” He looked a little miffed that she had brought up such a subject.
She put her hands on her hips and glared down at him. “Have the women in this family always been treated like broodmares?”
“That’s a little harsh,” he argued.
“Just for you,” she told him bitterly. “I’m going to have a dozen girls. They’re going to run this house and throw the men out. You get me?”
Without waiting for an answer, she turned and stalked away.
***
THE BRATVA DID not often enjoy mornings if the previous night had been dominated by more than a few bottles of vodka. Antonin was only glad that the hungover status of the other Brigadiers meant that they were not swarming all over the house this morning. They were likely sleeping it off in their own beds, leaving him to eat his breakfast in solitary peace and quiet.
“Good morning,” Mikhail murmured as he stepped into the breakfast room. He poured himself some steaming black coffee from the carafe on the sideboard and then took a seat adjacent to Antonin. “You disappeared early last night. Did you have other plans?”
“I did some reconnaissance on the Caglione house.” Antonin did not add that he had spent most of the night in Juliet Caglione’s bed, leaving only when the first rays of sunlight began to kiss the sky.
“Good thinking,” his father agreed. “Will you take care of her tonight?”
“Perhaps.” Antonin shrugged. “She is apparently engaged to a man named Giovanni Corleon. He’s a strong supporter of the Cagliones. I almost wonder if he wouldn’t be a more worthy focus of our attentions. He has the capability of cultivating new leaders within the ranks. Juliet is nothing more than a broodmare. Why should we bother with a woman?”
“Because she is a symbol within their ranks,” Mikhail argued. “Because she is the last remaining Caglione. Because the family will utterly fall apart when she is gone. Trust me.”
“Whom have you talked to that I’m not aware of?” Antonin sat back in his chair. He gazed at his father and wondered what was really going on. “And we need to discuss what we’re going to do with Josef.”
“Oh, that.” Mikhail waved his hand. “He’s been exiled from the city.”
“What?” Antonin shot to his feet. “You turned him loose?”
Mikhail raised his eyebrows. “Is there a particular reason you doubt my judgment in this matter?”
“Josef is a snake waiting for an opportunity to strike. This is not Imperial Russia. Exiling a man from a city has no effect at all. He can simply walk back in. It isn’t as if there are guards waiting to expel him back to Siberia!” Antonin began pacing energetic circles around the breakfast table. How could his father be so foolish!
“Watch yourself carefully,” Mikhail growled.
“I have never questioned your loyalty, Antonin,” Mikhail said slowly. “But lately I have begun to wonder if you truly believe that you are above the rest of us.”
“Above you?” Antonin scoffed. “And I begin to wonder if I’m not being used as a pawn in a game that I’ve not volunteered to play.”
***
JULIET SAT IN her bedroom and wished that she could magically close her eyes and then when she opened them she would be someplace else.
There was a soft knock at her door. “Juliet?”
Now she really wished she could be anywhere but here. “Go away, Giovanni.”
“Please don’t do this. We need to talk.”
She chuffed out a heavy sigh and went to unlock the door. She supposed that in a way he was right. They did need to talk. They needed to talk about the fact that there was no way in hell she was going to marry him. Ever. Maybe she had considered it—briefly. Now she knew that it would never work. She loved Antonin and he loved her. Juliet didn’t belong with Giovanni Corleon and never would.
Giovanni stepped into her bedroom, and she shut the door behind him. “This really isn’t at all appropriate,” she reminded him. “We should go to my office instead.”
“We’re engaged,” he reminded her. “As far as anyone knows, I’m the father of that baby you’re carrying. I think being in your bedroom without a chaperone is a pretty minor thing.”
“Perhaps if we had been chaperoned properly, I wouldn’t be knocked up,” she joked. Then she sobered abruptly. “Sorry. That was in poor taste. I’m just nervous.”
“About talking to me?” Giovanni looked genuinely surprised. He took a seat in her desk chair and folded his hands in his lap. “We’ve known each other for years. You never have to be nervous about talking to me.”
