by K. I. Lynn
He was dead.
Domenico’s mania subsided, and he dropped the blade to the ground as he stood. He turned to me, and I gasped at the blood covering him.
He was breathing hard as he stepped over Roman’s body, then fell to his knees in front of me. I stared into his eyes as he cupped my face, the blood on his hands still warm, and drew me closer. He pressed his lips to mine, and I sighed into him.
He was there—he was real.
He saved me.
I sobbed as he gathered me up into his chest, unable to take the flood of relief that washed through me.
After a moment, he pulled back and his nostrils flared as he took in my mostly naked body. His lips crashed to mine again, and he leaned me back against the floor.
I didn’t need to ask, to beg him to erase the memories of Roman’s touch. He reached between us, and after a moment I felt the hot head of his cock press against me, then thrust inside. A low moan escaped me, his eyes never leaving mine as he set a furious pace. Silent as he took hold of my hips and drove into me over and over again.
I worried briefly about his wound, but just as that thought began to take hold, he found that perfect spot that sent me flying.
“You’re mine,” he growled between clenched teeth. “No other man will touch you. Ever.”
“I’m yours,” I said with a whimper.
He rested his forehead against mine. “Ti amo.”
I drew in a sharp breath as I searched his eyes for any false pretense, but there was none.
“I love you too.”
His breath was harsh against my neck as he continued to thrust into me, harder, faster. Every muscle tensed, and my hips rocked against his, drawing him right to the spot I needed him.
“Domenico,” I whispered, needing just a little more. Nobody knew my body like Domenico. He was in tune with every part of me.
A groan vibrated against my neck before his tongue swiped across my pulse point. My eyes rolled back as his teeth sank into the meat of my neck, and I exploded around him.
A moment later a moan left him, and his hips stilled against mine.
We were both breathing hard, and I was trying to come to terms with all that had just happened. So many emotions heaved inside me, but relief was the biggest one.
Roman was dead.
He couldn’t hurt either of us ever again. We were free of him.
The silence was interrupted by the crashing of footfalls up the stairs and the yelling of men.
Domenico pulled out and tucked his dick away before retrieving his gun from his waistband and standing, taking me with him.
I feared for what was about to happen as a dozen men in suits charged up the stairs.
Domenico’s arm swung out as he stepped forward, putting himself between me and the men storming in. The arm pinned me to his back and a hissed “fuck” slipped between his lips.
I couldn’t see around him, but I knew it wasn’t good.
Thankfully my coat was long enough to cover my ass as my jeans were across the room, and also still able to close.
“Domenico,” a smooth voice said. The tone was stern, reprimanding.
“Father,” Domenico replied.
I drew in a breath and pulled back, but he kept me tightly to him. I was able to peer around his arm to see the near-dozen men with their guns pointed straight at us.
In the center was a man in a crisp charcoal three-piece suit, his expression pulled tight and framed by short salt-and-pepper hair. His eyes were the same silver as Domenico’s, and his gaze was just as piercing. His eyes locked with mine, and I stared back before sliding fully behind Domenico again.
“You’ve been causing quite a stir,” Giovanni said.
“And? If you’ve come to kill me, just get it over with, but let Ari go.”
“Is that what you want?” his father asked. “To exchange your life for hers?”
“Yes.”
I gasped, my stomach sinking. Life without Domenico wasn’t a life I wanted to live.
“Interesting. However, I don’t want your death.” He paused and stepped to the side, his gaze finding Roman’s body behind us. “I’ve already lost one son today.”
“Roman got what he deserved,” Domenico hissed.
“No doubt there,” Giovanni said with a sigh. “He always was driven by his selfishness. I thought maybe he would learn something from you, but alas, he only stayed the sociopath he always was.”
“What does that make me?”
“That depends. You’ve stolen my goods. She’s worth a lot, being Francesca Vitale Santoro’s daughter.”
A deep growl rumbled in Domenico’s chest, and he pulled me tighter against his back.
“She’s mine.”
I peeked over his arm again, curious as to his father’s reaction. My grandfather had obviously told him who I was, but had he told him everything? One eyebrow was arched high as he regarded Domenico. Those familiar eyes studied Domenico in the same way Domenico always studied everything around him.
“Are you sure you want to take that tone with me?” Giovanni asked.
“I’m tired of this game,” Domenico bit out. “What do you want?”
“What I want I’m not sure you can give me,” Giovanni spoke. “I want my son back.”
“He’s a bloody fucking mess, and I have no remorse for putting him down.”
“I wasn’t speaking of Roman.” He sighed. “You are so strong willed, just like your mother.”
“My mother has nothing—”
“She has everything to do with this. She took you from me—that was the start.”
“She just couldn’t stand to breathe the same air as your wife.”
“I wanted you both in my house.”
“Treated like a bug beneath Renata’s heel. Living with my half siblings who bullied me for being the bastard son,” Domenico spat.
“You will stop this rebellion, and you will release Arabella,” Giovanni said, the warmth gone from his tone.
“I told you, she’s mine. The only way you will take her from me is by prying her from my cold, dead grip.”
I held on to him tighter, my eyes sealed shut.
“Is that the only way? Does she mean that much to you?”
“Yes to both.”
“Worth dying for?” Giovanni asked. “Your death would only serve to put her right back in the cage you freed her from.”
“It is the only way I will ever give her up, and even then I will be with her.”
I gripped his shirt harder and suppressed a sob. Snaking my arms around his waist, I wrapped him tightly in my arms, my hand covering his heart, protecting it and him. His heart beat fast under my touch.
“It would be a pity. Of all my children, you are the only worthy one.”
“Worthy of what?”
“Of succeeding me.”
Domenico faltered, his aim on his father lowering as a snap rang through him like he’d been slapped.
“They are all spoiled, self-absorbed brats. You remind me so much of myself, including your attachment to her. It was the same with your mother. I married out of obligation, but my heart belonged to her.” A long sigh left him, his shoulders folding in for just a fraction of a second before straightening out. “Let us go home and talk.”
“About what?” Domenico asked.
“About your future. Bring the girl.”
The house was grander in design and opulence than my father’s, but different than the ornate details of my grandfather’s home. The grounds were much larger and secluded, the halls wide, and there was a flurry of staff walking around.
Domenico kept me close to him, hugging me tightly to his side, glaring at anyone who even glanced at me. I was practically naked, my coat barely hitting my thighs. There hadn’t been time to grab my jeans as we’d been practically pushed out the building. Thankfully I had been able to grab my panties, and Domenico had zipped up my coat, concealing my destroyed shirt. I was thankfully covered, but my legs were col
d and on display.
The looks could also have been due to the blood that covered us both.
We followed his father into a room walled with dark wood, a fire glowing in the fireplace, and bookcases filled with antiques and books. It was similar to my grandfather’s office, and that fact put me somewhat at ease.
Giovanni strode across the room and pulled a stopper from a decanter before pouring an amber liquid into two glasses. The doors closed with a hard thud, and I jumped. Glancing around, I saw there was only one other person in the room with us, and based on his posture, he was Giovanni’s guard.
Giovanni held out a glass to Domenico, who glanced down at it but didn’t move. After a momentary stare-down, he turned to me.
“Arabella, would you care for a glass?”
I nodded, not caring what it was, but I was in desperate need of something to calm the thumping in my veins. There had been too much happening too fast, and my emotions were still playing catch-up.
I glanced up at Domenico as I tipped the glass back, our eyes locked. A burn trailed down my throat with each sip.
“Please, sit,” Giovanni instructed as he stepped around his desk.
I moved to do as instructed, but Domenico pulled me down onto his lap, refusing to let me go.
An amused chuckle danced across the space from father to son. “I’d like to tell you a story, and perhaps together we can figure out how it ends.”
He waited for any response, but Domenico’s only indication of his father’s words manifested as his hold tightened.
“How do these things begin? Once upon a time, is it?”
Still no response.
“I’ve long known Arabella, though we haven’t seen each other for many years.”
There was a familiarity about him, but I had brushed that off as the similarities he shared with Domenico. However, when I scoured my memories, his face popped up multiple times, the clearest being at my mother’s funeral.
“Once upon a time, her father used her as a bargaining chip to get a further hold into the family. I entertained it, especially when I remembered who her mother was. We even set up to arrange her marriage into our family.”
A gasp left me, and my nails dug into Domenico’s arm as his fingers held fast.
“To whom?” Domenico asked, never taking his eyes off his father. There was a lack of trust in him, but I wasn’t sure if it was a fissure in their relationship or his fierce need to protect me above anyone.
“Roman.”
My breath stuttered, and I let all my weight relax onto Domenico. The thought that I would have been bound to Roman, to Roman, made my stomach roll. I turned my face into the crook of his neck, the spicy cinnamon scent calming me.
“I thought I could tame him with a wife, and Arabella’s father thought he could tame her. It seems your dear girl had other ideas. Not days before the announcement, she slipped her security detail and disappeared in plain sight. It was quite an impressive trick, Arabella.”
With another inhale of Domenico’s familiar scent, I turned to his father. “And not a moment too soon, it seems.”
“Perhaps you are correct.”
“Forget all this time-wasting speech and tell us what our fates are.” The words almost signaled a resignation, a giving in, but they weren’t. Domenico was calculating his next move based on his father’s response.
“Fine, story time is over. Here is your ultimatum—you will step up and learn how to become my successor, and Arabella will be your bride.”
“Amicizia di signore non è retaggio; chi troppo se ne fida non è saggio.”
It was a proverb that meant A king’s favor is no inheritance.
“A caval donato non si guarda in bocca,” Giovanni said, warning him not to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Right now you have few options, my son.”
“Shouldn’t I get a say in this?” I asked.
“Is that your wish?” Giovanni asked.
“Yes.”
“Then let me remind you what is in store for you if my son does not agree. Domenico will quite possibly be killed due to his part in Roman’s death. You will be returned to the cage to await the sale of your body to the worst of the bottom dwellers and perverts who will fuck you until you stop moving, because that’s the type of death your father requests.”
I flinched at his words, the last bit of my heart that still held feelings for my father shattering. Domenico’s fingers brushed against my jaw, drawing my eyes to his. Anger flickered in their silver depths, and I realized I was shaking.
“What did I say, princess?”
“I am yours,” I whispered.
“That’s right. No man will ever touch you, even if it means I have to kill you myself.” His gaze flickered to my mouth, his thumb rubbing against my bottom lip. “Antonio, Manetto, and Valentina won’t be happy.”
“Do you wish me to sing your praise? Antonio is hot headed and will burn this organization to the ground with his impudence. Manetto is a coke head. And Valentina is as much of a spoiled bitch as her mother.”
“Good to know we are in agreement,” Domenico said.
“You are like me, more so than any of the others. I despise that you weren’t formally acknowledged under my father’s rule as my son and able to take your rightful seat in the family. That will change.”
“I am now the youngest.”
“I decide who my successor is, and everyone will fall in line or I will put a bullet in them, no matter who it is. Besides, isn’t this what you were aiming for when you had Vitale contact me?”
My eyes widened as I turned to Domenico. “Did you?” I asked in a whisper, but he didn’t answer.
“Very diplomatic move, I must say,” Giovanni said. “A worthy mind to succeed me.”
Domenico let out a hard breath and caught my eye again. “It was the only way.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked. He’d been so secretive in his plans, keeping my anxiety high with the thoughts of what was going to happen to us. There was no direction, but like always, Domenico was working out pathways in his mind, trying to choose the right direction.
“Because it was a gamble,” Giovanni answered. “Roman fed the family lies, and Domenico had little faith in me.”
“Why would I? You’ve always sided with Roman, even after what he did to me,” Domenico gritted out.
“Your mother, God rest her soul, would have killed him for that had she still been alive.”
Domenico’s jaw twitched. “And you did nothing, so again, why would I?”
Giovanni sat back and took a long pull of his drink. “I long ago saw all my sons for who they were. There is a reason none of them are ranked very high in the organization and you are. Roman wanted to beat you down, to make himself feel superior to you, but with each fight, you rose. Even when he disfigured you, well, that was when la Bestia came out, unrestrained. You were strong, fierce, and unstoppable—the very things our family needs to survive, to grow.”
“What did you talk about with my grandfather?” I asked, pulling the conversation back to that reveal.
“He told me how Domenico came to be in his care, of his granddaughter’s sudden revival, and how you two ended up together.” Giovanni’s eyes flickered with the same anger I’d seen many times in Domenico. “He also told me of your feelings for each other. Then he offered me something that only you two can give me.”
Domenico’s eyes widened as he stared at his father. “He didn’t.”
Giovanni nodded. “The Vitale were the first family to come up in Chicago, but sometimes families die out. Laureano Vitale has only one heir.” Giovanni’s eyes met mine. “Arabella, you are the last Vitale, the last of the bloodline. Like royalty, we pass the mantle down to our children, not outsiders. Your union will join the two families and make us the most powerful family in Chicago.”
“He offered a merger?” I asked, understanding. The family had thinned through the generations, and I was all that remained. “To his greatest enemy?
”
“There will be strife in the ranks at first, yes, but the empire the Vitale built will continue on, and the Ferrante will run that empire.”
My heart beat wildly as I processed everything. When it came down to it, the choice was simple—die or be together as the most powerful couple in Chicago.
The answer was also simple—live.
I had tried to get away from everything that the Mafia stood for, but Giovanni’s offer was different. I wouldn’t be some powerless doll.
“It won’t be easy for either of us, but this is the only way I can protect you,” Domenico said. “You will trade one cell for a different kind, but I will be beside you. Marry me.”
Only two months had passed since I was trapped on that bridge. Such a short time for my life to be completely turned upside down to the point that I was right back where I started three years ago.
Leaving Domenico wasn’t an option. No matter how horribly we’d started out, I knew the reasons behind his cruelty, and when we were free it had morphed into a passion like I’ve never known. He’d taken a bullet for me, freed me from being sold like an object, and shown me a level of caring I’d never experienced.
“If I am your equal as your wife, as both a Vitale and a Ferrante, then I still have freedom.”
“You will still have to follow my rules.”
“Of course you’ll have more rules,” I said with a shake of my head.
“Will you tame the beast in me?”
I cupped his face and met his eyes. “Never.”
Domenico sighed before pressing his lips to mine. “Da questa vita a quella successiva.”
From this life to the next.
I turned to Giovanni. “What about my father?”
He nodded. “Maurizio will pay for what he did. His actions, had Domenico not intervened, would have sent us into a war with the Vitale, one I’m not sure we would survive.”
I knew how he would pay, and I also knew I wanted to be the one to do it. I needed retribution for all that he’d done to me. “Please, let me take care of him.”
Giovanni nodded. “Of course…Daughter.”
Once everything was settled, Giovanni released us to clean up, assuring us he would send the physician to tend to our wounds. I didn’t even want to look at myself in a mirror. In twenty-four hours I’d been hit by a car, had my head slammed into metal bars, and had been beaten with a belt. Domenico didn’t look much better. I hadn’t really gotten to focus on much but the presence of him, and I had a feeling there was more to be seen under his clothes.
