“And you got hurt because of it,” she fretted.
I shook my head. “I would have gotten hurt either way. My uncle is a monster. At least I got the chance to do something good. I don’t regret it.” It was important to me that she knew this.
I hadn’t noticed Maddox reappear until he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side and kissing my temple.
Max reclaimed Wren, turning grateful eyes to me. “Thank you for everything, Francesca. The club owes you a huge debt. I owe you a huge debt. You’re one of us and you have our protection.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” I argued. “Plus….” I hesitated a moment, unsure if I should share what was in my heart, but in the end, I was unable to hold it back. I looked up at Maddox as I continued. “I have my protector.”
His gray eyes blazed with intensity as his grip tightened on my shoulder. I heard the muted awws around the fire pit from the women, but they barely registered as Maddox and I stared at each other.
“So fuckin’ lucky.” His deep voice rumbled and he looked about a second away from pinning me to the next hard surface.
A throat cleared and I looked away from Maddox, locking eyes with the man I’d seen at Max’s house with the black and gray tattoos. He was a beast of a man with a shaved head and a smile tilting his mouth. “You two need to get a room?” His brow lifted.
“Fuck off, Gun,” Maddox muttered.
I’d heard a fair amount about Gunner and his jovial ways. His eyes shone with humor before turning to Emmie, where they grew heated.
I didn’t remember Maddox saying they were a couple, but clearly there was something between them.
“You need another beer?” Mad asked me.
I bit my lip. I wanted another, but I also didn’t want to go back inside and get more death glares.
“They’re gone,” Maddox noted, somehow reading my mind, something he seemed to be able to do with ease.
“Any prospects wanting pussy are out of luck.” Gunner chuckled.
I looked up at Maddox in confusion. “Thanks, Gun,” Maddox grumbled. “We call ’em cherries, babe,” Maddox explained to me. “They hang around the club hoping one of us wants a piece.”
Jealousy welled up inside me with surprising intensity at the thought of Maddox being with one of them.
“Most of us are spoken for or not interested,” he was quick to assure me.
“Then why are they here?” I couldn’t help the anger in my tone.
“Good fucking question,” Ginnie muttered.
“Prospects take advantage sometimes,” he replied simply.
“So, they’re good for business,” I mumbled.
Gunner chuckled. “She’s quick.”
Maddox shot him a glare as he gave me a squeeze of reassurance. “Don’t worry about them. Let’s just enjoy our night, yeah?”
I brushed off the feeling of dread in my belly and nodded. “Yeah,” I agreed.
Chapter 17
MADDOX
“She looks like she’s having fun,” Gunner noted, his eyes on Francesca as she talked to Wren and Emmie.
“Yep.” I nodded tensely. Gun was one of my best friends but even having his eyes on her didn’t sit right.
“You got rid of the cherries,” he noted dryly.
“They were being disrespectful to Francesca,” I replied, anger darkening my tone. The look Stephanie had been giving her was still burned in my brain. I’d not only kicked her out for the night, I’d banned her from the club for good. No one treated my woman that way.
“Then I’m glad they’re gone.” He shrugged, taking a sip of his beer. “Not like I dip my dick there anyway. She doing all right?” he asked.
My gaze remained locked on my girl, her gorgeous grin lighting up the room as she laughed at something Emmie said. “She still has nightmares. I know with everything that happened, it'll haunt her, but yeah, I think she’s better. It’s gonna take time.”
The last few days with her had been close to perfect. The only thing that would make things better would be when I could get inside her. I hoped like hell that would be happening really fucking soon.
“Have you told her?”
My body tensed at his words. He was the only one who knew the circumstances of how I’d met Francesca. “No.”
“Man.” The warning was clear in his tone.
“She barely trusts me as it is, Gun. I’m not gonna go and make that worse,” I argued.
He slapped me on the back. “It’s your call, brother. I think you know how I feel about it.”
I nodded, watching him recede into the crowd. I knew his opinion. Hell, I even knew he was right. I still wasn’t going to listen. Not now, not yet. I needed Francesca to trust me. I needed her to love me as insanely as I loved her. Then I’d tell her.
I saw her yawn, trying to cover it up as she continued to watch my sister and our friends. My gut warmed at the sight of her enjoying my family and the club, but it was time to get my girl home.
“Ready, baby?” I asked her, drawing up beside her and pulling her close.
She pouted adorably. “But I’m having fun.”
I grinned. “I’m glad. But it’s late and you still need your rest.”
“Let’s get together this week,” Gracie put in. “You can come by the house. “
“We’ll have dinner or something,” Emmie said. Gracie and Em had been roommates for years and had a place not far from mine.
“That sounds good,” Francesca agreed, sliding her hand into mine. “I don’t have a phone yet, so I guess just talk to Mad.”
“We’ll get you one this week,” I assured her. “But if you’re out of my sight, you’re gonna have eyes on you,” I warned her. There was no way she’d be going anywhere without protection.
She nodded in understanding, waving goodbye to the girls as I shot a two-finger salute to my crew and led her out to my bike.
She wrapped her arms around me as I started the engine, my now ever-present hard-on making me grit my teeth. She had no idea the effect she had on me. Just knowing she was nearby had my blood heating, my cock hardening. I’d never wanted a woman the way I did her. And the thing of it was, I wanted her but I also genuinely liked being with her. It was natural in a way I hadn’t experienced before. It was as though she was meant to be in my life. And I wanted her there permanently. It was fast, but I was damn sure.
By the time we got to the apartment I had a loose hold on my control. After a night watching her beauty from across a room, I was done reining myself in.
“You want some water?” she asked after we’d gotten inside and I’d secured the apartment.
I shook my head, watching her intently.
Her quiet intake of breath confirmed she’d caught on to my mood. She always seemed attuned to me, as I was to her. I moved into her space, backing her gently against the counter. “You trust me to protect you?” My voice was like gravel. It was a wonder I could speak at all.
She nodded, her big brown eyes luminous as she looked up at me.
“Swear, baby, I’ll live the rest of my life living up to that. I don’t know what I did to deserve you but you’re my goddamn reward.”
She sucked in a breath, her eyes locked on my mouth.
“You want my mouth, sweets?”
She made a mewing sound that went straight to my cock as she nodded readily. I didn’t delay in giving her what she wanted, leaning in and taking her mouth. My body caged her in against the countertop as our tongues and lips clashed in a heady duel. I pressed myself close, having no intention of hiding the reaction she incited in me.
Finally, I broke away, my forehead pressed to hers, my breathing labored. “If you’re not ready, that’s okay, but I need to know now,” I panted, feeling nearly frenzied with need. But I’d rein it in if I had to. Hell, I’d do anything for this woman.
“I want you.” Her response was like an injection of adrenaline, of lust in my veins, and she squealed as I picked her up and practica
lly sprinted with her to the bedroom.
I deposited her gently on the bed, staring down at her as though she was a banquet feast. I wanted every part of her and wasn’t sure where to start.
Her gorgeous brown eyes stared up at me, shining with desire and trust. The latter was what spurred me on. The last thing I wanted was to push too hard or to lose what we’d built over these past few weeks. But I needed her, more than I could ever remember needing anything or anyone.
“If anything I do hurts you, your stitches or otherwise, you tell me,” I ordered, knowing my tone sounded harsh. I couldn’t seem to control it.
“I will,” she agreed without hesitation. “I want you,” she repeated.
A groan of response tumbled from my lungs as I dipped down to taste her delicious neck, her tremble all the encouragement I needed. I guided her to sit up, sliding her tank top up and off, revealing her golden skin and black satin bra underneath. In another moment I was throwing her bra aside, sitting back on my haunches in awe as her gorgeous breasts were revealed to me.
“You’ve seen me before,” she reminded me, a gorgeous blush darkening her cheeks.
I swallowed hard, my gaze roving over her full breasts and the pink nipples begging for my mouth. “Not like this. You’re perfect.” My eager hands moved to her jeans, sliding them down her luscious thighs along with her underwear. I needed her naked, now. I dipped between her legs, taking a deep breath in, growing nearly frantic with need as her delicious scent washed over me. My hands held her thighs, forcing her to open for me as my tongue explored her delicious core. It wasn’t long before she was squirming beneath me, her breathing labored as she called my name. I intensified my onslaught, knowing she was close. Part of me wanted to go slower, not wanting to rush, while the other—the stronger part of me—was unable to prolong what we both so desperately wanted.
It was only a moment before she was shouting my name, unrestrained in her pleasure as her back arched. I watched her in awe, not believing that she could be any more beautiful, and yet now, with her cheeks suffused with color, her hair gorgeously mussed, I was nearly rendered speechless.
When she’d recovered enough to speak she looked down at me with a small smile tilting her full lips. “You’re still fully clothed.”
She sat up, her full breasts making my mouth water, and pulled my tee up and off. Her greedy hands traced my chest and down my stomach to my fly. I stood up, sliding my jeans and boxers off, kicking them aside as she moved to her back, watching me with a hooded gaze. For a moment I stood by the side of the bed looking down at her naked form splayed out. I’d fantasized about this moment from the first time I’d laid eyes on her.
She looked up at me, her brown eyes full of lust and trust, and beckoned me closer. I lay in between her thighs, pressing close as my mouth took hers. I was careful not to give her too much of my weight, not wanting to hurt her.
My mouth reluctantly left hers, rewarded by the taste of her neck as my teeth skidded across one nipple and then the other before pulling deep. Her body undulated beneath mine, responsive to my mouth and to my touch.
When I slid inside her tight body, I let out a guttural groan I barely recognized as my own.
“Christ, you’re tight,” I groaned as I picked up my rhythm, unable to quell the driving need to take her body as hard as I dared. “Nothing has ever felt better, nothing,” I panted as her moans spurred me on. “I’m never gonna want to do anything but take you.” I groaned. Now that I’d been inside her body, I couldn’t imagine being without this.
“You can,” she breathed, her fingernails raking my back, eliciting a pleasurable sting. “You feel so good.”
I picked up tempo, her gorgeous breasts bouncing with every thrust. “What do you need to get there?” I gritted out. I was going over and I wanted her with me.
“Just you, just you,” she chanted, our bodies slick with sweat as we slid together rhythmically. A moment later she was calling my name as I groaned out my release inside her body.
“Fuck,” I panted, my face pressed to her neck.
“Oh shit,” she breathed, and I knew she’d just realized what I had a second before. “We didn’t use anything.”
I pulled back, still inside her, and looked into her eyes. “I’ve never gone raw. I’m clean,” I assured her.
Her eyes were wide as she bit her lip. “Well I mean, I am too. It was just that one guy years ago. But I’m not on birth control.”
I slid out of her, pulling her into my body. “If it happens, it happens,” I replied easily. Truth be told, the idea of her round with my baby wasn’t at all an unwelcome thought.
She smacked my chest. “We just started dating!”
I chuckled. “I’ll use one next time,” I assured her. “And we’re not dating.”
She looked at me, her brow pinched in adorable confusion. “Then what are we?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, something way more fuckin’ serious than dating.”
She rolled her eyes but I could tell my comment pleased her. I nuzzled her neck. “Rest up, baby. After the months I’ve spent dreaming about what it would be like to get inside you, and having it be ten times better than that, I’m nowhere near done.”
****
My fingers traced down her spine as she lay with her back to me, her calves entwined with mine. Even after hours of making her mine, I couldn’t seem to stop touching her.
“My parents would have liked you,” she murmured.
I fought like hell to keep my movements fluid, my fingers continuing their journey as I waited for her to continue.
“I was ten when they were killed. I fight so hard to remember them but every day it gets harder.” Her voice was thick with emotion as she continued. “I remember some things so vividly. The smell of my mother’s perfume—a lady came into the bakery a few months ago with the same scent, and I had to shut down for the day,” she admitted. “Or the way my father’s elbows would rest on the edge of my bed when he’d tell me stories before bed. That weight, it was so comforting.” She sighed, burrowing deeper into me.
Understanding dawned. “It’s why the Rossi name still matters to you so much,” I murmured.
She nodded. “Being a Rossi used to be a point of pride. It was important to my father that it meant something more than the mob.”
“What happened to them, baby?” I asked gently.
“My father had different ideas for the Rossi family. He didn’t have the same dark intentions as my uncle. Of course, I didn’t know any of this at the time, my nonna explained it later. The men respected my father—he was a natural leader. And therefore, a threat. My parents were going out to a movie—I was supposed to go but I wasn’t feeling well, so my grandparents came to stay with me.”
My entire body went rigid at the realization that I could have lost her before I’d ever had the chance to have her.
“The car exploded a mile from the house.” Her tone was dull and remote as she continued. “There wasn’t anything left to identify.”
“So you’re telling me that not only did he murder two innocent people, one of them a mother, but he’d intended for you, a ten-year-old little girl to be in the car?” I demanded, unable to quell my fury.
She turned in my arms, staring at me with resignation. “I don’t know that he intended to kill me too. I just don’t think he cared.” She shrugged, her acceptance piercing my heart. “My father was the target. Anyone happening to be with him when the order was carried out was just unlucky. That’s how he operates.”
“Not for long,” I snarled. “I swear to you, and it’s not just because I’m so fucking in love with you I can’t see straight, I will take care of that piece of shit because he doesn’t deserve to walk this earth.”
Her eyes popped wide. “You—you love me?” she squeaked.
“With every part of me,” I decreed, staring into her gorgeous brown eyes.
Her delicious lips formed a sweet little O I couldn’t help but kiss. It didn’t m
atter to me if she said it back, not yet anyway. I just needed her to know. I took her mouth in an all-consuming kiss. Now that I’d said the words, I was ready to show her—again.
Chapter 18
FRANCESCA
“I’m sorry, Miss Rossi, I really am,” the insurance adjuster was saying the next morning as I held Maddox’s phone to my ear. Maddox was watching me intently, a cup of coffee in his hands as he leaned against the counter across from me.
The police had determined the fire was arson, no shock there, and since the investigation was open, I’d hit a wall with receiving any insurance payout. I gritted my teeth in frustration. The Las Vegas PD weren’t going to be in a real hurry to work this case with my uncle at their beck and call.
“But I haven’t been identified as a suspect,” I argued. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“I don’t doubt that,” the woman replied, sounding genuine. “But I do need the police to formally rule you out.”
“Fine, they’ll be my next call then,” I answered stiffly. I’d already called and spoken to a detective days after the fire, giving him Maddox’s contact information. They hadn’t made an effort to contact me. I’d be damned if my uncle took my home and livelihood from me and I walked away with nothing. I was about to become a major pain in their ass.
“That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“I will, thanks.” I sighed, hanging up the phone and meeting Maddox’s stare. “I may need to go to Vegas,” I grumbled.
His brows lowered. “No fucking way.”
“They’re just going to sweep this under the rug, leave it lingering. I can’t let them do that, Mad. I lost everything—I’ll be damned if I accept that quietly,” I exclaimed.
“I don’t expect you to,” he responded calmly. “But you’re not getting within a hundred miles of Las Vegas. And you’re also not in this alone, remember?” he prompted with a raised brow. At my nod he continued, “I can move things along. The club has a few connections in the department. I’ll work them.” He stepped around the counter and took me in his arms. “You just have to be a little patient, baby,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head.
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