Merger (Takeover Duet Book 2)

by Chelle Bliss

  “You up for it, Forte?” I lift an eyebrow and take a page out of Tara’s book with a little trash-talking.

  Antonio smiles as he sets the bottle of vodka down on the table in front of him. “Mi amore, my baby bottle was filled with wine. I think I can handle anything you girls can throw at me.”

  I twist my lips and laugh.

  “We’re playing Never Have I Ever,” Tara announces.

  “Ugh,” I groan. It’s my least favorite drinking game.

  “Don’t pussy out, Lauren. It’ll be fun. We may learn a thing or two about these guys.”

  She has a point. There’s so much I still don’t know about Antonio because they’re not things you can come right out and ask. But maybe after a few rounds, I’ll learn more than I ever cared to know.

  “Bring it.” I snap my fingers and pray I don’t regret this in the morning

  We’re six questions in, sitting around a table on the wraparound deck, and we’ve all had enough drinks to call it a night. That was if we were playing any normal game without the smack talk that got the ball rolling. I already know I’ll be cursing Tara under my breath. We have a long trip home, and the last thing I want to do is spend it curled up on the couch, praying for death.

  “Okay. So…” Tara straightens in her chair and glances around the table. “Never have I ever had a threesome.”

  I raise an eyebrow because I know Tara has had sex with more than one person. “Aren’t you supposed to say something you haven’t done?”

  “It wasn’t a threesome.” She grins. “Technically, it was a foursome. You should know this.”

  The vivid descriptions she’d given me come flooding back. She’s right; she was the fourth person in that group. I teased her for weeks afterward, but damn if I didn’t fantasize about being there in her place.

  Stefano has his glass halfway to his lips when he turns to her with the biggest eyes. “Three other women?” He sounds so hopeful and turned on.

  “Sorry, buddy. Three men.”

  Stefano slams back his drink and sets the glass on the table before leaning over to whisper in Tara’s ear. She laughs, turning to stare into his eyes after he speaks. I don’t know what he said, but it made her face turn a whole new shade of red.

  I peer over at Antonio and his empty glass. I’d been so wrapped up in Stefano and Tara that I hadn’t seen him drink. But I’m not surprised the man has been in a threesome. I’m quite certain, based on his past, that he’s had more than one.

  “Drink the shot, Lauren.” Tara turns her attention to me because the bitch knows too many of my secrets.

  I can feel Antonio’s eyes on me as I down my shot and slam the glass to the table. “What?” I say, feeling defensive. “It was college, and I experimented.”

  I shouldn’t take offense at the stares. It’s not like any of them didn’t drink. They’ve all been in a group sexual situation, but I guess since it’s me, somehow it seems outlandish.

  “Man or woman?” Antonio asks as I turn to face him. “For the third?”

  “It was me and another woman with a man.”

  Antonio rubs his chin as his eyes flicker down my body. “I figured.”

  “You?”

  “Man,” he says quickly.

  I raise my eyebrows, wondering what that deliciousness would be like. Antonio with another man. Gah. It’s more than my brain can process at once.

  Stefano raises his hand. “He’s sitting right here as proof.”

  My eyes drift between the two of them, and my mind spins out of control. Maybe it’s the vodka or the fact that someone banged the brothers together, but my thoughts are everywhere.

  “Whoa.” Tara’s eyes are almost bugged out of her sockets, matching my sentiments exactly. “That’s kinda freaky even for me.”

  “Why?” Stefano asks.

  I stare at Antonio, dumbfounded. He smiles with an easy shrug but says nothing more.

  “’Cause he’s your brother. I don’t ever want to see my sister naked.” Tara pretends to vomit under the table. “It’s just…ew.”

  Stefano laughs as he covers her hand with his own. “It’s not like I haven’t seen his dick before. I have the same exact one, love.”

  “Was it just some random girl?”

  I almost want to tell Tara to be quiet. I don’t want to hear anything more because, well, we’re talking about my boyfriend’s sex life. But then, we’re talking about his sex life, a sex life I didn’t know about, and I’m more interested to hear the answer than I should be.

  “No. We dated during our last year of high school. It was graduation night, and we drank a little too much. One thing led to another and, well…”

  “What a lucky cunt,” Tara says, looking down between Stefano’s legs. “You two ruined her for life.”

  “My turn!” I yell, a little louder than I anticipated because all the threesome talk has made me uncomfortable and a little turned on.

  “Fill your glasses, bitches.” I push the bottle of vodka forward and wait for Stefano to pour the next round. I glance over at Antonio and rest my hand on his leg. “Having fun?” I ask him because I’m torn between this being the best night spent with friends in a long time or the most awkward experience with my best friend and boyfriend ever.

  Antonio stares back at me with a look I can’t quite place. Maybe he’s embarrassed about his brother, but they were kids. I did some stupid shit at eighteen too. I wasn’t too far into my freshman year when I agreed to have sex with my then-boyfriend and another woman. I never thought they’d end up falling for each other and I’d be left out in the cold. In all honesty, he and I weren’t serious and had only gone on three official dates when he broached the topic. I should’ve run like the wind, but I thought, what the hell? Gotta try everything at least once.

  “It’s okay. I’m having fun,” I tell him and squeeze his leg. “Be ready, Forte. I’m coming for you.” I smile.

  I lift my glass and peer around the table as they stare at me, waiting. There are so many possibilities. So many things I want to know, but I also don’t want to willingly incriminate myself either. This is about finding out their secrets and not divulging my own. “Never have I ever been arrested.” I smile because, hell, I’ve never been in any trouble with the law.

  In unison, they lift their glasses to their lips and down the vodka before reaching for a lemon to wash it down. I add that to the growing list of things I didn’t know about Antonio.

  This night is turning out to be full of surprises.

  ANTONIO

  Lauren can barely stand up without my help. She’s toppled over twice, and we’re not even three feet away from the table.

  Tara’s no better as Stefano carries her toward the guesthouse, and she’s singing a very off-key version of “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses.

  “Is an animal dying?” Lauren asks as she stares up at me with glassy eyes.

  “It’s Tara, mi amore.” I lift her into my arms because I don’t want to spend an hour helping her make it to the bed. “She’s singing.”

  She rests her head on my chest and sighs. “I wish you’d carry me like this always. It’s so much easier than walking.”

  “Are you okay?”

  She’s a little more carefree than she usually is, but that’s usually her way after so many drinks. Although Lauren’s been drunk in front of me before, even the first night we met, she’s way past her limit. Tomorrow, she’s going to be miserable.

  I place her on the bed, and she sprawls out with her arms and legs wide, looking almost angelic. “Leave me here to die,” she whispers with her eyes closed.

  “Are you relaxed?” I try not to laugh. The plan for this weekend was relaxation, and right now, she’s nothing but a pool of jelly. No, that’s not right. She probably has a higher vodka content in her body than water.

  “I’m comatose.”

  She starts to giggle softly, and her eyes flutter open. She stares down the length of her body where I’m standing over
her, watching in complete amusement. “Get undressed.”

  I raise an eyebrow and smirk. “I’m going to clean up outside. Why don’t you get some rest, and I’ll be to bed in a bit?”

  With more deftness than I expect from a woman in her state, she climbs to her knees and places her hands on my chest. She bats her eyelashes as she uses her fingernails to trace my pec. “Take off your shorts. I don’t want to ask twice.”

  “Love, I don’t think you’re in any condition to…”

  She covers my mouth with her hand and leans forward. “You’re not my daddy. Strip and present yourself.”

  I touch her shoulder, holding back my laughter at her stern sexy talk. “Where’s your whip?”

  “I gotta a hand to spank you,” she slurs.

  She sways, and I release her shoulders, letting her body fall backward onto the bed. Before she can say another word, I undo the button on my shorts and push them to the floor.

  My cock is ready, standing at attention and pointing right at her. I like the frisky side of Lauren, where she takes charge. I don’t know if it’s the liquor talking tonight, but I’m not going to try to talk her out of it again.

  “Come here.” She motions with her hands, still lying flat on her back but staring down her body at me.

  I climb onto the bed, inching my way up between her legs with the biggest smile because she can barely focus and will most likely pass out before we even start to fuck.

  “Not like that. Climb up here. I want to suck that beautiful cock.”

  I straddle her waist, careful not to crush her with my knees as I move forward. “On your back?”

  Her face grows serious. “Don’t question me.”

  I hover over her chest with my cock just inches from her mouth. She licks her lips and places her warm hands on my ass, groping me roughly.

  “You’re always ready, Forte.”

  I place my hands on my hips, letting my cock bob in her face. When it comes to Lauren, I’m always ready for anything she has to offer, especially when she wants to suck my dick.

  I can tell the angle is all wrong. The only thing I’ll be doing is smacking the roof of her mouth. I grab a pillow and lift her head, all while my cock is doing a mad dash for her lips like it has a mind of its own.

  She wraps her tiny hands around my shaft and yanks me forward. “Closer,” she says in a deep, sultry tone.

  I’d laugh at her behavior if my cock weren’t so close to her teeth and she weren’t drunk. I inch forward, careful not to suffocate her, but I don’t see how this is going to work with her hand-to-eye coordination at record lows.

  “Lauren, I…”

  Her snore echoes through the room as her hand falls away from my ass and plops on the bed to her side. The ride was good while it lasted. It could’ve been sexy if she were sober, but I know that tomorrow she’s going to be in more pain than I am now.

  I climb off the bed and adjust her so she’s lying down the length of the bed instead of having her feet dangle off the edge.

  The weekend hasn’t been a total bust. Lauren and Tara had fun, even though a majority of it was alcohol-induced. If nothing else, we learned more about each other, and I felt like my brother was finally turning a corner in his life.

  Chapter Twenty

  LAUREN

  I’ve decided that the sun in the Caribbean is far too bright. Even with my darkest pair of sunglasses, I can’t open my eyes fully because the glare is more than I can bear. The tiny jackhammer inside my head is a constant reminder of the amount of vodka I drank last night. I barely remember getting to bed, but I have a vivid image of Antonio’s cock in my face before I fell asleep.

  “Thank you for a wonderful time,” Stefano says as he wraps his arms around his brother while we stand outside the airport in Nassau.

  I pull the brim of my beach hat down a little farther, trying to shade my eyes more, but it’s no use. Any amount of light is too much at this point.

  Tara isn’t faring any better than me. If she weren’t so sunburnt, I’d swear her new shade was green. We smack-talked our way into the world’s worst hangover, and this is God’s way of paying us back.

  “I’m happy you joined us. Maybe we can do this again sometime.”

  “No vodka though, ’kay?” Tara grabs her head and sways.

  Stefano reaches out and steadies her. “This is all my fault.”

  She grips his arms and stares at him under the brim of her hat. “It’s not my first hangover, Stefano. I’m a big girl.”

  “Maybe we can do this again sometime.” The poor guy looks so hopeful when he makes the statement, but I know my girl, and she probably won’t dip her foot in that well again.

  “We’ll see. I have a pretty busy schedule.”

  “I like a woman who plays hard to get.”

  Tara laughs briefly. “Damn, this is horrible.” She grabs her head again and lets out a little whimper. “I may never drink again.”

  I feel the same way, but we both know it would be a lie.

  Stefano pulls her hand away from her head and kisses her fingers first before making his way to her wrist. “Until next time, Tara. It was a pleasure.”

  A hint of a smile crosses her face, but too much is hidden by her sunglasses and hat. We’ll be having a conversation once we’ve both recovered so I can find out exactly what happened this weekend.

  Before Stefano walks away, he gives me a kiss on each cheek and says, “I enjoyed the weekend with you, Lauren. I’m excited you’ll be part of the family.”

  I freeze, and my sunglasses-covered gaze finds Antonio. He looks as shocked as I am by Stefano’s words, so I ignore the comment and give him a light pat on the back. “The weekend turned out better than I expected.”

  Minus the hangover. The first night I was wound a little too tight, worried for my friend because I had forgotten she could handle her own. The Stefano who came to the island is one I could love. Not the same way I do Antonio, but someone I could respect as family.

  Stefano walks away and reaches for his phone. Before he disappears into the building, Tara’s phone chimes, and Stefano flashes her a smile.

  “You gave him your number?” I ask.

  “Maybe.” She smirks.

  Her big talk of not seeing him again and playing hard to get was all an act. The little minx couldn’t resist the charms of Stefano Forte even if he behaved like an asshole.

  “We’re not dating, but I’d fuck him again for sure,” she says as she types him a reply.

  I shrug, too exhausted for anything else and feeling a bit like roadkill. “I’m ready to go home.”

  “Your chariot awaits,” Antonio says and motions toward the private runway to the right of the main terminal.

  There’s definitely an upside to flying in a private jet. I couldn’t handle a crowd right now. Especially with the evil little person that’s chipping away pieces of my skull as a constant reminder of last night’s stupidity.

  Tara hooks her arm with mine as we walk toward the tarmac. “These Forte men are something else, huh?”

  “Just watch yourself. I hated Antonio when I met him, and look where I am now.”

  “Jet-setting all over the world and in love with a guy packing a ten-inch pecker?”

  I can’t help it. I crack up and hold my head, wincing through the pain until it turns into tears. “I hate you sometimes,” I tell her as we climb the stairs to the jet with Antonio behind us.

  “But you’re stuck with me forever.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  ANTONIO

  Lauren’s lying in the bed and checking her emails, almost recovered from the vodka and airplane ride. She glances up from her screen and smiles softly.

  “I was thinking about this weekend,” I say as I settle in next to her.

  She sets her phone down and gives me her full attention. “Which part?”

  “It was right before you passed out.”

  Her eyes widen.

  “My cock w
as…”

  She buries her face in her hands and groans. “I’m so embarrassed.”

  I pull her hands away from her face. “I’m kidding. I never expected anything to happen. You were so drunk, but you were superbossy. Kind of how I’d think you’d be as a boss.”

  “Bossy? In the bedroom?”

  “You threatened to spank me.” I smirk as her face turns a lovely shade of red.

  She sinks down into the pillow and hides her face. “This is mortifying.”

  “If that’s your thing, I’m game.”

  “Right now?”

  I shake my head. “Whenever you want.”

  “Oh God, don’t ever let me drink that much again.”

  I laugh and pull her into my arms as I lie down. “I wasn’t really thinking about that. We’ll forget it ever happened.”

  I won’t forget. It’s a memory I’ll keep forever. Even when we’re old and gray, I’ll remember it.

  “And the spanking?”

  “That we’ll talk about another day.”

  “Are you into that?” she asks, stroking her favorite spot on my chest.

  “I’m into anything you are.”

  She peers up at me with questioning eyes. “Change the subject, please.”

  “I wanted to talk about what Stefano said.”

  I’d been dancing around the topic for hours. I knew the words struck her as odd when Stefano said them at the airport before he walked inside the terminal. He had asked me if I intended to ask Lauren for her hand in marriage, and I’d told him she was the first woman I had even considered doing so.

  “Stefano broached a subject I’ve thought about in the last week.”

  Her hand stills. “Okay.”

  I cover her hand with mine and glance down. “Let’s say someday we get married. Where will we live?”

  It’s a fair question. I remember Lauren telling me she’d live nowhere else besides Chicago. She said she needed the grit of the city like she needed air. Although I like the city, I could never live here full time.

  “I don’t know,” she mumbles, snuggling her cheek against my chest. “I haven’t thought about it.”