“Yes,” he admitted, and then continued to suck on my clit, two fingers sliding inside me.
“Tell me,” I moaned, my eyes closing for a second from the overwhelming sensation that rocked my core. “I want to know.”
“Two of Enzo’s men.”
“Mmm…” I tried to speak again, but his hot breath on my skin felt so good I couldn’t formulate a single thought.
The handcuffs dug into my wrists the more I writhed beneath him. With my legs over his shoulders, I had his head in a vise. I rocked my hips, greedy and hungry for more of his tongue. He hooked his free arm over my thighs to keep me from squirming. I fought him as much as I could. My man loved the fight. I loved the challenge.
It took me weeks to feel again after my meltdown. Angelo had brought me back to life. He would always save me. My white knight didn’t wear armor. He wore a thousand-dollar suit with a nine-millimeter strapped to his chest.
“Tell me more,” I screamed, hitting the peak of my climax. “How did you kill them?”
My body trembled, a brush of heat rushed over me in waves, and then he ripped another orgasm from my lifeless body. I was dead, on a high unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
He licked my juices from his mouth, my legs still draped over his shoulders, and growled, “I strangled one, Sonny took the other.” His voice was so deep and raspy.
He didn’t give me a second to come down from my high before he slammed his cock into me. Hard, rough, violent, he took from me without warning.
“Show me,” I moaned. “Show me how you did it.”
“Fuck, G.” He shook his head, his eyes flickering with excitement. “You want me to choke you?”
“When I come, squeeze my throat. Show me how you did it.” Sometimes, I was an animal. That night was one of those times.
Angelo leaned forward, holding my legs against his chest, his cock sliding so far into me I could feel him everywhere. He invaded my body like he was conquering me, claiming his property. I screamed. He growled. It was pure fucking perfection. He owned me. Ruled me. Destroyed me, so I could never be with another man.
I peeled his hands from my legs and slid them up to my throat. “Show me.”
He wanted to do it. I could see the arousal in his eyes. But he held back, mostly because Angelo was afraid if he showed me for real, that he would hurt me beyond repair.
His big hands wrapped around my throat, his thumb sliding over my windpipe. I gasped for air, but not so much as I couldn’t breathe. Angelo had killed men with his bare hands. He knew how much pressure and where to apply it. My eyes closed from the pain mixing with the pleasure, a series of moans escaping my lips.
After I came, he stilled on top of me, slowly removing his hands from my throat. He propped himself up on his elbows and stared into my eyes. “If anyone on this earth was ever made for me, it’s you, Gianna. My God, baby, it’s you.”
I smiled. “I know.” He was about to move again when I cupped his cheek in my hand. “Make love to me, Angelo.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, confused.
I moved my hands to his back and dug my foot into his ass, telling him to keep going. “Yes, I want you to go slow. Tease me. Make me beg you to come again.”
Angelo did as I asked, his cock sliding in and out of me so slowly my raw pussy ached with each thrust. I hooked my legs around his back, and he kissed me. Each flick of his tongue brought me closer to my release. I came along with him, and this time, it was nice. This time, it wasn’t rough. There was no violence involved, no rage behind the act.
“I love you, G.” He stroked my jaw with his thumb. “Marry me. Make me the luckiest piece of shit in the world.”
I laughed. “Somehow, that was oddly romantic in a super fucked-up kind of way.”
He smirked. “I just asked you to marry me with my cock still inside you after I choked you. I don’t do romance. But I did buy you a ring.”
“Good thing I don’t like romance.” My eyes lit up at the promise of a ring. “Let me see my rock.”
“Who said it’s a rock? It could be the same piece of string I tied around your finger when we were kids.”
He slid out of me and rolled onto the other side of the bed.
I sat up and turned to face him, watching as he removed a small box from the nightstand. He got off the mattress, down on one knee, and pulled my legs to him so he was on the floor between them. He held the ring in his big palm which swallowed up the massive diamond and took my hand in the other.
“Nothing with us has ever been normal, so why should this be any different?”
He winked at my comment. “You get me, Gia. You always have. When I lose myself, you’re always there to bring me back from that dark place. This life isn’t easy. If I had a choice, I would do things differently for both of us.”
“I wouldn’t,” I confessed. “We’re not Lo and G without all this. We would be some boring stiffs who have vanilla sex and talk about current events over dinner.”
He shook his head, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Instead, you make me tell you about the men I’ve killed while I fuck you. Real normal, babe.”
I shrugged, making a silly face. “Hey, potato-potata, right?”
“You gotta get in where you fit in,” he said. “And that’s always been with you, Gia. We both knew from an early age we had a different life than other kids. But you were always mine. Nothing ever fazed you. It still doesn’t.”
I touched his cheek with my fingers. “I love you more every day.”
“I don’t know how. I’m a bad man. A criminal. I kill people, steal shit, and do things that would do most people’s heads in, but you never see the bad in me.”
“That’s because your good outweighs the bad.”
“No, it doesn’t. Keep telling yourself that. The longer you stay with me, I will ruin you.”
“You already did, Angelo. Now put that ring on my finger so I can tell everyone in this city I’m going to be your wife.”
Angelo slid the ring on my finger and told me he loved me. I whispered it back just as he squeezed my breast and pushed me back to the mattress. He made me beg, he made me come, but most of all, he made me his.
I had perfected the walk of shame. After doing this more times than I could count, I was what you would consider an expert ‘walk of shamer.’ Sneaking into my own house, after a long night of fucking, with my heels in hand and trying not to fall flat on my face, was the worst walk of shame ever. But I owned it, like the orgasms Angelo took from me almost every night.
My dad’s car was parked out back, blocking the view of my window. I wasn’t able to climb back into my bedroom, so Angelo had to improvise, helping me sneak through the side entrance. I crept toward my bedroom door, my fingers crossed I would make it there without interruption.
Just a few more steps. Don’t make a sound.
Almost every night for weeks, I’d found new ways to escape my prison, and every morning, right before the sun had come up, I would repeat the same routine. Connor had no idea our nightcaps were filled with sleeping pills. I wasn’t a company or a piece of property for someone to own. No one could control me—not even my father.
As I slinked down the hallway, I hid in the dark shadows and slid my back along the wall. The sun was about to rise casting its shadow on the hardwood, as I tippy-toed to my bedroom. Moving closer to my room, the floorboards creaked beneath the weight of my bare feet. Focused on the door in front of me, I took a few more steps, about to reach for the handle, when someone clamped their hand down on my shoulder.
I didn’t smell cigarettes or Connor’s cologne. By process of elimination, I already knew who I would find behind me. Sucking in a deep breath, I spun around to face my father, letting out the air I was holding in.
“Daddy,” I said, with forced enthusiasm. My voice reached a higher octave than normal.
He shook his head, irritated. “Gia, this behavior is unacceptable. Your security detail is for your safety. Thi
s is not a joke.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Unacceptable? I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m living a life I don’t want, all because you fear Angelo’s dad.”
His face scrunched in anger, the red from his cheeks spreading down to his neck. “I’m not afraid of him. I am only trying to protect you from what happened to your mother…” His voice died off in his throat as he choked on his words.
He hardly ever spoke of my mom anymore, and when he did, I could tell it was too painful for him to discuss. I felt the same way. We were not the type of people to hold each other and share feelings.
“Nothing’s going to happen to me. Angelo will take care of me. We are getting married. I will be a Morelli one day. Your grandchildren will bear the same name, share the same blood.”
He sighed, releasing his grip on my shoulder. “I only want you to have a good life, Gianna. I don’t want you to spend the rest of your years owing favors to men who want to use and abuse you. That family will suck the life from you. I don’t want to see the sparkle in your eyes disappear from being tied to the Morellis.”
“Let me make the decision, Daddy. I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life with Angelo. I can go behind your back and elope with him, or you can give your blessing and be included in our wedding.”
He raised his hands above his head in anger and took a few steps back from me, shoving his fingers through his dark hair. “I guess I was wrong to think I was doing the right thing by you.”
“You’re a good dad. But let me make my own decisions.” I threw my hands onto my hips, awaiting his response, but he remained stoic. “Please. Just say okay. I need to hear you say it.”
He lowered his hands to his side and shoved them in his pockets. “You have my approval, honey. I shouldn’t have asked you to choose. I already lost your mother, I can’t afford to lose you, too.”
The one thing I’d hated most about my imprisonment was that my father would not take me seriously. All of my irresponsible behavior had begun as a way to get his attention. I wish it hadn’t taken him so long to notice.
“You won’t. I promise. I will be careful.”
He pulled me into his arms, squeezing the air from my chest.
“I hate fighting with you,” I choked out between happy tears.
“Me, too, sweetie.” He patted my hair with his hand, his grip tightening on me. “Time for you to get some sleep.” He held me at an arm’s length, studying my face before he released me. “You have work in a few hours.”
“Night, Daddy.”
“Night. Tell Angelo to use the door from now on. Sneaking you out of windows is dangerous. You could have broken your neck doing that.”
“How did you know?”
“I heard the ladder a few nights ago.”
“You never said anything.”
“Nope, I figured you were home and safe.”
I turned the knob and pushed open my bedroom door. “One more thing. Angelo proposed to me tonight.” I offered the ring for him to see, and he smiled. “I’m glad you changed your mind about him.”
“See you in the morning,” he said. Then, he strolled down the hallway to his room.
Once inside my bedroom, I dropped my shoes and handbag on the chair in the corner and plopped down on my bed. I slipped the sleeping mask from my nightstand over my eyes and turned on my sleep machine, filling the quiet room with ocean sounds. My hand was heavier, my heart so full of love. Everything was beginning to fall into place. Or at least that was what I’d thought.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Angelo
Three days after I proposed to Gia, I got a tip from one of our associates about Enzo’s crew being on the move again. No one had seen or heard from any of his guys in weeks. Without eyes on them, the threat was always there. We had no way of planning our attack. So, we had to sit and wait, keeping up our guard until they were dumb enough to resurface.
“Yo!” Sonny tapped me on the shoulder. “Check this out, Lo.” He held out his cell phone for me to look at a message from Dom about a fire at Vitale’s, one of the restaurants my father was part owner.
Dominic “Dom” Barone was one of the twenty men in a crew led by my older brothers. Pete was in charge, but when he wasn’t around, Marco took the lead.
“Tell Dom to wait for us.”
He nodded and typed out a quick reply.
“Babe, we gotta go. We’ll drop you off on the way.”
Gia peeled her head from my chest and frowned. “I want to come with you. Like old times.”
“C’mon, G. How many times do I have to tell you this is not a game?” I pushed myself up from the couch, taking Gia with me. “Enzo was most likely behind this. The last thing I need or want is to put you in the middle of this shit.”
Gia took my suit jacket in her hands and pulled me to her, staring up at me with sad eyes. “Please be careful. Come see me when you’re done.”
“No can do. I could be out all night. I have no idea what we’re walking into. You know how much I hate making promises I can’t keep.”
She hugged me tightly, her head rested on my chest, and I squeezed her back even harder. If anything were to happen to Gia, I would never be the same. Gia was the only normalcy in my life, even if the combination of us together was fucked up and twisted.
“Fine.” She pouted. “Bring me breakfast in the morning.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Done. Now, go get your stuff.”
Gia grabbed her purse and shoes and met Sonny and me at the front door. Sonny had a nervous look about him that he was hiding from Gia. She didn’t pick up on his awkward mannerisms, but I’d lived with him long enough to sense when something was wrong. He bit the inside of his cheek whenever Gia wasn’t looking. She knew that tell well. It was more than his usual fidgety behavior.
I switched between crashing at my house with Sonny and my dad’s compound in South New Jersey. The estate was more guarded than a prison, but it was easier for me to stay with Sonny when Gia was around.
After high school, Gia’s family moved to the outskirts of Philadelphia. She preferred the old neighborhood to the new house she shared with her dad. Plus, she didn’t want her dad to hear the kinky shit we did in the bedroom. I couldn’t blame her.
Sonny drove us to Gia’s house, while I sat in the backseat, holding her as she slept on my chest. She was exhausted after another night of mind-blowing sex. I was still on a high, fueled with nervous energy about the situation at Vitale’s. After I walked Gia inside and spoke with her security detail, I got in the passenger seat next to Sonny.
“Cut the shit now that G’s gone. What’s going down at Vitale’s?”
Sonny clutched the wheel and turned off Gia’s street toward the highway. “There was a fire there, but Dom thinks one of Enzo’s guys set it.”
“He wouldn’t benefit from burning down a restaurant he has no stake in.”
“He did it to send a message.”
I held out my hand, waiting for him to elaborate. “And? Spit it out. What are you not telling me?”
“Three of our guys were inside, tied to the urinals in the men’s bathroom when the place burned down.”
My jaw clenched in anger. “Who did we lose?”
“Fig, Sal, and Carlo.”
“Don’t get too close. The cops are probably crawling all over the place.”
“You got it, Boss.”
I shook my head, unsure of how to respond. I hated when Sonny called me Boss. He was so sure I would one day take over for my father instead of Pete. We sat in silence for most of the ride back to Philly. It was a peaceful drive no matter how short-lived.
Sonny parked two blocks down from Vitale’s, creating enough of a distance for us to check out our surroundings. The building was the same as I’d remembered it. I had taken Gia to Vitale’s on our first real date. The place held so many memories, which was why I kept the details from Gia.
I looked at Sonny, confused as fuck. “What happened to
the fire?”
He shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t get it. Dom told me there was a fire at Vitale’s.”
“You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Sonny nodded. “Let’s go check it out.”
We got out of the car and crossed the street to get a better look. Not a soul was in sight. I was about to reach for my gun when Sonny made a weird sound, his voice muffled. I turned to look at him, but he grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and pulled me into the alleyway.
When I spun around, I was surprised to find another man—a man who wasn’t Sonny. A lanky guy in his late forties had Sonny pressed up against the wall next to me with a knife to his throat. He was wearing a black suit, his dark hair combed off his face. There was no denying he was a Wiseguy. So was the asshole holding a gun to my temple?
“I knew they would send you two.” He took a drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke in my face. “Your brothers would never come here themselves. They always send you to do their bitch work.” He tapped my forehead with the barrel of the gun, his finger close to the trigger. “You owe us a few lives.”
“I don’t owe you shit,” I spat back. “I don’t even fucking know you.”
“You don’t know us, but we know you. Blood must be paid with blood. Doesn’t the old man teach you that?”
I attempted to reach for the gun at my waist, and he beat me to the punch. If he were smart, he would have taken it from me before he even had the nerve to put the barrel to my head. With neither of us having a gun, Sonny and I were out of options. The gun I kept at my ankle was too far to reach without my brain matter ending up on the ground.
“What do you want?” I growled at him, my hands balled into fists at my sides.
“You can right the wrongs of the past.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“The war between your old man and Enzo started over land.”
I shrugged against the brick wall. “So.”
“So, you can fix this.”
I laughed. “There’s no fixing what Enzo did. He got his men to turn on our family. He killed innocent people.”
The First Sin (Sins of the Past Book 1) Page 14
