“Hmm.”
I twist in his arms, to look up at his face, which is now set into hard lines again. I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe he didn’t want to be reminded that he lives here alone. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be offensive or anything,” I say.
“I wasn’t offended.” Tommy looks down at me, and his face seems to relax. “Carina, I don’t have a family. Not one of my own, at least. I waited for a long time for the right person to come along.”
“The right person,” I repeated, taking in his words. So, he chose to be alone until now – because he was waiting for…
For who?
He strokes the side of my face with one finger, toying with a strand of my hair. “Yes, Carina.” He says it in that way of his, the way that makes my knees go weak.
Surely, I’m wrong, but could he mean… me?
There’s a noise outside and Tommy’s attention shifts, and he sighs. “I’m sorry I took so long last night. When I came back to bed, you were already asleep.”
“That’s alright,” I say lightly, wanting to distract from whatever intensity it was that just passed between us. “I was worn out.”
“I have some other things to deal with today,” he says and sighs again. “I tried to clear my schedule, but…”
“You run a business,” I say. “I understand. It’s not like I don’t have any experience in that, even if your business is very different from what I’m used to. I know how it can be.”
“Thank you,” Tommy says, leaning down to kiss me again. “You are just what I need. Did you know that?”
A warmth spreads through my body at his words. “I didn’t,” I say, smiling.
“Then you know it now,” he says, kissing me one final time. “Why don’t you shower and get changed? I’ll be back to join you as soon as I can. We can have breakfast together.”
I nod happily. “Alright.”
And I watch him go, his strong, half-naked body a sight for my eyes, feeling the lingering warmth and the squeeze of my heart. I’m just what he needs. And I hope against hope that I can stay that way.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tommy
I can’t help but picture Carina in my home as I walk through it, my mind full of what I have to take care of. I pass rooms and I swear I can almost hear the laughter of children coming out of them, followed by Carina’s voice, as if I already have a family here. It seems to fit so perfectly. I see her in my mind’s eye walking up the stairs with a baby in her arms, and I know I have to make it happen. My hands clench into fists involuntarily, thinking of the possibility that it might be taken away.
I always get what I want, and this is no exception. I won’t let anyone ruin this. I gave us a week – and I’ll take a week, no matter what.
“When did he call?” I ask Enzo, keeping my voice low even though I know there’s no way she can hear me down there.
“About an hour ago, boss,” Enzo says, handing me the phone with the call log displayed. “He said he’s ready to pay now. Early, too. Must be keen to get his daughter back.”
I pause for a moment, looking murderously at the phone. Damnit. Of all the things that could happen to throw a wrench in my plans, Donovan Bianco actually coming up with the money early was not one I had ever imagined.
“Alright,” I say. “I’ll talk to him. You wait here.”
I step outside of the room and into another space. I could go outside, but I’m worried she will hear me through the glass. No, I stand in the hall where, to the best of my knowledge, no one is around. I don’t want anyone to hear. I want to deal with this quietly and quickly and then go back upstairs to her.
“Hello?”
“Donovan Bianco,” I say his name flatly, wait for recognition to set in.
“T-Tommy? Is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“I have the money… I can bring it to you today. As soon as you like. Anywhere you like. Please, send Carina back to me.”
“That wasn’t the deal,” I tell him, leaning back against the paneled wood of the walls. “Our deal was that I take your daughter for a week, and you pay me back at the end of it.”
“What? But…” Donovan seems to falter as he reaches some kind of mental leap about what that means. “What are you doing to her? She – she’s not part of the payment! You can’t touch her!”
I already have, I think, just not in the despicable way that Donovan is imagining. “Relax, Donovan. Your daughter is fine.” I grit my teeth a second, trying to walk the thin line between fighting to keep her here just a little bit longer and not riling her father any further. After all, if we’re going to be together, I’m sure she would like to have his approval. “I’m busy today. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I hear Donovan’s voice sink along with his mood. “Can’t I hand the money to one of your men?”
“No,” I tell him flatly. “I want to see you in person. Make the handover. We have things to discuss.”
“I’m paying back the loan in full,” Donovan protests. Damn, I just want him to shut up and go away, and leave me my last day. I don’t want to have to try to explain every single step of this to him. Not when I can’t even tell him the real reason. That I just want to have some more time with his daughter before she has to decide whether to stay with me for good or not. “There’s nothing else… is there?”
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” I say, in a brusque tone that I hope will encourage him not to push it any further. “I’ll have someone contact you with the details of time and place. Goodbye, Donovan.”
I hang up the phone without giving him a chance to reply, and then press the device against my forehead, thinking. I have to make this last. One last day to persuade her. If she doesn’t see already that we belong together, I don’t know what else I can do.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Carina
Tommy appears while I’m braiding my hair, tucking it away so that it can dry without getting into my face.
“Did you manage to sort everything out?” I ask, finishing off fastening a tie around the bottom of the braid.
“I did.” Tommy comes to stand in front of me, cupping my face in his hands. “What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know.” I think about it for a moment. “We could just stay here, in your room.”
Tommy’s mouth curves into a wicked smile. “But what might we do all day?”
I bite my lip shyly, fighting the blush that I can feel rising up in my cheeks. “I can think of a few things.”
Tommy laughs and bends to kiss me, and doesn’t stop there. Before long we’re naked again, touching each other, embracing, kissing, warming up to the real thing. As he slides home inside of me, I get a sudden pang that hits me right in the chest, the thought that this might be only the beginning of the end.
I don’t know what will happen when our time is up and my Dad has to pay. I don’t know if I will be forced to go home no matter what I want. Would Tommy even want me to stay here, or is all this just talk? Just a fantasy to fill his days before I leave?
He’s a busy man, and I’ve seen how much it affects his life. Before this, it seems that his life was only business, with no room for pleasure. He told me he’d tried to clear his schedule, but even so, he’s had to duck out time and again to deal with business matters. How much worse is it usually? Surely, he doesn’t have time for me?
I try to push it away, letting myself fade deeper into the blissful feeling of being in his arms again, of having him inside me. The heat crackling between us, the way that he makes me gasp and call out his name just by shifting, it’s enough to clear my head again and again and again.
But still, in those slow moments, in those times when we lay beside each other recovering our stamina, in those breaks for food and drink, the doubts return. When my Dad comes tomorrow, what will happen? Am I going to have to say goodbye to Tommy forever? Will m
y Dad forbid me from seeing him ever again if he finds out what we’ve been up to?
If I get the chance to make the choice, will Tommy even want me to stay? Is there room here in his life for me?
All I know is that if it can’t happen between us, I don’t want to know. I lay beside Tommy in bed as the night draws in and I utter a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. If tomorrow will be the end, then just leave me here. Never moving forward, never back. I will live in this day for the rest of my life.
Anything to avoid losing him and having to go back to my normal life, alone, without him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Tommy
I wake before Carina on our final morning, somehow managing to beat her. I suppose her habitual inclination to wake up with the dawn has faded away a little after the amount of sheer athletic effort we went through yesterday.
I’m feeling good, even though I know this might be it. The last moment. I watch her face as she sleeps, so soft and peaceful, so beautiful. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.
Except, I won’t need to, because I will see it every morning. I am Tommy Lucio, I remind myself. I don’t need permission from anyone. While it would be nice to have Donovan on-side when I marry his daughter, it won’t make a difference. She isn’t going anywhere. She’ll stay by my side. I know it. All that remains is to see how the day will play out.
Since I know that later may be difficult for her, I will do what I can to release the tension of the morning and make it as enjoyable for Carina as possible. I watch as she slowly stirs awake and lean down to kiss her lips.
“Good morning.”
“Morning.” Carina blinks at me with a sleepy smile, and then I see it tighten just for a moment. She must have remembered what day it is. No – she isn’t going anywhere. I smile at her encouragingly.
“Ready for another day?” I ask. “I have a great lunch planned. And you still have some things you haven’t worn yet. You should try something on.”
Carina stretches and sits up in bed, looking across the room. I had the racks brought in here yesterday while we were eating, so she could have easy access to her new things. She gets up and wanders over to them, wearing just my shirt from yesterday, buttoned-up over her body. It sends my blood pumping like crazy. I want to jump her bones right now, but it’s even sweeter to wait.
“I think I’ll wear this today,” she says, grabbing a simple black dress with flattering lines and a draping detail across the chest.
I don’t miss the choice of the color, black like today is a bad day. When she starts to open the bags containing the lacy lingerie she hasn’t yet worn, I spring up out of the bed and stop her.
“Nothing from there today,” I tell her, catching her wrist with a grin and throwing the pieces she had picked out back into the bag.
“What do you mean?” Carina asks, with a half-laugh. “I have to get dressed.”
“You do,” I say, pulling her against my body as I kiss her. “But that doesn’t mean you have to wear underwear.”
I laugh at the look on her face, a mixture of shock and heat, and I slip my hand down between her legs for good measure. I stroke her, until her lips part with pleasure, and then stop, stepping back. I feel like teasing her today. Like building it up, taking it slow. Making it all the more powerful for the both of us when it does happen.
I watch her dress and then choose some things from my own closet. I look across the space thoughtfully, wondering what I will move and to where in order to accommodate her things. No, it would be better to dedicate a whole room as a walk-in closet for her. That way she can have as many things as she likes, and not be limited by space.
“So, what’s for lunch?” she asks, smoothing the dress down.
I think of her nakedness under the fabric and can’t help but lick my lips, picturing how I will get my hands on her later. “You’ll just have to wait and see,” I say.
Carina rolls her eyes at me with a smile. “Alright,” she says. “I’m going to go put on some makeup.”
I nod as I watch her go into the bathroom, where she’s already set herself up with the things she needs. In such a short time, she feels not only like she belongs here, but that she already lives here. I can’t let her just walk out later today. If I have my way – and I always have my way – she’ll be coming right back here later.
I lounge around, answering a few messages on my phone, as I wait for her to be ready. When she emerges, I can’t help but raise my eyebrows. She always looks stunning, but with her hair done and makeup carefully applied, I can’t help but feel my heart throb in my chest.
And something else throbs, too.
“Damn,” I say, appreciatively. “I swear, you’re trying to give me a heart attack today.”
She blushes and smooths her skirt down, once again drawing my attention back to the fact that, at my own request, she’s wearing nothing underneath. “I wanted to look pretty,” she says. “But I feel… naughty.”
I bite my lip and shake my head at her. “It’s time for lunch,” I tell her. “Stop that talk, before I have to take you and my chef walks in on us.”
Carina giggles and we walk downstairs, to the kitchen. I have a dining room, but it’s set for a much larger table, and it feels too formal for meals between just the two of us. So, yesterday, and today as well, we eat at the kitchen island.
Chef has already prepared what I asked him for, some traditional Italian dishes, exactly the kind of food that both Carina and I love. I spend the time watching her face as I’ve grown to enjoy doing, seeing how she slides her eyes closed with joy at the first taste of each dish, rolling her eyes and giving her compliments to the Chef. As soon as his back is turned, I sneak my hand onto her knee, and then, just to make her squeal, slip it under her dress.
“Tommy!” she admonishes me, with wide eyes.
I only grin back. “What?” I say innocently, my hand safely back on my chair by the time Chef has turned around to see what’s going on.
Carina giggles and blushes in return, shaking her head in disbelief. I lick my fork suggestively, and she dissolves even further, leaving Chef shaking his head in confusion.
After lunch, I entice her back upstairs with me. I know her father will be here soon. I know we only have a little time left. But I want to remind her – to surround her with the things that I’ve given her. The place where we connected the most. The crumpled sheets left from two straight days of love-making, over and over until both of us could hardly stand.
She traces a hand over the dresses, looking sad. “I loved having all of these to choose from,” she says.
“What do you mean, loved?” I ask, nuzzling her neck from behind. “They’re yours. I meant that.”
“Oh,” Carina says, a small sound in the back of her throat. I can’t tell if she’s happy or still upset. I’m about to ask when I hear something else, gravel crunching on the drive.
It must be Donovan, arriving with the money.
I head over to the window, trying to look down. I can’t see a thing. Donovan won’t come past this way, of course. But I know it’s him. He’s here to take his daughter away.
It’s not going to happen.
And I need to leave my mark on Carina so that we both know it’s not.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Carina
This is it. The last moment of my last day with Tommy.
I didn’t want it to come to an end. Now that it’s here, I just don’t know what to do with myself. My limbs feel frozen. What if I just stand here and refuse to move? What if I never move again?
Tommy turns from the window, looking at me with a fierce expression on his face. He moves toward the door, and I go to follow him, resigned to accepting my fate. But Tommy doesn’t go out through the door – he closes it, slamming it shut, and turns the lock.
“Tommy?” I breathe.
“Bend over the table,” Tommy says, his voice rough and heavy. I look at his face, his eyes lidded with
desire, and I don’t dare disobey. Not only because I want to do what he tells me, to make him want to let me stay, but also because of the gush of wetness between my legs at that voice.
I move to the table he motions as quickly as I can and grasp the dark wood, bending over it. It sits at just above the height of my hips, making me lift up a little – putting me into the perfect position for him. Tommy yanks the bottom of my dress up and throws it forward, leaving my exposed ass pointing up into the air.
The first thing I feel is his fingers, pushing my legs further apart and then plunging inside me. He lets out a moan at the same time as I do, as he feels how wet I am. The next thing I know, I hear the sound of his zipper and he plunges fully inside me without warning, right up to the hilt.
I cry out in both surprise and ecstasy, the feeling of being completely filled exactly what I needed at this moment. God, he feels so good inside of me. He begins to thrust quick and hard, rocking me forward and against the table, so furiously it’s like he has a vendetta against it.
“He’s not taking you back,” Tommy says, gasping between thrusts. “You’re mine. I won’t allow it.”
“I,” I try, struggling to find enough breath to even say a single word. “I – won’t go… I don’t – want to – leave you…”
Tommy only grips my hips harder and thrusts faster at my words, pumping in and out of me so fast I feel the pressure building up inside me like never before. It comes so quickly I barely have time to prepare mentally for it to happen, and then I’m gasping and twitching under him, feeling pure ecstasy wash over me in waves that leave my head spinning.
Tommy throws his head back and comes, filling me with his seed in quick, sharp jerks, then hesitating for only a moment before pulling out with a satisfied grunt. I feel it drip out of me, then slide down my leg, as I cling to the table and try to regain my own breath.
“Alright,” Tommy says. “Let’s go meet your father.”
“I should clean up first,” I say, casting around for a towel I can use to clean up, some panties to put on.
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