“Really?” Sienna said. “I used to be a waitress when I lived in London. It was okay, but I wanted to kick some of my customers.”
I was surprised at her revelation. Being the only daughter of one of the biggest Mafia families in the states, she most certainly would never have needed to have a job while she studied abroad.
Skye smiled. “Well, it pays the bills.”
Sienna laughed softly and the talk turned to how they had met.
Knowing Angelo to be an extremely quiet and reserved person, I’d expected the person he chose would be as quiet as he naturally was, but I was discovering that that was not the case.
As soon as we arrived at the exclusive country club, we were whisked off to a secluded table in one of their restaurants. We settled, and a waiter arrived to ask for our drinks orders.
“I can’t drink right now,” Sienna said gaily, “so it’s going to be cranberry juice for me all the way.”
Angelo smiled and stroked her arm, and I knew immediately she was pregnant. I felt a sharp pain. He would have been seven years old now. I dropped my head and pretended to study the menu until the moment passed. It always did.
After we had put in our orders and received our drinks, Sienna rose to her feet. “Please excuse me, I have to use the restroom,” she turned to Skye. “Skye, do you want to come along?”
She placed her glass of wine down. “Sure,” she said and both women left.
“Want to tell me who she is?” Angelo asked as soon as the girls were out of earshot.
I gazed at the unreal green of grass of the golf course that stretched as far as the eye could see. “Why don’t you tell me? You seem to have already added her to the family.’
He chuckled. “If you had not wanted her to come with us she wouldn’t be here.”
This was the truth and he knew it. So did I. “Maybe I just didn’t want to offend her.”
He laughed outright. “When have you ever given a fuck about offending anyone? You’re the guy that pointed a gun at dad four years ago and told him to step down or else you’d break his knee and make him.”
The memory caused me no pain. “He was spiraling out of control. That was a needed call.”
“Exactly,” he said with satisfaction. “Now, are you going to tell me who she is?”
“No.” I wasn’t ready to talk about Skye to anyone, not even Angelo. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Maybe she would become a ghost like my little boy.
Chapter 34
Skye
It was a bit awkward visiting the bathroom with Sienna.
For one, we seemed to be the only two in the expansive space and our activities within the stalls seemed to bounce against the walls. Even my weeing seemed too loud. I was washing my hands when she exited, a smile on her lips for me through her reflection in the mirror.
She was a petite, gorgeous woman with long, raven hair that almost reached her waist. She was not showing at all, but I knew from her comment about not drinking that she must be pregnant.
“How far along are you?” I asked turning off the tap and reaching for a thick white hand towel.
“About twelve weeks.” She pressed her hand to the tucked in white sweater she had on, her voice going soft and dreamy. “I can’t wait for the time when I will get really big. I know it sounds strange, but I’ve always loved the way pregnant women look. Even that waddling walk is attractive to me.”
With a soft laugh she began to wash her hands.
“In that case I hope you get really big,” I replied with a smile. She seemed incredibly friendly and it made me like her, although I didn’t know if we could ever truly connect. In spite of her stint working as a waitress in London we were clearly from different worlds, and I was especially aware that beyond the simplicity of her appearance in a sweater and stone washed blue jeans, and almost no jewelry other than the rock on her engagement finger, she was most probably an heiress of some kind. In fact, I would lay money on that guess. She just had that look of someone born into money. Lots of money.
“How long have you known Luca?” she asked as we got out of the Ladies and walked passed a seemingly endless fish tank in the hallway.
“Not long at all”
“Ah,” she said softly and lightly touched my arm. “I invited you because Luca never brings guests into that house after an… an incident in the past. I think Angelo was quite shocked to see you there.”
My mind went to the face of her fiancé when he had first seen me. I hadn’t caught any expression on him that supported this claim, but perhaps they could read each other better than anyone else could.
“You will come to my wedding, won’t you?” she asked. “We don’t want to rush things so we’re thinking of having it after the baby is born.”
I didn’t quite know what to say as I couldn’t tell her that I wouldn’t be around by that time. In fact, I would be gone in about two weeks. Thankfully, we had reached the table by then and her fiancé distracted her by rising to gallantly pull her chair out. For the first time in my life I felt the sharp pinch of envy. How lucky she was. She had found a man who obviously and truly adored her.
Luca didn’t even look at me. I felt a painful chill pass through me and instantly turned to my still unfinished glass of wine.
“Skye, you did not answer me,” Sienna continued.
“If the stars align,” I said cryptically and took a sip of wine.
“That’s good enough for me,” she said with a beaming smile.
Our starters arrived then.
I most certainly didn’t know about the stars aligning later on but right now, they seemed to be aligned well enough to keep my father in the best treatment money could buy so I tried my best to relax.
My starter of Spanish baked prawns was delicious. And afterwards the filet mignon was buttery with just a hint of rosemary. Sienna chatted enough for all of us and I suspected that it wasn’t particularly because she was a chatterbox, but because her fiancé seemed to be generally the strong silent type, Luca hardly spoke two words and I couldn’t help feeling like a fish out of water.
Her fiancé had his arm around her waist throughout most of the dinner and his eyes gleaming like stars in the night sky as he watched her adoringly. Many a time it took my breath away just watching them and the striking difference between the warmth and adoration that shone through his eyes and the cold, detached gaze of Luca’s.
Then she started talking about the shoe business she had started, and with my still sprouting dream of working with flowers I asked genuinely curious questions when appropriate.
It was however extremely hard through all of this to ignore the presence of the man sitting so still beside me. His scent, combined with the warmth of the restaurant and the soft ambience blues, made my insides burn and burn.
With every one of his slight movements, my chest would contract, and at the delivery of his clear and curt responses a strong awareness would prickle underneath my skin. At one point a glimpse of his fingers as they handled the cutlery would bring flashbacks of those very same hands opening my legs, and pushing his fingers into my sex.
A gasp escaped my lips. Our two companions were too far away to hear it, but he turned. I didn’t dare look at him, but he watched me for what seemed like forever, before returning his gaze back to his brother, and my hands nearly ripped the napkin in my lap to shreds.
“It was good to see you both again,” he said as he signaled a waiter over.
I released a deep sigh of relief.
After he had signed for the bill, he rose to his feet. To my surprise, Angelo and Sienna did not come with us. They had another car waiting for them. Sienna pulled me into a warm hug.
“I hope to see you again soon,” she said.
I just nodded, even though I knew I would most probably never see her again unless it was by accident on the street or if I was waitressing at a party she had been invited to.
In the car Luca lapsed into somber silence. I got the impression that it had nothin
g to do with me. He was preoccupied with something else.
The moment we got in, Madam was waiting in the foyer. She offered to get us drinks and refreshments, but Luca waved her away and walked in the direction of his den.
I made my way back to my room. I felt strangely lonely and abandoned. I hoped Luca would come to my bed later that night so I ran a scented bath and soaked in it. I also washed my hair so it would be sweet smelling.
By the time I climbed into bed an hour had passed.
I lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Perhaps he would not come. Perhaps he was already bored of me. I curled my body into a ball and remembered Sienna mention the ‘accident’ and how he never invited guests to his home.
As I raised my hand to switch off the bedside lamp, the door opened and there he was. For a moment we stared at each other.
“Leave the light on,” he said, and came forward.
My hand fell back down on the bed.
He put his nose in the curve of my neck and inhaled deeply. I thought I heard him say something, but it was muffled. Then he raised his head.
“You are a witch, Skye,” he growled, as he pulled my nightgown up.
I was not wearing any underwear so he got on the bed and buried his head between my thighs. I sighed with pleasure. After he made me climax, he fucked me. There is no other way to describe how brutally he thrust into me. When it was over, he pulled his pants back on and left without a word.
I felt a sob rise in my throat, as the door closed. I switched off the light.
And the tears came.
Chapter 35
Luca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
-The Sound Of Silence-
Laughter surrounded me.
It was unrestrained and endless. A beautiful sound. We were in the pool, with floats strapped around his chubby toddler arms and his cheeks flushed from the heat of the sun. I held onto his waist while he kicked his legs underneath.
“Don’t let me go,” he cried out in his chirpy voice.
I felt my chest swell. Never. Rocca. Never.
I counted to three in my mind and once again loosened my hold from his. He let out a small scream as he began to sink into the water. “Keep kicking,” I told him. “Remain calm.”
He tried, but still continued to smack his face into the water because of how nervous he was.
“Papa, save me. Save me. I’m dying!” he screamed with fear.
The sound pierced my heart. I caught him, pulling him towards my chest... but as if he was smoke he disappeared. All that was left was his scream of terror. Papa, papa, save me, save me. I’m dying.
My eyes flew open.
I was lying on my bed, and my body was slick with sweat. It had been many years since I remembered him with such detail. All around me was darkness and I stared at the ceiling blankly. For the longest time I didn’t even blink. I dare not. I could still hear his happy laughter, and I wanted to keep that for as long as I could. But it went. The same way he had disappeared in my dream. Like a wisp of smoke.
All I could hear was my heart slamming into my chest. And then the terrible, terrible sorrow of his loss came. It filled my body. Every cell was infected with the loss. I squeezed my burning eyes shut. No, not that again.
I had long ago closed my heart towards the memories, even pushing them out of my mind because the pain was too unbearable. The only thing I truly loved in the world had been ripped away from me, and although I felt the lingering emptiness every single day that passed since then, it meant life was bearable.
Now, it had returned with a vengeance.
I knew it was because of Angelo’s child. I didn’t begrudge him his child, I just wanted my boy back. After all these years, I still missed him as if he had been taken away from me yesterday. I felt my hands clench. I wanted to smash everything up and howl with the pain. I thought of the bottle of alcohol downstairs. For months after Rocca died I’d been so drunk I didn’t even know my name. I was in such a rage even the bodyguards, uncertain of what I might do at the slightest mistake on their part, kept their distance. I was a drunken madman in charge of a violent empire.
Inhaling deeply, I counted to three, and pushed my body upwards. Then I swung my legs out of the bed and sat with my head buried in my hands. Slowly, methodically, I regulated my breathing. When my state was somewhat back under control, I walked away from the room without thought. I didn’t even know what time it was, but that didn’t matter either.
All I could think about was getting completely lost in a different kind of emotion. A heady, tumultuous rush that would take me out of my state of despair and bitterness and back into the realm of the living again.
I pushed her door open and was surprised to see that her lamp was on and she wasn’t in her bed. The bathroom door was open, but it was in darkness so I knew she was not in there. I could feel a cold wind and I realized with shock she must be out on the balcony. I walked over to the open door and saw her standing there in her thin nightgown. My bare feet had made no sound, but she turned suddenly.
She gasped and staggered backwards. Her face was pale, her mouth opening in a silent scream. I reached out and caught her before she could fall and hurt herself.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
The horror was so real, I slammed her into my body and hugged her hard. Her skin was cold. It reminded me of his skin that day. Oh, God! I nearly gagged with horror. Without thinking I buried my face in her neck, so the warmth from my skin would seep into hers, but she was frozen. I could feel her body trembling. I pulled her into the room and shut the door.
“Luca,” she whispered, but I was already moving towards the bathroom. I needed to make her warm again. I needed to make her skin stop being so cold. I switched on the shower and turned it up so it was hot. Then I pulled her under the cascade.
She didn’t struggle or argue. She let me. The stream was powerful and warm, and slowly it began to warm her. Looking into my eyes she reached out a hand and touched my scar. I shuddered slightly, but I didn’t catch her hand or pull away. Part of me couldn’t believe I was letting her.
“Is it true a tiger gored you?”
I shook my head. The truth was more prosaic and less romantic. “A knife fight when I was fifteen. I got careless.”
“You are the most beautiful man I’ve ever known,” she whispered.
I frowned. “I’m not. My soul is ugly beyond redemption.”
“I know you were beautiful once. What happened to you, Luca?”
Suddenly, it was too much. I turned away from her.
But she wrapped her arms around me and laid her cheek on my back. Then she began to kiss me, her lips tracing down my back. Then her hands in front began to move, across the muscles of my torso and then downwards into my track pants.
She gripped my cock and began to pump it, gently at first but then increasingly faster until she settled into sweet, rhythmic strokes. I clenched my eyes shut and reveled in the enthralling feel of pleasure coursing through my veins. He was not gone from the cavity in my chest but the pain in my chest was gone. She coaxed out all of the tension from my limbs. She knew exactly what I needed in that moment without even having to say a word.
Her strength and her pace would never be enough alone to get me off, and I needed to see her beautiful face, so I caught her hand and turned around to gaze at the woman before me.
She was a goddess, with water pouring down her hair, her alabaster skin looked even more pale and perfect. Her eyes sparkled and as I stared down at her, I felt something shift in my chest.
Before I could pay too much attention to analyze what it was, I tilted my head and took her lips in a deep kiss. My heart slammed painfully into my chest at the contact and it fueled my craving for more. Holding her face in position, I sucked hard on her lower lip. She whimpered like a little animal. I slipped my tongue into her mouth to dance with hers.
I pushed her against the tiles. There, I ran my hands po
ssessively down her body and then her behind to grab her ass.
“Take me,” she breathed.
I hoisted her off the floor, and her legs wrapped perfectly around my waist. My cock thick and hard, curved against her wet pussy. She rocked the slick flesh against me eagerly. With a hand supporting her body I slipped my hand into the small space between us and positioned my cock at her entrance. Now I truly wanted to disappear… into her depths, into the bliss that she was. Where there was no pain, no thoughts, just heaven on earth.
She tore her mouth away from mine with a cry when I slid into her and stretched her walls taut and grated deliciously on the sensitive tissues.
She moaned as I sucked and nipped on the exposed skin of her neck. I was gentle with her. I could tell by her swollen eyes that I’d made her cry. I didn’t want to make her cry. Her life was sad enough without that. When I was a boy I once rescued a small squirrel that had its head stuck in a can. It struggled and scratched my hands until I cut it free. When it was free it did not thank me. It darted away as fast as it could up a tree and disappeared, but when I looked at my bleeding hands I felt good.
It felt good to have saved Skye. In the end my hands will be bleeding, but it would have been worth it.
I drove my cock into her until the fire of our joining burned so bright and beautiful she opened her mouth in a scream and lost her mind. Her head thrashed from side to side under a cascade of water and her body twisted and writhed. Her scream became mewling cries that resounded in the enclosed space as the orgasm rocked her to her very core.
That was when I let myself go over the edge.
I shut my eyes and savored every last bit of the fire in our joining. I burned it into the archives of my memories as vividly as a brand, needing it to be there and available for the time when she would no longer be mine. Out of my mouth came a growl, wild and impossible to contain and it combined beautifully with her unrestrained cries.
We collapsed against the other, limp and spent and neither of us wanted to move. She clung to me like a second skin, shaking her head when she felt I was about to peel her off me. It was the first time she’d held on so tightly and it flooded me with a dangerous warmth.
Beauty and the beast: A Modern Day Fairytale Billionaire Mafia Romance Page 16
