Novels by JoLett

Tony nodded, his shoulders tense as he tried to hold himself from her whilst…her mind caught up? He wasn’t even sure what that fully meant but he knew it was important to respect her decision.“Hey, you take all the time you need” he told her, giving her a quick wink as he sat back, picking up his wine just for something to do.Maria smiled at his willingness to just press pause so quickly, though mentally scolded herself for applauding him on giving her basic body autonomy. “I thought we couldn’t have more wine” she teased, watching him gulp from his glass.“No-one is questioning my decisions, there is not one person whose going to ask me if I was willing. They will definitely just assume” he chuckled.“How rude of them” Maria smirked as he drained his glass. Her heart was still hammering against her chest, she didn’t know how to explain to this gangster that she didn’t like to rush things. That she may be attractive but that didn’t mean she’d been bed hopping since she became of ag

Tony’s lips were gentler than would be expected as they moved slowly with Maria’s soft ones. His hand had moved to cup her neck and a shiver ran down her spine in appreciation for the gesture. As her hands moved to his broad shoulders, they lightly glided to the nape of his neck, her fingers lightly tracing small circles there. She felt lost in the kiss as their lips moved together, forcing herself not to move her body against his in her current straddled position. She was becoming more and more sure that if she did, she’d find out just how much Tony was enjoying the kiss as well but she didn’t want to lower the tone of the moment.Tony let out a low, soft groan in response to her fingers tickling the back of his neck and though he wanted to do far more, he pulled back, his eyes instantly moving to meet hers. He didn’t want to push things with her, she wouldn’t be the first pretty, young woman to be seduced by the mafia’s bad boy persona and he didn’t want Maria to regret her actions.

Maria took the glass of red that Tony poured for her and looked at him expectantly.“So you saw warning signs…” Maria prompted Tony with an arched eyebrow as he sat himself in a nearby chair with his own wine glass. He was on the edge of his seat and clearly nervous, Maria couldn’t decide if that was a sign he was being honest or not.“Warning signs” Tony muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt on trial and he wasn’t confident if he was defending himself for Maria’s affections or for his place in the LeTale family.“ Eve was…really attentive. She would remember lots of details about what I’d said to her and then occasionally, she would say something that I didn’t think I had said to her” Tony explained, taking a sip of his glass then setting it down as he got into the flow of his story. “But the couple of times I called her out on it, she made me think I was the crazy one”“She gaslit you?” Maria asked and Tony shrugged his shoulders simply. These young folk and their slang

Maria’s heart was pounding and she was truly in overdrive as she leant against a small pillar on the dock, awaiting Tony to appear. Her eyes glimmered slightly with tears she refused to shed as thought about what had just taken place. Hand self-consciously covering her cut cheek, she felt lost and alone. Her mind was racing over what had just happened, how could she trust Tony after this? Frankie had mentioned his wife but not that she was from the Luca family. Did her father know and would she need to be the one to rat on him once he woke up?As Tony steps out into the cool air from the heated yacht, his eyes land on Maria, leaning against a small pillar on the dock and waiting for him. He noticed the way her eyes were cast downwards as she hid her cut and his heart constricted at the idea of her hurting.“Maria” he started softly but she just rotated herself 90 degrees away from him. “You did really well in there” he told her as though she hadn’t moved away. “Can I take a look at yo

“It’s Eve Calcolo actually”Her words reverberated around Maria’s head as she raised an eyebrow slightly. Frankie had told her he was married, so why did this still surprise her? Why did seeing this gorgeous specimen of a woman in front of her make Maria’s inside curl up in jealousy? Suddenly this yacht, that Eve had just said she honeymooned on, seemed to have a thousand secrets. Newly wed promises would have been whispered to each other on that couch, fingers would have laced over breakfast at this table, their eyes shining brightly in the after effects of enjoying their wedding nights together. All with a man who merely hours before had Maria pressed against the side of a building ready to kiss her, who had been prepared to shoot a man because he’d almost had that privilege. “Oh, Mrs Calcolo” Maria said with a kind smile. She could tell Carlos was practically bouncing as he brimmed with excitement at the prospect of either Maria or Tony slipping and showing them that they had inde

The door opened and the Luca brothers both entered the room, striding over to the small dining table and gesturing to Maria and Tony to take a seat. Maria moved, trying to appear confident and un-shaken by the events of the day. Just knowing that Tony had been spooked by something set her even more on edge though. Tony followed and sat down opposite Maria, hoping being in her direct line of sight would play to their benefit somehow.“Isn’t it nice to just be able to sit and eat and meet without one of the buffoons waving a gun around?” Carlos conversationally asked Maria as he sat down next to her. Whilst Maria did her best not to bristle at having him beside her, Tony felt relieved. He’d much rather Carlos be sat next to her than his much larger brother.“I think it would be much nicer if one half of the dining party weren’t armed when the other wasn’t” Maria noted, arching an eyebrow at the slimmer brother who let out a short laugh, slapping the table.“Is she always this hilarious?