89. “What’s wrong?” “I’m ashamed.” She turned to look at him, her blue eyes clashing with green. “I hate that you conquered me. I don’t want you.” “Your body does.” She rolled her eyes. “My body would be happy if I never worked out again and ate ice cream all day, but the idea of doing so is abhorrent to my mind.” “I get it.” He cupped a breast, lazily thumbing her nipple. “You don’t like that your sexual needs can overwhelm your intellect.” She sighed, not entirely sure if it was from annoyance or pleasure at the way he touched her. “It’s more than that. Sex is primal and basic. I hate you, but I hate my own weakness more.” “Hate is the flipside of love, they say.” He grinned before brushing his lips against hers, trying to coax her to respond. “That’s bullshit. Apathy is the flipside of love. Hatred and love are more intimately entwined than opposite each other.” She sneered at him. “But don’t try to pretend like you love me or something, O’Mara.” He snorted. “As if
90. Mia returned to her tray, sighing with exasperation at the sight of Clovis eating a strawberry. “You’re a weird cat, man.” She picked up another piece of bacon and the last strawberry. “Being a carnivore, you should go for the bacon. Or the eggs.” Clovis didn’t look up from his juicy berry, and she sighed again. Mia hesitated for a moment, debating how she should handle the cat’s presence. The idea of leaving him here was horrible. He had been a present from Stefania for her fifteenth birthday, and she loved the quirky feline. Deciding she was getting ahead of herself, and she had to find a way out first, she patted his head and left the room. After she figured out a way to escape, she would come back for Clovis before actually leaving. Mia had been through most of the house the day before, but she noticed a computer in one of the rooms that she had bypassed yesterday. Her heart leapt with excitement, and she mentally reviewed the list of acquaintances she could cont
91. around one of her nipples. With wide eyes, she watched his head descend to cover the nipple he had just teased with the glass. She moaned when he sucked lightly before pulling back. With one last flick of his tongue across the very tip of her bud, he stood up enough to meet her gaze. She couldn’t look away from him as he brought the glass back into play. The sharpness penetrated her nipple, making her yelp with surprise and a bit of pain. She tried to squirm away, but he anchored her in place with a large hand on her stomach. “You’re bleeding.” He wiped away the small spot of blood with the hand holding the glass and held up his thumb to show her. “Your movement caused that. You cut yourself while trying to escape.” “You’re holding the glass,” she rasped. His smile was a dark expression that flashed across his face, suggesting more malice than amusement. “I am.” With an almost teasing motion, he trailed the glass to her other nipple, repeating the ritual of bending
92. ressed to either side of her head, while his lower body pounded into hers. He bent his head to kiss her, and she met him eagerly, hating herself for the weakness even as she gave in. He moved his lips gently against hers, a sharp contrast to the fierce way their pelvises clashed, and Mia trembled. Tenderness could get past her defenses before she had a chance to reinforce them. Their mouths moved languorously against each other, tongues stroking sweetly, as they strained toward release. He tightened his hold on her hands almost to the point of pain. Mia squeezed her thighs around him as he swelled inside her right before his erection spasmed. The sensation of him coming sent her rushing headlong into an orgasm, and she arched against him as he surged inside her as far as he could. She turned her head into his neck, breathing harshly. Hating and enjoying the tender motion, Mia closed her eyes when he kissed her forehead before withdrawing from her. As he stood up, sh
93. With a sigh, he got to his feet, deciding he didn’t give a damn about the boundaries he had previously set for himself. It didn’t matter how much time he spent with her. A feeling of dread crept through him as he contemplated the notion that he could never get enough of her. With a half-shrug, he walked toward the door of his study, deciding not to fear that possibility. She was his for as long as he wanted to keep her, and if that was forever, that was acceptable. Eventually, she would have to yield and admit to their mutual attraction. He stepped out onto the second-floor landing, freezing with a muffled curse when he saw Bruno hurrying toward him. Judging from the blond giant’s look of concern, he wasn’t going to be sating his rampant lust for Mia just yet. *** Mia looked up with surprise when her door opened without even a cursory knock. She had been engrossed in a book, having somehow maintained her vow not to dwell on Shane’s taunting words when she had woken
94. Mia’s mouth was dry as she tried to explain the sordid history with Aldo Peretti. “I guess you should know I’d never even met Aldo until the day of the wedding. I’d only met Stefania a couple of times at that point.” Shane sat down in his chair, tugging her down to sit on his lap with his legs pinning hers together. She couldn’t move. “I wasn’t thrilled to have a new stepmother or stepbrother, but Vadim didn’t care about my input.” “Your father strikes me as a selfish man.” She had to bite her tongue to resist the urge to point out he shared traits with her aloof father. “It didn’t take me long to warm to Stefania, but I never liked Aldo. He made me…uncomfortable.” “How old were you?” Shane took her hand, squeezing gently. To her great surprise, she found the touch comforting. “Twelve. He was nineteen, so he shouldn’t have had any interest in me, but he seemed to go out of his way to try to engage me in conversation or spend time with me.” She swallowed. “At first, I
95. It wasn’t until he missed the bag and slammed his hand into the wooden platform holding the chains suspending the bag that he acknowledged what he was feeling. Guilt. A fucking huge load of guilt, which was an emotion he hadn’t experienced in such a long time he’d forgotten how it felt. The image of holding Mia underneath him as he took her in the shower that first night flashed behind his eyes, and he cursed. With a vicious thrust, Shane slammed his other fist into the wood, grunting at the mental relief the physical pain provided. He had taken her without regard to her feelings on the matter. Blood spattered from a shredded knuckle when he hit the wood again. Shane had held her down, stroked her to make her wet, and forced her to accept him. Her body had been ready, but clearly she hadn’t. More blood and another squishy thud of flesh against a solid object. He wanted her, needed her, and ached for her. Shane had been obsessed with her for months, but he hadn’t wa
96. Those hands were stroking her skin carefully, as though determined to seek out and learn all her secrets. The satin and lace confection she’d worn slid down her body with minimal assistance from her, and she couldn’t help a small smile at his appreciative hum when he discovered she wore no panties. Shane parted her thighs, but didn’t touch her pussy. She arched her hips in invitation before muttering a small grunt as he got to his feet instead. Mia watched as Shane slipped off the robe. She had seen him naked before, but had always been so preoccupied with resisting that she hadn’t taken time to really study his body. A few scattered tattoos adorned skin stretched taut over muscles she had felt firsthand. Muscles she had strained against before being forced to submit. That thought made her clench her thighs. He shook his head. “Open your legs, honey. Let me see that pretty pussy.” Inexplicably shy, considering the things she had done with him, Mia slowly let her le
The doorman said. I don’t think it was the same one that had been here when I’d skulked out on Saturday morning…thank God. “Good afternoon,” I told him. “I was hoping that you could call up to Mr. Romo Romalatti’s penthouse and let him know that Alana is here to see him.” “Yes Miss, I can do that. Please have a seat and make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back with you.” I took a seat on one of the plush, off-white couches in the lobby. They were arranged around pretty glass tables with expensive looking vases full of flowers. I sat there and watched all the designer clothing clad people bustle back and forth while I waited. Suspiciously, I wondered how many of them were linked to the mob. “Miss?” The doorman brought me back to reality. “Yes?” “Mr. Romalatti asked me to send you up. He said that he’s in a meeting in the conference room next door but you should make yourself comfortable in the suite.” “Okay, thank you so much.” The doorman put me in an elevator that he said
He was a passive-aggressive son of a bitch. Shooting someone in the eyes meant, “I’m watching you,” in our world. I honestly had no idea who it could be that wanted to send me a message so desperately that they would kill my best friend to do it. “Sit down, Sammie.” Tony told me. I took a seat at the table with the others and Tony said, “Does anyone know of any beefs against us?” Everyone looked around the table and when no one said anything I asked, “Why are the Gambino’s absent?” “Carmine is still put off by the fact I won’t consider that fat fuck christopher for boss. He sent word that he couldn’t make it, made up some stupid fucking excuse so I couldn’t accuse him of disrespect, but we all know why he’s not here,” Tony said. Tony’s voice was getting raspier and he seemed like he had a lot harder time breathing every time I saw him. He was dying of throat cancer….but only he and I knew that. The Christopher he spoke so disdainfully of was the son of Carmine Gambino. Carmine ha
129. I wanted to punch him for calling me sweetheart. What was with all of these suddenly over-familiar men? I picked up the photo and underneath it was another…it was one of Sammie and I walking arm in arm into the Glass Towers. It was stamped with Friday night’s date. The elevator Nate and I were riding in stopped and the doors slid open on my floor. I felt like my heels were glued down and I couldn’t move. To my horror, Nate had to take me by the arm and lead me out of the elevator. I think I was in some kind of mini-shock state. I found myself standing in the hallway, still gaping at the photos in my hand. Feeling sick to my stomach, I picked up the next photo and the last one was the best. It was a photo of me in Friday night’s clothes and a flagrant case of bed-head, getting into the back seat of Sammie’s limousine. The photo was clearly stamped with Saturday morning’s date. “What—Where---Why are you having Sammie followed?” I finally spit out.
128. After about an hour of that, I made myself a pot of coffee…it was going to be a long day. It had been three days since Alana had walked out. I had made a grave mistake by allowing myself the pleasure of making love to her when she was too drunk to have the capacity to consent. I truly hadn’t meant for that to happen. I tried to tell myself that I was beyond the point of rational thought as well, but truthfully I wasn’t drunk, at least not from the alcohol. I was intoxicated by her. I’d been researching her and watching her for so long…every fantasy I’d had for the past year had been wrapped up in Alana. I had just completely lost my mind the moment I was actually allowed to touch her. The fact that she was allowing me to, and even encouraging it had really sent me over the edge. It was wrong though…I was wrong. I knew from the time I’d spent watching her that she wasn’t a big drinker, and she definitely didn’t sleep around. I should have had more respec
127. Sammie had stood there looking at me after I’d pulled back. I remember that he had this really sexy grin on his face and instead of being angry, I was turned on. I had smiled back….I think and then I’d put my hands around his neck again and pulled myself back up to continue the kiss. I slid my tongue back into his mouth and that time he sucked on it. It was erotic. His hands were all over me and as I washed my body and slid my palms along my sides and across my breasts I shuddered at the memory. We started stripping each other at that point, a little at a time while we kissed. I could feel his erection pressed up against my hip and I remember that when I moaned he had whispered in my ear so close that I felt his hot breath: “Just you wait, Bella. I’m going to make sure that it’s the best you ever had.” The sound of his voice and the feel of his breath against my ear sent me into another frenzy. In the shower, my hand drifte
126. “We would act as a couple so that no one wondered about my meetings with a reporter, and we could avoid the fear of getting caught if we tried to sneak around and communicate secretly. You could also be a part of “family” events and get to see and know the people that we’ll be “talking” about first hand. This won’t be a week-long process, Bella. This organization was hundreds of years in the making. It’ll take years to break it open.” I was glad I had finished my meal already…I would have choked on it. Years? This guy was nuts if he thought I would agree to be his fake fiancé for years. I stood up and picked up my purse. Sammie stood up as well. For a second, remembering where I was and who I was with, a dagger of fear stabbed me in my chest. He must have seen it on my face because he stepped to the side, clearing my path to the door. He wasn’t going to force me to do this. I was ashamed of myself for putting myself in a position where t
125. “With clothes on,” she said. I laughed and said, “Yes, I’m going right now to get dressed, then I’ll order breakfast.” She only nodded, but she hadn’t let go of the doorknob. I half expected her to be gone when I got back, but to my delight and relief, she wasn’t. I found her sitting on the sofa looking out the window. I sat down in the chair across from her and smiled. She shot me a look that should by all rights have set me on fire. “Was this all some big pick-up game to you?” she asked. “A pick-up game? No, Bella. We both had too much to drink. I’m not normally a heavy drinker and last night I was looking for some liquid courage. Once you report what I have to tell you, life as I know it is going to implode. I wouldn’t have had the audacity to expect that a woman like you would ever want to be with a man like me.” She raised an eyebrow, obviously not convinced. I wish she could see inside of my head because I meant every word. I know what I am. I’ve known sinc
124. I woke up in a strange place, in a strange bed, next to an extremely hot – and gloriously naked – strange man. …What happened last night? My mouth tasted like cotton and I had an icky sweet taste in my mouth that literally made me want to vomit. My stomach felt bloated, my head was pounding and I couldn’t hold my trembling hands still if I tried. There was light streaming in from the giant windows that surrounded the bed and it was doing nothing but making my head pound worse and darkening my already foul mood. I sat up slowly, not wanting to wake the strange bedfellow next to me. I tried to shake out my hair, but it was a tangled mess. The motion of sitting up had made me nauseated and once again I had the feeling that I was going to throw up. I looked around me, wondering where the bathroom was. I was humiliated enough just waking up here, the last thing I wanted to do was hurl all over hot guy. I needed to get the hell out of here. I slipped out of the bed and st
123. Even not knowing exactly what Shane had planned for her, Mia was still relieved to see him when he entered the basement two days after Wallace had taken her from the street. Her first thought was he looked like hell. His normally robust tanned skin was pale, and his face looked gaunt, though he couldn’t have lost much weight in the four days since she’d seen him, even with a gunshot wound. Her gaze darted to the sling encasing his left arm, where she could see the bulky bandage covering most of the left side of his chest and clavicle underneath the thin fabric of his T-shirt. It was insane, but she had to physically bite her tongue to keep from asking how he felt and fretting over him being out of the hospital already. The reality of her position and situation made it easier to rein in the concern. She lay on the cold concrete, naked as the day she was born, with her hands cuffed to her ankles, which were spread by a metal bar. It was an obscene, undignified pose, b