Alessio (The Guzzi Legacy Book 2)

by Bethany-Kris

  “We don’t assume that.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  Cree sighed. “Are things better there? That’s all I want—that you’re happy, Les.”

  A loud, happy holler drew Alessio’s attention back to the other side of the room. Ginevra’s hands flew high in the air as she tossed her head back and laughed in her triumph. On the screen, the words Mission Accomplished flashed across her character, while Corrado’s only had a red FAILED.

  “How did you beat me again?” Corrado groused.

  Ginevra grinned, turning her head enough to catch his scowling lips in a kiss that had Alessio’s own smile growing. He wished he was over there, sharing their moment with them, instead of on this damn call.

  Because they were happy.

  He was happy.

  “We’re all happy,” Alessio said. “And you can tell Dare, too.”

  “I’ll try to rein him in, Les. It’s the best I can do.”

  “I would appreciate it.”

  He had to get back to his life.

  “Stop it.”

  Alessio’s words came out in a mumble given that his face had buried in the pillows on the bed, and he was half asleep. Nearly there, but not quite. He couldn’t fall into sleep like he wanted when a foot away from him on the large king-size bed, Corrado kept tensing every few seconds.

  It wasn’t the movement, or even Corrado’s sighs in the darkness, but rather, the fact his lover was annoyed. Or bothered … likely both.

  Alessio didn’t like that.

  “Am I keeping you up?” Corrado asked.

  Alessio twisted his head around, so he could stare at Corrado, or what he could see of him. “Yes, and if you want something different, go do that. Don’t lay there and fret about it. That drives me fucking crazy.”

  “You don’t—”

  A quiet shuffling echoed outside of their bedroom, because yeah, Alessio was back in here a couple of days later. This was where he wanted to be, he had a better night’s sleep, and didn’t give a fuck about the details. Those only held him back. Corrado left the door open in case the woman across the hall wanted something other than to sleep alone in her bed. Not that she had taken the invitation yet.

  But at that sound, the noise Ginevra made when she rolled over in her bed again—for what, the millionth time since she had gotten out of the bathtub two hours ago?—Corrado tensed again. The woman wasn’t sleeping, but she was far enough away that she probably couldn’t hear their quiet conversation, and he wasn’t sure she had a clue that they were aware she wasn’t sleeping.

  Her choice to sleep alone was hers.

  They said nothing.

  “At night, she worries,” Corrado said.

  “About home, you mean.”

  “What else? When does her brain shut off? About her mom, I suspect, and her sisters. She doesn’t tell us because who knows why … but it’s what she does. I don’t like it.”

  Alessio sighed, and scrubbed a hand down his face, willing that sleepiness to go. “Just go do what you want to do. If you’re going to lie beside me wondering about it, and keep me up all night, too, then I will need you to do that somewhere else.”

  “Well—”

  “Go get her,” he grumbled in the darkness.

  “Or this is her time, no? At night, that’s when she can actually be alone without us, Les. It’s how she deals with all the shit going on—her anxiety, and the rest, you know?”

  “Except it’s not dealing with it when she does the same thing night after night, is it?”

  Corrado didn’t reply.

  “Fine,” Corrado snapped.

  Alessio smirked to himself as Corrado kicked the blankets off and jumped out of the bed without another word to his lover he left behind. He listened as footsteps padded across the room, out into the hallway, and faded into the room next door. A quiet hey echoed from Ginevra, followed by a what are you doing before Corrado was back in the bedroom.

  He lifted his head from the pillows in enough time to see Corrado set Ginevra on the bed right in the middle. His hands scooted her over as she still looked confused before Corrado got back on his side and found his comfortable position on his side again.

  Ginevra blinked. “I was fine over there.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Corrado muttered.

  “I was.”

  Alessio grunted under his breath. “Lies. You twist and turn half the night, and when you fall asleep, it keeps going. Just saying, you could sleep better over here.”

  “We’re only sleeping?”

  Alessio would have laughed at the question she hinted at, but he didn’t think now was the right time. Corrado saved him from having to say anything.

  “This isn’t about sex,” Corrado murmured. “It’s about something you need … sleep, rest, or a recharge—letting someone else take care of you because you’re dealing with shit alone when you don’t have to, Ginny. Just because you think you’re handling it alone doesn’t mean everyone around you isn’t still affected.”

  Sleepily, Alessio said, “Exactly.” His tone deepened as he added, “But if it was about sex, though, we’d all be good with that.”

  “Les,” Corrado warned.

  “I’m not wrong.”

  Ginevra let out a soft laugh, but it was the heat lingering behind her nervous energy that took his attention the most. He looked up to see her staring back at him. The same curiosity and lust lit up her gaze.

  All right.

  “Is that what you want?” he asked her.

  Ginevra sucked in a tentative breath. “It wasn’t.”

  Corrado made a dark noise from the other side of the bed. “And now?”

  “Maybe.”

  “I don’t do maybes, kitten.”

  Consent always mattered here.

  Clear, unquestionable consent.

  It had to.

  Alessio rolled to his back, deciding he would settle this for all. He figured it had been one thing for Ginevra when she was dealing with these men one at a time, but when they were close like this, both near with her in the middle … she had to get stuck in her head.

  It wasn’t that deep.

  “Think about it,” Alessio murmured, “he will tuck you against him on your side, get his hands between your thighs, make you crazy, and after, he’s going to fuck you while I enjoy the show, Ginevra. That’s it, that’s all. And you get to fall asleep fucked, happy, and on top of the blankets the way you like. But if you would prefer to overthink it until you think it to fucking death, fine, we can do that, too.”

  Corrado chuckled. “There you go.”

  “I thought …” She trailed off, her voice faint.

  “What, both?”

  That seemed like the obvious answer.

  “A little,” she whispered.

  Alessio dismissed that with a grunt. “Not yet.”

  “Not yet,” she echoed.

  “Soon,” Corrado added, a wicked promise lingering there. “But not yet.”

  That took time.

  A readiness.

  A certain level of trust and need he didn’t think Ginevra was ready for yet. Oh, they would get her there, certainly, but not tonight.

  Ginevra made a soft, hot noise. “But tonight—”

  “If you want,” Corrado said, “but that’s not why I brought you over here. It’s not why you’re in this bed at all, and as long as you get that, then whatever you want, you get.”

  “You only have to ask,” Alessio said.

  “Okay.”

  Alessio peeked up at her where she still sat between their resting positions. “Okay, okay, or okay we will sleep?”

  Ginevra grinned in the darkness. “Sleep … later.”

  Yeah, that’s what he thought.

  “Corrado, then?” Alessio asked, wanting to be sure that was who she wanted. “Because I have a kink, and I like to watch.”

  All it took was Ginevra’s subtle nod, and her soft yes, for Corrado to reach for her. Alessio didn’t plan to
touch, but he reached over to drift his fingers through Ginevra’s hair when Corrado kissed her. He hadn’t been wrong, either.

  Corrado used his hands first—stripping her of clothes and shedding his own; he did his best work between her thighs, hands spreading her legs wide before his fingers stretched out her pussy, too. All those sounds that crawled out of her throat as Corrado circled her clit with the pads of his fingers while his other hand stuffed her full had Alessio harder than ever.

  Still, he didn’t touch.

  He didn’t need that to get what he needed here.

  “Fuck, yeah,” Alessio murmured, “you should see what I see, Ginny. How wet your pussy is, and how you’re already soaking his hands. So fucking good. How bad do you want his cock, huh? Tell me.”

  “Jesus,” Corrado grunted, “killing me here, Les.”

  He grinned.

  Yeah, he knew.

  He loved watching Corrado work.

  Corrado liked hearing all the details.

  “Use your words, kitten,” Alessio urged Ginevra.

  “Please …”

  Her eyes flew wide, landing on Alessio when Corrado’s teeth found the junction between her neck and her shoulder. She came hard, gasping into the dark room and twisting against the bar-like hold Corrado had on her body.

  Alessio enjoyed every fucking second. There was nothing better than watching someone get off unless you were the one making them do it. And even that … well, he didn’t mind this.

  For now.

  He’d get the rest later.

  Her next words came out breathless, and high. “Fuck me. Please, oh my, God … please, fuck me.”

  Alessio might have gotten his own cock in his hands just to get his own while he watched them get theirs, but she reached for him across the bed. Her fingers tangled with his to hold tight as Corrado left her long enough to grab what he needed from the bedside table. Alessio slipped across the bed, his mouth finding Ginevra’s in just enough time to swallow her hard moan when Corrado filled her from behind.

  And God …

  That did sinful things to him.

  Wicked things.

  He inched closer, but only because her soft hands pulled at him to do it. He tweaked her hardened nipples and tasted the salt on her skin as she whispered for more.

  Corrado’s hand slid through Alessio’s hair, threading tight, while Ginevra’s drifted lower to slip under his boxer-briefs.

  Sex was always just sex to Alessio. He liked it, and so he did it. He needed that connection with Corrado, and he found it. Anyone else, though, and it was just a need he fulfilled.

  Now, though, he couldn’t get enough. This—them with her—would quickly become an addiction for him. A habit he couldn’t kick.

  Alessio didn’t mind.

  “We’re taking you out. A date.”

  Those words of Corrado’s, ones he’d spoke in her ear after she was drifting in and out of sleep between the two men in bed while her body hummed from one of the most erotic things she had ever experienced in her life, rang through her mind as she surveyed the items on the bed.

  The silver boxes rested open on the bed as she eyed each item set out in front of her.

  Black, patent leather, peep-toe stilettos with red soles rested in one box, and a black dress with a designer tag that made her blink rested in another. The layered necklace, glittering with red gems—were those real?—would hang low in the deep neckline of the dress.

  And the matching earrings were just as beautiful.

  Not to mention expensive.

  “Miss?”

  Ginevra glanced over her shoulder at the woman standing just behind her, full of styling tools, makeup, and whatever else the woman needed to pamper her. Because to Corrado and Alessio, a date could not be just a date.

  It had to be a whole experience.

  One Ginevra needed.

  Or that’s what they explained.

  This was a lot.

  Then again, so were those men.

  “Would you like to begin?” the woman asked.

  “Where do we even start?”

  Cassidy—that was the woman’s name—grinned. “Well, wherever you like? They told me this day was your day. So, it’s all up to you.”

  Right.

  “I’m not used to being spoiled,” she admitted.

  “That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it, though.”

  Ginevra liked this woman.

  And those men.

  “I’ll let you pick,” she said, giving Cassidy a smile.

  “You got it.”

  A low whistle cut through the penthouse as Ginevra turned the corner. The appreciative sound from Alessio had Ginevra grinning, and standing beside him at the door looking just as good in his suit as Alessio did in a blazer and black slacks, was a smirking Corrado.

  “Look at you, huh?” Alessio said, his gaze drinking her in.

  Corrado did the same—his deepening sexily. “I should send that boutique and their people a bonus, yeah?”

  Alessio nodded. “Definitely.”

  “That’s enough from the two of you,” Ginevra said, unsure of how to handle their attention when it was on her like this. Some things just took time to get used to, she supposed. This was one of those for her. “And I think you went a little overboard today.”

  “We didn’t do enough.”

  “Agreed,” Alessio replied.

  Ginevra sighed, coming to a stop in front. Brushing her fingers over the shoulder of Corrado’s suit jacket, her gaze turned on Alessio. “I think this is the first time I have ever seen you wear something that isn’t black jeans, a leather jacket, and a plain shirt. I like it.”

  “Don’t get used to it.”

  “I like you as you are, too.”

  “You better.”

  “He cleans up well,” Corrado murmured.

  Alessio flashed his teeth in a tempting grin. “But only when I’m forced to.”

  “See,” she said, “overboard.”

  “Not at all.” Corrado’s hand slipped around to her lower back, and with a gentle nudge, they headed out of the penthouse after Alessio opened the door. “Besides, this was just for fun. And you don’t get enough of that here, do you?”

  “I think I’m wearing about five thousand dollars between these clothes and the jewelry—”

  “About fifteen, actually.”

  Ginevra balked. “How is that fun?”

  Because now she was just worried that she might lose the goddamn necklace or earrings. That was before she thought to ask just how much of that fifteen thousand belonged to the dress, the lingerie she wore under it, or the shoes on her feet.

  Damn.

  “For a Guzzi,” Alessio said behind her as he locked the door, “spending money is fun.”

  Corrado shrugged. “Yeah, mostly.”

  All Ginevra could do in response to that was laugh because it seemed so excessive. And yet, she wasn’t at all surprised.

  “Besides,” Alessio said, coming up to her other side as they waited at the bank of elevators, “the best part of having a beautiful woman at your side is getting to show her off.”

  “And reminding everyone else that she is not theirs.”

  Alessio chuckled. “Exactly that.”

  Ginevra shook her head. “Terrible. Both of you.”

  “And yet, you like it,” Alessio returned. “Does that say more about you, or us?”

  Well …

  “That’s fair,” Ginevra said softly.

  Alessio pressed a quick kiss to her temple as the elevator doors opened. Corrado let his fingers dance up the low cut back of her dress. Both actions did different things to her body.

  Tempting.

  Both lovely.

  This would be an interesting night.

  Of that, Ginevra was most sure.

  Ginevra learned that it was one thing to deal with Alessio or Corrado individually. The two of them were a handful when it was just them, smirks and cockiness included. But whe
n someone had to handle these two men at the same time?

  A woman didn’t stand a chance.

  Ginevra was not an exception to that rule. All it took was Corrado murmuring in her ear, leaning forward from the back seat to tell her the history of a building they passed, while Alessio’s hand stayed curved around her thigh as he navigated the Mercedes-Benz into a parking spot.

  They were two different men, and that’s what enthralled her the most when both of their attentions focused in on her, even if they did it in different ways. Despite their uniqueness, she was very much present for both.

  “It’s a bar, restaurant, club … everything, really,” Corrado said. “Depends on the day of the week, and what they’ve had planned.”

  “And private,” Alessio added.

  Corrado winked at Ginevra. “Members only, for those with deep enough pockets to be invited to join.”

  “And you two are members, hmm?”

  “We are. They invited us through my oldest brother, Marcus, who likes to use this as a meeting hub when he doesn’t want to have those in a more public place.”

  She didn’t see a sign on the side of the old brick building they parked beside, and she hadn’t noticed one at the front, either. “What’s it called?”

  “The Clubhouse.”

  Ginevra snickered. “That doesn’t sound … innocent.”

  “It’s not meant to,” Alessio teased with a grin. “That’s why it’s private.”

  “But today,” Corrado added, giving Alessio a look that quieted him, “we’re having dinner, getting out of the penthouse, and having fun. Nothing crazy.”

  “Right.”

  Because they made her crazy.

  A little.

  They were still close.

  Still touching her.

  That was enough to make any woman insane when her body was constantly ready … hyperaware and finding a sinful temptation in every grin or word tossed her way.

  She was the lucky one between Corrado and Alessio right now. And if she could help it, she would stay there. For now, her heart couldn’t stand being apart from them, not now.

  They broke the restaurant portion of The Clubhouse into several small rooms, which made it comfortable and caused the people eating to sit closer together than they might at the round table.