by Bethany-Kris
“Le mie scuse, Ma,” he said, and then when his mother’s gaze was turning away he added under his breath to his wife, “She doesn’t miss a fucking click.”
“You know better than to try,” Catrina replied, laughing.
Haven smiled.
She couldn’t help it.
Dante was quick to go back to their first conversation. “What was that I heard about a missed flight, then?”
“It’s nothing.”
Catrina shook her head. “Not nothing. She was supposed to fly back to Florida this evening … to stay with her parents.” The red-headed woman shrugged one shoulder, and nodded in Andino’s direction, adding, “I think that’s changed for reasons … right?”
Haven sighed. “It’s a work in progress.”
The woman nodded. “It’s changed, then.”
Dante chuckled at the way Catrina didn’t even act like Haven had given a non-answer. His expression softened as he glanced at Haven again. “They must be angry—”
“They’re not, actually. They just want me to be happy.”
The man looked her over in a whole new way, then, before his daughter down the table caught his attention for a brief moment. “Don’t we all? I’m sure they’d still like to see you, though. Especially now.”
“I’ll figure something out. See if I can get the tickets changed over, or I’ll just grab a new flight.”
“No need,” Dante said quickly. “Tomorrow, there’ll be a private jet waiting for you to use as much as you want over the next several months, so you can see your mother as often as you please. I’m sure that would make her smile. And she’ll need that with all the treatments, won’t she?”
Haven blinked. “What?”
Dante smiled slowly. “You heard me, I’m sure.”
She had, but still …
“You don’t need to—”
“Do you think Andino won’t provide you with the exact same thing? Trust that it’s already in his plans, and I have simply saved him money and time as I am the one who owns the jet in this family.”
“First of all,” Catrina said, “that is my jet.”
The man leaned over, and kissed the woman on the top of her head. “Yes, Cat, it is your jet. Retract the claws, now.”
Catrina smiled, pleased, and then turned on Haven. “But yes, you can take it as often and as much as you would like. Consider it … a welcoming present.”
“A welcoming present,” she echoed.
“That’s what I said.”
“That’s an expensive way to welcome someone.”
Dante laughed, and gestured at the chandelier hanging over the table. It was the size of a small car, for fuck’s sake. Haven hadn’t gotten to see very much of the mansion since she arrived, but what she had seen was enough to tell her that the Marcellos were vastly wealthy.
“I think we’re financially okay to let you use the jet,” Dante said.
“But you don’t have to.”
“Have to and should are not the same things,” he returned, “and if it were my mother, I would move heaven and hell to make sure she was comfortable and happy. Which would absolutely mean having her children there.” The man gave her another serious look, adding, “No thanks needed, please.”
Haven opened her mouth to do just that anyway—she had the distinct feeling that arguing with Dante was going to get her nowhere fast—but someone else called her name. This time, it was a familiar face.
Catherine, Andino’s cousin.
“You want a tour of the place?” Catherine asked.
“Yes, let’s do that,” the girl next to her said.
Cella, maybe?
There were a lot of Marcellos.
Haven looked to Andino, and already found him staring back at her. Of course. He’d not once looked away, and her whole body knew it.
“Have fun,” he said, smiling lazily. “I’ll find you.”
There was something sinful in the way he said that. Something that promised fun and wickedness. It had been far too long since she got a taste of sin from this man.
Haven didn’t get to think on it for long.
The women pulled her up from the table, and were already talking about the mansion before Haven could say goodbye. She did manage a quick glance over her shoulder, though.
Andino watched her leave, too.
NINETEEN
“Thank you.”
Dante peered down the table at Andino, and silence blanketed the room. Andino was acutely away of the eyes of their remaining family members turning on him and his uncle. He’d wondered, after the things he did and the shit he said in the office earlier, how this night would shake out for Haven.
But he especially wondered about his uncle, and how Dante might treat her. Oh, sure, he expected his uncle to be nothing less than respectful. That was just who the Marcellos were. That didn’t mean Dante would actually make an effort to ensure Haven was comfortable, and entirely welcomed into their folds.
That had been a toss up.
Dante surprised him.
“For what, nipote?” Dante asked.
“What you just did for her. She didn’t want to accept it; she isn’t the type. You didn’t have to do that at all, so yes, thank you.”
Dante lifted one shoulder, and reached for his glass of cognac. “Do make sure you are on quite a few of those trips with her. I am sure her parents would like to meet the man who has effectively changed all of her plans, huh?”
Smooth.
Andino chuckled. “I planned on it.”
“Good.”
Dante’s attention was taken away when Catrina leaned closer to her husband to whisper something in his ear. He nodded, and kissed her cheek before she stood from the table and excused herself from the room.
Gio came to sit beside Andino, smiling in that way of his. So fucking cocky—even at his age—and proud. “She did okay, though, didn’t she?”
“Who, Haven?”
“Who else, son?”
Andino smirked. “She did okay with everybody, yeah.”
To say the least.
The Marcellos could be overwhelming. They were not, by any fucking means, a small family. Unless someone grew up under everyone’s feet, it was ridiculously easy to get confused about just who everyone was.
Haven, on the other hand, barely acted like it fazed her at all. If she had been the least bit confused or overwhelmed, she didn’t show it. And Andino had been watching just in case she needed him to step in and save her from something awkward. She hadn’t needed him to do that at all, clearly.
But …
Well, he had enjoyed watching her. A little too much maybe. The woman could dominate a room when she was in it, and she probably didn’t even realize she was doing exactly that. Her laughter drew attention, and smiles. When she talked, people turned to listen even if she wasn’t talking directly to them.
It was … enthralling. Sure, that seemed like a good enough word. After all, she’d enthralled him from the very beginning.
Andino loved watching Haven. He planned on doing exactly that for the rest of his fucking life. Nothing less would be acceptable.
“My wife adores her,” Dante said, bringing Andino’s attention to the table. “Loves her already.”
Andino raised a brow in question.
Dante chuckled at the sight. “I can tell, if you were wondering. You know your aunt, Andi. She doesn’t even try to pretend when she could do without a person.”
That was true.
Catrina was just about the only Marcello in their family that did not subscribe to the normal politeness of society like the rest of them did when it came to new people. She could be incredibly cold, and intimidating. Especially to other women.
And yet, she hadn’t been like that to Haven at all.
It was also not lost on Andino that … in a way … Haven would be the woman taking over Catrina’s position in their family. Eventually.
Sure, his aunt had her own thing as a successful
Queen Pin sitting alongside her equally dangerous husband. But she was also—next to his grandmother—the matriarch of the Marcellos as the boss’s wife.
Dante smiled at Andino’s sudden quietness. “I suggest you allow my wife to spend as much time as she possibly can with Haven. It will make that transition easier, believe me. Haven may be naturally able to handle a room, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t benefit from having an influence, if you get my drift.”
He’d never thought of that before. All over again, he found a great need to be grateful for the way his uncle was making a conscious effort to do whatever he needed in order for Haven to be comfortable and welcomed.
Even after all he’d done …
“I’m a bit of a shit, aren’t I?” Andino asked.
Beside him, his father laughed. As did the rest of the people at the table. He was more curious about the amused smile his uncle wore.
“You are you, Andino,” Dante replied, “and I no longer care to make you into someone else. Why should I? You’re doing fine being exactly who and what you are, Andino. Even if you are a bit of a shit.”
“Oh, my God, you’re awful.”
“But you love it.”
Andino pushed Haven back on the bed in one of the many spare bedrooms in this particular wing of the mansion. The skirt of her dress was shoved up over her hips, and he caught sight of pale lace between the heaven that was her thighs. He couldn’t help but lean in closer to get a taste of her pussy and that lace at the same time. She was tart, and hot, and sweet. It made his mouth water with the need for more. She laughed as he pulled back just enough to yank those damn panties down her legs.
“Pretty sure this was not supposed to be a part of the tour!”
“But do you want me to stop?”
Haven tensed on the bed, whispering, “Please don’t.”
He chuckled, and went back to his task. Nothing pleased him more.
This hadn’t been a part of the tour, but when he went looking for her and realized that he had a chance … Andino took it. All it required was a look at his cousins, and the women scattered to leave him alone with Haven.
A minute later, and he had her on a bed.
Perfect.
No one was going to come looking for them. And even if they did, they safely had a while before they would be found. Andino was going to make good use of that time. He had a lot of missing days to make up for.
“Fuck,” Haven whined. “Andino.”
Her back arched high off the bed when he finally got his mouth on her bare pussy. She was waxed again—smooth under his lips and tongue. It allowed him to taste the flavor of her arousal but so much more, too. The salt on her skin, and the way her blood rushed to the surface when he sucked her sweet little clit between his lips hard. As much as he wanted to keep his attention focused on the throbbing bud, he moved down to get another good taste of her.
Her hands thrusted into his hair, and threaded along the strands. He didn’t even mind the sting of her fingernails scraping along his scalp. That only made him harder. And as it was, his dick was painfully fucking hard and trying to punch a hole through his goddamn jeans.
Just to get some relief, he pumped his hips against the curve of her leg while he took his time enjoying the spread between her thighs. A pretty pink pussy, and all its offerings.
Hot.
Wet.
So ready.
“Yes … God, yes, eat that pussy.”
He loved her like this.
Wild, unbidden, and so fucking wanton.
He loved the way she looked underneath him. All the colorful art on her thighs gleaming from her perspiration, and dampness. He’d messed up those curls of hers, but who fucking cared?
She looked good anyway.
Haven came hard, and fast. Shaking all over, and heating up again. He was shoving his pants down before she’d even stopped calling his name, and he kissed a path from her pussy up to her throat as she helped him remove that dress.
It only took a shift of her body with his, and one of his arms grabbing her around the waist to pull her closer, and he was thrusting inside her cunt. The place he wanted to be the very most.
It’d been way too long.
“Fuck, yeah,” he grunted against her throat. Haven’s legs wrapped around him like a vise—tight, and unwilling to let him go. It kept his cock so goddamn deep in her that he couldn’t breath. She squeezed him like a glove—all those soft, wet muscles inside her pussy driving him wild with each aftershock of her orgasm. He kissed her neck, taking a taste of her skin there, too. And then her mouth. “Fucking give it to me—give it all to me, Haven.”
He shifted back on the bed, and took her with him before threading his fingers through her soft hair. Sitting up with his legs flat to the mattress, and hers wrapped around him, all she could do was rock her hips back and forth to get what she wanted from him.
It was still delirious.
Still amazing.
“Missed you,” she whispered, her head falling back as he kissed her chin and throat. “God, I missed you.”
“Love you.”
“So much, Andino.”
“Would you do this all over again?” she asked. “If it meant you got the same thing in the end, or would you do it differently? Would you choose another trail? Make Snaps walk his old route? What would you do?”
“You already know the answer to that, Haven.”
Her blue eyes darkened. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
He didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Soft loving, and relearning. Gentle touches, and whispered kisses.
It wasn’t fucking.
It was something else entirely.
And then her hand came up to press against his chest. She pushed him back on the bed, and rode him until she came a second time—wild and shaking all over again. She climbed off him just long enough to get on her knees, and suck him clean. And then she bent over the bed, and let him gag her with his tie as he fucked her hard enough to make her throat raw from screaming his name into the silk.
He loved this woman.
He loved her crazy.
And she was right.
Andino would do this all over again. He’d lie, and hurt, and ruin everything for everyone if it meant this moment right here was the same.
He’d do it again.
And he regretted nothing.
Siena slipped into the backseat of the car with a hat pulled down over her eyes, and her head down. She didn’t even notice the woman sitting in the front seat until Andino cleared his throat. Siena’s eyes widened, and he had to laugh.
“Oh, Haven.”
Haven beamed. “Sorry to crash your party.”
Siena’s gaze drifted between Haven and Andino. “It’s okay.”
“Ready to see John?”
The woman in the backseat relaxed instantly. “Beyond ready.”
Andino nodded his head in Haven’s direction. “Do you think he’ll mind that I brought someone else along to meet him?”
Siena laughed. “Well …”
Haven shot him a worried look. Andino grinned, and gave her a wink to calm her down. She knew how important John was to him, and the only thing he really wanted now was for the last person in his family who hadn’t gotten the chance to actually meet this woman properly to do exactly that.
And hopefully, adore her, too.
Haven deserved nothing less.
“I think he’ll be okay,” Siena said. “But surprises, you know.”
Andino made a noise in the back of his throat. “Yeah, I know. Any good news for me?”
Siena met his gaze in the rearview. He wasn’t sure if she would be willing to talk about her brothers, and the fact she was feeding Andino information about the Calabrese family, so they could move forward with ending them for good with Haven sitting right there or not. He wouldn’t mind either way. He’d understand if she didn’t.
The woman surprised him. All the women in his life seemed to enjoy doing that
for some fucking reason. He was getting used to it now.
“Kev called a meeting with the Capos last night,” she said, “and it looks like the streets are going to get very tense again.”
Andino’s jaw ticked, but Haven’s hand coming up to stroke his cheek calmed him instantly. The tension was still there, and so was his irritation about the fucking Calabrese, but it wasn’t nearly as bad.
He just needed her to help.
That was all.
“How tense?” Andino asked.
“They’re planning on starting to remove any Marcello presence in their territory, to begin with. They’ll go from there, and see how the Marcellos answer back.”
Andino would have to give his Brooklyn Capo a heads up on that, then.
“So, basically they’re going to provoke us into violence,” Haven murmured.
Andino couldn’t help but look over at his girl, and smile. Even if what she said was nothing to smile about, he couldn’t fucking help it.
“What?” she asked.
“You said us.”
Because she was.
His.
One of them.
It still stunned him sometimes. Oh, sure, he knew he still had a lot to make up for yet. But fuck him, because he was willing to do all that for her. He was going to put in all the work. Whatever she needed from him, he was there to do.
He was hers.
Haven rolled her pretty blue eyes like he was being silly. “Was I wrong, though? That’s what they’re doing, right?”
“No, you were right. That’s exactly what they’re going to do.”
Siena made a noise in the backseat. “Because they think whatever happens then will be justified to other families.”
“Yes,” Andino agreed.
“Have you told John, yet?”
Andino looked in the rearview mirror again. “Told him what?”
“Your plans for him—to take over the Calabrese side of things. Have you told him that?”
He tensed in the seat, but Haven’s hand was quick to find his thigh, and squeeze. Life was about to change in a lot of ways for all of them. All because he had decided to start the ball rolling on something, and the damn thing wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.