Whimpering, I can’t do anything but take what he gives me, and it’s absolutely amazing. He fucks me harder and faster, my body teetering on the edge, ready to fall over at any second. The orgasm builds inside of me, more and more, until I fear that it’s going to explode, but it doesn’t.
He doesn’t allow me to come, he’s holding back and I can feel it—I need more and he knows it. The room is quiet, his length thrusting into mine, the sounds of our slapping skin. That is all that I hear and then is his hand is between my legs again.
I could cry.
I do cry.
When his fingers touch my clit, I let out a whimper, then a loud cry as I come. That’s all it takes. It’s not much, just his touch against my clit. That is all I needed. A strong breeze could have done it too. He grunts, thrusting into me hard and fast a few more times until he stills and I feel his release fill me.
Opening my mouth, there is nothing but a silent cry that escapes. Unlike Salvatore, whose roar fills the entire room.
Chapter Twenty-Four
SALVATORE
Pressing my hand against Rosana’s back, we walk out of the office and toward the men. Gavino is still on the floor, Massimo above him. Arlo has his gun pointed at Courtney’s head. Miguel is still lying on his side, tied up. It’s as if time stood still while I was inside of my wife.
“What did you mean?” Rosana asks.
Stopping, I look down to her. I press my lips together, tilting my head to the side in question. She doesn’t say anything else. I know what she’s asking me though, but I still want to hear her ask it.
“Don’t make me ask it out loud,” she whispers.
Licking my lips, I jerk my head in a nod. “I’ll be filing for divorce, Rosana.”
Amidst the chaos, the blood, the extreme panic is this raw moment. A moment that I should not be having with her now, or maybe ever. Her eyes widen and she takes a step away from me, her lips parting.
“You’ll be doing what?” she hisses.
“Rosana,” I murmur. “This wasn’t ever going to really work. I should have sent you to your sister from the beginning. I shouldn’t have ever kept you for myself.”
Saying the words aloud makes me feel like a fucking pussy. It’s because I am. I’m falling in love with her. I’m falling in love with her and I’m pushing her away. It is easier this way. I couldn’t protect her. I can’t protect her.
“You’re a coward, Salvatore,” she whispers. “A fucking coward.”
Taking a step toward her, she takes one backward and I reach out, but she skirts me. “Rosana,” I snap. “I can’t protect you. I can’t keep you safe. You need to be with people who can. I’ve already let one woman down in a way that I cannot bring her back. I couldn’t do that to you, Rosana. This was too close.”
“Fuck you, Salvatore,” she snaps.
I deserve her anger. I deserve her resentment. She turns and runs away from me, bending down next to Massimo. I don’t follow her. Instead, I reach down and grab Miguel, dragging his body across the room toward Arlo.
“Who the fuck did this?” Arlo shouts.
Courtney is smiling up at him. She doesn’t give a fuck that a gun is pointed at her head, she is batshit crazy. There is another loud bang, then the roll-up door lifts and all of the men point their guns into the bright light. All of them but Arlo, who is still focused on Courtney.
There is a long silence as we all watch the door open completely. There is a tall pile of rubble and four men stand on top of it. They don’t do or say anything. Instead, they just watch. I expect guns to start popping off, but they don’t.
“Well, look what we have here.”
Courtney laughs like a jackal, and all I want to do is tell Arlo to end the bitch.
“Who the fuck are you?” I shout.
There is a long moment of silence while the four men walk down the mini rock wall. I look over to some of the soldiers, and they have their phones to their ears, hopefully calling for fucking help. It’s been too long, this whole thing is taking too fucking long.
“I am the real Juarez. My son is here, Miguel,” he announces. “Courtney called in her father’s marker for help. Though I’m pretty sure all of this is a lot more than we owed him.”
“The bitch just tried to murder the boss of the Zanetti famiglia,” Arlo grunts.
The real Juarez snorts. “I’m guessing you assumed since she was a woman, she wouldn’t have a weapon on her. Breaking the first fucking rule of war,” he states.
He’s not wrong either. It’s the first fucking rule. No matter who it is, you check them for weapons. It was sloppy and stupid, and it could cost us Gavino.
“What happens now?” I ask.
Juarez shakes his head once. “My part in this is done. I only opened the door and came in because I want the two men impersonating me and my son. For whatever reason, they thought they wouldn’t be caught.”
Arlo snorts. “And we have your word that we’re done here?”
Juarez nods his head. “You have my word. I will not attempt anything else on the Zanetti famiglia, and to prove that my doctor is here. I brought him with me.”
Juarez lifts a hand and makes a motion. One of his men rushes over, and I notice a bag in his hand.
“And Courtney?” I ask.
“Is yours to do with as you please,” he says, dipping his chin.
Arlo chuckles. “Good.”
We look at one another and then Juarez nods his head and turns to walk away. His doctor stays, but he and his other two men drag off the fake Juarez and Miguel.
The whole situation is so fucking stupid and such a mistake on our part. Pure goddamn cockiness. We didn’t check any further than their names. We should have done a thorough investigation.
Arlo doesn’t kill Courtney, not without the kill order from Gavino. I’m not sure if he’ll make it either. Watching him, I know without a doubt that he is going to need a blood transfusion. He is so fucked, and he’s pale as shit.
Once the men are dragged away, we focus on Gavino and the cunt. Rosana doesn’t even look at me and I don’t blame her at all. It was a dick move and thing to say, but it was the truth. All of it. I hate myself and the fact that I can’t protect her, because I’ve fallen for her.
ROSANA
That fucker.
That coward.
I can’t stop thinking about him. I’m trying to help Massimo and the doctor, but my mind is completely consumed with the fact that my husband wants to divorce me. He wants me to raise this bastard child on my own, and he doesn’t love me.
Shaking my head, I pinch my eyes closed. Of course, he doesn’t love me. We don’t even know one another. What we do is have sex, it’s hot, but apparently, it was nothing else for him. It can’t be if he’s so quick to walk away from me, from us.
“He needs blood,” the doctor murmurs matter of fact. “I don’t know what else he needs, but I can’t give it to him here. He needs to go straight to a hospital.”
Massimo looks directly at the doctor, then flicks his gaze behind him before shifting it back to meet his again. “How the fuck do we get him out of here without letting him bleed out?”
My heart stops beating for a second. The thought of Gavino dying right now. It sends panic through me.
“He can’t die. He’s too young, he has children, and a wife that he loves,” I whimper. “All of this is because of me. It should be me,” I say.
Massimo growls. He looks at me and shakes his head once. “Shut the fuck up, Rosana. Seriously, shut the fuck up.”
I can’t though. I forcefully press my lips together, but inside my mind is repeating those words over and over. Why can’t it be me? It should be me. Nobody really wants me around, anyway. It would make everything so much easier. So much.
Then my stomach cramps and I place my hand on my belly. Guilt consumes me that I would wish my death this way. I shouldn’t, no matter how I feel. I should not wish death on myself or my baby.
That’s selfish.
The room is a flurry of chaos again as firemen and EMS arrive. I stand back, watching as they attempt to get Gavino taken care of and out of the building. I watch in a daze, unable to move, unable to even breathe. I just stand there thinking about my own pitiful situation.
Massimo walks up to me, his expression extremely concerned. “Rosana, let me take you to Salvatore so he can get you home.”
“Am I no longer a suspect?” I ask, arching a brow.
His lips curve up into a grin, and he snorts. “You never were, not really, and you know that.”
Nodding my head, I inhale a deep breath, or at least I try as deep as I can. “Take me home with you. Take me to my sister,” I demand softly.
“Rosana?” he asks.
Licking my lips, my eyes fill with water. “He wants a divorce,” I admit.
Massimo’s eyes widen, and he lifts his gaze over my shoulder. I watch as his jaw clenches and his eyes narrow. “Why?” he grinds out. “Tell me what the fuck is going on, Rosana.”
I could tell him to mind his business, but I don’t. He’s not just a Made Man, he’s my brother-in-law and even though we aren’t super close, he along with my sister are all that I have.
There’s my oldest sister, Bellarosa. I could go to her if I needed to, but she has a life that is all hers. She doesn’t need me interfering.
“It doesn’t matter, Massimo. He doesn’t want to be married anymore and I’m not going to make him stay with me, with this baby that isn’t even his.”
“So, he’s just going to let you live in shame? That fucker.” Then Massimo’s eyes shift to meet mine. “You know that no Made Man will have you, now, yes?”
Anger fills me from his words. “I don’t want one, Massimo. I never did,” I snap.
He nods his head, his eyes softening on me, and he clears his throat. “Okay, Rosana. Let’s just go home.”
Licking my lips, I look around the room, glad to see that it’s almost cleared out. All except for Arlo and Salvatore, who are standing above Courtney. I want to go to her, ask her why the fuck she picked on me for this stupid plan of hers, but I don’t. Salvatore is there, and it’s not worth being that close to him again.
“Take me home, Massimo.”
He lifts his gaze, narrowing his eyes again as he watches Salvatore for a moment, then jerks his chin. His next words come out as a murmur, just loud enough for me to hear, but nobody else.
“You need me to, I can make that shit look like an accident.”
My eyes widen at Massimo’s threat, but then my lips curve up and I realize that he wouldn’t actually do this, but maybe he would, and that means more to me than anything.
Just the fact that he’s willing to say it.
Salvatore is supposed to be like his blood, he’s famiglia and famiglia always comes first—before anything.
“No,” I sigh. “It’s only been a few weeks. I’ll be fine,” I lie.
He grunts, wrapping his arm around my shoulders before he tugs me against his side. Together we leave the warehouse and I walk away from my husband. I never thought that this is how this would end, not in a million years, but here I am, here we are.
“Rosana,” a voice shouts once we’re outside.
We stop and I turn to see Valerius jogging toward me. “You’re okay?”
Nodding my head, I clear my throat. “I am.”
“Salvatore?”
“He’s okay, but you don’t have to worry about watching me anymore. I’m going to be with Massimo and Pippa for a while.”
He frowns, then he clears his throat. “You got my number, yeah?”
Nodding, I lick my lips. “I do.”
“Use it.”
He leaves me and I watch him walk away, his back straight and his shoulders wide. “Don’t use it, Rosana, not until you’re healed and done with this.”
“What?” I ask, turning to look up at him.
Massimo is chuckling. “He wants you to use it so he can fuck you, little sister.”
Wrinkling my nose, I shake my head. “No way, he was my guard, a friend.”
Massimo snorts. “And he’s got a dick.”
The conversation is dropped, thankfully. Massimo and I make our way to his car, and I sink down in the passenger seat with a sigh. This is a fucking nightmare. All of it. I wish that this was the end of it too. That life would go to whatever is considered normal for the famiglia, but it’s not going to.
As Massimo said, I’m fucked. No man is going to want me. Not that I really want one to, not right now and not anytime soon. But I have a baby coming with no husband, no income, and no place to live.
I’m fucked. Plain and simple.
Chapter Twenty-Five
SALVATORE
I watched her walk away. Courtney laughs, and I look over to her. She’s now tied to a chair. In the middle of the warehouse, the sun has gone down, the men are gone, Gavino is in the hospital and it’s just me and Arlo standing in front of her.
“You’re smiling,” I point out.
She shrugs a shoulder. “I am,” she whispers. “And soon you’ll know why.”
“Enlighten us,” Arlo demands.
Her eyes twinkle with deviousness. I have no idea what the fuck she’s so fucking twinkly about. She is literally about to die. And if I was a piece of shit, I’d take complete and total advantage of her, torture her, and enjoy every fucking second of it.
“I really should just let you find out for yourself,” she purrs.
“We already talked to the Libertad. So, I’m not sure what else you have up your sleeve, but I doubt it could be anything worse than what you’ve already done.”
She cackles. I’m taken aback slightly by the way the noise vibrates around us. Then she stops and her eyes find mine, freezing me in my place before she decides to speak, decides to tell me what the fuck is going on in her crazy fucking brain.
Arlo growls with frustration. But I don’t. There is no reason to get pissed off at her, she’s playing a game. Instead, I just watch her, waiting to see what the fuck she’s going to say—going to do.
Pressing my lips together, I wait. When she realizes that she’s not going to get a reaction out of me, she does exactly what I thought she would. She finally speaks.
“Not all of this was simply about Gavino,” she says.
I snort, biting my tongue from saying, no shit, so she’ll just continue what whatever fucked-up shit is playing inside of her head. Crossing my arms over my chest, I continue to watch her for a long moment. Until finally she sighs and speaks.
“I liked Rosana in the beginning, then I got to know her.”
“And you didn’t like her so much anymore?” I ask.
Courtney shrugs a shoulder. “I did like her, enough. Except she was positive, all the damn time. She always looked at the brighter side of things and it rubbed me the wrong way. Just once I wanted her to be as angry as I am. Her parents were pieces of shit, her aunt just as bad, and here she was with a fucking smile on her face partying like she didn’t have a care in the world.”
Arching a brow, I wait for her to finish, because no doubt this is going to be some stupid as fuck petty jealousy shit, and I am over her. I’m ready to end her and go home. I need a hard fucking drink and a long, hot shower.
“So this was all partially to just fuck with her in general, because you’re a cunt?” Arlo asks.
Courtney grins. “Yeah, and so is the man that I put on her. The man that’s been following her,” she exhales, then sighs as if she’s completely pleased with herself.
“We have the imposters, Juarez and Miguel, already, and we killed her boss. What the fuck are you even talking about?”
“Not them, they were just pawns. My father hired a man to protect me, always. He would change throughout the years, but I always had someone at my back. This one is newer, and he’s been doing a little side job.”
“He’s not doing very good at his main job if he’s supposed to be protecting you,” Arlo interrupts.
>
She clears her throat, her eyes not moving from mine. She is watching my reaction, hoping to get off on my panic, but I don’t give her any of that. Instead, I take a step forward, reaching into my shoulder holster and take my gun out.
Wordlessly, I point it at her head and pull the trigger. She opens her mouth to say something else. But I don’t want to hear that shit. None of it. I’m fucking done with her games.
Arlo clears his throat and I turn to him, arching a brow. “You may have wanted to get more info on the man watching your wife, no?” he asks.
“Doesn’t matter, I’ll warn Massimo,” I mutter.
“Massimo?” he asks.
Shaking my head once, I clear my throat. “Not important. None of your business.”
His brows lift high and he watches me, then takes a step back and lifts his hands as if he surrenders. He should. I’m not telling him any details. I don’t fucking care. Not right now.
“You got a guy that can clean this cunt up?” I ask, turning to look at Arlo.
He jerks his chin. And that’s when I just walk away. I’m never the one to leave first, to just walk away, but I can’t stay here right now. I can’t fucking deal. Leaving, I do exactly what I told myself I was going to do. I go home, I get a drink, and I take a hot shower.
What I don’t do is go over to Massimo’s and take my wife. I don’t bring her home, where she belongs. I also don’t go straight to bed after my shower, though.
Walking into the bedroom, I stare at my bed and decide that I can’t get in it. I’m not drunk enough to tackle sleeping there without her yet.
Guilt and regret consume me as I walk into the kitchen and pour myself another drink, then another, until I just decide to take the whole fucking bottle and sit outside. It’s dark, it’s late, and I’m alone.
Foolish.
That’s how I feel right now. I’m a goddamn fool. Picking up my phone, I call Massimo. I texted him earlier about what Courtney had said to me, about her guard being on Rosana, but I don’t know if she was talking out of her ass or not. I have a feeling she was, but fuck, I don’t want to be wrong.
Becoming her Salvation (Zanetti Famiglia Book 7) Page 17