by Reilly, Cora
“She will be safe with me,” he said firmly. I believed it too, but I’d have still preferred Romero, would always prefer him. Still, he was now Captain and I couldn’t ask him to step down from that position, and his feelings for Lily made him too volatile. If he had to choose between Aria and Lily, the choice was clear.
I released Demetrio and straightened, then held out my hand for him. He took it and I pulled him to his feet and clapped his shoulder, then lowered my voice threateningly. “Orfeo is like your brother, and his family has always been closer than your own.”
I left the rest unsaid, that if he messed up, Orfeo would be the one to pay the price.
Demetrio stiffened. “You can trust me with your wife, Luca. I swear it by my honor.” He touched his tattoo.
“I don’t trust anyone, but you will prove yourself.”
“I will. Is there a reason why Sandro isn’t enough anymore?” he asked carefully.
“She is pregnant,” I said, even though my body bristled at admitting it.
Demetrio nodded, but I could see the hint of apprehension in his expression. Good, he knew what kind of responsibility I gave him. “She will be safe.”
“If you are suspicious of someone, disable first then ask questions. I’d rather deal with the fallout of killing one too soon than one too late, understood?”
Demetrio gave another nod. “Will you make it public?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want people to know until there’s no way around it, and even then only Famiglia. I don’t want photos of Aria’s pregnancy or our child in the press. If you notice a photographer, get them, or at least their name, and I will deal with them. Dante knows already. We have to prevent the Bratva or the Camorra from finding out. Understood?”
I’d caught the hint of surprise on his face when I mentioned Dante knew, but I didn’t bother explaining. “Understood,” he said.
I gave him another hard look before I said, “I will introduce you to my wife tomorrow.”
Demetrio inclined his head.
ARIA
Luca had always been protective. I was used to it by now. But since he’d found out about my pregnancy his protectiveness had reached a new level. He barely let me out of his sight and he definitely didn’t leave me alone with Sandro. I knew he’d found a new bodyguard for me and it was obvious that the idea didn’t sit well with Sandro, but he and I had never really gotten along well. Romero had been like a friend, and even brother, but Sandro was always only my guard.
Luca went over to the elevator when it began its ascent, but I stayed back against the kitchen counter. The doors slid open and a tall young man stepped forward. He shook Luca’s hand then followed him toward me, eyes appraising me carefully. I remembered the sharp onyx eyes and black hair.
“This is my cousin, Demetrio,” Luca said. He was a bastard son. I’d heard people whisper about it and I had hated it. I’d seen him several times over the years, the first time at my wedding, He had been a teenager then, a couple of years younger than me. He must have been twenty, twenty-one now? He inclined his head respectfully and I smiled and walked toward him, extending my hand. Demetrio glanced at Luca, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. But really, I was used to this kind of behavior from Luca’s soldiers by now. Luca noticed my reaction and smirked.
I didn’t wait for his okay and took Demetrio’s hand, and shook it. I tried to remember when I’d last seen him, probably at some family function or perhaps even the funeral of Luca’s father. “Nice to see you again, Demetrio. Last time was at Salvatore’s funeral?”
He shook his head, hand stiff in mine. “No, last time was three years ago when Luca beat me up in the gym for suggesting I fight you.”
My eyes widened and I laughed as I released him. “Oh well. I suppose that’s a day you don’t like to remember.” He had changed a lot since then. He definitely didn’t look like a boy anymore, and there was nothing insecure about him. He had hardened like all Made Men did eventually.
“No,” he said. “It was a lesson I needed to learn.”
Luca watched his cousin with sharp eyes. I could tell he didn’t trust him like he trusted Romero, but if Luca had chosen Demetrio I knew I was safe with him.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know you,” I told him.
Surprise flashed across his face before he masked it.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
His dark eyes moved to Luca, who nodded. “Aria prefers to know her bodyguards.” I stifled my annoyance about Demetrio’s need to get Luca’s approval.
Matteo and Gianna joined us as well. Demetrio was tense throughout dinner but he was polite and not too intimidating, so I felt comfortable enough in his presence.
That night as Luca and I lay in bed, I asked, “Why him?”
“He’s proven his worth over and over again in the last few years. My uncle Gottardo, his father, was a worthless piece of shit, but Demetrio is a loyal soldier. I want to test him.”
“Test him?”
“I need an Underboss for Washington, and I want to give the job to him.” He stroked my hair. “And he’s deadly. He’s got no real attachments. His mother is dead, and he isn’t married or anything.”
“So you think he won’t have trouble putting his life down for me,” I said.
Luca smiled darkly. “He won’t hesitate to die for you, trust me, because if something happens to you while you’re under his watch, I’ll set a new record.”
I shivered at the undercurrent in his tone. “Record,” I echoed, though I had a feeling I knew.
Luca shook his head and kissed me sweetly, eyes softening. “Nothing will happen to you or our baby, trust me.”
“You can’t lock me in, Luca. I still want to work the books. I need to do something. These last few weeks without anything to do were hell.”
He sighed. “When you start showing, we need to keep you out of the public eye as much as possible, or at least make sure you won’t be recognizable.”
“I can get another wig,” I teased.
Luca chuckled. “That might be an option, yes.” His fingers on my waist became more and more distracting.
“What do you think about turning the small guest room into the nursery?”
“Not the big one?”
“It’s downstairs.”
He gave a tense nod. “Our daughter needs to be close to us, you are right.” He closed his eyes briefly. “How am I going to protect you and her both?”
I ran my fingers over his Famiglia tattoo. “Nothing will happen to us.”
He relaxed slightly but a hint of tension remained. I sat up and Luca’s eyes narrowed in confusion. I trailed my hands down over his firm stomach to the waistband of his briefs. I hadn’t gone down on him since we’d made up, worried my nausea would flare up if he accidentally hit the back of my throat, and that wasn’t something I wanted to happen.
He hardened immediately and desire flashed in his eyes. Yet he said, “Aria, you don’t have to do this.”
I dragged down his briefs and his cock sprang free. “You don’t want my mouth on you?”
He made a strange sound deep in his throat, half laugh, half groan. “I’m close to coming just having your face near my cock.”
I laughed, and he grinned, then tensed as I leaned down and took his tip into my mouth and twirled my tongue around him. His taste tightened my center with arousal—no sign of nausea. Encouraged by my body’s reaction, I slid more of his length into my mouth and hollowed my cheeks, establishing a slow rhythm.
Luca moaned, a low sound that made wetness pool between my legs. He watched me through half-closed eyes, shoulders flexing as he fisted the blankets. I took special care of his tip the way he liked it and cupped his balls.
“Aria,” he rasped. “Fuck, this feels so good.”
He tightened and I sucked him harder, enjoying the way his body tensed and his breathing turned ragged. I tasted the first hints of his cum but before he could release into my mouth, Luca
pushed me back gently and came all over his stomach as his cock twitched.
I kept massaging his balls then moved on to stroke his muscled thighs. “Why did you do that?” I asked curiously.
Luca gave me a sated smile. “I didn’t want to risk you getting sick.”
I snorted. “I wouldn’t have thrown up on you.” Then I added, “I think. I feel pretty decent.” And it was true. My nausea was almost completely gone since Luca had returned into my life.
“I didn’t want to risk it,” he said in a low voice, then cleaned himself with a tissue before he reached for my arm and pulled me closer. “Sit on my stomach.”
I straddled him as he’d asked, and he brought his legs up so I could lean against them before he drew my legs out from under me and parted them, laying me bare to his hungry gaze.
I shivered as his eyes took their time appraising me.
“So wet because I had my cock in your mouth,” he growled, and I trembled with arousal, parting my legs a bit wider.
I enjoyed giving Luca pleasure. It made me feel powerful, but it wasn’t just that. I loved how he let loose when I pleasured him with my mouth. It was a beautiful sight.
He trailed his palms up my legs and his fingertips stroked the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, but he didn’t touch me where I needed it, only watched me intently as I squirmed on top of him. “Please,” I gasped.
His finger graced the outer edge of my folds. “Are you begging me? Begging for release?”
“Yes,” I said harshly.
“Don’t you know that begging doesn’t work with me?” he asked darkly, and I almost came hearing his voice.
“Luca, please.”
“Please what?”
I narrowed my eyes but his gaze was dominant and possessive, and my core tightened. “Please touch me, I beg you.”
He slid two fingers into me excruciatingly slowly, and his mouth parted as he watched me. I came hard before he was even halfway in, bending backwards against his knees, whimpering and half-delirious with relief.
Luca moved his fingers in a gentle rhythm as I rode out my orgasm, his eyes moving from my center up to my face.
I rocked my pelvis lightly as he slid in and out slowly, curling his fingers deep inside of me. He pressed his thumb against my clit and thrust harder into me, and I cried out again, unable to hold back my release, but Luca still didn’t ease up. His fingers kept up their sweet torture and I came again, slumping forwards, palms pressed against his chest, panting and perspiring. Luca’s gray eyes held mine.
“I don’t think I can come again,” I rasped, feeling almost faint.
“Relax, principessa. Give it a moment. We need to make up for lost time.”
I leaned back against his legs again, and he kept fucking me with his fingers slowly, without a rush. His stomach was slick from my arousal and his movements made embarrassingly wet sounds. I whimpered and his gaze became impossibly more possessive. It took a long time, but eventually my walls tightened almost painfully and another release rocked through me.
Luca sat up, claiming my mouth, and I held on to him. “Amazing,” he whispered as his lips grazed my tender throat, and all I could do was nod.
chapter 24
ARIA
I rolled over onto Luca’s side of the bed. It still smelled of him, and my heart swelled. Luca had left before sunrise to drive to Washington DC to see if the current Underboss was in control of the situation after Gottardo’s death, but he’d be back tonight. I forced myself to get out of bed because I was actually hungry. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been hungry in the morning.
When I came down into the kitchen, Demetrio was already sitting at the bar counter, reading something on his mobile, but he rose the moment he saw me.
“I’m not the queen,” I said with a laugh. “You don’t have to get up.”
He eyed me a moment, then sat back down. He was different from Romero. He wasn’t as approachable. I took a tea and a banana, and leaned against the counter across from him. I could see that he wasn’t sure how to handle me. I could only imagine what Luca had told him.
“How long have you been a Made Man?” I asked him, cradling my cup and blowing on it to cool it down.
“Five, no six years now. Got inducted on my fourteenth birthday.”
“And now you are stuck being my bodyguard,” I said curiously. “I bet you wouldn’t have chosen the job.”
He shrugged, but I could tell that I’d hit a nerve. Of course, he’d never say it. “I do what Luca asks me to do. And that he allows me to guard his wife is an honor. It shows me that he puts great trust in me.”
“That’s true,” I said. Especially since Demetrio wasn’t only protecting me, but also our baby. “And you won’t be my bodyguard forever. I hear you are going to become Underboss.”
Demetrio shook his head. “That’s not determined yet. Only if I prove myself. And even then…” He grimaced.
I tilted my head. “Luca doesn’t care that your father wasn’t married to your mother.”
“Others do. She was his affair,” he said with a bitter twist of his mouth.
I’d heard she’d killed herself because of the affair, but I couldn’t ask him for details. I had no right to pry.
I nodded. “Many won’t like to see you rising in ranks. They are the ones you shouldn’t care about.”
Demetrio’s eyes flickered with acknowledgement as if he was starting to see me as a human being, not only a thing he had to protect.
LUCA
Aria was stretched out on the lounge chair on the roof terrace enjoying the first warm days of spring. Her belly protruded unmistakably now, and she was confined to the penthouse most days because of it. So far hardly anyone knew about her pregnancy except for the closest family and a few loyal soldiers.
I had absolutely no intention of changing that. Dante and his family had disappeared completely from the public eye since Valentina had given birth to their son six months ago. Except for a few minor attacks on Pittsburgh and the photo fiasco, Dante had lain low, perhaps because of his children or because he was planning something big.
“What’s wrong?” Aria asked quietly, watching me standing in the doorway to the roof terrace.
I shook my head and moved toward her. “Nothing.”
She frowned but didn’t push the matter. I sank down beside her and she shifted a bit to give me space. “You don’t have to carry your worries alone, Luca. Being pregnant doesn’t make me breakable.”
I smiled darkly. She was breakable, vulnerable. She was where my enemies would aim if I gave them a chance, and I had so many enemies, not in the Famiglia anymore, not since my last few cleanings, but there were still enough enemies left. Matteo and I, along with my men, had gone on so many killing sprees in the last few months, I could hardly get rid of the pink tinge on my skin anymore. But for every enemy I killed, a new one seemed to surface.
Aria tensed and I did the same in turn. Her hand shot out, grabbing mine and pressing my palm against her belly, and that’s when I felt it – a kick.
I closed my eyes because it still seemed impossible that I would become a father, that Aria was carrying our baby.
“Have you thought about names?” Aria whispered, and I opened my eyes, still dry, always dry.
It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. “My grandmother was called Marcella.”
Aria’s blonde eyebrows rose. “The female version of Mars, the god of war?”
I leaned down and kissed Aria’s stomach, then her lips. “Our daughter will be strong. She won’t bow down to a husband. She won’t ever have to fear a man, that I swear.”
“Marcella,” Aria said thickly, and that look in her eyes got me every time, still after almost five years. It would always get me.
My cell ruined the moment and I groaned. Couldn’t my soldiers deal with one fucking thing without me? But when I glanced down at the screen and saw Orazio’s name, I picked up at once and stood. “What’s the
matter?” It wasn’t time for his monthly report, and if he felt the need to call that was a fucking bad sign.
“Dante was contacted by Benedetto Falcone.”
“What?” I growled.
Aria sat up, eyes wide, and I turned my back to her. “When?”
“A couple of days ago. Falcone seems to be looking for support. He’s growing weaker. Many of his men are starting to resent his sadistic and unpredictable ways. He wants to forge a truce with the Outfit.”
If that happened, this war would reach New York and not just the outer borders.
“What did Cavallaro say?”
“He doesn’t trust Falcone and refused a meeting.”
“Will he change his mind?”
“He might, but I doubt it. I also heard a rumor from one of my contacts in England. A rumor about Falcone’s son.”
“Son?” I remembered dimly that the head of the Camorra had several sons, but that was all I knew. I hadn’t bothered with the Camorra.
“His oldest son Remo. He’s seventeen, and has disappeared with his brothers from the boarding school they attended. I don’t think it’s public knowledge in Las Vegas yet. Falcone might be eager to keep it hush-hush.”
“Why?”
“Because Remo Falcone supposedly wants to kill his father and take over the West.”
“Do I need to worry about him?”
“I don’t know, but from what I hear he’s spent the holidays killing for his father and the rest of the time for fun. His brothers may have attended that school but Remo, he’s a born and bred killer.”
As if I needed another worry added to my list. “If he’s busy killing his father, he won’t cause troubles elsewhere, I presume.”
“Maybe. But if a new Capo arises in Las Vegas, they might return to old strength, if he manages to unite the underbosses of the West.”
“I will consider doing something about the Camorra, but for now I don’t want to give them more reason to work with the Outfit.”