"Take it off." He commands, his voice completely different. There's a smokey quality to it that makes me shiver. I comply, tugging the shirt off my body and throwing it on the floor.
"You have the most gorgeous tits, Lina." He rasps, staring at me reverently. He circles the nub with his fingers and I throw my head back, gasping at the sensation. His mouth is next, lips sucking, teeth nibbling. Overwhelmed, I bring him up my body, kissing him like I dreamed about these two months. My hands go to his pants, and I struggle with the zipper, impatient at feeling him again.
"Easy." He chuckles, helping me slide his pants off, before doing the same with my jeans. I wrap my hands around his length, stroking him slowly.
"Fuck! Just like that. God..." Eyes closed, mouth agape, Marcello is lost to the sensation. Enjoying the sight of him in the throes of passion, I take it a step further. I hop off the desk and to my knees. My face is on the same level with his arousal, and I stick out my tongue, circling the crown. His sudden intake of breath tells me I'm doing this right, so I continue to lap at him, focusing on the underside where he seems to be the most sensitive. I look up, watching his face for cues. His brows are drawn together, his hands in my hair. I wrap my lips around the shaft, sucking him in.
"Fucking hell, Lina! You're fucking killing me." His voice is harsh, and it's only spurring me on. I bob my head up and down his length, taking as much as I can. "Yes! Take me deeper. Your mouth is fucking heaven." He grits out, thrusting into my mouth and hitting the back of my throat. "Fuck, I'm coming!" He makes to move, but I wrap my hands around him, working him up and down until he empties himself down my throat.
"Shit! Are you..." I lick my lips, showing him I didn't mind any of it. In fact, it might have been the most erotic thing in my life – having him at my mercy like that.
"Damn, you're really killing me here, Lina." I lift my eyebrows in confusion, raising up to my feet and turning so I'm facing the desk. Propping myself on my elbows I stick my butt at him, and mustering all my courage, I say the phrase I'd been too ashamed to say before.
"Fuck me, please." He groans loudly, my words having the desired effect. But he does nothing.
"Lina... are you sure? This is..." He trails off, pain radiating from his voice.
"Yes. Please." I want this. No, I need this to finally close that horrible chapter of my life. I need him to take me from behind and erase all memories of that night.
He's still hesitating, and when I'm about to say something, I feel his mouth trailing kisses on my spine and down. He reaches at my butt, his tongue sneaking between my cheeks.
"Oh," I squirm, the sensation new but not at all unpleasant. The flicks of his tongue make me grab onto the edge of the desk. My moans intensify as he moves lower, latching onto my nub and sucking.
"Mar..." I start, but I'm shocked shut when he inserts one finger between my cheeks, his tongue still playing with me. The movements are slow yet tantalizing as the finger moves in and out. My pleasure mounts until I'm screaming his name at the top of my lungs. Lord, I never thought I'd ever lose myself like this. But with Marcello...
Even my train of thought stops as he suddenly enters me, his length long and thick and stretching me. His hands are on each side of my hips as he pumps in and out. I gasp when he hits a spot deep within, and I tilt my butt to meet his pelvis. The thrusts start slow, but soon he's increasing the pace and driving me over the edge.
"Lina," He moans, filling me to my very soul. "I fucking love you. Adore you. Worship you." He pants, switching to Italian. "Cara mia, ti amo, ti adoro, ti venero." The sounds excite me even further and I clench around him, feeling my orgasm nearing. I reach back, touching his hipbone and urging him to go faster.
"Fuck!" He shouts, spilling himself inside of me just as I come. He falls limply over me, hugging me from behind and kissing my shoulder.
"You're everything to me. You know that don't you?" He speaks against my skin, the warm air making me shiver. I crane my neck, bringing his head in the crook of my shoulder so I can touch my lips to his. "I love you too, marito." I whisper, using the word for husband, claiming him as my own.
We stay like that for a while, him still inside of me, his skin yielding heat on my own, his arms wrapped around mine. Until his phone rings.
"Fuck!" He mutters, reluctantly tearing himself from my side.
"Yes?" Marcello answers the phone, and I turn around, watching him. He frowns, narrowing his eyes at whatever the speaker's saying.
"Anyone injured?" What? I straighten myself, now curious.
"I see." He says, pursing his lips. He hangs up, throwing his phone on the desk before addressing me.
"It was your brother. There was a fire at Sacre Coeur."
"And?" I'm suddenly alert.
"Your sister-in-law is dead."
Epilogue
TEN YEARS LATER
Christmas Eve
"THE STEAK MIGHT NOT be ready on time." Lina leans in to whisper. My eyes widen in horror.
"You realize we have a bunch of dangerous, hungry people in that room, don't you?"
She purses her lips. "I can't just magically get it done. Everyone wants it differently. Enzo wants it medium rare; Adrian wants it well-done, and Bianca wants it rare. I'm not even going to think about that, but she specifically asked for a bloody steak."
"And we don't want to make her angry." I agree.
"And you also need to tell them to behave themselves. No talk about killing anyone, or drugs, or any other thing that you guys do. You know Claudia's bringing her boyfriend over. We don't want to scare him off." Lina jabs her finger in my arm, her expression serious.
"Of course. They will behave." I nod, even though I doubt it. I give her a smooch to distract her before heading back to the dining room.
Enzo and his wife are sitting on one side, while Adrian and Bianca are on the other. They seem to be engaged in a heated discussion. As I step closer, I cringe at what I hear.
"No, I don't think so. I bet you my daughter is a better shot than your son." She stands up, planting her palms on the table. "Let's have a contest." She removes two pistols from her back and throws them in front of Enzo.
"Woo." I put my hands up. "I thought I said no weapons." Adrian shoots me a look and shakes his head. Yeah, it's not as if I believed Bianca would ever come without a gun on her.
"You." She points at me. "You'll be the judge. Diana against Lucca for the best shooter. I trained that girl myself, there's no way his son can beat her." She says smugly.
"Bianca," I start, going into full conciliatory mode. "She's ten. She shouldn't be handling any guns."
"You're just jealous." She huffs out a breath, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And you, stop taking her bait." I address Enzo.
"I'm not baiting anyone. I'm just extolling the extraordinary qualities of my daughter. Far superior to his son's." She says, seeming entirely sure of her statement. Adrian groans out loud, and leans in to whisper something in her ear.
"My daughter would never!" Bianca exclaims, scandalized. She turns back to Enzo. "Diana would never have a crush on your son." Everyone is having a chuckle at that statement. Bianca is the only one put off by the notion. I too agree that Diana seems to have a crush on Lucca. She's always following him around. And he doesn't seem to mind it too much.
"What, you wouldn't like to have Enzo as your in-law?" I ask jokingly, but her expression tells me I should drop the subject. Especially when she wraps her hand around one pistol.
"Right," I take a deep breath and change the subject. "Claudia's bringing her boyfriend home for the first time. I'd like you all to behave. Especially you, Bianca."
She leans back, her eyebrows shooting up. "Me?"
"Yes, you." I answer drily before continuing. "Just be careful with what you say, ok? This is her first boyfriend, and she's serious about him."
"I can't believe you're even letting her date." Enzo jokes. He's mentioned his views on his daughters dating multiple times in the p
ast, and it's always the same thing—never. Good thing his daughters are still young, one eight and the other six. He'll have time to come around.
"It's not that easy." I sigh. Claudia's almost twenty now, and there's no way I can still tell her what to do.
She had turned out to be a prodigy. She'd aced her GED at fifteen and had subsequently enrolled in college. She graduated last year summa cum laude and is now in her first year of law school. Which is also where she'd met this boyfriend. My mood sours just thinking about it. When I'd been against her dating, she'd given me an ultimatum for the first time. That's when I realized just how much she cared about this boy she's seeing. Of course I'd relented. I can't have Claudia be upset with me. Lina likes to joke that there's nothing I would ever deny my daughter, and much as I'd like to deny it, she's right.
From the corner of my eye, I see Lina giving me a thumbs up. I nod at her in acknowledgement before turning to the guests.
"Someone needs to round the kids up. The steak will be here soon." I say at the same time that someone knocks at the door.
Shit! They're here.
"Behave, ok?" I repeat before going to open the door.
Claudia's face beams as she sees me, and she jumps into my arms.
"Papa," She wraps her hands around my neck, holding me tight. I close my eyes and relish the feeling. It hadn't been easy to tell her I was her father, and it had taken her quite some time to get used to calling me papa. But the first time I'd heard the word come out of her mouth, I think I wept. Lina certainly says I did.
"Welcome home!" I say, and she steps back to introduce me to her boyfriend.
I'd said boy? Well, he was definitely not a boy.
"Meet Sterling, my boyfriend." She happily makes the introductions. I hold out my hand for a tight shake. I reluctantly have to admit that his grip is no joke.
Around the same height as me, Sterling is packing. And by that I mean he is either a bodybuilder or a gym fanatic. Claudia looks tiny next to him. Suddenly my fatherly instincts kick in full gear, and I have to will myself to knock it down a notch so I don't embarrass Claudia.
"Pleased to meet you." I grit my teeth.
"It's great to finally meat you, Mr. Lastra. Claudia has told me a lot about you. You are her role model." And he's polite. Now I can't quite hate him as much, and it drives me crazy.
I smile and show them to the dining room.
Everyone is already seated, and thankfully the conversation is normal.
Claudia and Sterling make their way to the end of the table.
Just in time, Lina shows up with the last batch of steak. Placing it on the table, she takes a seat next to me. I give her a quick kiss.
"Ew!" Leo, our youngest, makes a face of disgust. His twin, Mateo, joins in and they immediately start chattering away and disrupting the atmosphere.
I shake my head, but refrain from rebuking them this time. It's Christmas, after all.
Mirabella, our eight-year-old daughter, takes charge as she tells the twins off. After they stop, she turns to me and winks. I don't know what's with Mira, but sometimes she seems too old for her age. Maybe we have another prodigy on our hands.
I quickly make the introductions, and Sterling joins the conversation effortlessly. At some point, he turns to Claudia to ask. "Where are your aunts? You always spoke highly of them." Claudia's smile trembles a little and she looks back at me.
"Sisi couldn't make it. She's currently on a grand adventure with her husband. I don't know what she's up to, but I'm assuming something crazy." I shake my head, a smile playing on my lips. Sisi had turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. Who knew that inside a novitiate lay such a rebel?
"What about the other one? Venezia, wasn't it?" Sterling continues, and I narrow my eyes at Claudia. We don't talk about Venezia. Ever. She knows this.
"We're not on good terms." Catalina interjects, her hand seeking mine under the table.
"But Claudia spoke very fondly of her. What happened?" Why is he so curious?
"She made some choices that weren't in the interest of this family. Now she has to live with them." I say, hoping he would drop the subject. Venezia is a sore spot for everyone, her betrayal cutting Lina the most.
As the women head to a separate area with the children – even Bianca, to my surprise – I take the opportunity to interrogate Sterling further.
"So what do you do, Sterling?" I school my features so he doesn't realize just how close I am to snapping. I don't even want to imagine him and my daughter... Yeah, that Pandora's box is best left unopened.
"I'm a TA in the economics department." He smiles at me warmly. There's just something about him... I can't put my finger on it, but he rubs me the wrong way.
"And how old are you?"
"Twenty-seven, sir." He answers. I try to calm myself.
"You realize my daughter's only nineteen. That's quite the age difference." I comment.
"She's going to be twenty next month, sir." That smile, again. "We love each other. I'd never do anything to harm her."
"I'll be watching you, Sterling. No one messes with my girl. Just remember that." I look him straight in the eyes as I say this, the threat reflected in my gaze. I would make it so his corpse is never recovered. Not whole, that is.
He grins. "I wouldn't dare, sir."
Both Enzo and Adrian have amused expressions on their faces, and when I raise an eyebrow at them they both shrug and tip their glasses.
Just as I'm about to continue to question him further, a gun goes off in the house.
"Fuck!" I mutter, running towards the source of the noise.
I told them to behave!
"YOU KNOW SHE WILL NOT break up with him just because you say so." I take off my robe before sliding in the bed next to Marcello. I snuggle close to him, placing my head on his chest.
"I don't like him. I find him suspicious. Why would a twenty-seven-year-old date a nineteen-year-old? It makes little sense unless he's taking advantage of her."
"Isn't Adrian eight years older than Bianca?" I ask, trying to put things into perspective.
It's not as if I'm any more delighted by Claudia's boyfriend, but I know how in love she is with him. She'd shared her feelings with me early on, and I'd advised her to go for it. She'd never looked at a boy before, so I thought he must be special. But Marcello is right in that Sterling is not exactly what we'd pictured. From what Claudia had described, we'd both imagined something like a misunderstood poet, an intellectual... The man we'd met looked like trouble; plain and simple.
"That's different." He mutters under his breath, even though he knows it's the same situation. From what I heard; Bianca had gotten involved with Adrian when she'd been nineteen too.
"I know this is the first time that our daughter is dating, but cut him some slack. Try to get to know him. I'm sure he can't be that bad if Claudia loves him so much."
"I'll try." He rolls his eyes. "That doesn't mean I approve." I tilt my head back to give him a peck on the lips.
"He's staying until the New Year, I'm sure you can find some common ground." Marcello grunts his disapproval but eventually relents.
"That also means no basement activity. We don't need anyone questioning odd noises." I reproach him.
"Of course. I would never do that with strangers in the house."
"Good." I whisper approvingly. "I have one last present for you." I stifle a smile as I watch his eyebrows furrow in confusion. I'd given him three presents already, but this one is completely different.
"What is it?" He looks at me seductively, and I can tell where his mind is going. Just as he reaches for me, I push him back.
I rummage under the bed and remove a small package.
"What's this?" He pulls himself into a sitting position and takes the package from my hands.
"Why don't you find out?"
He tears at the paper until he's holding a white embroidered baby jumpsuit.
"It's my new collection." I give him a hint. My fashion
line had taken off in the last few years. From starting out as a small online brand, I'm now a household name for women's apparel. This season, I'd expanded the line to baby clothing too, especially given my current condition.
"It's amazing, as always." He praises the garment and leans in for a kiss.
"That's not all." I add sheepishly.
"No?"
I grab his hand and place it on my stomach. His eyes immediately widen in understanding.
"Really?" He whispers, lowering his head and resting it on my belly.
"You promised me ten, mister." I thread my hands through his hair.
"I didn't think you'd hold me to that." Marcello chuckles, but he turns his head and presses his lips to where our little wonder is.
"Thank you." He whispers, lifting his head to gaze into my eyes. "Thank you for making me the luckiest man in the world."
THE END
(for now)
Afterword
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What's next?
The next book in the series, Morally Decadent, will feature Enzo Agosti. From Sicily to Malta to New York, Morally Decadent will be an enemies-to-lovers Indiana Jones style dark mafia romance.
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Keep reading for an excerpt from the prologue.
Morally Blasphemous: A Dark Mafia Romance (Morally Questionable Book 2) Page 36