Francisco’s eyes roamed my face until they traveled lower in a perusal of my entire body. This time the shiver was of a different variety, and I could feel my heart starting to beat in a way I wasn’t sure my chest could contain.
It felt sexual.
When his eyes made their way back up to mine, he said, “Because you’re mine, Fiore.”
My ears rushed with blood and my head felt cloudy with words I was sure I misunderstood. “Excuse me?” I managed to get out, but my voice was low, raspy, and unsure.
Francisco reached out and twirled a strand of my brown hair around his finger. His eyes never leaving mine. “You’re mine, Fiore,” he repeated. “You’ve always been mine.”
Panic started to grip me. My ears heard him just fine, but my mind couldn’t register what he meant. “What does that mean, Benetti?” He dropped the strand and took a step back. But, even then, his presence still felt imposing. He was almost a foot taller than I was, and twice as wide. He could crush me if he had a mind to.
“It means that when I was twelve, Dad pull me aside and told me I could do what I wanted, but the end game was you and me. Married.”
All the air left my lungs.
He was lying.
He had to be lying.
I shook my head. “You’re lying,” I accused.
One black brow lifted. “When have I ever lied to you, Fiore?”
No.
I refused to believe it.
“No way,” I told him. “There’s no way…there’s no way our parents would arrange that without telling me.” Francisco didn’t comment. He just remained stony. “My parents…”
“It was arranged way before we were even born, Fiore,” he said. “We were always going to end up together.”
“No,” I replied, a little more forceful this time. “There’s no way my parents wouldn’t have told me. Or asked me.”
“No?” he taunted.
And then, I remembered.
I remembered the night I took Trent Hendricks’ life.
I had always found it odd that my father hadn’t been the one to drive me over, or even Uncle Luca. I had been surprised when it had been Francisco who picked me up, but I figured it was just part of his growing process within the organization.
“That night…” I whispered, anguish at everyone’s betrayal clear in those two words.
His nod was sharp and confirming. “That’s the reason I was the one who drove you to the funhouse.”
Anger was making my vision foggy. “It’s the reason you were the one who…”
He smirked, and I wanted to claw the look off his face. “The reason I was the one who took care of you afterwards?” He posed it like a question, but that’s exactly what he had done. He had taken care of me, and in more ways than one.
This was the first time we’ve ever spoken about that night. It was the first time we’ve addressed what happened between us, and, suddenly, I was hurt enough to turn his help into an act of betrayal.
“Is that why you fucked me that night?” I lashed out. “You had your property naked, and so why not take what you’d been given when you were twelve?”
His lip curled, and he looked pissed. “I fucked you because you needed to be fucked,” he growled. “You had been out of your mind with violent emotions you couldn’t control or understand, Fiore. And since I didn’t have another body handy for you to destroy, I gave you another way to exercise those vicious emotions.” He stepped to me, and anger lined every curve of his stunning face. “And don’t act like you didn’t like it,” he snapped. “You came all over my dick even after you were bleeding all over it.” I wanted to rail at him, but he wasn’t lying. I had cum all over him, and more than once. “You let me fuck you like an animal because you trusted me to give you what you needed. Don’t downplay what happened between us.”
I was hurt.
I was angry.
I felt betrayed and insignificant.
I was enraged, and I was nowhere close to done.
“Really?” I sneered. “Well, then, if I’m yours and what we did that night was so damn special, where have you been since then, when other men have been fucking me?”
I never saw it coming.
His hand was around my throat and my body was bent over the back of the couch. My hands shot up and latched onto his wrist, wondering if he was going to kill me.
But, instead, he went right for where it hurts most for women. “I’ve been busy fucking other women.”
The bottom of my stomach fell out, and, in that moment, I knew true hate. Francisco Benetti was a fucking asshole, and there was no way I was going to marry him.
Tears sprang up behind my eyes, and they were a combination of everything I was feeling. “Get out,” I spewed. “Get the fuck out of my apartment, Benetti.”
“Not on your life, Fiore,” he flung back.
He had no idea who he was messing with.
Chapter 8
Francisco~
The words had felt like poison on my tongue, but it hurt like a sonofabitch to be reminded that other men have experienced her when it should have only been me. And it hurt like a motherfucker to know that it was all by my own hand. I should have stepped up to our parents and done the right thing for us instead of the sensible thing for them.
“You are mine,” I repeated. “And it doesn’t matter if you want to be or not, Fiore. It’s been decided.” And because I seemed to be the only one who didn’t underestimate this woman, I let go of her neck and caught her fist coming at me from the right.
But it didn’t stop there.
Saveria came after me with everything our fathers had ever taught her, and I was doing my best to deflect every debilitating blow without hurting her. There was no crying or screaming or carrying on. Saveria was fighting me like the skilled fighter she was.
She was fucking glorious.
Furniture turned over. Lamps shattered across the floor. Paintings fell from the walls. And the only reason Mica wasn’t in here putting a bullet through my head was because I had met with him before knocking on the door, letting him know things might get ugly. I knew Dante wasn’t home, so I wasn’t worried about us dancing around on his ceiling, causing him concern.
It wasn’t until I noticed the glass everywhere that I finally put a stop to it. She was going to get hurt, and I couldn’t have that.
I caught her wrist and wrapped my other arm around her waist. I slammed her on the couch, and because I was twice her height and probably three times her weight, she was no match for me once I covered her body with mine, pinning her to the cushions.
Saveria still fought like a wildcat, but she couldn’t buck me with all my weight pressed down on top of her. I waited her out, and soon she quit struggling. Her chest was heaving, and her face was red, but I’d bet that was more from anger than physical exertion. Like the rest of us, she’d been trained to fight proper, and she had the stamina to back up the moves.
I looked down into a face too beautiful to be mortal and asked, “Are you done?”
“Get off me,” she seethed.
I knew it was a wrong move, but I was still pissed, and this girl was a warrior. If I didn’t exert my dominance on her, she’d walk all over me. “I don’t think so,” I replied. “And you should probably get used to this view, baby, because we’re going to be in this position almost every fucking night if I have anything to say about.”
If I hadn’t had her hands pinned above her head, she’d claw my eyes out, no doubt. “I’m not marrying you, Benetti,” she spat. “You’re out of your mind if you think I am.”
“It’s me or it’s no one,” I told her plainly. “If you refuse to marry me, then you can kiss your dreams of children goodbye.” I knew she wanted kids. I’ve known it since we were little when she used to play dress up with her dolls.
“Get off me,” she demanded again, ignoring how much of a dick I was being.
Then, to prove my point home, I wedged my hips in between her legs, forcin
g her shirt to ride up. Her panties were her only shield of protection against anything I wanted to do to her. I pushed up, and if I thought she looked hateful before, she looked like she loathed me now.
I leaned down and nipped at her chin. “I don’t think so.”
Her voice sounded like icicles dripping with contempt. “I thought you had other women for this.” In that moment, I knew I was going to regret ever saying such a thing to her for the rest of my life. She was never going to let go of those words, and I had no one to blame but myself.
I pulled back and looked into those rare-colored eyes of hers and told her the truth. “I did. But I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you, Fiore.” I purposely used the word ‘did’, so she’d know I was done with that shit. She was going to be my wife, and she was the only woman I would ever fuck again.
“Well, that’s just too damn bad,” she tossed back. “If you think you’re the best I’ve ever had, you’re wrong, Benetti. And I won’t settle for mediocre for the rest of my life.” Things were getting uglier by the second as she kept going straight for my balls. “I want to marry a man,” she continued. “Preferably, one who knows how to fuck.”
I wanted to kill her, but I knew she was only reacting to my barb about fucking other women. I fucking knew it, but her words still left their marks.
I pinned her wrists with one hand as the other reached down in between our bodies. “You need me to prove how good I am with my dick, Fiore?”
Her eyes widened, and she started bucking again. “Get off me.”
I ignored her.
Instead, I lifted my hips to make room for my hand, and I slipped two fingers inside the gusset of her panties. She was dry, but she wouldn’t be for long.
“Stop it!” she hissed. “Get off me!”
I leaned down until my lips were at her ear. “Don’t think you can ever challenge my manhood, and not pay the consequences, Fiore.”
My fingers started their journey through her plump folds, and soon they were sliding though. Saveria’s body was reacting to my touch, and my dick started throbbing painfully.
“I hate you,” she whispered with more passion than I’d ever seen before.
“I know,” I told her because I did know. Her hate was very real in this moment, but so was her arousal.
My teeth nipped at her jaw as I slid two fingers into her wet pussy. I almost groaned, but this was a battle of the wills right now. This wasn’t about how turned on I was. This was about proving to her that there’s more between us than an arrangement made by our parents so long ago. This was about proving to her that she wasn’t an assignment for me. I needed her to know that I wanted her despite that stupid betrothal.
I closed my eyes and whispered a silent thanks to God when Saveria’s hips moved to draw my fingers in deeper. “You like that, baby?”
“Benetti…”
My teeth clenched. I didn’t want her calling me Benetti. I wanted her to scream my first name. I wanted her to breathe it like a prayer the way she did that first night. I wanted us to be Francisco and Saveria, not Benetti and Fiore.
“Fuck, your pussy’s tight around my fingers, Ria,” I groaned against her lips. “I can’t wait to feel it wrapped around my cock again.”
She started moaning, and my fingers started getting sloppy. I pulled them out to play with her clit, her folds, her entrance…everywhere. I even dipped them lower to spread some of her cream across her tight puckered ass. When I went to fill her up again, I slid three fingers in her cunt. Her body bowed, but this time, it wasn’t to buck me off.
“That’s it, baby,” I coaxed “Cum on my hand.”
“Don’t do this,” she begged. “I’ll hate you even more, Benetti.”
I wanted to tell her that her level of hate didn’t matter. If she wasn’t going to love me, what did I care if she hated me a little or a lot?
Plus, I had three fingers deep inside her, and she was still calling me Benetti.
“I don’t care,” I told her truthfully. “I’m not stopping until you give me what I want, Fiore.”
I pumped my fingers into her deeper and her body started surrendering to the sensations of being penetrated and played with. Even our harsh breaths were doing nothing to drown out the wetness of her arousal. I wanted to whip my dick out and fuck her senseless, but I knew I couldn’t. This was a battle of manipulation, and I had to come out on top.
I fucking had to.
“Come on,” I whispered against her neck. “Give me what I want.”
“No,” she hissed, hating how her body was betraying her.
“Cum on my hand,” I commanded. “Cum all over my hand, so I can lick my fingers clean and have the taste of your pussy on my tongue all day.” She started thrashing around. “Cum for me, Saveria.”
“Oh, God,” she yelled as her cunt clamped down on my fingers and tremors wracked her beautiful body. “Oh, God…”
I finger fucked her through the shocks of her release, and when her body finally quieted to a slow twitch, I pulled my fingers from her soaked pussy, leaned back, and made sure she got an eyeful as I slowly licked my fingers clean of her cream.
She tasted of Heaven.
I wanted nothing more than to shove my face in her pussy and eat her out until she came again. I wanted to tongue fuck her cunt and nibble on her clit. I wanted to run my tongue over every secret she had, and I wanted to spread her wide until my tongue circled around that tight ass of hers. I wanted to be so thorough, I could identify her pussy in the dark and blindfolded.
When her body finally stopped twitching, I let her push me off her. She jumped off the couch and stepped back until what was left of the coffee table was standing between us. Saveria had her arms wrapped around her waist, and she looked…wrecked.
“Get out,” she said, her voice cold and distant.
I stood up, and the second I did, Saveria went from wrecked to incensed. She went from looking like a victim to looking like a warrior.
We were both in our battle stance, facing each other down.
“If you hadn’t just cum all over my hand, I might have let you out of the marriage,” I lied. The first lie I’ve ever told her. “But since it’s not a matter of attraction, everything else can be worked out.”
Her prism-colored eyes burned with hate. “Don’t flatter yourself, Benetti,” she said scathingly. “It’s been a while since I’ve been laid. It could have easily been Geno’s hand, had my father not shown up last night.”
I could feel the heat of possessiveness creep up my neck. “Mention his name to me one more time, Fiore-just one more time-and I will fucking kill him. I will take him to the funhouse and make you watch,” I promised. “Don’t test me on this.”
Her hands balled into fists at her sides. “Get the fuck out of my house,” she growled.
This wasn’t getting us anywhere. “I’m leaving, Fiore,” I told her. “But this isn’t over.”
Saveria lifted her chin. “We’ll see about that.”
I left, slamming the door behind me, before I fucking killed her.
Chapter 9
Saveria~
The humiliation felt like I was asphyxiating on my pride.
I could barely stand to look at myself as I recalled how my body gave into his demands. I said some horrible things to Francisco, but I couldn’t lie to myself. If he had approached me the day after I killed Trent Hendricks, I would have thrown myself in his arms and promised him whatever he wanted. I was attracted to him and there were no secrets between us.
Well, except for the one.
When I had texted Mom asking her where dad was, she couldn’t have replied with a better answer. Apparently, Dad was having a meeting at Uncle Luca’s, and Uncle Ciro was with them too. I had let myself in and headed straight for Uncle Luca’s office.
The door was open, so it denied me the chance at a theatrical entrance, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to need it.
I stormed into Uncle Luca’s office, all three men sit
ting at the small conference table in the corner, looking over some papers that were spread on top.
“Is it true?” I demanded, and all three heads turned my way. “Is it fucking true?!”
I watched as the men I loved most in the world stood up, guilt written all over their faces.
“Ria-” my dad started to say.
“No!” I snapped. “I want a yes or a no, Dad. Is it true? Did you guys promise me to Francisco?” I watched him straighten to his full height and my legs almost gave out on me.
It was true.
I started shaking my head. “How…how could you?” My eyes found each man. “How…why would you guys do something like this to me?”
“Ria, Francisco is a good man,” Uncle Ciro said, trying to ease into this conversation.
“I don’t want a good man!” I yelled.
“Luca!” Uncle Luca snapped. “What a thing to say.”
“There are good men everywhere,” I snapped. “They exist anywhere you look. They might not have lots of money, or be society’s idea of good-looking, but there are good men everywhere.” My eyes darted from man to man, hoping they could see what I was feeling. “I don’t want that. I want more, and you guys took that from me.”
“What are you talking about, Ria?” Dad asked.
The tears started, but I didn’t care. “I want a man who is going to look at me like you look at Mom, Dad.” I looked over at Uncle Ciro. “I want a man who has to touch me every time I’m in the room the way you never stop touching Aunt Robbie.” I looked over at Uncle Luca. “I want a man who exists only for me, the way you do for Aunt Remy.” I swiped at the tears that were falling. “I’ve spent my entire life surrounded by real life fairy tales, and for what? To show me what I’ll never have?”
“Luca, Francisco will be good to you,” Uncle Luca insisted.
I choked out an angry laugh. “Oh, just what every girl wants; a man who will treat her right because his daddy told him he better.”
“Saveria, you know better than that,” Dad bit out, clearing not knowing how to handle my spiraling emotions.
The Vatican: (Standalone) (The Holy Trinity Series Book 5) Page 5