by Bethany-Kris
Pulling the letter from his back pocket, Adriano cracked the wax seal and ripped open the corner. A cream colored paper rested inside. Opening it up, Adriano read the first few words.
Adriano,
Should this letter find you, my boy, then I have clearly failed.
And should this letter find you, then my end has been met.
I saw you two once, under the willow—
Before Adriano could read more of the words, the bathroom door was pushed open again, smacking him square in the back.
I saw you two once, under the willow …
Oh.
“Shit,” Adriano muttered.
He quickly shoved the letter inside the envelope and put it back inside his pocket. Stepping away from the door, he turned and pulled it open.
Alessa stood on the other side with wide eyes and a growing smile. Everything he needed was right there in those blue eyes.
Everything.
Being this close to Alessa reminded Adriano of how much he had missed her. Seeing her at the church and then the funeral wasn’t enough. He had needed to play a part on both those days and that hadn’t allowed for risks with her.
Alessa blinked.
Adriano kept holding the door open, waiting for someone to call her name and drag her away again.
No one did.
Familiar.
Home.
Love.
Like the old tune they were, Adriano could only think to say one thing. “Hey.”
Alessa smiled wider. “Hey.”
She wore a blue jumper that was loose around her frame, showed off her legs, and dangled down one of her dainty shoulders.
Young.
Beautiful.
Crazy.
They were so fucking crazy.
“I called and messaged you a dozen times. You didn’t answer me back,” Alessa said quietly.
“Broke my phone.”
“A house phone wouldn’t work?”
“Did you want a Conti number showing up on your phone if somebody grabbed it off you?” he asked.
Alessa frowned. “Point taken.”
“I have a burner, but you never did answer unknown numbers.”
“I might have,” Alessa said, “if I thought it was you, Adriano.”
“You couldn’t be sure.”
“Stop making excuses. I was worried.”
The indignant cock of Alessa’s brow tipped Adriano over the edge. He reached out, snagged both her wrists in his palms, and yanked her inside the bathroom without thinking about who might be watching in the hall.
Alessa came without argument.
Adriano kicked the bathroom door closed, hit the lock on the knob, and then pulled Alessa into his chest.
“Stupid man,” Alessa whispered.
“Crazy man,” Adriano growled.
It was all he could give before taking her mouth with his. The kiss was so forceful, so bruising, that Alessa’s quiet gasp echoed in the silent bathroom. Adriano pulled her closer still, wrapping his fingers in her flimsy jumper as her hands tangled up into his hair.
Hard and aching, Adriano’s cock dug into Alessa’s stomach. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. The friction of her toned midsection rubbing against his erection through his slacks did nothing to soothe the need pulsing through his body.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Adriano muttered, knowing how goddamn reckless this was.
He didn’t care.
“Let me touch you,” he said, licking at the corner of her mouth and down to her jaw. He hated her bruises and wanted to kiss them away. “Just one touch, Lissa. I need it.”
Needed her.
“Oh, God.”
Adriano was already tugging her jumper down her small frame, wanting to see her skin under his hands. He pulled the jumper all the way down to her waist and then yanked her bra straps over her shoulders, too, letting her tits spill out into his hands.
Tiny, pink nipples hardened under the pads of his thumbs. Adriano rolled his fingers over the rosy buds until Alessa was arching into his touch and backing into the sink.
“That’s more than one,” Alessa moaned.
“And taste and lick and fuck,” Adriano said gruffly, licking his lips.
She was beautiful in his hands. Perfection.
“I don’t have time for that, Adriano,” Alessa said, her air catching on the last word. “Shit, yeah.”
Adriano bent down and caught her right nipple between his teeth, tugging on the hardened bud and flattening his tongue over the top. He drove his hands down her stomach and under the jumper bunched around her waist to find satiny panties wet with her arousal.
“Christ, you’re always ready for me, Lissa.”
“Hot.”
“Hmm?”
“You get me hot,” she breathed.
Adriano lifted Alessa off the floor and set her ass on the sink counter. Digging his fingers into her round ass, he pulled her pussy into his hard dick and grinded his pelvis into her body. “Feel that, Lissa? That’s how fucking hot you get me.”
“Fuck.”
“I’d sure like to.”
“Wait,” Alessa said, sucking in a breath as she pulled away.
Adriano felt like he’d been burned. “What?”
“Wait a second.” Alessa leaned back, putting more space between them than he wanted. “Just … talk for a second. Talk, Adriano.”
“What?”
Way to turn into a fucking parrot, Adriano.
“I have to tell you something,” Alessa said, opening her palm to his chest, keeping him from leaning in again. “And I only have a few minutes before that asshole is going to come looking for me.”
“Dean.”
“Yeah.”
Adriano let out a disgusted, angry sound that came off a hell of a lot like a growl. “Fucking Christ.”
Alessa frowned. “I know.”
Instantly, he was cupping her face and running his thumbs over her sexy lips. “Stop that nonsense. Smile, Lissa. For me, you smile.”
She did.
“Perfect,” Adriano murmured. “Talk and be fast about it.”
“Hey!”
“Kidding.” He kissed her softly. “We can talk, Lissa. Nothing else.”
Alessa grinned. “Maybe I want to.”
Adriano groaned loud and deep. “Who’s wasting time now?”
“Fine. Your father didn’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“The bomb; Riley didn’t do it,” Alessa repeated.
Adriano froze, unsure of what he’d just heard. Everybody blamed his father for the bomb in Dino’s car. Even Adriano placed the blame on Riley. In fact, he’d even assumed Riley sent Evelina to the car because he thought maybe people wouldn’t think it was his fault if one of his own children was hurt in the incident, too.
Riley had been so adamant they go to the church that morning. He’d made a point of talking publically to Dino DeLuca.
“You’re sure?” Adriano asked.
Alessa nodded. “I heard Joel talking to Walter and Dean about it but I didn’t understand what he meant until it happened. And then Walter and Dean—”
“Went along with it,” Adriano interrupted. “That’s not surprising.”
“No. Well yes, but no.”
Adriano held onto Alessa’s waist a little tighter. “Explain.”
“Last night at dinner after the funeral, Joel was alone with Dean and …” Alessa trailed off, making a face.
“What, Lissa?”
“Chloe Belli, she was there with them both.”
The way Alessa’s voice dropped and her nose crinkled said more than she had to.
“Together? All of them?” Adriano asked.
“They were getting that way, but I got out of there fast.” Alessa shrugged. “They didn’t notice me but before I left, Joel said he was going to get Dean the button so he didn’t have to answer for what he did that night at the club.”
Cowards.
Adriano’
s rage flared again. The worry in Alessa’s gaze compounded hard in Adriano’s chest. He didn’t want to use her as some kind of middle man between their families, feeding him information. But she’d offered and now he had to use it however he could.
“Thank you,” Adriano said.
“Yeah?”
“So much, Lissa.”
Alessa’s smile was a sweet sight. “Love wins, Adriano.”
Well, theirs would.
“Kiss me,” she demanded. “Kiss me and touch me like you promised.”
“Time,” he reminded her.
“We have a little. Please?”
How could he deny her when she asked so nicely?
Adriano couldn’t.
Quickly, he stepped back and pulled Alessa off the counter. Before she could react, he turned her, slammed her hands to the countertop, and kissed a path down her spine. “Don’t fucking move, Lissa.”
Alessa squirmed under his hands. “What—”
“Don’t move those hands,” he warned.
“Okay.”
“One taste, sweet girl.” Adriano let go of her hands so he could pull the jumper down over her ass to her knees. Alessa’s ass, covered in black satin with a lace trim, was high in the air. He tugged her panties down with his teeth until they were at her knees, too. “I want one taste of you today. I want your come in my mouth. Does that sound good to you?”
Alessa’s legs trembled as Adriano bit into the swelled flesh of her ass. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, please.”
Adriano dropped to his knees, putting his face level with the sliver of her pussy and her beautiful, rounded ass. Using his hands to spread her ass cheeks, he could see the lips of her pussy were already wet with her sweet smelling arousal.
Her sex was pink, quivering, and the wider he spread her ass, the more he could see. Her tiny, pale clit poked out, begging to be nibbled and sucked.
“Fuck, Lissa,” Adriano said, a moan already building.
Christ.
He hadn’t even tasted her yet.
His mouth was already watering.
“You’re fucking beautiful, Lissa.”
“Mmm.” Alessa shook her ass, her hands slipping on the counter. “Please, Adriano.”
“Don’t move and fucking hell, try to be quiet.”
Alessa laughed softly. “I’ll try.”
“Do.”
Without warning, Adriano buried his face into her pussy and attacked her wet, hot slit with hard and fast strokes of his tongue. He nipped and sucked on the fleshy lips of her sex, drawing them into his mouth to clean off the juices soaking her pussy. Her tart flavor flooded his mouth and the moan he’d been holding back finally released, deep and dark.
“Christ … oh, fuck,” Alessa whispered.
She rode his face, backing her ass into his mouth as he found her clit and sucked it hard between his teeth. Using his tongue to drive hard into the pulsing little nub, Adriano could tell Alessa was already working toward a quick orgasm under his fucking.
He ate her like he was starved.
Because he was, for her.
Starved for her taste, the way she called his name, and how she shook when she came. Starved for the sweat beading down her spine, the sound of her fingernails digging into the counter, and the way she begged for more.
“Holy shit,” Alessa gasped.
Adriano was lost in her quiet, soft sounds. Her gentle whispers of there and just like that.
She kept her hands on the counter, holding tight like it was a lifeline.
“Come,” Adriano demanded against her clit. “Give it to me, Lissa. I want it, sweet girl.”
He let go of her ass with one hand, thrust two fingers up into her slippery sex, curled them roughly into her G-spot, and sucked her clit into his mouth hard again.
Alessa’s final cry was airless and choked.
It washed over his senses like liquid gold.
Not wanting to, but knowing he had no choice, Adriano kissed up Alessa’s ass and naked back, pulling her panties up as he went. Pulling out a few paper towels, he cleaned the arousal smeared on her thighs, before tossing the used tissues to the garbage can. He fixed her jumper without a word, tried to smooth the mess he’d made of her curls and then met her gaze in the mirror.
Her teeth had smudged her lipstick and her slivers of tears had messed her mascara. Alessa was out of breath and looking thoroughly fucked.
“I want more,” she whispered.
“Me, too.”
A sharp knock on the bathroom door, followed by Dean’s voice, snapped Adriano out of his daze.
“Come on, Alessa. Your brother is ready to leave,” Dean hollered through the door.
The handle jiggled, but Adriano knew the fool wouldn’t get in. Adriano had been smart enough to lock it, after all.
“Shit,” Alessa mumbled, her eyes wide with panic.
“Alessa!”
“Coming, just let me wash my hands,” Alessa shouted back.
Adriano reached over and flushed the toilet, giving more credibility to her words. The whoosh of the water drowned out their words for a moment.
“Crying,” Adriano said. “You were crying.”
It would work.
“I look like I just had sex,” Alessa hissed.
She did.
Adriano shrugged, turned on the water, and got his hands wet. He rubbed his thumbs under her eyes, wetting them like the water was more of her tears. It smeared her liner and mascara further, but it looked real.
“I need you to hold onto something for me,” Adriano said quietly.
Alessa’s brow furrowed. “What?”
Not once had he forgotten about the letter, but Adriano didn’t want to have it on him. He had a lot of work to do and there was less of a chance someone might notice it if he put it in safe keeping until he had time to handle it.
Ridiculous, maybe, but Adriano wasn’t taking the risk of his father finding it.
“This,” Adriano said, pulling out the letter. He tucked the folded envelope into the pocket of her jumper. “Keep it safe for me. Okay?”
“Okay,” Alessa said.
With his fingers to his lips, Adriano slid against the side of the wall. When the door was opened, it would keep him hidden from view and block him from the mirror.
“Love you,” he said with a wink.
Alessa gave him a fleeting smile, mouthed the words back, and flung open the door. She didn’t waste time leaving it open. Instead, she walked out to meet Dean, flicked off the light and closed the door as she stepped out.
Adriano could still hear their muffled conversation out in the hall, but it grew distant.
“That was fifteen minutes,” Dean grumbled.
“I—”
“Never mind, I can’t stand a crying female.”
Adriano chuckled when Alessa muttered, “You’re a dick.”
“Yes, but I’m going to be your fiancé soon,” Dean replied.
Alessa laughed sharply. “Only in words and only to you and Joel. I’m not yours and I’ll never be, Dean.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Don’t forget what I told you about what will happen if you see anything on me, asshole.”
That was his girl.
Alessa didn’t always realize it, but she was tough as fuck.
“They’re letting me out today,” Evelina said, smiling at her brother.
Evelina’s happiness was infectious. Adriano couldn’t help but smile back.
“I heard. That’s why I’m here. Waiting for the okay to steal you away.”
Adriano wasn’t used to seeing his sister sad and in a hospital bed.
It fucking sucked.
“You don’t have to be here. Dad will send someone to get me. I know you’ve got work … or whatever.”
Adriano rolled his eyes. “The Outfit. I have the Outfit, a bruised up sister, and a father that won’t get off my ass.”
“How did the Will
thing go yesterday?” Evelina asked. “Dad didn’t say much about it when he visited last night.”
Adriano shrugged, flipping his cell phone over and over in his hands. He’d finally gotten the damn thing back that morning before running over to get Evelina from the hospital. “It went okay.”
“Just okay?”
“Went without issue,” he informed his sister. “Dad and Joel passed one another by with the usual glares. Dad reminded Joel about a sit-down this coming Friday.”
“And Dean?” Evelina asked.
Adriano snorted. “He’s still alive.”
Evelina grabbed her brother’s hand, stopping his fidgeting. “For now, Adriano.”
“Hey,” Adriano said, arching a brow at Evelina. “Don’t worry about the Outfit’s affairs, huh?”
“Why, because I’m a girl and I don’t matter unless someone wants to marry me off?”
Adriano turned his sister’s hand over in his and squeezed. “No, because you ended up in a hospital bed, and you’ve got far more important things to worry about.”
Evelina smiled that smile of hers again. “Oh, like what?”
“Maybe moving into the spare room in my apartment.”
“Dad—”
“Agrees that you need some time to relax. Trying to stay out of his way, the Outfit, and now you had to drop your summer classes … it’s a lot, Eve.”
Evelina sighed. “I wouldn’t mind staying at your place for a while.”
“Great.”
Adriano could keep an eye on his sister and make sure she was away from their father’s ridiculousness as the pressure on the Outfit increased at the same time.
A knock on the hospital door interrupted the siblings’ conversation. Adriano was stunned to see his father standing in the doorway and a familiar woman behind him.
Lily Rossi offered a small wave to a quiet Evelina. Lily didn’t look like she wanted to be standing anywhere near Riley and really, Adriano didn’t blame the girl. After all, Riley was the one being blamed for Lily’s brother’s death. It had only been three days since the bombing.
Fresh wounds had a way of bleeding easier than others.
“Hey,” Lily said, stepping past Riley into the hospital room.
Evelina chewed on her cheek and shot Adriano a questioning look.