He added a second finger, and then a third, stretching her, filling her, making her burn. He pumped his fingers swiftly, matching his rhythm to the frantic movement of her hips. She was climbing, climbing, desperate for the peak that still hovered out of reach.
And then he pulled away. She gasped at the fierce ache of unmet desire.
“I want to feel you come, bella. Open for me. Spread your legs and let me in.” He pushed her legs apart with a rough shove of his thigh, and thrust his cock deep inside her, angling her hips so he could seat himself fully inside.
“You feel so good, Nico.” She shuddered as her inner walls stretched to accommodate him, her body tight, muscles tense and desperate for release.
“And you have the softest, sweetest, wettest, most fuckable little cunt.” He leaned over her, his hard body pressed against her back as he moved slowly inside her. He was everywhere. His lips on her skin, his body over her, dominating, protecting, his cock filling her so completely, they were one person, not two.
She spread her legs to take him deeper, pushed against the hand pinning her wrists to test her bonds. But he held her fast, held her safe, took the control she had given him and used it to drive her pleasure. “You’re mine.” He reached over her hip and pressed his thumb over her clit, circling and rubbing until she was frantic with need.
“Say it.” He pressed his lips to her ear. “I want to hear you say it. Tell me you’re mine. My wife.”
Her orgasm hit her in a rush of white-hot heat, streaming through her veins to her fingers and toes, ripping a guttural scream from her throat. But she didn’t say the words he wanted to hear. Yes, she was his wife, but she didn’t belong to him, couldn’t belong to him. Because all of this, everything they had in this moment, wouldn’t last. For now they were together, hidden and safe in her apartment. When they walked out the door, they would be swallowed up by the bitter feud between their families.
A price would have to be paid. And it would tear them apart.
*
Nico’s phone buzzed just as Mia stepped into the shower.
“It’s Luca. I’m outside.”
“Gimme a minute.” Nico collected his clothing, strewn about the apartment, and quickly dressed. With all the high-tech surveillance equipment now available to law enforcement, his crew couldn’t use their phones except for the most basic of calls. Everything else had to be dealt with in person.
He nodded to Mikey Muscles as he stepped outside into the crisp morning air. Luca waited across the street, leaning against his vehicle while two guards patrolled the block. Frankie had gone overboard with the security. He wasn’t taking any chances.
“Let’s take a walk.”
“What’s up?” Nico’s eyes darted from side to side as they made their way down the street. When he returned to the apartment he would insist Mia pack up and move to his hotel. This area wasn’t safe, and the farther they walked the more rundown and dangerous things became. He recognized the tags of two different street gangs on the crumbling brick walls, spotted a drug dealer he knew, and a couple of Albanians looking like they were about to cause a lot of trouble.
“I got a copy of the police report on the Wolf,” Luca said. “His body was found in a vacant lot near the Spaghetti Bowl. He was wearing a Sicilian necktie. Was that us?”
“Cristo.” Now, fully awake, he gave Luca his full attention. Cosa Nostra only used that method of assassination—slitting the victim’s throat and pulling his tongue through the hole—to send a message if they thought the victim was a rat.
“I left him half dead. Not fully dead. Although I didn’t expect him to survive. Someone else must have found him.” He stopped at the corner, allowing the guards behind them to catch up. He wasn’t afraid of getting whacked. No one would dare. The guards were more for show and so Frankie could have a break from following him around.
“So what? You think he was a rat and the Cordanos used the opportunity to whack him and blame us? Their own consigliere?”
“It’s what I would do.” He didn’t want to think about a day where Luca or Frankie or even Big Joe betrayed him. Mercy was for the weak, and he couldn’t afford a repeat of the mercy he had shown Don Cordano the night of the massacre.
“So the fucking Cordanos owe us for finding their rat.”
Nico chuckled. “I took their daughter. I’d say we’re even.”
“But you’re just using her to get to Don Cordano.” Luca followed Nico across the street. “Wasn’t that the plan? I mean, the goal has always been to whack the bastard who killed your father and take your place as head of the family.”
Nico gave a noncommittal answer, and they walked a few yards down the block. Last night, it had been easy to make the promise to Mia to spare her father. But now, in the light of day, with the expectations of his entire crew reflected in Luca’s face, and yet more evidence of the brutality of Don Cordano, who was a threat to Mia as long as he drew a breath, Nico wondered if it was a promise he could truly keep.
“We’d better get moving on that plan,” Luca persisted. “I got intel that Don Cordano is in New York right now. Three guesses why he’s there, other than getting their blessing for a big fat Italian wedding that’s going to be mysteriously missing a bride.”
Nico didn’t need three guesses. If Tony and Mia had married, Nico would have been considered a threat to the stability of the alliance. New York didn’t like instability of any kind, and Don Cordano would have had no trouble getting their consent to whack him.
“We’ll need to go public sooner rather than later.” Nico had wanted to keep their union secret as long as possible, not just to give him time to break the news to the Scozzaris and smooth out the political situation, but because he wanted to keep Mia to himself, unburdened and untainted by the traditional expectations put on Mafia wives.
“Whaddya gonna do?” Luca snorted a laugh. “Take out an ad?”
“I’m going to do what everyone does after they elope.” His stomach clenched. “We’ll go meet the parents.”
“And is that when you’re gonna pop Don Cordano?”
Nico couldn’t answer. He hadn’t decided yet if he was going to whack the bastard or if he would shake his hand.
TWENTY-ONE
Mia’s hand shook as she pushed open the front door to the family home.
“Don’t talk,” she said to Nico over her shoulder.
“Not unless I’m asked a question.” He straightened his tie and smoothed his jacket before following her inside. Luca and Frankie joined them in the hallway along with the three armed Cordano guards who had followed them up the walk after patting them all down for weapons.
“Don’t overreact. Dante’s not the bad guy here. He might act a little officious because he’s in charge while Papà is away, but he’s nothing like my father.”
Nico’s jaw tightened, and she could see his pulse throb in his neck. “He beat and branded your sister, caused you to suffer, and didn’t intervene when your father tried to force you to marry my cousin.”
Mia turned to face him as one of the guards closed the door. “I know you can keep your cool under pressure. You saw my Dodgers tattoo, and I’m still alive.”
Nico pressed his lips together. “If he touches you, or hurts you in any way, or if he says anything…”
She took a deep breath, and then another. “Maybe we should have met with your family first. I have a feeling this isn’t going to go very well.”
“It’s traditional to meet with the bride’s family first,” Nico pointed out.
“It’s not traditional to elope.” Mia sighed. “At least my father isn’t here. He’s not due back from New York until the end of the week.”
“Mia, darling.” Mia’s mother walked toward them. She wore a cream sheath trimmed with gold, her hair perfectly coiffed, gold jewelry sparkling on her fingers. Impeccably dressed, as usual. “You didn’t tell me you were coming to visit.” She kissed Mia’s cheeks. “Is Kat with you?” Her face fell when she saw Nic
o and his crew by the door. “You didn’t tell me we were having company.”
“This is Nico.” She hesitated, unsure how her mother was going to take the news. “Nico Toscani.”
When Mama didn’t react, she continued to babble. “We’re married. I married him. I have a ring.” She held up her hand, but her mother still didn’t move.
“Mama?”
“He’ll kill you.” Mama’s face twisted in horror. “This time your father will kill you. How could you do this, Mia? It will be a matter of honor. You were promised to Tony Toscani.”
Mia felt Nico’s warm hand against her back, a small gesture of support that gave her strength. “He is a Toscani. He’s Tony’s cousin. Papà agreed to give the Toscanis a Cordano woman, and we’ve honored that agreement, but in a way I chose.”
Mama’s eyes went wide with shock and her face paled. “Dio mio. Tell me you’re joking. Nico Toscani? And is he here to…?” She backed away. “Your father isn’t here.”
“He’s just here to meet you and Dante, Mama. He isn’t going to kill anyone. He’s very civilized.”
Nico chuckled and leaned in to kiss Mama’s cheeks. “Piacere di conoscerla—It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“E Lei—And you,” Mia’s mother said stiffly, but there was no warmth in her voice.
“I called Dante’s office and they said he was here. Is he in the study?” Mia had mixed feelings about introducing Nico to Dante, mostly guilt. Although Dante had done some terrible things, he was still her brother, and she had sworn to take his secret to the grave. But she felt sick hiding the truth from Nico. From what she had seen, Nico was a loyal, honorable man and breaking his trust was probably the one thing that he would never forgive.
Mia’s mother’s face smoothed to its usual implacable mask, and she transformed from horrified parent into the perfect hostess in a heartbeat. She clearly had more to say, but she was too polite to express her views in front of Nico.
“Yes, he is. Would your guests like to eat? I can make a little something.”
Of course Nico and his men perked up at the offer of Italian home cooking, but Mia wanted to get in and out of the house as fast as possible. She’d never seen her mother react to a situation with anything less than perfect decorum, and it put her on edge.
“Not today. I just wanted to see Dante, and then we have to go.” She took a step forward, and Mama grabbed her arm, drew her aside. “Is Kat safe? Where is she? I want to talk to her.”
Disconcerted by her mother’s harsh whisper and the firm grip on her arm, she pulled away. “She’s fine. And safe. Much safer than here at home where she has no one to protect her.”
Her mother glanced over at Nico and Luca, engaged in conversation, and lowered her voice. “There was nothing I could do.”
“There was never anything you could do.” Mia had never confronted her mother about her failure to protect her children from Papà’s abuse before, and she was shocked at her own bitterness.
Mia’s mother tugged her around the corner, and pain flickered across her face. “I felt every scream like a knife through my heart. I know you thought I wasn’t there for you, that I was weak, and maybe that is part of the reason you are so committed to empowering women. But women can be strong in many different ways. Every obstacle doesn’t need to be met head on. There were times I burnt a meal or broke a vase so he would turn his anger on me instead of you. I tried hard to keep him happy to keep you safe. Every minute of the day I spent trying to think of ways to keep you out of the house, to dissuade you from doing something I knew would anger him, to protect you the only way I could.”
Shocked, Mia could only stare. “You could have taken us away. You could have stood up to him.”
“If I’d taken you away he would have found us. You know that,” Mama admonished. “And if I’d stood up to him, he would have killed me. After you all were born and I started to age, I was of no real use to him except to entertain his guests. I thought about it many times, but who would have protected you when I was gone? I stayed for you, to protect you, to help you find a way to be free.”
Mia’s heart sank to her stomach, and her words came out in a horrified whisper. “I didn’t know.”
“I didn’t want you to know.” Her mother twisted her bracelet around her wrist. “I’m not telling you to make you feel bad. I did what any mother would do. But never think a woman isn’t strong because you can’t see her fight. There is as much strength in enduring as there in engaging. There is strength in picking your battles and knowing when to walk away. There is strength in accepting your limitations and letting someone help you. A strong woman becomes strong because of the pain she has faced and won, because of the battles she has fought that no one sees, by falling down and getting back up again, by smiling in the morning like she wasn’t crying last night. My biggest regret is that I didn’t teach you that. You thought I had abandoned you when, in fact, I was behind you, supporting you, every step of the way.”
“Mama…” Mia’s voice cracked, broke, and she wrapped her mother in a hug.
“If this is real, then I’m happy because you’ll be safe,” Mama murmured in her ear. “But don’t push him away. Some battles we can’t fight alone.” She kissed Mia on the cheek and pulled away. “I’ll go make a little something for your guests. If we don’t have a chance to talk before you leave, let Kat know I miss her.”
“I will, Mama.” Her anger subsided as quickly as it had flared, the empty space filling with admiration instead. “She misses you, too.”
She joined Nico in the foyer and led him down the hall to her father’s study with his men, and her father’s guards taking up the rear.
“It’s going pretty well,” Nico whispered. “Maybe afterwards we can see your bedroom.” He pinched her ass and Mia slapped his hand away while Luca and Frankie chuckled behind them.
“Behave. We still have to deal with Dante.”
Nico’s smile faded to be replaced a scowl. “He won’t touch you. No one will touch you. No one will hurt you. You are my wife, and I will protect you with my last dying breath.”
Mia laughed despite her anxiety. “You should be in the movies. Who talks like that? We’ve only been married for three days.”
“I do.”
She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I like it. Despite my commitment to empowering women, part of me still likes the whole alpha male gonna-protect-you thing. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But save it for when you mean it.”
“I mean it now, bella. Have no doubt you are safe with me.”
Mia knocked before pushing open the door. Dante sat alone at her father’s desk, a stack of files in front of him. Rev, stood nearby, his pumped, muscular body straining his blue silk shirt, short thick neck circled by a heavy gold chain. He gave her a lascivious look as she walked across the room, his leering gaze travelling down her body and back to her breasts. Nico growled softly behind her, and she cleared her throat in warning in case Nico pounced.
Dante looked up and his face twisted in a snarl as he registered the Toscani crew standing in front of him. “What’s he doing here? What the fuck are the Toscanis doing in our house?”
Rev yanked Dante from his seat. “Behind me, Mr. Cordano. I’ll rid this house of the Toscani scum.”
“It’s okay.” Mia held up her hands. “We’re not here to cause problems. We just came to let you know we’re married.”
“Married?” Shock, then horror crossed Dante’s face and his voice rose to a shriek. “What the fuck do you mean? You were supposed to marry Tony Toscani. That was the agreement. Are you stupid? How did you marry the wrong man? Or is this just a sham marriage to get out of the agreement with Tony?”
Nico took a menacing step forward, and Mia put a warning hand on his arm.
“I married a man I chose. A man I care about. I’ve honored the family agreement as well, so come out from behind the desk and properly greet my husband.” She felt curiously defensive about Nico a
nd realized she had inadvertently revealed her true feelings about him when she had tried to justify their marriage to Dante. She cared about him. A lot. She just hoped Nico hadn’t caught that little slip.
“What have you done?” Dante’s eyes darted from side to side, as if he were looking to escape, and sweat beaded on his forehead.
Mia opened her mouth to assure him Nico meant no harm, but closed it when she realized what he was truly afraid of, a truth she had sworn to take to her grave.
“Dante. I haven’t…”
“Rev.” Dante’s voice was panicked as he stepped away from the desk, shoving Rev in front of him. Rev yanked a gun from his holster, and within a heartbeat, Nico had shoved Mia behind his back.
“We didn’t come here to fight.” Nico’s voice was calm and even. “We’re unarmed. Your guards took our weapons before we came to the house.”
“Papà will kill you both,” Dante said from behind Rev’s back. “You’ve made the biggest mistake of your life, Mia.”
Mia cringed at his cowardice. If her mother had truly taken beatings to protect them all, then Dante had been hiding all his life. Even now he hid behind his bodyguard in front of an unarmed man. She didn’t have to look at Nico and his men to see how little they respected Dante, because she had lost what little respect she had for him when he whipped Kat with his belt. He was spineless and weak, and if something happened to their father, the family wouldn’t survive with Dante in charge.
“You won’t even shake the hand of your brother-in-law?” Luca snorted in disgust. “You disrespect him. You disrespect your family. You disrespect the Toscani family. And you disrespect your sister.”
Nico assessed Dante with a cool gaze. “This won’t be forgotten.”
Mia shot Nico an irritated glance. “You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” She muttered under her breath. “You just had to threaten him.”
Despite the tense and potentially volatile situation, Nico’s lips quirked ever so slightly at the corners. “It’s who I am.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “We’re done here.”
“Wait.” Dante came out from behind Rev’s back. “It’s not easy to put aside a vendetta that has lasted ten years, especially when it’s directed at my father.” He looked over at Mia. “This marriage is for real?”
Nico Page 24