by Cora Reilly
His mouth pressed against my ear. “Didn’t I tell you to stop wearing those over-the-knee socks and ridiculous dresses?”
I met his gaze, grinding myself against him, chasing the pleasure even as my body fought to accommodate Cassio’s length. “Is this my punishment?” My lips teased up into a challenging smile.
Cassio’s grip on me tightened as he thrust up again, driving me against the wall. I dug my heels into his lower back. “No, honey,” he rasped, and that word warmed me like hot cocoa. “It’s a warning.”
I laughed. It wasn’t a good one. The words never left my lips because Cassio started pounding into me, harder and deeper than before, forcing my body to yield to him, and it did. Soon I was so slick around him, the wet sound of our bodies joining filled the hallway. Cassio’s harsh kiss swallowed my cries of release when I came in a violent shudder. He lowered me to the floor and my legs almost gave out. “Down,” he ordered.
My eyes flashed up in indignation at the demand, but his dominant expression and the primal hunger in his eyes spoke to a part of me that definitely didn’t mind his commanding attitude. I dropped to my knees.
His fingers tangled in my hair as he took my mouth.
I kept my eyes on his face, loving to watch him let loose.
Afterward, he pulled me up to my feet, tilting my head up. “Okay or too hard?”
I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my face into the crook of his neck, touched by the consideration in his voice. I was slightly sore and would probably continue to feel that way until tomorrow, but it felt good in a naughty way, as if Cassio had left his mark inside of me.
“Giulia?” The low rumble of his voice penetrated my thoughts. “Too hard?”
I shook my head with a small sigh. He cupped the back of my head then pressed a kiss to my crown. The gesture was so loving, it kindled emotions in me I was scared to allow. After all, this was a marriage of convenience before all else. I didn’t want to love him before he loved me.
What a silly thing to think. As if you could postpone your love until it was convenient. I pulled back and allowed him to lead me into the bedroom.
Later in bed, I snuggled against Cassio, my cheek on his chest, his fingers tracing my upper arm. We had already extinguished the lights and were trying to fall asleep. From the lingering alertness in Cassio’s body, I knew he wasn’t anywhere close to sleep. “You can’t with me in your arms, right?”
I didn’t want to sound hurt, but I did.
Cassio paused in his stroking, his ribcage expanding under my head in a sigh. “Let’s see. I promised you I’d try.”
“Okay. Like you’ll try to trust me.”
Silence followed. He was trying. I couldn’t ask for more.
“Did Daniele say anything yet?”
“No,” I said. “He communicates with nods. His birthday is in two weeks, right?”
“Yeah. Three years. I still remember when I first held him.”
“I saw a photo of a newborn. They don’t look very cute with all the grime on them.”
“He was already cleaned when I held him the first time a few hours after he was born.”
“Don’t the nurses hand the baby over to their parents right after birth?”
“I wasn’t there when Daniele was born.”
“Oh, work?” I guessed.
Tension radiated from Cassio, and I knew it hadn’t been that. “Gaia preferred to give birth alone.”
I was glad the darkness hid my expression. Why would a woman not want her husband with her when she gave birth to their child? “Oh.”
Silence filled the dark. “What about Simona?”
Cassio shook his head.
“Isn’t it unfair toward you not to let you experience the miracle of birth?” Wasn’t that what everyone called it, even though I couldn’t see the magic in squeezing something that big out of my vagina.
“I have a busy morning on Friday, but I want us to head out to my beach house in the afternoon, so we’ll have all of Saturday to enjoy our time there.”
“Why won’t you talk to me about the past?” I said softly.
Cassio shifted, his mouth hot against my ear. “Stop prying, Giulia. You won’t like what you’ll find. Now sleep.”
His words stung. I began to roll over to give him space so he could sleep, which obviously wasn’t going to happen with me close, but his arm around my waist tightened. He lodged me against his body once more. I swallowed.
“You’re young,” he said. “I worry about all the ways I’ll hurt you before you’ve grown into a jaded adult to survive in our world and at my side.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I know, but eventually you will.”
I hadn’t been to my beach house in three months. The last time I went, I’d longed for peace and quiet after Gaia’s funeral. I’d come alone without Simona and Daniele because every look at them reminded me of the woman I wanted to forget.
Giulia’s eyes widened in awe when we pulled up in front of the splendid white bungalow on the beach. Mia owned the house beside it, but we rarely visited this place at the same time, even if she’d been insisting on a family vacation for a while. Simona had fallen asleep in her seat, but Daniele’s face flashed with recognition. He’d loved this place in the past. I worried even that had changed.
The wind nipped at our clothes. November wasn’t the best time to spend time outside around here, but I wanted to show Giulia this house. I wasn’t even sure why. It would have been more impressive in spring or summer.
Another gust tore Giulia’s black cowboy hat from her head. My hand lashed out, snatching the thing out of the air.
Giulia let out an astonished laugh. “That’s an impressive show of reflexes.”
I held the hat out to her, and she took it with a sweet smile. “Quick reflexes are required to survive if you have as many enemies as I do. But I don’t know why I caught this thing. It’s ugly.” Giulia had once more chosen an outfit I decidedly hadn’t chosen for her. Cowboy boots, black shorts with suspenders, a bright pink sweater, and an oversized coat that would have fit me as well. It was a fashion nightmare.
Worry tightened her face, her hand frozen on the door. “How many attempts at your life have you survived?”
I tried to remember. It was difficult to say. There had been so many. Only a couple had gotten close.
Giulia shook her head. “Never mind, if you have to think about it this long, I probably don’t want to know. Just promise to be careful, okay?”
I walked around the car and opened the back door then lifted Simona out. Giulia and I had already fallen in a sort of routine where my children were concerned. She handled Daniele and I handled Simona. It made our life easier, even if it turned my heart to ice that my son refused to be close to me.
“Can you take Loulou’s transport crate?”
I took it from the trunk. Giulia had insisted we take the dog with us, even if I’d have preferred to let Sybil watch it. Refusing Giulia was more difficult than it should have been.
Pressing Simona protectively to my chest to shield her from the cold, I led Giulia toward the front door. She had trouble carrying Daniele on her hip. Even though he was a thin boy, he was tall for his age and Giulia was petite. It would have made more sense for me to carry him.
She set him down the moment we were inside and looked around in wonder. The interior, like the outside of the house, was white. The back of the house facing the beach was almost entirely made of glass windows, giving views of the dunes and ocean. The marram grass bowed down under the force of nature, and dark clouds hung low over the water. Even on tumultuous days like this, the white of the furniture illuminated the house without electricity.
Giulia rushed toward the windows, peering out. Her eyes drifted to the left where a swing swayed gently in the wind. The porch protected it from rain. She reached for the handle.
I set down the dog crate then carried Simona over to her white cradle. She was still sound asleep. “It’
s too stormy. We can go outside tomorrow.”
Giulia pouted, looking like the teenager I tried to pretend she wasn’t. Sometimes I managed to forget, especially when she handled the kids and in bed, but I wasn’t always successful.
Daniele stood beside her. She held out her hand, and he took it. I froze, my heart squeezing a little tighter. With a smile, she led him toward the crate and released the dog. It creeped out slowly, looking around.
“If it pees on the white carpets, it’ll sleep outside.”
Giulia rolled her eyes as if she thought I was joking.
The dog began to sniff everything. At least, it didn’t attack my pant legs anymore.
Daniele followed the dog like he was a lost puppy.
“I’ll get our luggage,” I said before I went back out into the cold. When I returned with our two bags, Giulia stood in the open fridge. I carried them into our bedroom down the hall before I joined Giulia in the kitchen. “I told my housekeeper to stock the fridge.”
“You have a housekeeper for your beach house?”
“Mia and my parents have houses on the same beach. The housekeeper takes care of all three.”
“What about Ilaria.”
“Too far.”
Giulia nodded. “So… can you cook?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Of course not.”
“Of course not,” Giulia said quietly, looking into the fridge as if it was her demise. “I guess I’ll just have to try my luck, then.”
I watched her assemble an array of vegetables, rice, and chicken on the counter. “Do you like Asian?”
I leaned against the counter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Depends.”
“Do you like it spicy?”
My mouth twitched. Giulia gave me an indignant look before her gaze darted to Daniele, who squatted in front of the window, the dog beside him.
I moved toward her, touching her hips. “I can handle the burn, don’t worry.”
Giulia swallowed.
I headed toward the window as she began to prepare whatever dinner she had in mind. Daniele briefly looked up when I stopped beside him and the dog before he focused on the ocean once more.
“Tomorrow we can spend the afternoon on the beach.”
He didn’t reply, but I hadn’t expected him to, so I just stared out like he did.
After dinner, we brought Daniele and Simona, who’d woken halfway through it, to bed. They shared the room beside ours, even if there were two more bedrooms in the house.
“Can we sit on the swing?” Giulia asked when I wrapped my arms around her.
“It’s cold.”
“You can keep me warm. Please?”
“All right.”
She grinned and grabbed our coats from the rack while I gathered a couple of thick wool blankets. The wind had settled, but it was freezing when we stepped onto the porch. Despite her coat, Giulia shivered when we huddled on the swing. I swaddled her in the blankets before I wrapped an arm around her. She curled up like a cat beside me.
In the past I’d spend many late nights on the porch alone, seeking solitude. Gaia never joined me. Having Giulia beside me didn’t feel like an intrusion, though. “You’re not what I expected.”
“Not how?”
Our breath fogged up the night air, and the roar of the waves drifted up to us. “I thought I’d have to coerce you into sex, that you’d shy away from the physical side of our marriage.”
She lifted her head. “I really like sleeping with you.” The moonlight lit up her eyes. “You make me feel really good.”
I chuckled. “That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“Do I make you feel good too?” Her tone was playful, but I caught a hint of uncertainty.
“Yeah, you do.” I pulled her closer for a languid kiss. Not just because of the sex either. As if to remind me, I slid my hand under the blankets and her clothes, brushing my knuckles along her side. Her resulting twitch and giggle lit up my insides.
“Did you ever—”
“No talk about the past.”
She fell silent, and we stared off toward the ocean.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt almost at peace, but in this moment, it was close.
Despite the cold weather, we took a stroll along the beach the next day. Simona was strapped to Giulia’s front in the sling while Daniele and Loulou jogged along the edge of the water. The dog barked at the waves, trying to snap at the frothing water.
What a stupid thing, but it made Daniele and Giulia smile, so it could stay for now. Seagulls soared over our heads. Giulia held out her hand, and I linked our fingers after a moment of hesitation, worried about Daniele’s reaction, but he didn’t seem to care. His attention was on the dog and the ocean.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out to find a message from Faro.
Call me ASAP
Frowning, I pushed the phone back into my pocket. The wind roared too loudly for a phone conversation.
“What is it?” Giulia asked.
“We need to head back to the house. I need to call Faro.”
Her face fell, and for half a second I considered ignoring Faro’s message, but I’d told him not to bother me unless it was important. “Oh, sure.”
I squeezed her hand. “We can head out tomorrow morning again.”
She nodded then called, “Loulou, Daniele, come here!”
Both the dog and my boy turned to her and skipped toward us. For a moment Daniele’s face reminded me of the past, almost as childishly innocent as back then.
The moment we were back in the beach house, I called Faro while Giulia cleaned sand off the dog and Daniele.
Simona crawled on the floor, chasing a ball that rattled in the most annoying way. “What is it? I hope it’s important. I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“While you were busy banging your young wife, Luca went berserk. He killed his Uncles Gottardo and Ermano, and that cousin of his whose brother’s throat he crushed.”
I leaned back, shocked. “What the fuck happened?”
“Nobody really knows. Matteo’s not very forthcoming with information. It’s rumored Luca chopped up the entire new chapter of the Tartarus MC in Jersey too.”
Simona tugged at my pants and slowly pulled herself up. I reached out to steady her as she grinned toothlessly up at me.
“There are rumors that he’s on the hunt for traitors… some suspect it’s got something to do with his wife. This is hush-hush, but she went to Chicago where she met Dante fucking Cavallaro.”
I braced myself on my thighs, my thoughts spinning out of control. “Do you think Aria was in on the betrayal?”
“She’s still alive.”
Luca and Aria had appeared happy on the outside, or as happy as a marriage in our world could be, especially if the husband was a man like Luca… or myself.
Giulia appeared in the living room, worry clouding her face as she looked at me. Slowly, she walked closer.
“I’ll be back tonight. Arrange a meeting. My father needs to be there as well.” If Luca went on a major killing spree like that, I needed to make sure my own city was cleaner than clean.
“Will do.”
I hung up.
Giulia sank down beside me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing for you to worry about.”
“Your face says something else.”
“It’s business. Luca killed two Underbosses. His Uncles Gottardo and Ermano.”
She jerked, eyes filling with shock. I realized how inconsiderate I’d been. They were her uncles too, but I’d never gotten the impression that she liked either of them very much, which wasn’t surprising. They had been sadistic egomaniacs.
“Are you sad about your uncles?”
She looked as if I’d pulled her out of her daze then gave a sharp shake of her head. “I’m worried about you. What if Luca gets rid of more Underbosses?”
“He won’t get rid of me. Not unless I give him reason to, and I haven’t.”
She nodded slowly, then her eyes widened again. “Kiara!”
“Who?”
“My cousin Kiara. She’s Ermano’s daughter. What about her and my aunt?”
“I don’t know. Faro didn’t mention anything.”
She gripped my arm. “Cassio, please find out. Kiara is only twelve. What if she got hurt?”
“I doubt Luca would hurt a child.”
Her worried expression compelled me to pick up my phone again. Usually I would have called Luca directly, but that seemed unwise in the current situation. “Pack our bags and get Simona and Daniele ready. We need to leave in thirty minutes. I’ll ask my father about Kiara.”
Father picked up at once. “Faro told you?”
“He did. That can wait until our meeting. I need info on Ermano’s daughter and wife.”
“The kid is alive, but Ermano shot his wife.”
Father’s voice held a note that set my teeth on edge. “All right. I’ve been talking to friends in New York, trying to get a feel for Luca’s current mood, if he’s done killing—”
“Everything’s going to be fine.”
“You should have told him everything, Cassio.”
“Father, it’s going to be fine. The past is the past. Telling Luca now would definitely be my death sentence.”
I hung up and went into the bedroom where Giulia was packing our bags. Her eyes were fearful when she met my gaze.
“Kiara is alive but her mother’s dead.”
Giulia covered her mouth with her palm. “What’s going to happen to her?”
“Luca still got a few relatives he could ask to take the girl in.” I took the bags from her. “Come now. I really need to get back.”
She nodded slowly, still looking a bit stunned. I walked over to her, cupping her cheek. “Everything will be fine.”
The drive back passed in relative silence. Giulia was lost in thought, and Simona fell asleep as she usually did in the car.
Elia and Domenico were already in my house when we arrived. They helped carry everything inside. Giulia followed me as I changed into my usual business attire.