He huffed, but moved back, allowing us to pass. I looped my arm around my Daisy’s shoulders, keeping her as close to me as possible, using my body to shield her delicate frame.
“Why is he looking at me like that?” She whispered, so low as to make sure that no one else could hear.
“It’s not about you, baby. That look was to rattle me, make me lose my cool. He wants to make me look unhinged. He knows that I’m not here for pleasantries. He has been itching to get back at me for twenty years.” We walked up the large staircase until we reached the Don’s door. I knocked once, and then we waited.
“Ah, Mario. Come in,” he said, his voice laced with authority even though his face was plastered with a large smile. I knew we had to be careful. The Don was much like a snake: quiet, quick, and venomous. “And you’ve brought me a gift.” He stepped towards us, and I instantly stepped in front of Izzy. “Oh, Mario, you're not going to do anything foolish are you?”
“Sorry, Father. This is Izzy.” I said, moving back slightly to allow him to see my girl. I hated that she was even here, but I knew if we were to ever really be free, this was what needed to happen. He had to give her to me, as if she was a prize to be won. He didn’t know that I would have killed every single person in this house to make sure that it happened. I didn’t want to hurt the man who raised me, but if it meant choosing between him and Izzy then she would win, hands down.
“Please, sit.” The Don said, gesturing to two leather, wing-back chairs. I waited for Izzy to sit down, and then I sat down beside her. I quickly glanced around the room, to see how many people I had to be prepared to fight if it came down to that. “Relax, Hawk, it’s just the three of us.” He turned his gaze to my girl. “Izzy. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Your father is very beside himself. I’m glad you are safe and sound.”
“Thank you,” Izzy said, her hands on her lap, her fingers interlaced with each other.
“So, Hawk. You seem to have crossed a few people in your desire to keep this young lady.”
“You know what that is like. The way you look at Mom tells me you know.” I stared my father down, waiting for him to crush those words. Not many people knew about the soft side of Don Gabrielli, the most powerful man in Chicago. People just assumed that he was cold, calculated and incapable of love. But that wasn’t the truth. He was a good man deep down. A shrewd businessman, ruthless if you crossed him, but he was a family man and a great husband and father. It was because of him that I was able to love Izzy so much. He taught me how. From a small age he would tell me that there is nothing more important than family. He would say without love there is only death. I just never really understood, until Izzy.
“So you love her?” He asked, his tone level as he leaned back in his leather reclining chair. I turned to look at Izzy, my beautiful, stoic girl, sitting there so brave when she really had no idea how any of this would go.
“Yeah, I do. I really do.”
“Ok, Mario. Her father’s debt was her for the money he owed us. She was supposed to marry my son to secure the truce. As far as I’m concerned, she will.”
Izzy looked up in that moment, the relief flooding her face, followed by confusion. “He never told me about a debt.”
The Don only shook his head. “I can’t imagine he would divulge his greatest shame to his sweet daughter.” He leaned closer. “Men like me don’t take well to owning up to their mistakes, Ms. Main. Now, how about we have some champagne and celebrate the news?” He said, pushing the secret button under his chair. That action made me tense up because I had only ever seen it used when someone was to be dealt with.
“What about Frankie?” I asked about my brother, the oldest son whom I assumed would be offered Izzy’s hand.
“He never wanted to get married. I was making him. Your brother has his eyes on some broad that works at Vinny's. He’s like a damn puppy, it’s almost embarrassing.”
“You called for me, boss?” Georgio said, opening the office door a few moments later with a gleam in his eyes. I think the fucker thought that his moment was finally there. He could waste me and no one would care.
“Grab a few glasses and a bottle of champagne and scotch. We’re welcoming a new member into the family.” He turned back to me. “You’d better take her to see your mother. That woman is going to be beyond herself. She’s always wanted a girl, just so she can plan a wedding. Welcome to the Gabrielli family, Izzy Main.”
Chapter 11
Izzy
“Mario, my boy.” The Don clasped his hands around Hawk’s cheeks and pulled him in for a double-cheeked kiss. “Are you sure I can’t convince you and your lovely lady to stay here with us?”
Hawk shook his head, a grin sliding up his lips before he patted his adopted father on the shoulder. “No thanks, I can’t tell you how I appreciate the offer though. You know you mean the world to me.”
The Don only nodded, wiping at wetness in his eyes before glancing at me. “It was good to finally meet Don Main’s daughter.” He clasped my hand in his and shook it tenderly.
“The honor is mine,” I whispered, meaning every word. He was much nicer than what my overactive imagination had conjured. It was a relief to feel the warmth and love he had for Hawk in every gesture.
“I can assure you,” he patted my elbow, “I’m the honored one, meeting the woman that finally caught the eye of my Mario.”
Hawk looped me in his arm then, backing us down the stone steps of the opulent mansion. Wide pillars flanked either side of the entrance, Don Gabrielli’s smile bright as he waved enthusiastically from between them.
“He’s amazing.” I finally looked up at Hawk. “Now tell me more about Mario.”
Hawk’s eyes squinted with laugh lines as he shook his head, opening the passenger side door of the car to help me in. “It’s a long story.”
“I’ve got nothing but time,” I said as he buckled himself behind the wheel.
“I’ll tell you everything once I have some pasta and wine in my belly.”
“Promise?” I grinned as we pulled away from the gated mansion.
“Cross my heart.” He made the motion over his chest before winking at me and sliding a palm over my thigh, nestling his fingers nearly at my heated core.
“Where are we going, anyway?” I hummed, trying to keep my mind off the placement of his talented fingers. “I would have been happy to stay at the Don’s house.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Hawk deadpanned.
“Why?” I watched as raindrops began to streak the windshield. “Seems harmless enough to me.”
“Oh, he’s only harmless until the cards come out. He plays euchre like a tournament champ, and he’ll fleece you of all your cash. He’s ruthless if there’s a dime on the table.”
I laughed, thankful when Hawk pulled into a hotel parking lot only a few miles from the Don's house. “I could have given him a run for his money, I’m a boss in euchre.”
Hawk cut the engine on the car, turning to nail me with his eyes. “Why doesn't that surprise me?”
“It’s probably better this way anyway, the Don probably wouldn't like being shown up by a girl.”
“Trust me, Izzy,” he said as he pulled open my door and unbuckled me, “he would have loved it even more.” Hawk helped me out of the car and pressed me against his form, every hard inch of him squished against me, sending my body flaming for him. “Plus, I’ve got my mind on you tonight, just you, no interruptions.”
“Oh?” I grinned right before he did the unexpected and swatted my ass. I squeaked, rubbing at my bottom before he caught my fist and dotted kisses under my wrist.
“You’re beautiful, Izzy Main, even when you’re screaming. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my days on earth showing you how damn much I love you.”
“You already make me feel spoiled.”
“Just wait until my head is between your thighs again, then tell me how I make you feel.”
“Hawk…” I was just abo
ut to beg him to kiss me right here in the dripping wet parking lot, but before I could he laced our fingers and walked past the doorman with a nod.
“Bueno sera, Sir,” the night attendant uttered as we walked to the counter.
“I prepaid for the penthouse tonight.” Hawk passed him his ID.
“Yes, Sir.” The attendant nodded and punched Hawk’s name into the system. “Your key.” He slid a plastic keycard across the counter with a polite nod.
Hawk took it, shoving his ID back into his wallet before wishing him a good night and looping an arm around my waist to guide me to the elevators.
By the time the doors were closing, Hawk’s hand was already inching down the slope of my bottom. When the door closed, he squeezed, fingertips reaching my core from behind as he kneaded the flesh of my cheek. “Every minute I'm not inside you kills me a little more.”
He clamped his lips to mine as we ascended, his fingertips working me through the fabric of my pants until the doors finally dinged open, and we reached the top floor. “Welcome to the penthouse, gorgeous, now get naked.”
“What?” I laughed, assuming he was teasing. The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t. He advanced, teeth clamped down like a hungry predator before his fingers clutched my shirt and yanked it over my head.
“Tub, now,” he ordered. I loved this primal side that took over, the look in his eyes like he was ready to devour me. I couldn't believe I was the girl putting that look on his face. Like the Don said, I was the girl that’d captured Hawk’s heart, and even I didn’t understand why.
“You’re not moving fast enough, little bird.”
My clit throbbed with his words.
I did as I was told, rushing to the sunken, tiled tub that sat in the corner of the penthouse. Before I could push my pants off and climb in, his hand flicked on the hot water and then sank inside my waistband, pushing my pants down my thighs in slow, torturous strokes. He angled my hips against him, and I was surprised he’d already pushed his pants down, his cock free and pre-cum smearing across my panties.
“You’re too damn good; so pure, like a precious daisy. The world you were born into is a brutal one, and the only thing that keeps me from sinking under the guilt of loving a girl like you, is knowing that maybe I’m the only fucker on Earth savage enough to protect you.”
He slipped his fingers inside my cotton panties and began working my swollen flesh in eager strokes.
“You’re already soaked for me, sweetheart.” His fingers pressed harder, moving deeper into my entrance until he had the tips of two fingers inside of my body. “That makes me a very happy man.”
“Oh God.” I sucked in a breath when he clutched at the elastic thigh of my panties and pulled, tearing them from my skin and causing a pinch where the torn elastic had dug in. My pussy ached, soaking down my now bare thighs.
“Spread your knees, we have to make me fit.” He pushed my pants off my ankles, making me gulp as he discarded them on the floor and eased his cock between my cheeks. “I’m not going to take you here,” he uttered at my ear as his thumb stroked my ass, “not yet.”
I shuddered with the promise of his words, my body’s reaction to him stubborn and dependable.
“I can’t think of anything that tastes sweeter than worshiping you.” He dropped to his knees, spreading my cheeks with both hands and then stroking one digit down my delicate center. I groaned, embarrassed at how I soaked him. He growled though, attacking me with his tongue and sucking and nipping at my skin until I was moaning and twisting, desperate for more of him, and less at the same time. Every sensation coursing through me was caused by the deft strokes of his wondrous tongue.
“Cream on my tongue, sweetheart, I want to taste all of you.” His words caused fireworks to split my nerves, a slow pulsing release to charge through my veins before exploding on his tongue. He licked softly, humming before he pressed a finger at my back entrance again, probing softly. “Do you know how many nights you drove me crazy? Watching your pretty little ass across the street because it’s my job, trying to keep my dick out of my hands while I watched? You’ve been torturing me for months and you didn’t even know it.”
His lips moved away, and he yanked his fingers from my body, then propped my hips at a new angle before slipping his cock inside me, slowly at first, inch by inch, before filling me to the end in one defiant thrust. I groaned, clutching at the edge of the tub as it filled with steam, clouding around us and making me feel sweaty and turned on and so completely enveloped in him.
“Fuck, Izzy, I’m bad for you in every way, but I love you so much it hurts.”
“How can you be bad for me?” I gasped between thrusts. “You saved me.”
“No, baby, no.” He pulled out of me, twisting me in his arms before clasping my face in one hand and landing his lips on mine. “You’ve got it all wrong.”
He slowly tugged at his dick, positioned between us, before he nestled his hips between my thighs. I leaned against the cool tile of the bathtub when he splayed his palm wide and traveled down my breast bone, forcing me back further before he tugged at my bra and latched onto my left nipple with his lips. He moved to the other, tugging and caressing my sensitive skin before he trailed kisses up my neck, the tip of his cock nudging at my entrance again, teasing me in slow, erratic thrusts.
“You saved me, my girl, you saved me from the beginning. Before I knew you, before I met you, before I’d ever laid eyes on you, we’ve always been on a crash course to us.”
With those words he thrust fully into me again, causing moans of pleasure to fill the room as he fucked me, in tender strokes at first, full and sweet, before he grew more frenzied. He fucked me savagely, his lips and hands traveling my skin, leaving near bruises on my flesh as he owned every part.
By the time my muscles were quaking with release, he’d shifted us into the tub, and he was fucking me over the edge, water splashing as he laced our fingers and clamped down on my nipple, and then his worn muscles began to tremor with need.
“I need you forever,” he confessed as his release charged through him, his body tightening and emptying into me, the sexy moans on his lips sending my own orgasm to crash over. “Marry me. Marry me, Izzy Main, and I’ll spend the rest of my life saving you.”
“Yes,” I hissed between pants. “Yes, over and over again, a thousand yeses.” Happy tears leaked at my eyes. He pulled himself from me, every nerve on fire with his touch as he settled me into the steaming water, my eyes falling closed as so much sweet promise for our future together settled like a cloud over me.
“I can’t believe you said yes.” He mused, drawing curves with the warm water around one nipple.
“Well, that’s on one condition.” I grinned.
“Anything.”
“I need to know about Mario.”
His grin cracked, eyes rolling. “Look at you, coaxing me out of information before I’ve even had food.” He rubbed his washboard stomach comically. “I’ve been begging the Don to cut that shit out for years.” He sat up a little, straightening in the bath, the way his still half-hard cock poked at my thigh underwater making me smile and want him again, and then again. “You know the Don’s a betting man. When I was in high school, and he realized I had a head for numbers, he used to take me to the race track to help him place bets.”
“What?” I laughed, unbelieving of this story already.
“Even then I had a habit of watching people. I’m a professional observer, that’s what makes me so good at my job.” He tweaked my nipple. “I’m good at people. Especially when they’re placing bets. Watching their body language, seeing the hesitation in their eyes as they watch the boards, deciding where to place their bets. The first time the Don brought me, he asked me what to bet on. I told him, and he won tenfold his usual amount, and he said I had eyes like a hawk. The name stuck.”
“Well, it’s my experience that the man usually isn’t as badass as the name.”
“Is that so?” He pushed a hand under
the water, down my body, straight for my core, where he slipped a finger inside. “How about I show you just how bad this badass can be?”
“Sounds promising,” I whispered, taking his cheeks in my hand and kissing him slowly.
“Mm, you’re the real badass here. You always have been, you’re not delicate like a daisy, you’re a wild thunderstorm stealing all the air out of my lungs. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Chapter 12
Hawk
“Frankie, you stupid motherfucker. How am I supposed to find a date if you keep spilling Mama’s red sauce on all my best white shirts?” Tony, my youngest brother, swung the door wide while still hollering over his shoulder at my other brother. “Hey guys, dinner’s almost ready, come on in.”
I laughed, patting my brother on his bare shoulder before replying. “Izzy, meet my baby brother, Tony, he’s the funniest pain in the ass you’ll ever meet.”
“Hey,” Tony sucker punched me in the stomach, “why you gotta beat up on me? I’m holding down the fort here with Ma and you saunter your pretty boy ass up in here and gonna talk like that?”
I only shook my head, stepping by my brother. “When’s the date, bro?”
“Don’t let him fool you, he ain’t had a date in years. Nice to meet you, I’m Frankie Gabrielli, the handsome one.”
Izzy giggled and held out her hand.
“He’s blind. Move along, bro, she’s satisfied right here.”
“Hawk!” She slapped my shoulder.
“Mario!” My mom chose that moment to whisk out of the kitchen, soup ladle in hand and a smile on her face. “Nice to see you, sweetheart.” She double kissed my cheeks, then turned to my girl. “Izzy, right? My husband has told me so much about you. Thank you for coming to dinner, I hope you won’t let these animals run you off.” She leaned close to Izzy’s ear. “Don’t let a single one of them fool you, they’re just like their father, growly on the outside and sweet as sugar inside. It grows on you.”
His Mark: A Mafia Romance (Forever Mine Book 1) Page 5