Old Flame: Dante’s Story: (Morelli Family, #8)

by Mariano, Sam

  Narrowing my eyes and looking up at him, I tell him, “I realize this doesn’t mean much to you, but I don’t want to be here with you. I don’t like that man, I’m not comfortable being around young women that look like they’re desperately in need of help… If this is the alternative to hanging out with Mateo and whoever the hell he likes now, let’s just take that risk. I’d prefer his company to Luca’s any day of the week.”

  Nodding slightly, Dante runs his hands down my arms and says, “Unfortunately, that’s not an option.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I said it isn’t. Because I don’t spend time with my brother anymore unless it’s work-related. Luca is my friend. I know he’ll never be your favorite person, but he’ll grow on you once you get over the initial shock.”

  Laughing in light horror, I tell him, “I do not want to get over the shock, Dante. If I can ever walk into an environment like that and not feel horrified? I don’t even want to know what would have to happen in life to make me that callous and uncaring.”

  Dante’s jaw locks, but he doesn’t let me go. “You’ve always known the kind of shit my family’s into, Colette.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I say, shaking my head and shrugging, at a loss. “But I didn’t know details, and I never had to see it. Maybe I don’t want to see it. I don’t like what I’m seeing, and I don’t want to like it, either. This is who I am, Dante. I always accepted you for who you were, but you have to do the same. I have no interest in becoming the sort of woman who could see other women in that much trouble and not feel compelled to do something to stop it. I know I can’t help them because I have a feeling you’re the one hurting them, so just let me go home. I don’t want to become desensitized to this kind of horror; I just don’t want to be around it. Being here makes me feel terrible and I don’t want to feel terrible.”

  “You’re acting like—” He cuts himself off, but I can feel irritation radiating off him.

  “Like what?” I ask, without humor.

  Dante sighs, then looks out across the lawn instead of at me. “You’re being naïve, that’s all.”

  “I am not being naïve,” I state, offended.

  “You are. The world’s an ugly place, Colette. People do shitty things to get ahead, especially fucking gangsters. I’m sorry if this is news to you.”

  “I want to hit you right now,” I inform him.

  His lips curve up faintly and warmth dances in his dark eyes. “Please do.”

  I sigh heavily, rolling my eyes as he tugs me against his chest. “I wasn’t trying to be sexy.”

  “I guess you just can’t help it,” he states.

  “Stop trying to butter me up.”

  “Would I do that?” he asks in a ridiculous tone of innocence, as he bends his head and kisses the bare ball of my shoulder.

  “Yes, you would, and it won’t work,” I tell him, even though, shamefully, I can feel it beginning to work.

  “Why not?” he murmurs, bringing his lips to the shell of my ear.

  “Everything you do is horrible,” I inform him.

  “Not everything,” he disagrees. To prove his claim, he runs his palm over my ass before giving it a firm squeeze. “I can think of a few things I do that you like.”

  “You can’t buy me with sex, Dante,” I say, struggling to ignore the stir of desire brought on by his touch.

  “What about with money?”

  That’s so absurd, I almost laugh. “Wow, how crass.”

  Uncaring of whether or not he’s crass, Dante kisses his way along my jawline. “I’m gonna send you shopping tomorrow.”

  “For Bibles? It’ll have to be for Bibles to make me feel less dirty about tonight.”

  Dante rolls his eyes, then kisses me hard on the mouth. “No, not for Bibles. For clothes. Shoes. Purses. Make-up. Whatever you want. You’ve been cooped up in the house like a prisoner for long enough. It’s time for you to go out and enjoy yourself a little. You’ll have to take Xander along to make sure you’re safe, but I’ll give you your new credit card and you can go wild.”

  “That’s not going to make me feel better. And it’s not even fun to go shopping alone. I want a shopping buddy.”

  “I’ll find you one,” he promises me. “I’ll make you a lunch reservation at that place you like in the city. After shopping you can gab away, get the scoop on all my family’s new dirty laundry. It’ll be fun to blow off some steam. You always liked doing shit like that.”

  “With Beth,” I say softly. “It’s not as fun without my friend.”

  Dante’s quiet for a moment. I don’t know how that will land. I know at the end Beth was disloyal and I wouldn’t have defended what she did, but long before she hit her breaking point and did that desperate thing, Beth was my friend. Through ups and downs, good days and bad, when she annoyed me and when we had fun, we were friends. I still lost someone I was close to regardless of the circumstances, but I know Dante isn’t sympathetic and last time I expressed my feeling of loss to Dante, he was offended.

  In his world, once someone shows disloyalty to the family, they’re cut off. It doesn’t matter who you are, that’s it. And I get it. I know his lifestyle makes loyalty much more crucial than it usually is. Families like his can fall if they have one disloyal member, and I get that… but I wasn’t born into a family like his, so it doesn’t come naturally to me.

  “I know,” he finally says. “I’m sorry.”

  Since he sounds more understanding than defensive, I look up at him. “I know she’s gone, but I need to be able to make a new friend, Dante. This life is hard enough, moments like these are hard enough when everything else is solid, but… we’re not there yet, at least I’m not, and I don’t have any friends here anymore. I don’t know where to turn for support. I don’t know how you expect me to do this alone.”

  Pulling me against his chest and wrapping his arms around me protectively, Dante assures me, “I’ll figure something out.”

  “Can we go home?” I request.

  He’s still hugging me, so I can feel him tense a little when I ask. “No, we can’t. Not right now. I told Luca we’d be here for a while. He has Ivan coming over. I’ve gotta talk to Luca about some business, too. We have to stay for a little bit.”

  “Why do I have to be here?”

  Tugging me back and tipping my chin up to look at him, he asks me, “How would that look, Colette? What would Luca think if his first impression of us together is you dragging me around by the short hairs?”

  “To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t give fewer fucks about how anything looks to Luca,” I inform him. “I feel like I need to call in the Red Cross to rescue every girl he’s ever touched.”

  Looking almost pained, he says, “Don’t say shit like that, please.”

  I roll my eyes. “You know I’m not really going to call anyone,” I mutter, a bit resentfully.

  “I know, that’s not the problem.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “You remind me of another pain in my ass when you say shit like that.”

  A scowl transforms my face. “Who?”

  Dante sighs, then shakes his head. “Forget it, it doesn’t matter.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, he stiffens and his gaze sharpens, but it’s not on me. “Son of a fucking bitch.”

  I rear back. “Excuse me?”

  “Not you. Motherfucker,” he curses, letting me go and taking a step away.

  “What?” I ask, mildly alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think I know why my fucking brother lied to me,” he says, gripping his head between both hands, then raking his hands through his hair. “Shit. That fucking—” He shakes his head and I can tell I’m losing him even before he takes a step back toward the house. “I’ve gotta go back inside. Don’t stay out here too long, I don’t like you being out here all alone.”

  26

  Dante

  After a long ass night and a silent ride home, I’m ready for this day to be over. Since
I made her stay with me at Luca’s place, Colette is in a sour mood. After Ivan showed up, we needed a fresh round of drinks. The pregnant chick went to grab them, but she dropped Luca’s water bottle cap on the floor and couldn’t bend over to pick it up for him. She had a fucking emotional meltdown, and while I thought it was a ridiculous overreaction, I could practically see her overwrought tears washing away any chance of Colette ever liking Luca. Colette rushed to pick up the dropped cap and insisted on helping her fetch our drinks, then she refused to so much as look at me or Luca for the rest of the visit.

  I don’t like that Colette is pouting and I especially don’t like why she’s pouting. I didn’t expect her to love Luca, but I thought they’d be able to be around each other on a casual social basis.

  What a fucking day. I’m so ready for bed, I don’t bother turning on the light when we step inside the bedroom.

  Colette moves quietly as she undresses in the dark. She’s down to a pair of black panties and a matching bra when I look over at her. Her hair’s pulled up off her neck, but a few wispy locks have escaped. I can’t resist the urge to touch her and I don’t try to. I cross the room, catching her attention. She straightens as I approach, but my gaze isn’t on her face, it’s on that perfect neck and those wispy locks of dark hair. I bring my hand up and cradle the back of her neck in my hand. I’m fascinated by her fragility. I know she doesn’t think she’s built to break, but as I lazily run my fingertips up and down that sensitive area of her body, it’s all I can think about.

  “Did you miss having a man in your bed?”

  Her eyes narrow slightly with annoyance. “You know I had a man in my bed.”

  My grip on her neck tightens in warning and she tips her little chin up defiantly. I smile at her silent protest, then kiss the corner of her mouth. “Nah, that wasn’t a man.”

  “Maybe we have different definitions of the word,” she tells me, bending her head to try to get away from me. “You didn’t think those girls tonight were women, maybe I don’t think you’re a man.”

  “Don’t bring that here,” I tell her, shaking my head. “That’s business.”

  “It’s not to them. You’re ruining people’s lives, Dante, and for what? Money?”

  The disdainful way she says that perfectly illustrates how little she truly understands my world. To her, money means paying bills and buying shit she doesn’t need, but that’s not what money is to me. It’s security, power, independence. More money means more safety, it means people might want what we have, but they know better than to fuck with us because we can obliterate them. More money is how I can keep her safe, sleeping soundly each night without knowing about the danger that waits for us outside these walls. If I have to choose between keeping my family safe or letting random fucking strangers be safe, I’ll pick my family every single time.

  “I won’t apologize for wanting more for us, Colette. Everybody does, I just do what it takes to get it.”

  Shaking her head, she turns away from me and hugs herself. “It’s too far. What I saw tonight is too far. Maybe you’re desensitized because you’ve been around it for longer, but I bet the first time you were shocked like I was.”

  Turning my attention back to undressing myself, I tell her casually, “No, the first time I encountered a trafficked woman she was making me breakfast and telling me not to drip oatmeal on my trousers or I’d be late for school. Wasn’t what you’d call traumatizing.”

  She turns back and frowns at me. “You were just a child?”

  “You’ve met Maria,” I remind her. “She’s been with my family forever.”

  “Well, yeah… but… that’s not what that was tonight, Dante. Maria works for your family; maybe she didn’t choose to be there, but she’s valued and well taken care of. Those girls I saw tonight—”

  “You don’t need to think about them,” I tell her, shucking my jacket and starting on the buttons of my dress shirt.

  She looks at me for a moment, still appearing discontent, then she shakes her head. “I do though. You may be able to control a lot, Dante, but you can’t control my thoughts. I wouldn’t be the person you claim to love if what I saw tonight didn’t upset me.”

  I watch as she reaches behind her back and unsnaps her bra. I draw off my belt and drop it on the ground, then cross the room in just my slacks and socks. “No, beautiful. That is part of you, but it’s like a blemish on an otherwise beautiful face—something I can look past, not something I’m excited about.”

  Laughing shortly, she says, “Only you would consider a conscience a flaw.”

  “It is when you’re married to someone like me.”

  Her eyes widen slightly, then she shakes her head. “You and I are not married.”

  “We will be.” I walk up behind her, bringing my arms around to her front and capturing her newly freed breasts in the palms of my hand. She inhales sharply and closes her eyes, then she lets her head fall back to rest against my shoulder.

  “Why would I marry someone like you?” she asks, her voice soft with arousal.

  “Because you love me.” I place a gentle kiss to the curve of her neck as I tease her heavy breasts. “Because you know no one else could ever love you the way I do.”

  “I’m not sure that’s a bad thing,” she says faintly. “Your love is… a little terrifying.”

  Running my thumbs across her hardened nipples, I tell her, “You don’t feel very terrified.”

  Her eyes are still closed, but her lips curve up in faint amusement. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “I know. I don’t want you to be.”

  “I’m a little afraid of the things you’re capable of though,” she admits.

  “That’s all right,” I tell her. Dropping one of her breasts, I snake a hand down her taut stomach, then lower until my palm covers her pussy. “It’s good for you to know what I’m capable of. Good for you to remember, in case you get too comfortable. In case you get bored and restless, as pampered wives sometimes do.” I temper my words with a kiss to her cheek, then plunge a finger inside her. “It’s good for you to always know who you belong to, and better for you to know the consequences if you ever forget.”

  “You’re terrible,” she tells me, not for the first time.

  “Maybe,” I allow. “But I’m yours.”

  Still leaning back against me, she brings an arm up to loop around my neck while I finger her. “I can make your life hell, too, you know,” she informs me, her breath hitching when my finger brushes her clit. “If I wanted to.”

  My lips curve upward. “Oh, I know. And you know the price you’ll pay if you make that choice.”

  “Mass destruction?” she says a little dryly.

  “Mm hmm.” I kiss the curve of her ear, the side of her face, the curve of her jaw. “Nothing comes for free, beautiful, most especially not my pain.”

  I hear her swallow, then she reaches down and grasps my forearm. Her hand drops to my hand, then she pushes it away until I withdraw my finger. Once I do, she turns in my arms and looks up at me. “I never wanted to hurt you, you know. That was never my intention. It kills me that I hurt you as much as I did. I honestly didn’t think…” She drops my gaze, shaking her head. Then she looks back up at me and says, “Despite everything, I’m sorry for that. I took no pleasure in causing you pain.”

  I bring a hand up and push the loose tendrils off her face, moving my thumb along her jawline in a tender caress. “I know. We don’t have to talk about it anymore. It’s in the past. I’m over it. I want to focus on our future now.”

  “I’m still sorry,” she says.

  “I’m glad,” I tell her, offering a tender smile. “You shouldn’t want to hurt your man.”

  Now she rolls her eyes at me, but it’s good-natured, all things considered. “I never even said you were my man.”

  “Your pussy did,” I inform her, bringing the finger I had inside her to my lips and tasting her arousal on my fingertip.

  “She doesn’t know what she’s
talking about,” she informs me. “She’s dumb. She’ll say anything for an orgasm.”

  “Nah, she knows who her master is.” Colette groans, and I outright grin. “You do, too, you’re wasting your breath denying it.” Since I have her so close, I haul her against my bare torso, slide my hand down the smooth curve of her back, and grab her ass. “Now, enough talking. Get your pretty little ass on the bed.”

  “Maybe I don’t feel like it,” she says, but her tone is light.

  Even though I know her denial isn’t real, my body responds like it is. Aggression surges through me and I squeeze her ass harder, pulling her more tightly against me and grinding my hard cock against her panties. “Maybe I don’t care.” Her breath catches and she swallows, but she doesn’t bother really trying to pull away. “Maybe I’ve been thinking about your tight little pussy gripping my cock all night long, and I don’t feel like waiting for it any longer.”

  The peaceful, pleasant noise that emanates from her throat is more purr than moan. If that weren’t enough, I know she likes what she’s hearing because rather than keep up her feeble pretense of protest, she slides her hand into the tight space between us and wraps her hand around my cock. She strokes me softly, lovingly. I feel her giving herself over to the moment and giving up the good fight even before she sinks to her knees without prompting and takes me into her mouth.

  I fist a hand in her hair and let my head fall back. Colette gives the best head, so even though I was eager to get in bed with her, I allow the delay and thrust my hips deeper into her throat. She groans, her nails digging into my hips, and readjusts. It’s not the wet heat of her mouth that feels best, not the eager strokes of her tongue, it’s just the all around sense I get as she sucks my cock that my pleasure is everything to her in that moment, that she’s on fire because she’s pleasuring me.

  Especially now when her stubborn little ass won’t admit she’s still in love with me, it helps soothe my impatience. She may not be ready to say it, but she’s ready to show it, just so long as I don’t call her on it.