Stefano
I’m too pissed to see straight. That testa di cazzo had his fucking paws all over Corey, and I still want to kill him.
And I’m pissed at myself for losing my shit.
I didn’t want Corey to see me like this. Ever.
This is a side of myself I’d prefer didn’t exist-the Tacone temper. An inheritance from my father’s side, or perhaps simply nurtured into me through exposure to violence from a young age.
I’ve been trying to make Corey believe I’m something else. Something beyond a shady mafioso. Something sophisticated and trustworthy and fucking upstanding.
But Junior had to roll into town with the whole pack of guidos and expose me for what I am.
One of them.
Chauvinistic, paternalistic, low-class seedy bastards who grope prostitutes and act like assholes.
“Hey,” Corey says softly when we get in the elevator.
I can’t even look at her. I’m so goddamn ashamed. Ashamed and angry. I pace around the small elevator, stabbing my fingers through my hair.
“Hey,” she repeats, grabbing the lapels of my jacket and stepping into my space. She drops her hand down to cup my balls and suddenly it’s on.
Fighting already gives me a cockstand, so it’s easy to switch gears from fight to fuck. My dick lurches into her hand and I spin her around and pin her against the elevator wall. The doors ding and open at our floor, but I hit the button for the rooftop, and they close again.
“Get those long fucking legs up around my waist,” I growl like she’s in deep trouble, when really, I’m the guy who ought to be on his knees right now.
She complies and I thrust into the notch between her legs, the damp heat of her pussy providing the beacon for my aching cock.
The elevator doors open and I carry her out, right onto the roof. The Bellissimo has a rooftop restaurant a few stories below, but this roof is utilitarian, with HVAC, mechanical systems and other equipment. I push her up against the HVAC unit and work my zipper open to free my erection.
I tear her panties off with a tug that makes her squeal and then I’m in her, sinking into her heat.
I’m mindless with need, thrusting like my life depends on it. Like if I just get deep enough, I can erase every hurt and anger I’ve ever suffered. Like her pussy is home base and if I can just get deeper, just claim it completely, I’ll have won.
Corey wraps her arms around my neck, hangs on and rides me, her hips tilted to take me deeper, her little moans and cries the soundtrack to my lust.
“I need you, baby,” I mutter, frantic to just fuck her harder, just get deeper.
“I know, I know,” she pants.
I lean in and bite her neck, hang on with my teeth, making her whimper on the next thrust.
And then I’m gone.
Heat flashes at the base of my spine, my balls tighten up.
I lose my vision-or maybe I close my eyes, I can’t tell-but everything goes black, stars burst from the periphery as I roar loud enough for all of fucking Las Vegas to hear.
Corey screams, too and I come, emptying into her, her pussy milking-
Oh fuck.
I yank out, coming on the wall between her thighs, on her dress, on my hand. Her feet drop abruptly to the ground
“Fuck, baby. I didn’t protect you. I’m so sorry. I lost my head.”
“It’s fine; we’re fine. I got on the pill last week.”
I sag in relief. “I’m clean. I swear to you.”
“I am, too. I just got checked.”
“Grazie Dio.” I lean my forehead against hers. For a moment I stay there, just breathing her breath, keeping our connection. “I’m sorry you saw me like that. I’m embarrassed, Corey.”
She wraps her arms around the back of my head, burrowing her fingers into my hair. “Are you kidding?” She massages my scalp, gazes up at me with her electric blue eyes. “No one’s ever defended me before. I’m not the kind of girl who plays damsel in distress, in fact, part of me wants to tell you off for assuming I couldn’t handle it myself. But, Stefano, I’m pretty much swooning right now. You’re a knight in fucking shining armor.”
I stroke the sides of her waist, trying to contain my anger over her first words-no one’s ever defended her before. How can that be? Not a parent? A friend? “I guess people usually assume you can handle things on your own. Hell, I know you can. But that doesn’t mean I’m not gonna go in swinging for you every fucking time.”
She traces her fingernails down the sides of my neck. “Swoon,” she murmurs.
“Yeah, baby, I’ll make you swoon.” I curl my forearm under her knees and sweep her into the air, damsel style. “Let me take you back to my bed.”
She laughs-a husky sound-and kisses my neck.
I carry her to the elevator, and refuse to put her down. Even when we get into our suite, I keep holding her, bringing her to the balcony, where I sit on the wicker loveseat and arrange her on my lap.
I stroke her back, dismayed to discover it’s covered in tiny scrapes from the wall of the HVAC.
“No one ever defended you?” I ask. “Even when you were little?”
She sighs. “My mom’s a doormat. That’s why she married my asshole dad, I guess. Sondra’s parents stayed out of it. I think my dad intimidated them, too. Sondra would’ve stuck up for me, but I’m a year older, so I was always the know-it-all. I didn’t let her nurture me much. It was always the other way around.”
I kiss her shoulder.
“Who was that guy, anyway? Anyone you need to worry about pissing off?”
I scoff. “No. He’s some cousin. Nobody important. That’s why Nico let me get a few swings in.” Speaking of Nico, I’m an asshole to make him break up shit at his own bachelor’s party. I pull out my phone and text an apology.
Corey watches me. “You and Nico are close.”
“Yeah. Way closer than we are to our older brothers. Nico was my defender growing up. He protected me. We’re different from the rest of them, at least I like to think so. We didn’t take to family business, even though it was shoved down our throats. Honestly, I think Nico started hatching the plan for the Bellissimo way back in high school. Trying to scheme his way into a different future. And I’m lucky he took me with him.”
“Were you here from the beginning?”
I nod. I still remember breaking ground on this project-Nico and I showing up to supervise the contractors. “I got pulled back into family shit two years ago and had to go to Chicago. Then Sicily.”
“And are you back to stay now?” She shifts on my lap to catch my eyes.
Is she asking about our future?
Can we even have one?
“Yeah. If Nico needs help, no one else in the family can pull me away. Nico’s profits trump all else, so he can demand the soldiers he requires.”
My phone buzzes and I check the message. It’s from Nico. I’m leaving. They’re too shit-faced to notice. Tony’s staying to keep an eye on things.
I’m relieved he didn’t demand I come back. I should offer, but I don’t want to. I just want to hold Corey. Share secrets with her. Break in our new bed.
Corey climbs off my lap. “Do you have to go back down there?”
I stand and wrap my arm around her waist from behind, pull her back against me. “Nope. I’m staying right here with you, bella.”
“Good,” she murmurs. “Let’s go to bed.”