Romero After more than fourteen hours of travel, we arrived at Luca’s penthouse. Lily had fallen asleep a couple of times during the trip, but woke up suddenly almost instantly. She was probably having nightmares about Benito.
I was so fucking glad I had killed him. When I had entered the master bedroom and seen Benito with a letter opener in his body, I had wanted to scream with joy. I knew that the coming weeks and months, maybe even years, would be hard for the Family and for each of us. Dante would fight back with everything he had.
I parked the car in the underground garage and got out . Lily could barely stand up from exhaustion, but she put on a brave face. I wanted nothing more than to take her home with me, but first Luke, Matthew and I had to have a talk without the risk of an Outfit attack.
When we entered the penthouse, Aria and Gianna led Lily toward the sofa. A protest was on the tip of my tongue. I still felt very protective of her after almost losing her and always wanted her by my side, but it would have been ridiculous to say anything. She was still in the same room with me. Her eager look in my direction when she sat between her sisters told me that Lily felt the same way.
“We need to summon everyone for a meeting. They need to know that the truce between us and the Outfit is no longer in effect. I don’t want anyone to fall into a trap because they think they can trust a bastard from the Outfit,” Luke said. I could tell he was still pissed off at me, and he had every right to be. The fact that he had not killed me was a greater sign of friendship than I had ever hoped for.
“Some people may not be happy with Liliana and you,” Matteo said. “They probably won’t act on their anger, but if I were you I would be careful.”
“Don’t worry. And if anyone touches Lily with a finger, I’ll rip their throats out.”
“I think you’ve done enough damage for a while,” Luke said tensely. “And no one will try to hurt Liliana.
She is now part of the Family and under my protection. I suppose you will marry her?”
I had never asked her, but I wanted her to be my wife.
“If she says yes, then I will marry her.”
“After all the drama today, I’d better marry you,” Matteo muttered. He leaned against the dining table and yawned widely.
“I’ll ask her soon enough.”
Luca raised his hand. “This is not our main concern right now. We need to double our security measures. We didn’t just kidnap Scuderi’s daughter, we killed a captain with a retinue of loyal soldiers. There will be blood to pay.”
I tried to take another look at Lily. The Outfit could have tried to kill her. Knowing her father, he probably would have done it himself.
He would have had to go through me if he tried to hurt her.
Liliana After two hours in Luca’s apartment, we were finally at Romero’s house. I had never been there and was curious despite my tiredness. I could tell Romero was tense, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe he regretted everything that had happened? Or maybe he was just worried about what was going to happen.
Romero opened the door and pushed it wide open for me. I walked through it and found myself in a long hallway.
The walls were adorned with family photos in pretty silver frames. I promised myself to look at them more closely when my eyes would no longer close. Several doors branched off from the hallway.
Romero led me toward the last one on the right.
Behind it was a master bedroom, but we did not stop there. We had been on the road for hours and I had been awake for more than twenty-four hours. It was already past noon, but I wanted to sleep.
I could still smell Benito’s scent on me, though; his blood, his sweat, his body odor. It made me sick. Romero opened the door to the adjacent bathroom. I quickly slipped out of my clothes and stepped into the glass shower. Romero looked at me in silence, with an indecipherable expression on his face. He looked exhausted. As the warm water trickled down my body, I felt some tension leave my limbs.
“Do you want to be alone?” asked Romero after a moment. He seemed… uncertain. This was not something I was used to from him. Maybe I needed to consider that he needed some time to process everything.
I shook my head. “I want you to join me.”
Romero removed his clothes. I did not try to hide my admiration as I watched him. I loved Romero’s body. I loved everything about him. I moved to the side so he could get into the shower with me. I slid my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek against his chest as the water fell on us. I missed the feeling of his skin against mine.
I closed my eyes. So much had happened and so much was yet to come.
“Things are going to get really bad for Luca and the Family now, aren’t they?”
Romero stroked my back. “The union between the Family and the Outfit was bound to break at some point.
I’d rather have it for something important like you than for money or politics. You deserve a war.”
“I’m not sure Luca agrees. He’s probably already regretting taking me to New York.”
“I know Luca. He doesn’t regret his decision. Once he makes a decision, he sticks to it. And it wasn’t just for you. It was also for Aria and Gianna. They want you to be happy.”
I lifted my head and smiled at him. His body protected me from the water. Romero lowered his head and kissed my forehead, then my lips. We did not deepen the kiss, instead we finished showering quickly. Romero got out first and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around me and began to gently dry my body. I relaxed under his gentle care. The last bit of tension slipped away from me. After he was finished with me, I took a towel from the shelf and dried Romero in my turn. He closed his eyes when I rubbed his shoulders. “How do you feel?” I asked softly. I knew that men, and Made Men in particular, did not like to talk about their feelings, particularly sadness or fear.
He looked at me. “Tired.”
“No, I mean because you had to kill Benito for me. Are you okay?”
Romero let out a humorless laugh. He took my hand and led me back to the bedroom. He dropped onto the bed and pulled me between his legs, then sat me down on one of them. “It wasn’t my first and it won’t be my last, but I enjoyed his death more than the others and I don’t regret it. I would do it again and I would enjoy it just as much .”
Romero It was the truth and now that Lily and I were going to start living together, she needed to know, needed to know every dark part of me. I searched her eyes for a sign of revulsion, but there was none. He kissed my cheek before resting his head on my shoulder. His fingers lightly traced my chest. That and the feel of her firm bottom on my thigh stirred my cock, but now was not the time to follow that impulse.
Not long ago Lily had had to fight her new husband, had had to stab him and watch him die. She needed time to recover.
I got up and lifted Lily onto my arm, then carried her around the bed and laid her down. She kept her hands wrapped around my neck and would not let go even when I tried to straighten up. “Lily,” I said softly. “You need to rest.”
She shook her head and pulled me down on top of her.
I leaned on my elbows so as not to crush her under my weight. Lily wrapped her legs around my hips and sank her heels into my lower back, pressing me down.
I did not resist. I lowered myself slowly until our bodies were flush with each other and my cock pressed against her pussy. She lifted her head to claim my mouth for a kiss.
I stared into her eyes, they were soft and full of desire.
I wasn’t sure how I could have ever believed that Lily didn’t want me. Her eyes showed her love for me as clear as day.
“I need you,” she murmured, lifting her hips a few inches and sliding my tip onto her lower lips. I let out a small hiss at the sensation. She was wet and hot. It always felt so fucking inviting. I didn’t need to be asked twice. I wanted her all the time. I quickly slipped on a condom, took her head and slowly thrust myself inside her, and as I did so I realized how much I needed it too. She was tighter than usual, perhaps from tension and fatigue, and I made sure to be careful.
I made love to her slowly. It was not about getting aroused , about being consumed by desire and lust, it was something to show us that everything was okay. A few days earlier I had thought of losing her forever, and now she was mine.
Between sweet moans she told me she loved me. I kissed her lips. I had never been an overly emotional person, but I never tired of hearing her say those words. “I love you too,” I said softly. It still felt strange to admit it to someone.
When we lay in each other’s arms afterward, I felt a deep, all-encompassing peace that I had never felt before.