273

After reinforcements arrived and took Enzo to our doctor, I drove Valentina home.
“I’m really sorry,” she whispered on the drive to our villa.
I said nothing; I was consumed by so many conflicting emotions that I had difficulty keeping in check. Anger toward Valentina for disobeying my command, concern about losing her, and the need to prove to myself that this woman was mine. What I had felt when I had seen Valentina with Frank had been more than just possessiveness, and then the acute terror I had felt when the bullet had missed Valentina’s head by a few inches….
I did not want to reflect on my emotions, not on these emotions, and focused on my anger at my wife.
After we arrived home, I headed straight for the bedroom, needing to vent my fury. “I’m really sorry,” Valentina said as we entered the room, but I wasn’t about to let her go easily.
I pushed Valentina against the bedroom door, my chest pressed against her back, for once using my physical strength against my wife, rendering her immobile. My cock was already getting hard, feeling Valentina’s sexy body against mine.
“Why do you keep disobeying me, Valentina?” I growled.
I lifted her skirt and pushed my erection against her ass, showing her what she had done to me. She let out a shuddering breath, goose bumps rising on her skin.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, her voice trembling.
My anger was overwhelming, surpassed only by the fierce hunger that consumed my being.
“That’s the wrong answer.” I found Valentina wet when I touched her pussy and penetrated her with two fingers, making sure she was ready for the furious fucking I craved. And fuck, she was. She was aroused by our fight, which angered and aroused me at the same time. Evoking mixed emotions in me was Valentina’s specialty.
I began to fuck her right against the door, without holding back . My anger flared as I took her abruptly, dominating her , giving her no choice but to give in to my demands, and she did. Her moans escaped control, her pussy slippery around my cock, and when she came with a cry and threw back her head, I could not resist kissing her hard, claiming that beautiful mouth as I claimed her pussy. I continued to pump inside her, overwhelmed by a burning, hot pleasure I had never encountered before, and when I came inside her and kissed her neck, I was no longer sure how I felt.
My anger was the safe option, so I focused on that and completely ignored Valentina for the next few weeks. It was a harsh punishment, for both of us. Lying next to her at night, with her tantalizing scent in my nose, with the warmth of her gorgeous body next to mine, not fucking her was torture.
Valentina was giving me space, and for once I wished she would not do that, wished she would try to seduce me as she had done in the beginning just so I could give in.
After two weeks, I lost my battle with myself. Valentina and I had just turned off the lights and were lying next to each other on the bed when the pulsing desire in my cock became too strong. I pushed myself up on one elbow. “Not a word,” I growled.
Valentina held her breath as I moved down her body, slipped her panties down and licked her slit. She arched against my mouth with a stifled moan. I tongue-fucked her, so eager for her pussy that my cock twitched against the mattress. She came after a few minutes.
I had taken no time, impatient for more. I stood up and slipped off my pajama pants. “Kneel down, Valentina.”
I heard a rustle, then appeared before me and sank . In the darkness of the room, I could only make out the floors. Grabbing her neck, I guided her to my waiting cock. I did not allow her to discover me as usual; I was in no mood for the gentle approach that night. Instead, I began to fuck her mouth, letting my anger fuel my moves.
She gasped when I hit the back of her throat, but she didn’t back down. Her occasional moaning around my cock and the way she moved restlessly told me she loved it.
“Don’t touch yourself. I’m the only one who will make you come, ” I growled. She shuddered and I knew at that point she would start to leak. Fuck. The thought sent me over the edge and I poured my cum down her throat, holding her down with a firm grip on her neck. I pulled her up toward me, then scratched in her ear . “I’m still mad at you. That’s why now you’ll have to go to sleep without a second orgasm.”
She made a small sound of protest.
“Not a word, Valentina.”
“Dante …”
“No,” I growled.
I pulled up my pants and went back to bed. Valentina followed me and stretched beside me, looking at me in the darkness . She rubbed her legs, obviously seeking relief and was driving me crazy, knowing how soaked she would be.
Without saying a word, I spread her legs apart and slipped two fingers in. Valentina tightened around me and arched up with a moan. Keeping my fingers inside her, I cut her earlobe. “I am too lenient with you.”
I pulled my fingers out of her, almost tempted to shove them into my mouth to taste Valentina again.
“Can I taste myself?”
My cock twitched. This woman was so much more than I had expected, so much more than I could resist.
Over the next few weeks, I fucked Valentina every night and engaged in polite but detached conversations, even though I longed for more. I could not explain the attraction between us. This primal connection was new to me. It was something I could have handled, but the resulting emotions for my wife took me by surprise. I needed control, I thrived on it, but with Valentina I often lost it completely.
Things in the Outfit were tense, so I could not use my emotional instability in any way. Since Rocco had called me a few minutes earlier to tell me that Gianna had run away to escape her marriage to Matteo Vitiello, I needed my head clear more than ever. This could have destroyed the peace with the Family, could have thrown us directly into a bloody war.
My fury threatened to overflow, but when Valentina entered my office, her pale skin immediately distracted me from my turmoil. She looked sick. She had been feeling ill for some time, but I had not paid much attention to her, still determined to keep my distance. Now my concern overrode my determination.
“You look pale. Are you still not feeling well? Maybe you should talk to the doctor.”
She shook her head. “No, I…” She widened her eyes and hurried out of my office. I quickly followed her toward the guest bathroom. She leaned out of the toilet and quickly flushed the toilet when I entered. She tried to stand but staggered, so I grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.
“Valentina?”
She staggered to the sink and cleaned herself.
Sweat glistened on her forehead. She did not look well.
Had my dismissal weakened her?
“I’m fine.”
She lied. I followed her upstairs to our bedroom and touched her waist. “You know I hate it when you keep secrets. Don’t make a habit of it.”
Valentina swallowed and pressed a palm against her belly. Everything seemed to stop when I realized what that gesture meant and suddenly her continued discomfort gained meaning.
“I’m pregnant.”
Valentina waited.
My insides were a stormy ocean. The little sailboat of my joy at the news was soon swept away by the thunderous waves of my sadness, guilt, and anger. Carla and I were trying to become parents. It had been her greatest wish, and I had failed to give it to her. She had died without ever holding her baby, without ever experiencing the joys of motherhood.
And Valentina was pregnant after such a short time.
Without struggle. Without heartbreak. “Pregnant?” I asked.
“Yes. We never used protection, so I don’t know why you act so shocked. Wasn’t an heir one of the reasons you married me?”
“That was the reason my father wanted me to remarry.”
“So you don’t want children?”
“Are they mine?” Carla assured me that her doctor had found nothing obviously wrong with her. I myself had never gone to a doctor.
Shock and sharp pain crossed Valentina’s face as she turned away from me.
“Answer my question.”
“Of course, he is your son. You’re the only man I’ve ever slept with. How can you even ask such a question? How dare you?”
Carla would not lie to me. She had no reason to.
Doubt plagued me, and that only fueled my fury.
I did not want to doubt my late wife. “I don’t keep track of everything you do, and there are many men who frequent the casino who wouldn’t say no to an evening with you. You’ve made a habit of hiding things from me. Do I need to remind you about Frank?”
“How can you say such a thing? I have never given you any reason to doubt me like that. I am loyal to this marriage. There’s a difference between not telling you about Frank and cheating on you.”
“My first wife and I tried for years to get pregnant.
It never worked. You and I have been married less than four months and you are already pregnant.”
“I don’t know why you act like it’s impossible. If your first wife was infertile, then that’s your explanation.
Didn’t you ever consult a doctor? Or did you think you were the infertile one?”
“We never went to a doctor to find out why we couldn’t conceive. Not that it’s any of your business. I’m not going to talk about my first marriage to you.”
“Too bad. We’re talking about it now. I know why you didn’t want to find out. You didn’t want to know the truth, because you were worried that it would make you less of a man if it was your fault that your wife couldn’t get pregnant. But now we know it wasn’t your fault. It was Carla who was barren.”
Anger surged through me. “I told you I didn’t want to talk about Carla.”
“Why not? Why do you still love her? Why can’t you move on? I’m sorry you lost Carla, but I’m your wife now.”
Valentina was right. Deep down I knew I had to stop clinging to the past, but at that moment I couldn’t. The anger toward myself boiled over, stronger than any anger I had ever felt toward Valentina.
“I am so sick of seeing you treat me like a prostitute.
You ignore me during the day and come to me for sex at night. And now you accuse me of cheating on you? Sometimes I think you hurt me on purpose to keep me at a distance. When will you finally move on? Your wife has been dead for four years; it’s time for you to stop feeling sorry for yourself and realize that life goes on.
When will you stop clinging to the memory of a dead woman and realize that there is someone in your life who wants to be with you?”
I stealthily approached her, furious that she had thrown this at me.
“Don’t talk about her.”
“She’s dead and she’s not coming back, Dante.”
A sharp pain pierced my chest at her words, making me want to hurl myself at everything around me. “Stop talking about her.”
Fear flashed in Valentina’s eyes. Fear of me, her husband, but I was unable to apologize, unable to back down.
She lifted her chin. “Or what? Do you want to hit me?
Come on. It can’t be worse than the knife you stuck in my back accusing me of carrying another man’s child.” I was a brutal man, there was no doubt , but hitting Valentina was the last thing I would ever do.
“You are so busy honoring her memory and protecting the image of her in your mind that you don’t realize how badly you are treating me. You lost your first wife through no fault of your own, but you’re going to lose me because you can’t let her go.”
I should have apologized, but instead I saw Valentina leave our bedroom.