Lorenzo

 

“That didn’t take long,” Alexis remarked from the kitchen as I came back into the apartment. I had tried to use the short drive back home to calm myself down. She couldn’t see me upset. If she thought something was up, she would bug me about it until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and I would have to tell her. I could withstand torture of almost any kind, but not the torture of Alexis.

 

“It was just a quick meeting.” I flung off my shoes and headed for the living room. I needed something normal to do while I formulated a plan and staring at the television seemed like the most normal thing I could do. But as I passed the kitchen, I noticed the way she looked standing there in front of the stove. Her fitted tee and baggy jeans accentuated the way her waist dipped in. She had piled her hair up into a messy bun, exposing the gentle curve of her neck, and she looked like a perfect, gorgeous housewife. Before I knew what I was doing, I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

 

Alexis leaned back into me. “Well, hello to you, too. Tell me, do you like asparagus?”

 

I didn’t give two shits about asparagus. We could have peanut butter sandwiches for the rest of our lives and it wouldn’t matter. The simple fact that I even thought about the rest of our lives told me everything I needed to know. I couldn’t let her go, especially not to some asshole like Dino.

 

I grit my teeth as his face floated up before me. He was a scrawny thing, with a scraggly beard and haunted eyes. Dressed in ripped-up jeans and a tank top, I could see the numerous tattoos that had been scrawled across his skin. He probably thought it made him look like a badass, but it only told me what a douche he was. Or maybe it was just because I knew what he had done to her. Alexis had never told me all the details, but I knew there was something about her past with this man that wasn’t good. It had been too easy for her to play the part of a girl with an abusive ex, and Jianna had hinted at the same thing. I should have just shot him on the spot and witnesses be damned. No, that had gotten me into enough of a situation already.

 

Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t answered her question yet. “Um, yeah. Asparagus is fine.”

 

“Okay, good. I hope you don’t mind that I’ve taken over your kitchen like this. I know we order in a lot, and you have plenty of frozen stuff to just heat up, but I was craving a homecooked meal. Jianna’s food is amazing, but I wanted something I could eat without worrying about being shot. And that grocery delivery service from the store around the corner is amazing.” She was sautéing chicken breasts in a pan and the scent of the herbs and spices was making my mouth water.

 

Or maybe it was just Alexis. I stepped back and let go of her, moving to the fridge to grab a cold drink. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her. She had the radio playing softly in the background and she swayed her hips slightly to the rhythm of the music. When did I start seeing her like this? She was not just some stripper—not just some hot piece of ass I’d happened to save. This wasn’t an action movie, where the woman was nothing more than a reason for men to watch. She had beauty and spirit in her eyes. I could make her pretend to be my girlfriend to save her life, but I was a complete fool if I thought it stopped there.

 

“You should be careful about using them,” I warned, turning my thoughts back to the food and trying my best to be the same man she’d been living with for the last few weeks. “Someone could be posing as their driver.”

 

“If they start hiring fourteen-year-old boys like the chubby little thing who delivered this food, then nobody is safe from the mafia.” She paused, her wooden spoon in the air, and turned slowly toward me. Those blue eyes watched me warily. “That reminds me of something I think I should tell you.”

 

The can of soda in my hand was suddenly too heavy. I set it down on the counter with a clunk. I saw nothing in the room but her. “What is it?”

 

“Well …” Her hesitation was evident in the way the spoon dipped slowly back down into the pan and the set of her shoulders. Her hips had stopped swaying, her body stiff and cautious now. “I know I was acting like a child when I ran out of here the other day. I just needed to get out, but I know you’re right about my safety.”

 

Every muscle in my body was ready to take action. It would only take a second to throw my shoes back on and be out the door. I would take down anyone who had hurt her. “Alexis, what happened?” I growled through my teeth. I didn’t like the idea of something happening to her and me not knowing about it right away.

 

“No, nothing happened.” She glanced over her shoulder at me with those big blue eyes, then turned them back to her work. I had probably scared her again. I was good at that. “Everything was fine, really, but it was just this feeling I had. I thought maybe it was because you had warned me so much about the possibility of someone trailing us. But as soon as I left the building, I felt the need to run for my life. I kept looking behind me, expecting to see someone closing in on me.”

 

I took a step forward, stopping myself before I had her in my arms again. “And were they? Did you see anyone? Alexis, if someone was watching you, you should have told me right away.” My brain was running at full tilt now, checking through lists of the men I knew Moretti employed for such jobs. They usually weren’t dangerous on their own, but the information they carried back to their boss would be.

 

She shook her head. “I didn’t see anyone. Not really. It was all in my head, and that’s why I didn’t say anything. But it was such a horrible feeling. And I thought, maybe, that you were right.” Her voice trailed off at the end, so quiet I could barely hear her.

 

Curling my fists at my sides, I bit my tongue. Of course I was right! I knew that Piero—at the very least—was suspicious of us. There was no telling if anyone else in the Moretti family was feeling doubtful enough to take action. And I knew now that Dino’s hired man must have been watching her for some time. He knew far too much.

 

But none of that was Alexis’s fault. It was mine. I had dragged her into this and I should have known better. “Don’t worry about it,” I said stiffly. “It was probably nothing.” It wouldn’t do any good to make her worry any more than she obviously was. I could worry enough for the both of us.

 

Now she turned fully toward me. “You’re sure? And you aren’t mad at me? I know I haven’t been very easy to live with, especially considering all you’re doing for me, and I should have listened to you.”

 

In a moment that lasted an eternity, I saw Alexis for everything she was. If she was any other woman, she wouldn’t have apologized for her little fit the other day. She wouldn’t have worried about whether or not I was mad at her—me, the man who had kidnapped her and forced her to live a lie. She was beautiful and sweet—submissive but with a wild side that even she couldn’t quite tame. What would she have been if she had lived a different life? What had Dino done to her?

 

But I couldn’t ask. I just had to know that she was mine, and not Dino’s. I had to know that she wasn’t just pretending and she wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with her. I had held back since our last encounter, trying to keep my distance and reminding myself of reality, but I just couldn’t do it anymore. Every part of me down to my cells surged toward her, eager to surround her and be surrounded by her. I had Alexis in my arms once again and the wooden spoon clattered to the floor. “Mad at you? Don’t even ask me. And don’t you dare apologize.” I covered her mouth with my own, feeling with satisfaction the way her body molded compliantly to mine. Our tongues danced, searching, seeking, and knowing.

 

“I will if this is what it gets me,” she murmured as she brought one leg up and locked it around my hip.

 

“Alexis, I need you.” My gut wrenched at the thought that I might no longer have her in my life at the end of the week. I didn’t know what to do about Dino, and I didn’t know what to do about Moretti. Either way, my life was over. But in that moment, there was only one thing I could do that made any sense. My body demanded it, but she was too precious to me simply to take it from her, no matter what may have happened before.

 

Her arms were around me, her hands spread out on my back as she clung to me. “I know.”

 

I could have taken her right there on the kitchen floor, but it didn’t seem right for what could very well be our last time together. I scooped her up into my arms and carried her down the hall to the bedroom. She squeaked and giggled, turning me on even more. I could feel my cock swelling, demanding that I take her right at that moment and be done with it. But this wasn’t just some fuck. I needed her to see just how much she had come to mean to me.

 

Alexis began pulling her shirt up, but I reached out and stopped her. I wanted this to last as long as possible. I slowly drew her shirt up over her head, relishing every inch of her body as it was exposed. She had a cute little polka-dotted bra, and as sexy as it looked on, I couldn’t wait to get it off. But I took my time, reaching behind her with one hand to undo the clasp and slipping it off gently before I flipped it onto a nearby chair.

 

Next came her jeans. She waited patiently, watching me as I slipped them down off her waist. Her panties matched her bra and they were just as cute, but they had to go. When she was naked before me, with her hair spread around her like a halo, I sucked in my breath. This was what I hadn’t been able to keep my mind off of. This was what I wanted.

 

“Roll over,” I whispered.

 

She furrowed her brow slightly, but complied, giving a pleased gasp as I took her by the shoulders and began rubbing. I could feel the tension in her muscles as I worked my way down her body, rubbing my hands over every inch of her skin. She felt like velvet, soft and supple.

 

“What did I do to deserve this?” she asked, her chin propped on her hands and her eyes half-closed. “It’s lovely.” She practically purred underneath me.

 

I couldn’t answer. The truth was too hard to explain out loud, and it would only ruin the mood. She had done nothing, and yet, she had done everything. “Just enjoy it.”

 

“I can do that.”

 

I reached her lower back and only hesitated a moment before I moved down to her sweet, round buttocks. I longed to part them and shove myself inside her, but I reminded myself that Alexis was a girl worth waiting for. Once I’d given them proper attention, I moved down to her supple thighs and worked all the way down to the tips of her toes.

 

Instead of asking her, I flipped her back over myself and started the whole process again. I watched as my fingers ran down either side of her neck to her collar bone. I caressed her arms, her hands, her glorious breasts, her stomach, and her hips. But my willpower finally gave out.

 

I slid down off the bed and pulled her forward. I wasn’t done with my massage, but it would no longer be my hands doing the work. She moaned as soon as the tip of my tongue touched the top of her slit and ran down, her body jolting in surprise. But she didn’t fight me. She opened herself to me, her hands tangling in her own hair. She tasted so good, and I worked faster and faster, eager to work her into a frenzy. Unable to resist, I slipped my finger inside. She was hot and slick, ready for me.

 

“God, yes,” she whispered, arching her hips up in the air to increase the pressure from my tongue.

 

I was so hard now and I couldn’t wait much longer. I needed her, and I knew that she needed me, too. As soon as I had protection, I was back on top of her. She looked me right in the eyes as I entered her, those wild blue orbs widening slightly at the pressure.

 

We were in perfect rhythm as I rode her. I wanted to be gentle, but I needed to be all the way inside. Instinctively, she knew this, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I sank all the way inside and into oblivion. I kept my pace slow, but I thrust in deeply. It was impossible to think this might be the last time we ever did this together. I couldn’t turn her over to Dino and let him do these things—and other, unspeakable things—to her. I shook my head, willing those kinds of thoughts to go away and just let me enjoy this.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Alexis didn’t stop the gentle pulsation of her hips, but she tipped her head to the side. I had worried her. She looked so vulnerable there, naked and nervous below me.

 

Damn it. “Not a thing. Absolutely nothing.”

 

“Good. Then you’ll let me get on top for a while.”

 

How could I refuse? She had me on my back in an instant, relishing the way her breasts moved as she straddled me. I pulled her down so that my face was between them, suckling each one until they were pert buds.

 

“Mmm, I like that.” She arched her back.

 

So did I, and I gave them the thorough attention they deserved, licking and sucking as I ran my hands over the pleasurable curve of her tiny waist and her ample hips. She was a goddess, and one that I would gladly worship. Her hair fell in waves around us, and I was drowning in my enjoyment of her. Alexis had a nice, round ass, and I moved my hands down to hold each cheek in my palms. She was firm and toned, yet pleasantly plush. I dug my fingers into her flesh and she ground herself down harder onto my dick. Experimentally, I pulled my hand back and smacked her. I waited for her to smack me back and tell me to stop.

 

But she let out a breath and flung her hair back, her knees tightening against the outside of mine. “Do that again.”

 

“Gladly.” I spanked her again, grabbing a handful of flesh to feel the vibration of it. She grew wetter around me.

 

“Harder,” Alexis commanded. Another whack and she was slamming her hips into me, her pussy tightening as she bucked. She was using me for her pleasure—taking control. With my mouth still busy on her nipple, I grabbed her ass and guided her, pressing her down onto me even harder and faster. As her core quivered around me, I felt an explosion coming. I thrust upward, needing every single bit of this I could get.

 

“Yes! Yes! Oh my god, don’t stop!” She slammed harder, somehow managing to keep her breasts right in my reach. We trembled together as she screamed, until every piece of me had been poured out.

 

“That was incredible,” she mumbled as she rolled into place next to me. I put my arm around her and held her close, still not ready to let her go. “What was that all about?”

 

My smile matched hers. “Just something I needed to do.” I pulled her onto my chest and rested my hand on the flat of her stomach. My worries had been drained out of me. Alexis was mine. Not because I was forcing her to be, but because she wanted to be.

 

She snuggled up next to me. Her body was so soft and warm. How did I ever stand this bed without her in it? Alexis was the missing part of my life. It was stupid of me to think it could ever work out, but I couldn’t help imagining that there was some small hope. Maybe I could ask Matteo to give me my retirement, and he would be so grateful for what I’d done to Calzoni that he would agree. Or maybe something terrible would happen to Dino—a thought that had occurred to me several times since I’d left the bar—and we wouldn’t have to worry about him. But even if I did off Dino, I would still have Piero to contend with. No, there was no good way for me to win this battle.

 

“Do you smell that?” Alexis’s sharp words brought me back to reality. Her body had tensed, no longer content to cradle in the curve of my arm. “The chicken!” She was up, off the bed, and heading toward the kitchen before I could even move, grabbing her robe on the way out the door.