BEST SELLER: TEACH ME DADDY

PROLOGUE

 

I squealed as his hands pinned my arms behind my back, thrusting my chest out to him. Without any warning or any words spoken, he kissed me harshly. My lips automatically swelled underneath his touch while our tongues danced a familiar tango and I felt myself short of breath by the time he pulled away. All this time had passed, and his kiss could still render me speechless.

The attraction between us was so strong, I could feel it electrifying the stale air of the diner.

“Tell me what you’re hiding,” he said.

I turned my head away to try and disconnect what I knew was brewing between us.

“Now,” he said.

I tried to fight the animal magnetism between the two of us. I could feel my entire body trembling as he tugged harder on my arms. My chest wrenched out toward him and his lips descended to my skin, pressing his barely-there kisses while he watched the whole of my skin pucker at his touch.

“You’ll tell me, or I’ll get it out of you one way or another,” he said.

His words made me hot and I started to squirm in his lap. I remembered how his spanking made me feel last time. His lips pressed once again into mine, and I whimpered softly at his touch.

He bit my bottom lip, pulling a moan from my throat that caused him to growl. I started grinding down into his lap, feeling his erection swell in his pants while his hands traveled to my bra. I started to backtrack from him, trying to get off his lap as his grasp held me in his lap.

I knew the moment he saw the stretch marks that trailed up the sides of my breasts that he would know.

He pulled my bra down, and my breathing sped up. For a moment, my nipples were bared to the warm air of the diner. I could feel them puckering underneath his gaze, hardening as I spilled into my panties. His fingertips rose to the side of my breast, tracing every lightened stretch mark he could find as I visibly quaked in his lap.

I was panting with fear while my pussy was growing wet with desire.

Suddenly, his lips dipped to my pert nipples. He licked and sucked, the sensations driving me crazy while I continued to moan. The electricity that shot through my body could’ve powered the entire town and, as I bucked wildly in his lap, I could feel the vibrations of his voice echo off the corners of my mind.

“Tell me your secret,” he said.

He ground against me, causing me to gasp for air. I wanted him and I knew he could tell. But I hadn’t told him what he wanted to know. My nipple fell from between his lips and his knee pressed against my clit, causing me to lose myself in his body again while he moved me back and forth.

My arms stayed taut, and his hand stayed wound in my hair as my body shook with the pleasure coursing through my veins. He rocked me to my precipice, my clit swelling with lust and wanton passion as my body started to shiver. My body jolted and darted with my orgasm as he rocked my body faster and faster against his leg, his lips wrapping around my nipples and riding me through the wetness pouring out from between my legs.

I shook helplessly on his lap as my orgasm barreled over my body and, once I collapsed, I felt him readjust my bra and pull my shirt down.

My hazy gaze found his stern eyes, and even though I was flushed with the pleasure he’d just given my body, he still wouldn’t let me go. I stared back at him, truly unsure of what was coming next, but something inside of me chanted a very familiar tune.

You can trust him. You can trust him. You can trust him.

 

 

Chapter One – Rose

 

Crap here we go again.

Nothing good ever came in the mail. The first few days after the first of the month were the days when most of our bills came and I was reminded how dirt poor we really were.

Oh well. There was no need to prolong the pain any further. “Rip that Band-Aid off”, as my mom would say. I took a deep breath and opened the mailbox.

Stacked neatly inside were three threatening letters from the same credit card companies letting me know that I was ninety days behind.

No shit, Sherlock.

The hole I kept digging every month just kept getting deeper. I’m one straw away from breaking the camel’s back.

And when that happens… shit, I don’t know what I’ll do.

The one bright spot of this morning’s trip to the mailbox was the thick pack of coupons at the bottom of the stack.

I tucked the bills under my arm and tore into the coupons as I walked back up the gravel drive to the house I shared with Cassie, and my ten year old brother. Coupons were a necessity of life in Rose’s world.

“Sis! Is breakfast ready yet?”

“Why don’t you come down here and see for yourself?”

I dashed my behind to the kitchen stove to scramble the now nearly burned eggs in a pan, while Kevin bounded down the stairs. His brooding eyes narrowed as he saw me standing at the stove, and I could feel the quip coming on before he even spat it out.

“I thought you said breakfast was—”

“I only said to come see. Sit. Now.”

He groaned but sat down at the table. He blew spit bubbles, and I grimaced. His dark hair fluttered around his head as he leaned back into his chair. He needed a haircut, but that would have to wait. The morning was as hectic as ever. I had to get Kevin to school before I could even think about clocking in for work, and I was running behind.

Fifteen minutes behind, to be exact.

My cell phone rang on the counter, and I saw Crystal’s name pop up. I loved my best friend and all, but I really needed a break. I didn’t need to be taking her call right now, but I knew if I didn’t pick up, she’d just keep calling and calling.

“Sis, food!” Kevin demanded.

“Sit down and hush. It’s almost ready.”

“We’re gonna be late for school,” Kevin said.

“And had it not taken me ten minutes to roll you outta bed, we wouldn’t be running late. Buck up and hush.”

I picked up the phone and pinned it to my ear with my shoulder as the toast popped out of the toaster. I could feel the sweat trickling down the back of my neck. Of all the mornings for Crystal to be chatting in my ear, it had to be this one.

“What?” I asked.

“Oh, good. You’re in a shitty mood. I’ve got something that’ll make you feel better!”

“You know I love you, but do spit it out because I’m late,” I said.

“Ooh. Testy. I’m inviting you for a long weekend in New York City. My penthouse is open to you, and we really need to catch up. I haven’t seen you much since school.”

“Responsibility will do that to you, I guess.”

“How’s Kevin doing by the way?” she asked. “With everything?”

“As well as he can, I guess.”

I’d met Crystal at culinary school in New York City and we’d been attached at the hip since. Even with the distance between us now, our friendship never drifted. She came from a rich family and she’d had a wild hair up her ass to become a chef after finding her own personal obsession with cooking shows. It came as no shock when she dropped out after the first year but what was unexpected was for me to do the same. My parents died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver, and it left me as the sole caretaker of my little brother Kevin. That night changed both our lives forever.

“Rose, come on,” Kevin groaned.

“Shut up, or you’re not eating,” I said.

“Sounds about right,” Crystal said. “Anyway, you have to come see me. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

“I don’t have anyone to watch Kevin,” I said.

“Get Cassie to watch him. She’s your roommate, right? Did I get that name right?”

“Yes, you did. And yes, she is. But she isn’t my personal babysitter so I can go party in the city.”

“Rose, you never do anything for yourself. Just once, allow yourself to let go. He’ll be fine with her. He likes her, right? She’s not a dick?”

“No, Crystal,” I said. “My roommate isn’t a dick.”

I spooned eggs onto Kevin’s plate before I dropped a piece of buttered toast in front of his face. I set the pan on the table and went to go grab him a glass, pouring some milk for both of us, Rose style. What’s Rose style you might ask? The good ol’ half milk, half water strategy I use most mornings. It was just one of the many ways I stretched a dollar in our budget tight home.

The cost of living in our small community in Poconos PA wasn’t high in comparison to the Big Apple, which was about a three and half hour drive away. However, one waitressing gig didn’t exactly scream discretionary income.

“Take the time off work and come. December is the best time to spend in the city!” Crystal said. “If I have to come get you, you’re staying longer.”

“Fine. Fine. I’ll come spend a weekend or something in your bad-ass Sex and the City penthouse.”

“Soon,” she said.

“Soon, I promise. I’ve missed you, too. Life’s just been a bit hectic.”

“We’re gonna get you away from it for a little bit,” she said. “And don’t worry about money. I’ve got it. Just get yourself here. I’ll even reimburse you for the ticket.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“Well, I am anyway. You work too hard for everyone else. You need a break. See you this weekend.”

“Wait, I didn’t say this—”

She hung up the phone before I could counter and I groaned. Of course, she would try to slip that last point in. She wanted me over this weekend and my mind was rushing in with excuses and reasons not to go. I looked over at Kevin, who was devouring his eggs, and I sighed in frustration. I missed my parents more than I could stand. I had to drop out of culinary school and take a job waitressing to support my younger brother and all I got in return was his sassiness. I understood it. He was hurting, just like I was. I didn’t ask anything in return. But man, I really needed a break.

So, I picked up the phone and called Cassie to ask her for a favor.

 

***

Two Days Later

I found myself looking out the window of the car Crystal had dumped me into. Looking out at all the hustling bodies was a far cry from Poconos, Pennsylvania. The last couple of years had really taken a toll on both my brother and me and I needed this time away. I knew Cassie would plan a lot of things for her and Kevin to do to help him decompress as well. I lost my parents when I was nineteen, but he was only eight.

My heart ached for him as I continued to look out the window of the car.

People were just going about their business. Some were shopping for Christmas gifts, while others were walking hand in hand with their lovers. Me? I was about to get yanked out of the car by my best friend and dragged into a very eclectic and unique shop so I could get an outfit for something called a Whips and Chains Masquerade.

Only in New York, I guessed.

Crystal was squealing and walking through the aisles while I stood there, fingering the fabrics of the very revealing dresses. Was she serious? Did she actually expect me to put myself into one of these and go out into public in it?

I barely even had time for showers, much less sex.

What a weird week this was turning out to be.

“What do you think?”

Crystal came striding out of the dressing room in what could only be described as a red vinyl car seat. She had shiny fabric wrapped around random parts of her body while revealing the parts she really needed to cover up. It barely covered her ass, and it most certainly didn’t do anything to cover her chest. I blushed just looking at her in it.

“You really are a virgin, aren’t you?” she asked, giggling.

It wasn’t that I wanted to be. It was just that I didn’t have any time. I studied hard my first year of culinary school to try and sink my claws into a full-ride scholarship. When my parents passed away and Kevin needed a caretaker, everything else went to the back burner. I didn’t date because of my schoolwork and then I couldn’t date because I needed to work to make ends meet.

So what if I was a virgin?

“I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” I said.

“You don’t even like girls, and you can’t look at me in this dress. Does it look that bad?” She looked at herself in the mirror, frowning.

“Nope,” I said.

“Then you’re just embarrassed,” she said, grinning.

“Of course, I am. I don’t want to see my best friend’s tits.”

“My nipples are covered!” she exclaimed. “But still, I see what you mean. Time to try on another one. Which ones are you gonna try?”

“None of them,” I said.

“Nope. You’re not leaving until you have an outfit for this party.”

“I didn’t even agree to go to this party,” I said. “You just dragged me out here after springing it on me right after I landed.”

“Trust me,” she said. “You need this just as much as I do.”

“Whatever. You wanna know what I think? I think we’re crazy for doing this.”

Crystal’s cousin, Elizabeth, had popped up in her email inviting us to this stupid party. Crystal kept telling me about how her cousin had been diving into the world of BDSM clubs, and how Crystal had become curious herself. She hit me with two glasses of wine the moment I walked into her penthouse and, an hour later, we were back in her car and driving to this stupid store. She kept talking my ear off about how it was going to be so much fun, and maybe she’d meet some hot guy that would tie her to his bed, and all I could do was gawk.

Tie her to a bed? Was she joking? Excuse me while I laugh hysterically.

“Crystal! That looks fabulous on you!”

“Eli!”

I sighed the moment I heard her voice. Of course, her cousin would find us in this shop.

“I can’t wait for you guys to see this place,” Eli said. “It’s the hottest BDSM party of the season. Everyone’s gonna be there.”

“What exactly is this party, anyway?” I asked.

“It’s a place where no one knows your name,” she said. “Everyone uses aliases, and they all wear masks. Doms look for their next subs and newbies like yourself get to gaze into rooms and take a peek at the action.”

“Excuse me?” I asked. “People are like… gonna be having sex everywhere?”

“Not like… out there on the couches and the porch. There will be rooms and closed doors. If you wanna see what’s going on, all you gotta do is knock and wait for someone to call out to you. Who knows? Someone might even ask you to join.”

“No, thanks,” I said.

“I, for one, can’t wait,” Crystal said. “The last one I went to was fabulous.”

“You’ve been to one?” I asked.

“I got a taste of what it meant to be a sub,” Crystal said, nodding. “Not my thing. I prefer my meat tamed.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.

“My cousin’s a natural dom,” Eli said. “Dominant. They look for subs, or submissives, to command. To control. To do whatever they want with.”

“This doesn’t sound like fun!” I exclaimed. “This sounds… horrible.”

“No one is going to force themselves on you, Rose,” Eli said. “If there’s one thing the BDSM community is big on, it’s consent. No one will even touch you without asking first. And if you say ‘no,’ there’s no harm done. At all.”

“Rose, I wouldn’t ever put you in a situation where I thought you’d be taken advantage of,” Crystal said. “I didn’t realize that was the reason you were worried.”

“It’s not the only reason, but it’s a big one,” I said.

“Is she still a virgin?” Eli asked.

“Yep,” Crystal said. “Part of me kind of wants to change that.”

Part of me wants to crawl under a damn rock and die.

“Hello? I’m right here,” I said. “And that’s not changing at some party with some random guy whose name I won’t even know.”

“Either way, it’ll be a fun experience,” Crystal said. “Come on, you came to New York for me, but you also came for an adventure, right?”

She had me there, but this definitely wasn’t the kind of adventure I was thinking about. I was thinking more along the lines of dancing, some drunken karaoke, and maybe flirting with some guys in the park.

Not a masquerade BDSM sex party with a Christmas theme. I couldn’t make this shit up.

“Look, you can’t give up now,” Crystal said. “We’ve already RSVP’d. Let’s find us some outfits and really do it up. If you don’t like it after thirty minutes, we’ll leave and go get drinks.”

“Speak for yourself,” Eli said. “I’ve been looking forward to this event all year.”

“Whatever,” I said.

“Okay,” Crystal said. “Go back there into dressing room number three. I put a dress in there that’s perfect for you. You have to try it on.”

I groaned, but I also did what she asked. She shoved me down the hallway and I slipped into the dressing room. I balked the moment I saw the dress. It was a white, lacy, floor-length gown that was see-through. You’d be able to see my underwear! “Time’s a’tickin’!” Crystal said as she tossed some things over. “Put those on underneath the dress, and come on out.”

I was looking at the floor, taking in the white lacy bra and the high-waisted panties she threw over. There was no way my ass would fit all the way in those panties but Crystal banged on my dressing room door again and I started stripping. I put on all the pieces one-by-one, jumping myself into the lacy dress as it cascaded down my body. I knew I would look ridiculous and have to immediately put everything back, but the moment I turned around and looked in the mirror, I couldn’t help but stare.

I’d never seen my body look that way before. The way the dress hugged my curves was so provocative and striking. My eyes trailed over my chest, round and high in the bra, as the dress trickled down the dip of my waist, clinging to me. The high-waisted panties rounded over the curves of my ass before the dress continued spilling down my thighs. I had to take a second and digest everything before I could move, but the moment I did, I heard Crystal’s voice.

“I take it from the speechlessness that it looks good?” she asked.

“Surprisingly… it doesn’t suck,” I said.

“Good. I’m paying for it. Get it off, and get it out here to the register. I know what I’m wearing to the party.”

“Please don’t tell me it’s that red, vinyl thing,” I said as I started undressing.

“Nope, I’ve got something much better,” she said.

“What?” I asked as I tossed the clothes over to her.

“An all-black leather dress, with a glossy, dominatrix feel.”

If I’d had anything in my mouth, I would have spat it out all over the wall of the dressing room.

By the time I got dressed and came back out, Crystal was holding up our bags. She was grinning at me with a sly look on her face, like she’d just gotten away with some master plan she had been concocting.

Now that I had the clothing, I didn’t feel right backing out of the party.

“All we need to do is find ourselves some masks,” she said. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we headed?” I asked.

“You’ll see.”

She threw the bags in the car, and we made our way across town. I looked out at all the unassuming people while Crystal talked my ear off, but I wasn’t paying any attention. I had no idea what I was getting myself into tonight and part of me still wished I could back out.

But part of me was also entranced with how I looked in that dress.

“We’re here!” she exclaimed.

I found myself being tugged out of the car and dragged into another store. The walls were lined with masks of every shape, size, and color. I gawked at the sheer amount of glitter that lined the floors of the shop, knowing I’d have to take many hot showers in order to rid my body of it all. Crystal was already trying on black and red masks to go with her outfit, but there was one that caught my eye over at the far end of the store.

A white lacy mask that matched my outfit perfectly.

I walked over and plucked it off the wall before I set it against my face. It covered forehead, eyes, and nose, and left my cheekbones, mouth, and jawline exposed. I loved the way the glitter accents made my green eyes shine, and the way it contrasted my jet-black hair made it look like I had blue highlights.

Crystal plucked it from my hand while I was admiring myself and threw it at the cashier.

“We’ll take this one, too,” she said.

“You know this party’s probably gonna keep me a virgin for the rest of my life, right?” I asked.

“Oh, I promise you it won’t.”

“I’ll be sexually harassed by some stranger, triggering a traumatic cascade of events that’ll shy me away from sex forever,” I said.

“Fuck’s sake, you sure are dramatic,” she said, grinning.

“I’m serious, Crystal. I have no idea what I’m walking into. I’m gonna be the awkward girl of the group. The outcast. The weird one.”

“When have you ever not been weird?” she asked, giggling.

“Isn’t the point of a masquerade party to not be yourself?” I asked.

“Look. You’re about to walk into a world where even the most innocent of virgins have fully devoted themselves to the cause. Trust me. It’ll be a fun and new experience. And if you don’t like it, we’ll leave. I promise.”

“Don’t you find it at least a little funny?” I asked. “That some inexperienced virgin is about to walk into a BDSM club?”

“Maybe a little funny,” she said, smiling. “But we gotta hurry up and get back.”

“Why?” I asked. “What’s going on tonight?”

“Seriously? Why the hell did you think I dragged you out shopping?”

“The party’s tonight, Crystal?”

“Come on,” she said as she held out her hand. “Time to go find you a new memory to take home.”

Boy, was that an understatement.

 

 

Chapter Two - Camillo

 

I sat at my massive mahogany desk, my eyes flickering around the screens in front of me. I watched all the people at the party having a good time and I made sure nothing disgusting or illegal befell any of them. After all, searching for my perfect submissive meant keeping an eye on all of them. I didn’t need anyone’s hands landing on the woman that would ultimately become mine.

I’d bought this warehouse and transformed it into the hottest BDSM club in the city. I spent my free weekends onsite, watching the feeds I set up in every single room. I was waiting for her. The woman of my dreams. The perfect submissive I’d been dying to sink my teeth into for years. I hadn’t found her yet. Out of all the encounters I’d had with the women that walked through those doors, I had yet to find the one for me.

The one I hunted for tirelessly.

While the pursuit of finding her haunted me.

The masquerade was tonight; the event everyone always turned out for. It was the biggest and most intense party of the year and, every year, I stood watching. Waiting. Everyone who wanted to dip their toes in this scene was always brought to this party and I was waiting for her to walk through those doors.

I had people come in and decorate the entire space. It was covered in red and gold, which was a striking juxtaposition to the black, white, and gray motif that always adorned the club. The massive space of the warehouse was divided into multiple sections, with three fully-stocked bars, a massive dance floor that was lined with cages to dance in, and play spaces as you meandered toward the back. There were your typical dungeons, a couple of rooms modeled after a Roman bath, a couple more spaces that were opulent and had walls lined with play toys.

Then, there were the private rooms. Those rooms were relegated for use only by the richest members of the club who could afford to rent them out. For those that could handle the hefty expense, they could rent the room out for the evening, or even two, if they preferred. They could escort their tantalizing treat for the evening into the fully-stocked roomed and, with the press of a button, they could lock it down from the outside world for up to a week.

I, of course, had my own private space, a room right across from my office. It was outfitted with every single pleasurable instrument found in this community.

I’d only ever taken one woman in there. A woman I thought was going to be the one for me.

But things don’t always pan out, I supposed.

I watched the screens intently. My white suit with its black collar clung to my sculpted body. I was watching the entrance as well as the dance floor, looking for her.

The woman that still didn’t have a name or a face.

My phone rang, interrupting my concentration, and I huffed. I picked up the phone and held it to my ear, listening to the voice talk on the other end of the line.

“Camillo? We got a problem. They’re coming into New York and buying up your properties.”

“Why am I just now learning about this?” I asked.

“Because I’m just now learning it. They’re buying up all the businesses that belonged to the Italians. You know, the ones we visited a few days ago.”

“The ones crumbling under the RICO investigation, I know,” I said. “Why the fuck are they buying them up?”

“I don’t know, but the moment I found out what they were doing, I called.”

“Thanks, brother, but I need more than just their actions,” I said. “I need their motive.”

“My guess is they’re doing it just to piss you off. They did what they did with your father, and now, they’re sticking it to you. I think they’re doing this simply for a laugh. Invading your territory to prove they can.”

“Wait… it’s the Del Vecchio family?” I asked.

There was a string of crumbling Italian businesses that had been tanked because of a racketeering investigation the FBI rained down on the neighborhood. I grew up on those streets. I knew those faces. I knew how scared they were and how their livelihoods were in the toilet. I went around to them and promised them I’d purchase their businesses, breathe life back into their neighborhoods and homes without asking for any disgusting favors in return.

But this family—the Del Vecchio Family—brought my attention back to the past. They killed my father. Put out a hit on him because they thought taking him out meant taking his property. They didn’t realize he was grooming me to take his place. They didn’t realize he’d already transferred many of his assets into my name already.

And now they were making a statement.

It didn’t matter that my father had slaughtered most of the Del Vecchio’s friends. What mattered was that they killed my father when I was only a teenager. The only reason my father killed the head of the Del Vecchio clan was because they were behind my mother’s death.

At least, that’s what my father believed. And no one ever questioned my father.

Ever.

For years, I’d been working on rooting out the rest of this damn family. I’d had some of them killed and some of them thrown in jail. I had some of them take the fall for crimes I’d committed in order to get more information on their growing empire. Piece by piece, I was building the underground kingdom my father had always wanted and I was chipping away at theirs in the process.

But, like a hydra, the moment I cut off one of their heads, two more would grow back.

I was going to have to give this matter my personal attention in order to make sure it was seen through properly. I couldn’t allow this savage, bloodthirsty family to gain a foothold in this city. This was my city. This was my turf. This was where I grew up. These were the streets I ran on.

They belonged to the Moretti Family.

“You think they know?” my brother asked.

“I think we should take them scooping up these businesses as a sign that they at least know the game we’re playing,” I said.

Secretly, I hated life in the mob. I took over the family business because it was expected of me by my father and no one ever questioned my father’s wishes, if they valued their life. He groomed me from the time I was young to take over his seat one day and, by the time I was seventeen, he began making the moves he needed. My guess was he knew the Del Vecchios were coming for his head and he figured he could pull the wool over their eyes by succumbing to them and still not giving them a fucking dime of his shit.

It worked, but it led me down a path I had no passion to follow.

The issue?

I was fucking good at what I did.

It came with a lot of dirty work. I buried more people I loved than I ever wanted to admit and, every time I talked with my brother, I treated it as if it were my last time. We were both silent on the phone as my eyes gravitated back toward the screens and, just as I was about to address my brother, it happened.

She walked through the doors.

A vision in white, draped in lace. Her curves were smooth and fluid, and it looked as if she was floating on air. Her jet-black hair poured down between her shoulder blades, practically taunting my fingers to wrap themselves up within its softness. That dress looked as if it had been tailor-made for her beautiful body, and I lost myself in her grace as my brother tried to get my attention.

“What should we do, Camillo?” he asked.

“I’ll handle it personally,” I said. “Don’t worry about it. Take care of that nephew of mine. Love ya, brother.”

“Love you, too, brother.”

I set the phone down before I leaned in toward the video feed. The girl looked nervous. Her hands were wringing in front of her, and her eyes were darting all over the place. There was another young woman with her, clad in some sort of gaudy, dominatrix dress. She looked much more comfortable in this arena, which could only mean one thing.

The woman I’d found to be mine tonight was new, and the thought already had my cock pulsing with anticipation.

 

 

Chapter Three – Rose

 

As I walked into the massive building, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Crystal’s hand was on the small of my back, escorting me while I took in the sights and sounds. Everyone was clad in all sorts of getups. The women were in revealing costumes, with leather, lace, and chrome. Some were walking around in bodysuits with whips and things that looked like split bamboo. Most of the men were dressed in various forms of suits. A few were dressed in revealing costumes that showed off their best assets.

And yes, sometimes that meant their asses.

I craned my neck around while Crystal kept pushing me to the dance floor. I could feel eyes on me, taking in my costume as I walked across the floor. The music was pumping and the lights were dancing around in hypnotic patterns. People were throwing back drinks while some couples were walking around with leashes in their hands. Never in my life had I seen so much I didn’t understand all at once and I found myself backtracking into Crystal’s grasp.

“I’m right here,” she said. “Just take a deep breath.”

“Crystal! Rose!”

I turned my head as I heard Eli’s voice. She came bounding up to us in a body suit. It was leather from head to toe, with a cutout to showcase her prominent cleavage, and she was carrying a whip in her hand.

Had I not heard her voice, I wouldn’t have recognized her.

“Come on, you two. Time for the grand tour.”

She took both of our hands and pulled us to the edge of the room. I breathed a sigh of relief as I felt the cool wall against my back. We walked around the room, skirting the bars and watching as people slowly trickled down various hallways.

“Where are they going?” I asked.

“Oh, all the private rooms are back here.” Eli said. “See the man dragging that woman along in the orange dress?”

I could see a woman tugging against the hand of a man who was shoving her into a room. Everything within me wanted to run up and kick him between his legs but the moment I saw them kiss, I realized whatever they were doing was consensual.

At least, I thought it was.

“That woman is Felicia Matthews,” Eli said.

“Wait, isn’t that—”

“The mayor’s wife?” Crystal asked. “Oh my gosh, that is her. Is that man the mayor?”

“Nope,” Eli said, grinning. “The mayor and his wife are swingers. The man currently dominating her in that room is none other than Richard Delacroix.”

“You mean the man who owns half of upstate New York,” I said.

“Precisely,” Eli said, grinning. “Rumor has it he enjoys stuffing the mayor’s wife with all sorts of toys.”

We kept walking around the floor, stalking everyone like prey. There were people hooked to others by chains, and women who were on their knees and crawling beside their… I don’t even know what they were supposed to be called. People were climbing up into the cages to dance, while others handed them drinks and vibrating toys. I watched one woman sink right down onto a dildo some man had hoisted up into the cage.

My eyes widened at the spectacle, just as Eli caught my attention.

“Look, look, look! They showed up!”

There were two men coming through the doors, clad in leopard-printed suits with insanely gaudy masks. They wore broad smiles as they hugged those around them and, when they turned around, I saw they had on assless pants, along with something shoved up their butts that gave them something resembling a tail.

“The man with the blue tail is Chef Baudenir,” Eli said.

“Oh, I heard he makes the best sushi in town,” Crystal said.

“And the one with the green tail is Maxwell Ronchetto.”

“Wait, I know that name,” I said. “Why do I know that name?”

“Because Maxwell Ronchetto founded the culinary school you two went to.”

I almost fainted right there on the spot.

We cased the wall one last time before we got all the way to the back again. People were slowly trickling back toward the rooms and I could hear lewd and lascivious sounds coming from them. Some were obvious sounds of pleasure; others were muffled sounds that sounded almost like someone was in distress. I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of it. As we passed by a group of women, I could hear them whispering.

“You think he’ll come out?”

“Is he even here?”

“The dark prince is always here.”

“I wish he would pick me.”

“Who are they talking about?” I asked. “Who’s the ‘dark prince’?”

“Oh, that’s the owner of the club. Some super-secret billionaire businessman with ties to the mob or something,” Eli said.

“Wait, what?” I asked. “We’re at a party thrown by the mob?”

“No one really knows,” Eli said, shrugging. “It’s all rumors anyway. He’s known for coming out of that little hidey hole they’re staring at when he sees something he likes.”

“How can he see it if he’s not out here, well, seeing it?” I asked.

“That’s the real question, isn’t it?” Crystal asked, grinning. “I bet he’s got cameras around here that he watches.”

“He’s a true dom,” Eli said. “That’s all anyone really knows. Everything else about him is just speculation. Except for him using a woman just for one night. That’s true, too.”

“So, he comes out when he sees someone on camera he likes,” I said. “And he uses them for what? Pleasure? Then he just leaves?”

“Pretty much,” Eli said. “I would actually let him give me a nice little ride. You know, just for the experience.”

“You little switch, you,” Crystal said.

“What?” I asked.

“A switch,” Crystal said. “It’s someone who prefers one role but can easily slip into the other if necessary.”

“This all sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie to me,” I said.

“Yet, we’ve been here thirty minutes, and you haven’t cried ‘uncle’ yet,” Crystal said.

She was right. I hadn’t suggested we go back yet. I was uncomfortable and I was in a world I didn’t recognize, but I didn’t feel threatened. I didn’t feel like I was in any danger. And none of these people knew who I was anyway, except Eli and Crystal.

“Wanna dance?”

I whipped my head around at the voice and saw a man dressed in tight leather pants and a black mask. No shirt. No shoes. No tie or anything. Just a six pack, some pants, and a mask hiding his face. Crystal practically shoved me into him and he caught me, chuckling in a way that made me feel disturbingly tantalized. Still, I took his hand and he led me to the dance floor as the music started rattling my bones.

As I danced with the man, the cages around the dance floor were slowly filling up with practically-naked men and women. The one I’d seen earlier who sat on the dildo was gone but, in her place, was a man swaying his hips and swinging the cage itself on its chain. The bass of the music was caressing my nerves, raising my nipples to painful peaks as the man’s hands traveled over my body. I could feel the music penetrating me, hypnotizing me in ways I’d never experienced before as I pressed the swell of my ass into the man’s crotch.

But as my eyes lifted from the floor to the balcony surrounding the building, I saw a man venture out of that little hideout the women were gossiping over.

The man that emerged was tall and muscular. Even in the shadows, I could see his strength. His jawline was etched with a granite-like steadiness; like it had been forged in the fires of a kiln. He was dressed in a perfectly-tailored white suit that boasted a black collar, and his face was covered by a half-mask of molded black.

I could feel his gaze on me while his eyes swam along my body.

I followed him with my eyes as he headed for the stairs. His tall frame seemed to float, his muscles flexing with every movement as he practically snaked across the floor and the crowd slowly stopped dancing. Jaws dropped and eyes turned toward him. The man dancing with me dropped his hands from my waist as the mysterious man locked eyes with me once again.

This must be the dark prince everyone had been whispering about tonight.

And there was no denying who he was staring at.

Fuck, I’m turned on.

And scared shitless.

My dance partner stepped away from me and I mindlessly waited for him. I felt on display, like a wounded animal being stalked by the lion about to pounce on its jugular. He was headed right for me, his beautiful blue eyes encasing the whole of me as he slowly strode across the floor. His eyes burned into me, penetrating my very soul. It was as if all my secrets and mistakes and imperfections were on display for him and I felt my hands beginning to tremble, even as my eyes stayed attached to his.

I was frozen in my spot as he stood in front of me, moving himself between the man I was dancing with and my body.

Without his eyes dropping my stare, I felt his hand reach over to take mine. He lifted it into the air and stepped toward me, his free arm grazing my lower back as he pulled my body close to his. I could feel the whole of his strength against my skin. I could feel the beating of his heart against my body. I could feel the way he held me tightly, daring me to fall into him just to see if he would catch me.

I let out the breath I was holding as his hand pressed deeper into my back and, soon, he began gliding me across the floor to the beat of the music.

He was a wonderful dancer. Fluid. Attuned to my body. He guided me in all the ways I could understand, all while his eyes stayed connected with mine. My neck was craned back to keep him in my view, trying to read the few facial features I could see while we twisted and turned around the dance floor.

His presence was almost overwhelming. The way he gripped my hand, the way he held me tightly, the way his body pressed into mine and invaded all the spaces I didn’t take up. The way his gaze pierced through my walls, and the way I suddenly felt comfortable in his arms.

The tension was overpowering and I suddenly found myself short of breath.

The song started to fade, and I could feel my chest rising and falling rapidly. There was a spark of worry that started in my chest. I didn’t know if I could catch my breath. I broke my stare with him as the song slowly switched into another one, but I felt him tug me to the edge of the room as everyone started to trickle back onto the dance floor.

I followed him without a second thought and I didn’t even understand why.

He took my hand protectively, but not forcefully. He was leading me, not tugging me like Crystal had been all day today. I studied the back of his body, the way his broad shoulders quickly tapered into his hips. I studied the long lines of his legs and the way his black shoes glistened with the colors of the strobe lights flickering across the room.

By the time I turned my attention to what was in front of us, I was being led into a part of the building that was partitioned off by a large, black, velvet piece of cloth.

We stopped in the dimly lit hallway and he quickly turned in my direction. I gasped, backing myself into the wall as he took a small step toward me. His hands reached out for my mask, trying to lift it from my head and I grasped his wrist. The point of tonight was for no one to see me. No one was supposed to know who I was. If he saw my face, it would be easy for him to know I was lying about my name. I didn’t even plan on giving anyone my name, honestly. The plan was to stick close to Crystal and Eli and just witness.

Digest.

Experience.

His eyes connected with mine and there was an odd sort of softness behind them. His body was chiseled underneath his clothes, but there was a slight hint of something else. Not sadness and not weakness. Softness wasn’t really the word, either.

Patience.

He was waiting for me to give him consent and there was something about that idea that made me oddly comfortable.

I slid my hand from his wrist and swallowed hard. He proceeded to remove my mask slowly. Intimately. Almost as if he were unwrapping a present. My face came into view as I looked up at him and the patience behind his eyes vanished. Now, I was looking into the eyes of a man who considered me his prey. His eyes grew steely as his hand cupped my chin and he slowly twisted my face from side to side, like he was studying me.

Making sure I was up to his standards.

“Perfect,” he murmured.

His voice was low, like rolling thunder off in the distance. He wasn’t the Dark Prince. He wasn’t mangled royalty. He was the oncoming storm and something told me I was about to get wet.

Soaking wet.

He raised his arm and snapped his fingers, and suddenly, a pair of servers appeared. The man and the woman were clad in nothing but straps and buckles with all of their most intimate parts on display. The man was holding an ice bucket with a bottle of what looked to be extremely expensive champagne and the woman was holding two long-stemmed glasses. I watched the man they called the Dark Prince inspect the glasses before he took a look at the champagne. He was examining everything closely, attentively, like he was in control of every single thing that went on in front of my eyes.

That was what he was trying to prove.

That he was in control.

He waved them off so they could pour the champagne. Then I saw the man hand him two glasses. He held one out for me, and I took it, rocked by the attention he was giving me. He wasn’t just making sure things were perfect for him, he was making sure things were perfect for me.

I had no idea what I was doing. I’d never even been on a proper date, much less found myself alone with a man like this. The intensity of his gaze and the fact that he didn’t speak caused my heart to pound deep within my chest. The man and the woman stood there while we sipped our champagne in the dimly lit hallway, his eyes grazing up and down my body. I could see them sparkling, drinking in my curves while his decadent lips curved around the champagne glass.

I’d finished the champagne quicker than I’d intended, causing a shadow of a grin to pull at his cheek.

He plucked the glass from my hand and, just for a second, our skin touched. It sent electricity ricocheting up my arm, puckering my skin as my eyes widened. I had no idea why this man called to my body the way he did, but as he held his hand out for me, I realized what he was doing.

He was asking for my consent again.

I could feel the wetness growing between my legs as I stared at his hand. My heart was pounding in my chest and the blood was rushing through my ears. I was a virgin, a young girl taking care of her orphaned brother. I had no experience; I had no skills. I had no idea what I was doing in a place like this and I sure as hell didn’t know how to pleasure a man like the one that was standing before me.

But I knew one thing for certain, one thing that rang out in the forefront of my mind. His commanding demeanor and his ruggedly handsome appearance called to me in a way no man ever had before and I knew, if I walked away from this, I would never forgive myself.

So, I slipped my hand within his and, for the first time since I’d seen him on that balcony, he smiled.

That smile of his could’ve lured Satan out of his lair and I shivered with anticipation as he began leading me down the hallway.

 

 

Chapter Four - Camillo

 

The woman placing her hand within mine looked like a princess. Like Snow White, her pale skin, ruby red lips, and raven tresses made me ache for her in a way I’d never experienced before. The innocence she exuded through her white lace dress tugged at my body, pulling me toward her like a magnet to her smooth metal gaze. I wanted to devour her and not come up for hours. The way she was silently studying me, debating on whether or not to take my hand, thundered my heart in my chest.

All I needed was her consent and I’d whisk her away into a world she’d never even dreamed of.

She was a natural submissive that much was for sure. The way she held still for my gaze while I studied her was enough to prove that to me. We walked up a back set of stairs that wound to the top of the warehouse, straight into the room that sat across the hallway from my office. I opened the door and ushered her in, leaving the pair clad only in buckles out in the hallway, guarding my door. I watched her take in the room, the darkness of it falling around her pale curves as her hand danced along the thick wooden bedpost she would soon be against.

She turned toward me, her silent stare hooking back onto my lips. I stalked toward her, my movements rooting her in her spot as I reached my finger out gently to touch her cheek. I traced her jawline, feeling the softness of her body against my touch. Then, I trickled my fingertip down her neck, grazing her pulse point as I headed for her chest.

She allowed me unfettered access to the beautiful valley between her breasts before she took in a sharp gasp of air.

I looked up into her face and saw that telltale flush creep across her cheeks. A flush that had given away so many women before her. Except she didn’t try to hide it. She didn’t attempt to fight it.

Nor did she stop my finger from traveling down her body before naturally falling away.

She reminded me of a songbird that would stop in the tree outside my childhood home in Italy. The white bird, with its icy blue eyes, would sing a beautiful song, so clear and innocent. That bird always found a way of lifting my spirits during the worst times of my childhood. The song it sang would sink its talons into my heart, like this woman had somehow sunken hers into me as well.

“In the swamp in secluded recesses, a shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.”

I muttered the line as my eyes slowly grazed back up her body. Her picturesque beauty was something I could never have conjured in my wildest dreams. She was too pure for the sordid surroundings that encompassed her. Too innocent for the devious thoughts that existed in my head.

Her eyes widened as the line fell from my lips and I couldn’t help but be shocked when she responded.

“You read Yeats,” she said.

Even her voice reminded me of the songbird. Light and lilting, with low notes that rounded out such a full and heart-wrenching sound.

My little songbird, displayed to me for the taking.

I nodded. I read Yeats and other famous poets and philosophers as a little boy. Books of poetry were the only ones I had access to, with my father being the control freak that he was. When he enlisted me to hunt down my mother’s killers, the beautiful words would jump off the page, blocking out the horrid shrieks of the men I’d delivered to their maker.

This young woman wasn’t just a pretty face. She was intelligent as well. Her following me would be the best decision she’d made all evening. No man in that room could handle the beauty, grace, and intelligence that encompassed the woman standing before me. No man understood how to strum the strings of a woman who expected so much good from the world around her.

“My friends are out there,” she said.

“They will wait,” I said.

I reached over to the switch on the wall and slowly brightened the dim lighting of the room. She looked around and gasped, taking in the walls and the space that surrounded the bed she’d anchored herself to. I could tell she was staring at the expanse of it all. I’d taken up almost half of the hidden upstairs of this warehouse for my own personal pleasures.

It was like a sound stage with small vignettes. One corner was outfitted as my own personal stone dungeon; another was a sumptuous sitting area with ropes that were hidden beneath the opulent fabrics. There was another area that had a sunken in tub large enough for ten people and beside it was a massive, glass-encased shower. She had already become familiar with the expansive four-poster bed, but the light revealed beside it a sitting area that was designed with a modern black and white motif, complete with leather furnishings.

I watched her while she slowly walked around, taking it all in as the flawlessness of her skin finally broke. Goosebumps were raging across her arms and her stomach, carrying with it a healthy flush I would pull from her time and time again before the night was over.

I could tell she was taking things in for the first time. That everything she was seeing was new for her. She was a true innocent, something that twitched my cock and made it grow beneath my tailored trousers. I’d amused myself with women for years. Women who just wanted a little taste, and women who were so submissive, they wanted to be humiliated. I’d satiate my appetite with them for an evening before casting them out, never fully whetting my palate the way I wanted.

I’d never considered anything serious until this very moment and I knew, then and there, I would seduce her. I wanted her, more than I could stand. Her long legs and her flat, toned stomach. Her supple breasts aching for my lips and her long black hair begging to be wrapped up in my fist.

She turned and looked back at me with curious wonder in her eyes and the undercurrent wafting between us was unmistakable. Her eyes ran down my body, drinking me in, the way I had just done with her, and I couldn’t help the smirk that rose upon my cheeks.

She was wanton and I was ready to make her mine. This woman was special and I intended to treat her as such.

I just had to find out why first.

I walked over to her and held out my hand, silently asking for her consent once again. She took my hand without a second thought, and I slowly led her over to the sitting area by the bed. I held my arm out for her, allowing her to steady herself in her heels as she sat onto the full-leather chair, then I pulled up the ottoman and sat with my back straight.

I rolled my shoulders back and drew in a deep breath, expanding my chest as her eyes took in my every movement.

Then, I asked the one question that would start off a night I would never forget.

“Why are you here?”

 

 

Chapter Five – Rose

 

I felt like I had been hypnotized. As I sat there, staring into the eyes of the man every woman downstairs wanted, all I could hear was the blood rushing through my ears. My body was being tugged toward him, wanting him in a way I’d never experienced before. My nipples were painful peaks underneath my lacy bra and I could feel my underwear growing wet as I sat down into the leather chair. His movements were fluid. Languid. Simple. Caring in a way I didn’t expect with how Eli seemed to describe a dominant. His icy gaze held onto mine as my surroundings hit me with an unrecognizable force and, suddenly, I started to digest what was happening.

I was in a dominant’s lair as an inexperienced virgin.

Surprisingly, I didn’t give a damn.

I was surrounded by some sort of fantasy. A room designed to fulfill things people could only conjure up in their imagination. The shower looked absolutely decadent and the tub was something I could swim laps in. The dungeon was an avenue that shivered me with fear and yet the man before me wasn’t someone to be feared.

At least, for me he wasn’t.

I had to admit, I was titillated. My eyes kept darting around the room, taking in its wonders as I settled back into the leather chair. I could feel his eyes on me as he sat on the ottoman in front of me, his stature growing tall as he straightened out his back. I had no idea what type of world I was stepping into. Hell, I didn’t even know how much of this stuff was supposed to come into play. The ropes and chains that donned the walls and the toys that hung up on hooks were things I didn’t even recognize.

But then my eyes fell on a line of paddles that were affixed to the wall just beyond the dark prince’s shoulder and I started to shiver.

The intensity of the moment was too much to bear. I could feel my entire body trembling in the leather chair as a chill shot down my spine. The intensity of the man before me, surrounded by the chilling intensity of the room he’d led me into, bubbled something in the pit of my gut I’d never felt before.

I wished I could define it but all it did was bring tears to my eyes.

“Why are you here?”

His voice ripped me from my trance and I paused, attempting to formulate my answer. My watery gaze connected back with his but, if he caught it, he didn’t show it. I felt a tear trail down my cheek as a shuddering breath left my lips and, for the first time in my life, I honestly didn’t know what to say.

Why in the world was I here?

“Well,” I said breathlessly. “My friend, um, brought me here.”

But all he did was stare at me and I got the feeling that my shaking sentence hadn’t been enough for him.

“She, uh… invited me to… to New York. To see her. For the weekend. I, uh, haven’t seen her since culinary school and I’d missed her. I’m from a small town near the Poconos and I don’t really get to the city often. At least, since I left school. After, well… after everything happened.”

I felt like an idiot, stammering on like a childish schoolgirl, while this poised man held his hungry gaze on my face. I felt my words trail off as another silent tear cascaded down my cheek and, in a split second, I felt his fingertips graze my skin.

This thumb was wiping away my tear trails before his hand cupped my cheek, bringing my gaze back to his.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Why are you here now? With me?”

I felt my cheeks heat up with his touch as I involuntarily nuzzled into his palm. I had no idea why I was here with him, so I simply stayed silent.

“It’s very clear you’re inexperienced,” he said.

“I’m sorry.”

His hand rushed to my chin, clenching it tightly, and I yelped; not in pain, but in surprise.

“Never be sorry for something like that.” It was as if his voice had dropped an entire octave and I could feel a throbbing between my legs. I wanted him to use that voice again. I didn’t know why and I didn’t know for what, but all I wanted to do was hear those notes grace my eardrums again.

He released my chin and I let out the breath I was holding, waiting for him to say something else.

Anything else.

“Have you ever been spanked before?” he asked.

“You caught me staring at those paddles,” I said.

“You’ve been caught in nothing,” he said. “I’m merely studying you.”

I shook my head slowly, answering his question as that devilish grin reappeared upon his cheeks. I had to be honest with him. If there was anything this man needed to know, it was the secret I kept hidden away from the world.

The secret my friends constantly teased me about.

“I’ve never had sex, much less been introduced to any of this,” I said.

I heard him take in a sharp breath of air and my eyes flew back up to his. I’d folded my hands in my lap, ashamed of the woman he’d decided to waste his time on. No man of his expertise and his sexual appetite would ever want to be with someone who truly didn’t understand what they were doing, and I knew he would cast me out, consider me a lost cause, and force me to find my way back to the dance floor.

But the way his eyes held my body in its silent clutch, I got the feeling that my statement had intrigued him more.

“And yet you came here with me?” he asked. “Has your curiosity overwhelmed your sense of danger?”

He slid the rolling ottoman closer and I could feel his leg snake between mine. I felt his knee press all the way between my aching thighs as his face came closer and closer. My eyes fluttered closed, taking in the musk of his cologne while his breath pulsated upon my neck.

“Make no mistake, songbird. I am dangerous.”

I could hear a faint accent in the low notes of his voice as I leaned into him a bit farther. I could feel my chest lightly grazing his, my body trembling at the mercy of his voice. I clenched my thighs, feeling his knee lightly grind closer to where I wanted him to touch. This man was the sexiest man I’d ever seen.

No matter the danger he brought into my life, I knew in that very moment I wouldn’t leave without experiencing what he had to offer.

I felt his hands creeping up my arms, pulling goosebumps to the surface as I sighed into his shoulder. My forehead lightly touched him, and my body leaned into him as he slowly peeled the lace away from my shoulders. I could feel his warm lips touching my bare skin, pulling me closer and closer to his body. I felt myself scooting forward, his knee delving farther and farther between my legs while my thighs continued to clamp down around it.

His lips slowly worked their way up my neck, stoking a fire within me as my hands lightly rested on his thighs. My head fell back as his lips continued to brush my skin, ghosting along my naked flesh as I sighed in soft pleasure.

“Are you ready to obey?” he asked.

His voice ricocheted through my body, rattling my ribcage as his lips stayed poised above my skin. I wanted him to touch me again. To kiss me again. To allow this fire burning in my gut to rage all across my body. I wanted to burn this room down with the fire he kept kissing and stroking from me, but when I thought about the answer to his question I honestly wasn’t sure.

I wasn’t sure if I was ready to obey him… whatever that meant.

I wanted him, but I had to admit I was frightened. He was frightening. This control he had over me was like nothing I’d ever experienced. His black mask was teasing me out of the corner of my eye as mine sat in the hallway downstairs. I was completely exposed to him and yet, I’d only studied one half of his face.

I pulled back and looked deep into his eyes, my bare shoulders glistening in the pale lighting of the room as I raised my hand to remove his mask.

Out of nowhere, his hand rushed up. He grabbed tightly onto my wrist, twisting it as he pulled me up from the chair. He pushed it behind my back, pulling my chest out farther for him to behold as my breathing sped up. I was on my tip toes, my breath caught in my throat. His forehead laid itself onto mine as his lips hovered over me, taunting my desire for him as he looked deep into my eyes.

“Are you ready to obey now?” he asked.

His lips connected with mine and I suddenly felt as if I was melting. His kiss was gentle, yet domineering. He was making sure I understood who was in control of this situation. He kissed down my neck, holding my arm behind my back as he settled me back down into my chair. He kissed all the way down my chest, teasing my nipples through two layers of lace. My breathing became audible as I gasped for him, feeling him nip at my clothed skin as I tried to tug my hand free.

I wanted to touch him. To feel his skin underneath my fingertips.

I raised my other hand into the air to brace myself against him but he grabbed my wrist and pulled it behind my back as well. He held me in place, keeping me at his mercy as his large, strong hands encircled both my wrists.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked as his face came back up toward mine. “Are you ready to submit to me?”

I felt near feverish with lust. My body was flushed with desperate want, and I was practically grinding into the chair to try and gain some friction. My chest rose and fell erratically, as I found myself panting, my lips parted, awaiting his tongue. I had no idea what I was about to get myself into but, as the fire in my gut slowly trickled up my body, it burned my lips as the word flew from them effortlessly.

“Yes.”

He stood, pulling me with him as I danced on my tip toes. He walked me over to an area that was completely empty except for a length of chain dangling from the ceiling. My eyes widened in curiosity as fear gripped my throat, and the dark prince suddenly rotated my arms until they were comfortably above my head. He chained me to that spot as my lacy dress hung just above my breasts, my toes barely touching the floor as I dangled there, helpless and at his mercy.

Slowly, he began to undress me. He pulled my lacy dress to the floor while his hands explored the whole of my body. He pulled my heels from my shoes, massaging my feet lightly before his hands grazed up my thighs. He pulled my panties from my body, exposing parts of myself to him that had never been seen by the eyes of another man. I trembled at his touch while his warm hands slowly worked the corset from my body and, suddenly, I was naked for him as his eyes swam along my pale curves.

I saw him reach for something before a piece of silken black fabric came into view. He slid it across my eyes, blindfolding me as he tied it behind my head. I whimpered at the loss of the view. The man was beautiful and he was robbing me of the sight of him. I felt vulnerable and exposed as everything fell silent and, for a moment, I thought he had left me.

But then, I felt it. The smallest fluttering sensation tickling my thigh. I twitched, giggling a bit as it tickled up my stomach. I jerked and danced, trying to get away from the sensation as a smile crossed my lips.

“I’m so ticklish, please stop,” I said, giggling.

The sensation was soon replaced with a prickling sensation that slowly started wheeling itself up the edge of my spine.

I stood desperately still as each prick dug a little deeper into my skin. My legs twitched involuntarily while my arms jolted. I had a sneaking suspicion the first object was a feather, but I had no idea what this pinwheel-type object was.

All I knew was that it was sharp and one wrong move could have me bleeding.

I breathed a sigh of relief when the sensation stopped, but then I heard two distinct snapping sounds and, suddenly, I felt fear cascade in my chest. I heard his footsteps growing closer, my body trying to pinpoint a direction to look toward. I turned my head this way and that, trying to see anything from beyond this piece of fabric wrapped around my head.

But the moment he cupped my pussy with what felt like a rubber glove, the words left my lips faster than I could process them.

“Please. I need something more. I just… your touch. It… I don’t know what it did, but please, make it come back.”

He paused, his finger slowly sinking between my slick folds. I could tell he was debating over my words and I whimpered when he pulled his hand away. Had I upset him? Had I scared him off? No, it wasn’t possible to scare a man like him off. I felt his presence wrap around me as the chains started moving, and soon, I was plummeting to the floor as my legs grew weak underneath me.

But just before I hit the ground, this strong, dark prince caught me in his arms and began carrying me somewhere.

I felt my back grace something cool and soft, and as I melted into the sheets, I could tell he’d set me on the bed. He lifted my wrists to the headboard of the bed, placing something fuzzy around both of them that rooted me to the spot. I moved my wrists around, trying to see if I could get free, but all the writhing I was doing was simply putting my body on display for him further.

“You are beautiful, my little songbird,” he said.

I stopped at his words, my back settling to the bed as the impact of his phrase echoed through me. Beautiful?

He thought I was beautiful?

His lips were on my body in an instant, the mask and the wetness of his lips bringing out the senses of my skin. I was panting underneath him; writhing and grinding against him like a small, helpless animal. I wanted more of him. I needed more of him. I wanted to experience everything he had to offer as his lips wrapped around one of my nipples. I arched into him, a moan peeling from my lips as his hands splayed out across my hips.

He held me to the bed while his tongue worked my breast, shooting electric sensations along the sides of my body as I called out for him.

“Please. Whoever you are. Have mercy on me.”

But as his lips grew into a smirk around my nipple, releasing it from his warm encasing, I knew he never would.

If there was one word this man didn’t understand, it was “mercy,” and my pussy grew impossibly wet at the thought of what was to come.

 

Chapter Six – Camillo

 

I was staring at the most perfect woman I’d ever seen. She blew me away with her naturally submissive tendencies, even if I could see the hesitation behind her eyes. I was almost unbearably turned on by how quickly she had accepted my dominance. She embraced the lust growing heavy between us and it tugged at my chest.

She was a virgin and, when I heard that, my intention was to show her only a taste of this lifestyle. Just enough to whet her palate before I sent her home, wanting more. Unfucked, not quite fulfilled, but just enough to draw her back into my web.

Draw her back into my world.

But the moment my lips connected with hers, a fire raged within my gut. My hands traveled along her supple curves, testing the waters while all she did was roll into me. She was so pleasing to the touch. Pleasing to the eye. Pleasing to my ears. Her soft pants and wanton moans shook the very core of me as I hovered above her, while I tasted the sweetness of her breasts.

The closer I got to her warm, wet lips, the harder I was finding it to do the right thing and stick to my original plan.

Her chest was heaving as my head rose from her bosom. I stalked up her body, feeling her shiver fully against me as her lips puckered lightly in my presence. Her desperation to kiss me forced me to bite back a groan. She offered herself to me so dutifully, displaying every crevice of her as she writhed against the satin sheets of my bed.

If I delved back into those pillowy lips, I knew I’d never come up until I’d taken everything from her and I hesitated, not wanting to lose control. There was no going back. Once I felt the tightness of a virgin, once I demolished the innocence glowing in front of me, I knew all women would pale in comparison to her.

I was trekking into waters I had never sailed before, but I was gravitating toward her. Lowering myself onto her. Feeling her chest press against my suit while our lips connected.

She moved against me, sighing into our kiss as her wrists tugged at the fuzzy handcuffs. I’d fuck her, take her virginity, and introduce her to a world of pleasure that only I could show her. Maybe she was destined to find it. Maybe I was the man destined to lead her into it, but the mere thought of anyone else taking what I now saw as rightfully mine made me shake with fury.

No, this innocent little songbird of mine who had unintentionally wandered into my den would reach her own version of heaven because of me.

And I wasn’t allowing her to leave until she experienced everything she wanted to.

I parted her lips with my tongue, tasting the sweetness of her mouth as I swallowed another one of her moans. Her hips pressed furiously into mine, grinding against my cock as I steadied myself above her. I pulled back and surveyed the flush that had flared over her body. I groaned at the sight as she searched for my lips again, her head rising off the pillow while her black tendrils fanned out around her.

I reached out and supported her neck while I slowly removed the mask from my face.

If there was any fear permeating her body, her reactions didn’t show me she was afraid. My knees planted beside her hips, stabilizing my body, while her swollen lips sat upon her delicate face, begging for attention. I reached down again, encompassing her mouth with mine, and suddenly, my self-control snapped.

Her lips were the softest, ripest things I’d ever tasted. Our tongues dueled like two wild animals. I held her head up toward mine and ran my fingers through her hair, reveling in its softness before I pulled her lips away. She gasped, taking it all in as I exposed her neck to me. Then my lips reached down, sucking in a patch of skin before I began licking all the way down her body.

“My prince,” she moaned. “Please. Oh my god.”

At first, I didn’t think I’d heard her correctly. My eyes wandered up her reddened skin while my body settled between her legs. She had called me her prince. A royal title only given to those born of a certain lineage.

I was far from being a prince but I was not about to rob her of the fantasy she was painting in her head.

I reached down and teased her entrance with my fingertips, playing with her fragile hymen while she squirmed around on the bed. She was pulling against her cuffs, battling between sinking her hips down and trying to flee the scene of the crime that was about to be committed. Her heels were digging into the satin sheets, slipping every single time she tried to rear her hips off the bed.

“Hold still,” I said darkly.

Her movements stopped, and my fingertips slowly slid up her wet slit. I spread my fingers apart, opening her beautiful blossom to me, and her clit slowly emerged from beneath its fleshy hood. I blew on it, causing her to shiver, and her hips raised up from the bed. This poor little virgin couldn’t contain herself, so I would give her one last shot.

One last chance to obey me.

“I said, hold still.”

Her hips dropped to the bed, and a small whimper peeled from her lips. I puckered my lips and blew, watching as her clit jumped with the cool burst of air that assaulted it.

And again, her hips left the bed, and she bucked.

I rushed up her body and uncuffed her wrists before dragging her to the edge of the bed. One simple command, that was all I had given her. I laid her over my lap with her ass in the air for me and I could feel her clinging to my legs as she panted in anticipation.

“You’ll have to be punished for disobeying me, my beautiful songbird,” I said.

“What?”

I ran my hand along the sumptuous globe of her ass. Her skin looked so pale in contrast with my suntanned skin. I raised my hand back and smacked her softly, hearing her gasp in shock while she processed what was going on. I massaged the area I’d hit, giving her a chance to digest the situation and then I reared my hand back and brought it down hard.

She cried out and arched her back. My hand came down hard onto the other cheek. She wiggled around in my lap, looking vulnerable and beautiful. My hands left handprints on her ass, causing my dick to ache harder underneath her flailing body. Her hands hooked around my leg as her ass began to glow a tantalizing red and, just as I thought she was going to give in and call it quits, I stopped.

I could feel her pussy dripping onto my pristine suit, so I slid my hand down between her legs and slowly inserted a finger into her tight, virginal channel.

Her body tensed while her walls fluttered around my finger. She was so tight that I considered stopping. My handprints were clearly visible on her skin, causing me to bite back a groan while I allowed her to make her own decision. Her innocence shook me to my core as I sat there with my thick finger buried in her sweet pussy but, the moment she started writhing against my hand, I knew I had my answer.

She needed this as badly as I needed her, and there was no stopping this train that had started the moment she allowed me to pull her off the dance floor.

I picked her up into my arms and laid her against the cool satin sheets. She sighed with relief as the coolness hit her aching ass but I soon cuffed her wrists over her head with one of my hands. I studied her facial reactions, the way she scrunched up her face in pleasure. I slid my other hand back down between her legs, finding that swollen little clit that had peeked out so beautifully for me earlier.

The moment my fingertips pressed back down into it, she bucked against me.

I circled slowly, fluidly, without pause and without hesitation. I could tell she was being bombarded with feelings and sensations she’d never experienced before. I treasured the look on her face as her lips puckered, sucking in air and moaning while her breasts jumped for me. The harder she bucked, the harder they bounced, teasing my tongue for a taste. But I wanted to see the ecstasy flow over her.

I wanted to watch her very first orgasm given to her by a man wash over her face.

“Please,” she said breathlessly. “Please, my prince.”

My movements ceased and I felt her juices spilling from between her legs. She was so wet for me. So ready for the cock that was threatening to burst right from behind my zipper. I tilted my head lightly, watching as her lips grew chapped with the air she was pulling in.

I bent down with my tongue and slowly ran it over her lips, causing her to shiver as her tongue tried to catch up to mine.

“What do you want?” I asked.

My lips hovered over hers, waiting for the response I wanted. I needed to hear it from her. I needed her to give me consent to ruin her body for any other man that might come along in her life.

I needed to hear her give me permission one last time before I drowned myself in her.

“Please, just… show me.”

In that very moment, I pulled my hand from her pussy and began unbuckling my pants. I shoved them down to my knees, freeing my aching cock as I kicked them off my legs. My shoes and pants fell off the edge of the bed, hitting the floor with the sound of a desperate man ready to venture into new territory. I parted her legs with mine, my fingertips finding her clit again as she gasped and lifted her hips from the bed.

“Show you what?” I asked.

“Everything,” she said, moaning. “Show me everything.”

“Say it,” I said as my lips approached hers. “I need to hear you say it,”

She raised up to capture my lips, surprising me with her outburst of dominance as she whispered her secret into my skin.

“I want you to fuck me.”

Without warning, I grabbed my cock and buried myself in her. My mouth encompassed hers, swallowing her gasps and groans while reveled in the feeling of her tight wetness. I could feel her trying to back away from me, instinctively trying to get away from the pain she was experiencing. I kept my legs strong and my hips connected with hers, feeling her desperate pussy spread for me while her walls throbbed and pulsed.

I could feel her trying to push me out; her body trying to reject me. But our lips continued to move with one another’s, even as she whimpered out in pain. My tongue tangled with hers as her urgent pants finally settled into her regular breathing.

Then, I felt it.

I felt her body finally relax with a sigh underneath me.

Now, it was time.

It was time to fuck her until she cried out for me to stop.

 

Chapter Seven – Rose

 

It hurt so good.

I wanted to scream. My entire body attempted to resist, to push him away as the aching sent a cataclysmic cramp throughout my entire body. His lips swallowed my groans while his tongue danced against mine. My pussy ached, and I could feel the war between my legs. I could feel the intrusion of his cock pressing against my walls that stretched to accommodate his massive size.

But oh, how his mouth felt against mine. Oh, how his teeth felt against my neck.

The blindfold was robbing me of my sight, but it heightened everything else. He rocked steadily into me, mixing the pain with the pleasure until nothing else was left but the shivering of my body against his. I panted, clinging to the air that was filling my lungs as his hips snapped against mine. I could feel the electricity building in my core as the tightly wound curls of his pelvis raked against my clit.

He sunk his teeth into my neck and my entire body pulled taut.

I moaned out into the room, choking on a name I didn’t know as my back arched. I could feel his teeth grab hold of me while my tits pressed against his clothed chest. His hand wandered over my body, feeling every part of me while his hips continued their assault. My legs shook from the feelings rocking through me.

But then I felt his fingertips slip between my legs and the moment he found that sensitive bundle, I began to whimper and beg.

“Please. It’s too much. I can’t. My prince, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can, my little songbird. And you will.”

His voice rattled my bones and shook my joints. I moaned and whimpered for his mercy while the pad of his thumb sent electric shocks down my legs. I was squirming underneath him as he explored around inside of me, pulling from me yet another moment of rapture as my jaw unhinged in silent pleasure.

His lips collided with mine, swallowing my groans, while my pussy clamped down around his dick again.

I could feel him pulsing, slamming deeper into me with every passing second. The bed was knocking against the wall and his hands pinned me to the bed. I had him in a vice grip. My body was pulling him deeper and deeper into me. I could feel my wetness pooling underneath my ass, soaking the sheets below us as his lips crashed against mine.

I tugged relentlessly at the handcuffs around my wrists, trying to free myself so I could cling to him.

So I could pull him even closer and take him all in.

He slammed into me one last time and I felt him twitch. His face dipped into my neck and latched on again, nipping and sucking on my skin as I felt something spill inside me. My legs fell to the bed in total exhaustion as he grunted into my neck and I could feel the way he was shaking against me.

He lifted his head from my neck and kissed me softly while his hands reached up and freed my wrists.

My body tumbled to the bed as my eyes fluttered closed. I could feel him pull out from between my legs, releasing the waterfall of fluids that drenched the bed below me. He moved me over in his strong hands, sliding me underneath the satin sheet before he draped my body in a fur blanket.

I was so exhausted from everything that had just taken place that my body automatically swept me off into a deep, dark sleep.

I dreamt he was right there, holding me close and massaging my body while I slept. I swore I could still feel his hands on me and his eyes on me. I was sure his hands were still roaming my curves, rubbing down my wrists while my body got the rest it so desperately needed.

But when I opened my eyes, I knew that I was alone.

I couldn’t believe what had happened. In my wildest fantasies, I never imagined that sex could be that powerful, that carnal, that earth-shattering. I’d experienced orgasms before at my own hands. I had a fun little collection of toys at home I’d attempted to experiment with. But none of them amounted to anything close to what I’d just experienced. None of them made me feel the way my dark prince made me feel.

I suddenly realized I was still wearing the blindfold and I took it off and tossed it to the side.

My legs were throbbing and my wrists were aching. My pussy was still sore and every movement I made felt like I was creaking from within. I rolled over to see if he was there, to see if there was a chance that I could look at his face and gaze into the eyes of the man that took my innocence and replaced it with a passion I never thought existed.

But all I found was a handwritten note on the pillow next to my head.

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
the ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
are full of passionate intensity…

It was a quote from a poem by Yeats. I read it over and over again as I sat up, allowing the satin sheet and the fur blanket to fall from my naked body. I scanned the room, looking for him as the note trembled in my hand.

But I was all alone, with the party still raging downstairs.

With no tears in my eyes and a stoic expression on my face, I slipped from the sheets and dressed myself. I tucked the note in my lacy bra, holding it as close to my heart as I could get it. I slipped my mask that had been placed next to me, back over my face and smoothed my hands over my dress, trying to make my hair look presentable before I wandered back out into the crowd.

I’d given my virginity to a man whose name I didn’t even know and all I had to prove to me the encounter was real was a note and a pleasantly sore body.

I knew I would never regret it. I would never regret being with him. But oh, did I feel the heartache of his absence. I was nothing more to him than a passing distraction, while he was the man that had opened my eyes to everything. An entire world I would never have understood existed had it not been for him.

He wasn’t reaching for my heart when he was groping my chest and that revelation brought actual tears to my eyes.

I was numb and a bit shell-shocked. I had been swept off my feet by a man who I knew was dangerous. I could see it in his eyes and feel it in his hands. I made my way down the stairs and was ushered out by the two people clad only in buckles. I scanned the room and saw Crystal dancing between two men who were dressed identically. I didn’t want to interrupt her fun, so I walked along the edge of the club and took a seat that overlooked the dance floor where I’d met my dark prince.

“So, what was it like?”

I turned my face toward Eli as she pulled my hair back. She grinned at something on my neck, her fingertips tracing a place I realized the man had sunk his teeth into.

“He left a fun little mark there,” she said, grinning. “The beloved prince of this dark palace.”

“Beloved? Whatever.”

“Uh oh,” Eli said. “Trouble in paradise?”

“There’s no paradise anywhere in this place. Just an encounter that didn’t mean much.”

“Did you at least have fun?” she asked.

“Sure,” I said, shrugging.

Eli’s eyebrows hiked up on her forehead. I could tell she was curious and I was trying desperately to keep my tears at bay. But just as she went to ask another question, Crystal came bounding over with the two men she’d been dancing with.

“Rose! There you are! Getting into trouble? I hope not, because I found us two wonderful men to play with for the night.”

“Thanks for thinking of me,” I said as I stood. “But I’ve had enough fun for one night. I’m really tired. I think I’m gonna head home.”

I could see the disappointed look on Crystal’s face and I wasn’t about to ruin her evening.

Or Eli’s, for that matter.

“But I think Eli might enjoy the company for the evening,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I know your address. I’ll just call a car.”

“Are you sure?” Crystal asked. “Because I’ll leave right now and not look back.”

I saw her eyes flicker to my neck and widen. I felt Eli stand behind me and put her hand on my lower back, but I was done being led around.

I told them what I wanted and, now, all I wanted them to do was respect that.

“Have fun you guys. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I went outside and called a car with my cellphone. The dress I wore didn’t leave much room for pockets, which meant I had to check my purse before we came in. I had just enough money to get me to the train station, where I could use my credit card to pay for a ticket to get my ass home to Pennsylvania.

I had no intention of staying in this city any longer than I had to.

I knew Crystal would ship me my stuff that I left at her apartment. I had all the essentials I needed with me in my purse. I purchased a coat in a nearby shop when I saw people staring at me in the train station. Then, on the rhythmic train ride back home, I reread his note. I read it so many times, his voice became engraved into my memory. I started thinking in his voice. The dreams that fluttered through my head while I rode those train tracks home were in his voice.

He permeated my entire existence and he would never remember me after tonight.

He was clearly referencing my loss of innocence with the line of the poem. How he took my virginity that night. He was also calling himself “the worst,” while also comparing himself to Yeats’s definition of “passionate intensity.” The man wasn’t just gorgeous. He was intelligent. Deep, with an innate understanding of how the famous poets strung their words together.

It made me ache for him more, which pulled tears down my cheeks as my eyes settled on the passing countryside.

The note had been a warning to scare me off. He told me he was dangerous and every ounce of me believed him. But being in his arms, I’d never felt more alive. The way he’d made my body feel still had me thrumming with electricity. The memory of his voice alone shook my knees and weakened my legs. But I couldn’t give any more thought to it. I had a life back in the Poconos. A life that required my stability and my strength.

I couldn’t be weak for a man who saw me as nothing other than his toy for the night.

I’d had a well-deserved vacation. I was bringing home memories I’d hold onto for the rest of my life. I’d lost my virginity to a handsome, mysterious man whom I’d never forget, or regret. I had a walk on the wild side and I felt stronger than ever when it came to raising my brother.

I’d carry that man within me for the rest of my life and his voice would give me strength.

 

Chapter Eight – Camillo

 

I watched her as she fell asleep in my bed that evening. I massaged her curves and kissed the spot on her neck I’d attached myself to. I nestled her wrists in my lap while I massaged the ache from her arms. She would be marked in the most beautiful ways by the time the sun came up, but I wouldn’t be here to witness them.

I couldn’t be. Not after what had just happened.

There was a warmth in my chest as I gazed upon her body, a warmth I hadn’t felt since my mother had been alive. I wanted to hold her, to spend the night learning her skin. I wanted to keep her by my side and protect her. Guard the innocence she still managed to hold onto, even after I ripped everything from her.

I wanted to usher her into this lifestyle and bring her to heights she’d never experience otherwise. But that couldn’t happen. She was too young and I was in no position to bring her deeper into my darkness.

No matter how much I couldn’t stop kissing her naked skin, I knew I had to leave her to go on about her life.

I scrawled a few lines of a Yeats poem for her. I left it by her pillow and dressed myself, gazing upon her one last time before I took my leave. The lines reminded me of the shadows inside and warned her that she had to stay away at all costs.

No matter what this night had done to her. Or to me.

I gazed upon her innocence one last time, drinking up the warmth that spread within my chest before I left the club. I stayed in the shadows, making my way to my car out back. I had no intention of attempting to top the perfection I’d just experienced and the only thing I wanted to do was head to my penthouse apartment and look down over the lights of the city.

Waves of regret washed over me while the whole of New York City twinkled up at me. I’d taken her virginity, the very innocence of that young, beautiful woman. I’d replaced it with a kink that consumed me. A kink that defined the very man I’d turned into. I’d taken her angelic, songbird rapture and twisted it for my dark pleasures and, by getting wrapped up in the moment, I’d fucked her without a condom.

I’d marked her in the ultimate way and that worried me.

I was clean. I had no worries about that. I got checked out multiple times a year by the best doctors in the country, but I never intended to have sex with her without some sort of protection. I wasn’t concerned about catching anything or giving her anything in return, and the mere fact that I let my guard down enough to forget something that important showed the influence she already had over me.

The influence I never wanted to leave in the first place.

As I stood there looking over the city of New York, I realized I didn’t even know her name. I’d spilled myself into her and pulled orgasms from her body that covered her in a sheen of sweat, and yet I had no idea what to call her.

Nothing other than my songbird.

In the end, it was better this way. I couldn’t see her or talk with her again. I could never reveal myself. With my line of work and the war I’d sunk myself into, there was too much risk for her.

Too much risk to ruin the innocence she still carried with her.

My enemies would love to send a message. Something stronger than just petty acts of vandalism and buying up property. I couldn’t give my enemies anything they could use against me or the family I now headed up since my father’s death. If I took this woman under my wing—if I succumbed to her the way I had tonight—she would be the ultimate bargaining chip. The one thing that made me weak in the eyes of my enemies.

Plus, a woman like her could never love a monster like me; not if she knew the things I’d done in my lifetime. I wanted to remember the look of adoration on her face just before I blindfolded her.

The glass of whisky I was holding in my hand shattered in my grip. I felt like a piece of shit. I ruined the most beautiful thing to ever step foot into my club. I could never see her again, and that was the vow I made to myself that night. I could never see my perfect princess again.

My beautiful little songbird.

I had to focus on my business, on crushing my enemies, and I had to forget about tonight. She was just another woman who satisfied my appetite, and nothing else.

But even I knew that was a lie.

My hand bled as I watched the broken glass fall to the ground. My phone rang in my pocket, and I picked it up without a second thought, feeling the warm blood cascade down my wrist.

Just like her warm, virginal blood had cascaded down my cock only hours before.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, brother. How’d the party go tonight?”

“Lorenzo,” I said. “How are you? How’s that nephew of mine?”

“Oh, you know,” he said. “We named him after me because he causes just as much trouble.”

“Good,” I said. “That’s the only thing nine-year-old boys should be doing. Digging in the dirt and giving their parents heart attacks.”

“It’s all we ever did,” he said, chuckling.

“Yes, yes it was. To what do I owe this phone call?”

“I heard about the troubles surrounding the Del Vecchio family. You good?”

“Of course, I’m good,” I said. “The party was good, and I’m good. I’m giving this matter a bit of… personal attention.”

“Keep your guard up, brother,” he said. “They’re ruthless. I can’t have you dying off before Junior can tell you the fun little thing he told me today.”

“And what did that troublemaker tell you?” I asked.

“He told me you were his hero.”

I drew in a deep breath and closed my eyes. I allowed the air of my beloved city to wash over me as his words fell deeply into my ears. The day my brother had called me and told me he and his wife were pregnant, I didn’t think I could get any happier. They named him Lorenzo Camillo Moretti, Junior, and I was there in the hospital the day he was born. I didn’t think I could get any happier until the first time I pressed a kiss to that little boy’s forehead.

Until this very moment.

“I promise you, no matter what happens, I’ll be around to watch that boy grow up,” I said.

“Good. Because you’re his godfather. If anything happens to me, I need you alive.”

“Nothing is happening to any of us, you got that?” I asked. “Quit that bullshit talk.”

“Just keep one eye open, brother. And if you need me, I’m only a short plane ride away.”

“I hear you. I’ve got this under control. Talk with you soon.”

Little did I know that would be the last time I would talk to him, and little did I know the Del Vecchio family would make a liar out of me.

 

Chapter Nine - Rose
Three Years Later

 

The bulk of the dinner rush at the diner had just finished and I was wiping down the disgusting countertops everyone left behind. My eyes were glued to the clock, counting down the seconds until I could finally be free of this place. I had so many things I had to do and so many things I had to take care of.

Kevin was now thirteen years old, and he had school in the morning, which meant I had to make his lunch beforehand. I was working the morning shift, which meant the breakfast rush just after I dropped him off at school.

Not only that, but I had to get my three-year-old daughter, Ana, to a doctor’s appointment tomorrow instead of working the lucrative lunch shift.

At the diner where I now worked, there were two shifts you wanted: breakfast and lunch. The dinner shift—which I’d just worked—was full of people who wanted a cheap meal after drinking at the few bars in town and they always left shitty tips. I asked my roommate to keep Kevin and Ana tonight so I could pick up the extra shift when someone called out sick, but I was ready to get back home to them.

Ana had never been away from me for this long and I was getting worried that she thought I wasn’t coming back.

It hurt to give up my lunch shift tomorrow and miss all those tips, but I was adamant about taking Ana to all of her appointments. Cassie had been wonderful watching them for me, but I didn’t want her to do the things a mother should do for her child.

Three years ago, I’d had an amazing night of passion. A few weeks later, I’d started feeling nauseous and I had to keep calling out of work. I took medication to try and stave off the nausea so I could work and take care of Kevin, but Cassie was the one who dragged me to the drugstore. She bought me the ninety-nine-cent pregnancy test that changed my entire life and she held me while I cried that night.

She was there for every single doctor’s appointment and held my hand through every single ultrasound. She stayed up late at night, abating my fears and reassuring me that I could do this. She held my hand as I gave birth to the most beautiful consequence that could’ve ever come from that night I shared with my dark prince and, now, Cassie was my trusted babysitter when I needed to pick up other shifts. She had been there from day one with the revelation of my pregnancy and she held me up when I couldn’t hold myself up on my own.

Every time I looked into the beautiful blue eyes of my sweet baby girl, I was reminded of him, but I couldn’t let the ache overshadow the beauty that man had brought into my life.

The beautiful child he had given me was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Putting my life on hold for this little girl hadn’t been easy. Any dreams of returning to culinary school got tossed out the window. But there wasn’t a second that went by that I regretted any of it. I loved my brother and my daughter with a fire I hadn’t known I was capable of, and when Cassie and I teamed up to get through these tougher days, there was nothing that could stop us.

My shift finally ended and I raced home in my rundown car, anxious to wrap my arms around my makeshift family and pull them close to my chest.

“I’m home, you guys!”

“Cassie’s upstairs with Ana,” Kevin said. “She threw up on herself.”

“She threw up? Is she feverish? Rashy? Constipated?”

“Yes, no, no, and no,” Cassie said as she came down the steps with Ana. “She ate too many hot dog.”

“Hot dogs, yummy!” Ana exclaimed.

“Ah, we overate again,” I said as I plucked a naked Ana from Cassie’s arms. “Why do you always do that, hmm? Last week, you ate too many Cheerios.”

“I want Cheerios!” Ana said.

“Of course you do,” I said with a sigh.

“Wanna know how things at the bookstore went?” Cassie asked.

“I didn’t realize there was much to tell,” I said. “What’s up?”

“They want to promote Cassie to full-time employment,” Kevin said.

“Thanks for spoiling the surprise, dork,” she said.

“Cassie, are you serious?” I asked. “That’s awesome!”

“I guess,” she said, shrugging. “I’m not sure if it’s what I want to do for the rest of my life, but it’s money.”

“That’s what happens when you don’t think about the direction you want your life to take,” I said as I put clothes on Ana. “You end up in jobs you don’t like.”

“Hey, it helps with things around here, right?” she asked.

“But I also want you to be happy,” I said.

“Cassie says happiness is a choice, not a destination,” Kevin said.

“Cassie also says ‘bottoms up’ to whole bottles of tequila on a Wednesday night,” I said.

“And it sure tastes good going down,” she said.

“But not as good coming back up in our bathroom,” I said, grinning.

“Pee pee,” Ana said.

“You need to pee pee?” I asked.

I put Ana down, and she ran for her little potty in the corner. I was in the middle of potty training her while trying to get Kevin comfortable with school. He was going through that awkward stage where he didn’t really know where he fit in and I was trying to get him to open up a bit more. We talked a lot, and he and Cassie really bonded, but I think that’s because he thought Cassie was pretty more than anything else. For a thirteen-year-old boy, sitting next to a curvy girl with long brown hair and deep blue eyes was the equivalent of propping open a Playboy magazine.

“Ana is doing well with her potty training,” Cassie said.

“She is,” I said as Ana ran back to me. “I’m proud of her.”

“Now, we just gotta get her pooping in the potty. Then she’ll be ready to get a job, too!”

Kevin laughed while I shot her a look. I could see the playful smirk playing on her face while her and Kevin started up a game of Minecraft. It was something Kevin had become addicted to after playing it at a friend’s house, so Cassie and I saved up all our money and got him a gaming system and that specific game last Christmas.

“You sure you don’t want me to take Ana to her appointment tomorrow so you can catch the lunch shift?” Cassie asked.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I really want to take her to this appointment, especially with there being shots involved. You’re welcome to come, but I’ve already got someone covering my shift.”

“If you contracted your shifts out, you could probably scoop up some of their tips as payment,” Cassie said.

“You’re the weirdest person I know, you know that?” I asked.

“Oh, I make it a point,” she said, winking.

“Wanna build a castle?” Kevin asked.

“We built a castle last time,” she said. “Can we blow up this one?”

“Only if we build it with bricks,” Kevin said. “They scatter farther when you blow ‘em up.”

“I’m gonna go lay Ana down to bed and then I’ll be back to watch the festivities,” I said.

“Better hurry up! Countdown to explosions in T-minus twenty minutes!”

I shook my head and walked up the stairs as I headed to Ana’s room. She was already falling asleep on my shoulder as I laid her down in her crib, and the moment I covered her with her blanket, she was closing her eyes. I stared at her for a while, admiring the hairpin curve of her lips as she drifted off to sleep. She looked so much like him. It was uncanny. I’d pick her up in the morning and be hit with those big blue eyes and, suddenly, I’d be thrown back to that night.

That night I spent with my deep, dark prince.

I rubbed my neck, feeling the spot he’d marked three years ago. Back then, I’d covered it up for two weeks while it faded. But now? I’d give anything for it to be back.

I bent down and kissed Ana one last time before I ventured back downstairs. As I watched Kevin and Cassie giggling on the couch, I realized I wouldn’t trade this for anything. No matter how much of a surprise Ana was and no matter how much it hurt to lose my parents, I had the family I wanted.

The family I’d pieced together from the remnants of my life.

There wasn’t any part of it that I would change, no matter what.

 

Chapter Ten - Camillo
Three Years Later

 

I chopped up the vegetables and threw them into the pot while the water came to a rolling boil. Junior was sitting at the table, playing some sort of game on his handheld gaming system, lost in the world that was unfolding before him while I made our stew for the night. I threw the rest of the vegetables into the water before I started trimming down the meat, removing all the gristle while I watched him out of the corner of my eye.

The day my brother died was the worst day of my life. I’d walked into his home and found my brother and his wife slaughtered, with their blood coating the walls. I’d heard Junior crying out from the closet, urinating on himself in fear as he clutched a very bold knife. I scooped him up into my arms at only nine years old, wrapped him in my jacket so he wouldn’t see the carnage, and carried him away from that house.

In the past three years, he’d gone from a lively, vivacious young boy to a closed off, angry little man. That first night that I kept him in my New York City penthouse, he’d cried himself to sleep on my lap. He’d yelled out for his mother in the middle of the night and screamed for his father. The only thing I could do was hold him close to me while his little fists pounded against my chest. It was in that damn moment I’d made a decision to take him the hell away from this lifestyle. I was no longer willing to allow this legacy to bury any more of my family.

I was fed up with the horrific system my nephew was being exposed to. It was the same system that ripped my entire family away from me. My mother. My father. Countless cousins and my brothers. In that moment, with Junior wailing against my chest, I knew I had two choices.

I could stick around and watch my nephew suffer the same fate, or I could put an end to it all and begin a new life for him.

A new life for us both.

The decision was harder than it should’ve been. Every cell in my body wanted revenge for what had happened. I wanted to lay waste to the entire Del Vecchio family with my own two hands for what they’d done to my brother and his wife. I wanted to seek revenge for the little boy I cradled in my arms night after night, who cried for his mother and pleaded with me to take him home.

Everything in me screamed to spill the blood of that disgusting, ruthless, piece of shit family and line the city streets with their corpses.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk putting my nephew in harm’s way any longer. I had no idea what he saw that night—he still wouldn’t talk about it—but I knew I had to get him away from it all. I knew I had to do what was right by my brother as his son’s legal guardian and get him away from the same nightmares that still woke me up from a dead sleep in the middle of the night.

My only choice at making a new life for us was to get off the grid. I had to move someplace secluded in order to get away from all my connections to the mob. I sold off my penthouse and gave the club over to someone else. I liquidated all the assets I could and stored it in offshore investment accounts. I funneled the money through various investment firms to clean it up before purchasing a cabin in an isolated area of Pennsylvania. It took longer than I’d have liked but, finally, after two and a half years, we moved into an isolated cabin.

A place near the Poconos. The only place I’d ever known to have any sort of beauty.

Back during my empire days, I’d taken many trips there to ski. I ate at many of the diners and sampled many of the homebrews in the bars that peppered the area. It was beautiful in the wintertime and it was the first time I’d ever gotten a good look at how secluded and isolated some people could live. I encountered people who were completely self-sustained. People who’d cashed in their riches and their businesses to live a slow life, out from beneath the prying eye of the public. At first, I thought they were insane for leaving behind their fancy lives of opulence.

But when I purchased that cabin under a random alias near the mountain side of the Poconos, the only thing I could think of was my songbird.

That beautiful woman who talked of a place she loved like it was the only place she ever wanted to be.

The cabin was completely off the grid. I kept a gas generator going for electricity during the winter months, but the solar panels on the roof kept us going during the summer months. The kits were easy enough to purchase and install and the few weeks of summer we had experienced here proved I’d installed them correctly. Every other day, I’d go outside and chop up firewood, storing it inside for the cold winter months to come. The fireplace in the cabin was the only source of heat in the house, but the air ducts that shot off and lined the ceiling poured heat into the other rooms while casting the smoke outside.

Where we were, I could hear anyone and anything coming. We lived off the beaten path and I took to homeschooling Junior, which was fine with him because he didn’t seem to trust people anyway. For now, we had to venture into town to get fresh vegetables to eat, but once we got past this first winter in the Poconos, that wouldn’t be the case. I’d been making plans to plant a garden in the backyard and, coupling that with the hunting I did, we’d be completely self-sufficient.

At that point, the only thing I’d need to run into town for was gas for the generator, which I stored away by the gallons in a shed I’d built with my own two hands out back.

Every day I woke up, I thought of her. The innocent little songbird that sang among these mountains. I wondered what she was doing, or if she ever thought of me. I’d wanted to track her down years ago when my body craved her the most. Just to see what she was up to. Just to make sure she was okay and happy.

But I’d stopped myself on many occasions. I couldn’t risk the Del Vecchio family finding out about my weakness for a woman whose name I didn’t even know. She was too pure. Too good for me. Besides, developing any kind of personal relationship with her would put her in danger.

Danger she didn’t deserve.

But now that Junior and I had settled into our new lifestyle—now that I had left all of that bullshit behind—it was finally the right time to check in on her.

A knock came at the door just as I threw the meat into the stew. Junior looked at me with fear in his eyes and my gut pulled with guilt. I knew I’d made the right decision by leaving that lifestyle behind. Just the look of fear that rattled across his stare was enough to make me sick, even after all this time. I walked over to him and kissed the top of his head, telling him to stay put while I saw what was going on.

Then, I made my way to the door with a gun holstered on my hip.

“Don’t panic. It’s just me.”

I sighed with relief, and I opened the door. The private investigator I’d hired to track down the girl held a massive manila envelope in his hand. I ushered him in and we sat down on the couch. Then I called out to Junior and told him everything was just fine.

He didn’t say anything back, but I could hear him pressing the buttons on his gaming system, so I knew he had settled himself down again.

“Did you find her?” I asked.

“I did,” he said. “Since you knew she lived in the area, she wasn’t hard to track down. I didn’t even have to risk tapping into the old footage of the club you owned in order to find her.”

“Good,” I said. “How is she?”

“She’s… as good as can be expected,” he said.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked. “Has something happened to her?”

“She does still live in the area,” he said. “She lives just on the other side of this mountain. Works at a diner called Stevie’s. Ever heard of it?”

“No, I haven’t,” I said.

“It’s not too far from here. Maybe a thirty-minute drive. Anyway, you said you encountered her three years ago, right?”

“Yes, what’s happened to her?” I asked.

“Take a look inside.”

He handed me the manila envelope, and I practically ripped the top off it. My heart was pounding in my chest and my blood rushed heavily through my ears. I pulled out page after page, tossing everything to the floor as a picture of her finally came into view. Those beautiful peridot eyes and that milky skin were exactly like I remembered, matching the image of her I’d had burned in my brain. My heart ached at the sight of the black hair that had felt so soft against my fingers and those beautiful, luscious lips I’d dreamed about for years.

I studied her luscious curves, noting their subtle changes. Her breasts were a bit larger, and her hips were a bit wider. Her thighs were a bit thicker and her cheeks were a bit fuller.

And then I saw it. The “thing” that happened.

I flipped over to a picture of my songbird sitting in a park. She was nestled beside a woman with brown hair and tan skin, while a teenaged boy was settled at her other side. And there was a girl looking over her shoulder, with big blue eyes, radiant tan skin, and dark black hair.

Hair just like her mother’s. And eyes just like mine.

I flipped through picture after picture of the little girl and my stomach sank to my toes. I did the math in my head as I shuffled through the papers on the floor. I found the little girl’s birth certificate and clocked her birthday.

Eight months and three weeks from the first time—and only time—I’d ever plunged myself into my songbird’s warm, wet, inviting body.

“Her name’s Rose Brugman,” the detective said. “She’s twenty-four years old, takes care of her thirteen-year-old brother since her parents died in a car accident when she was nineteen. She dropped out of culinary school for that and took a steady job at the diner once she figured out she was pregnant.”

“With my child,” I said, whispering.

“She looks just like you,” the detective said.

I couldn’t believe it. This beautiful, picturesque woman was the mother of my child. Her body had swelled with my seed, rounding out her features perfectly while she blossomed with my child. For three solid years, she did nothing but sacrifice to take care of this family. The family that fate had brought together through tragedy and chance. Her family that she’d become the foundation of.

“The woman next to her in the park is her roommate and cousin, Cassandra Anderson,” the detective said. “Cassie for short.”

But I didn’t care about any of that. Not right now. My perfect princess—my innocent songbird—was working at a diner to make ends meet while she raised my daughter. She was sacrificing everything in her life, becoming as strong as she needed to in order to support the family she loved. I ran my fingertips over the face of my smiling daughter, who seemed to know exactly where to put her eyes every time this detective took a picture of them.

“Thank you for your service,” I said.

“I assume the money’s just gonna… appear in my account?” he asked.

“I put it there a couple days ago,” I said mindlessly. “Remember the NDA you signed.”

“I do, don’t worry. If there’s one thing I can get behind, it’s the protection of children. I don’t even know what you look like.”

He stood and left me with all the information I needed right in the palms of my hands. Pictures of my daughter. Rose’s address. The people she hung out with. The people she loved. Where she worked and when she usually worked.

Everything I needed to easily find her in this mountain town.

I was determined to be a part of her life. I was determined to be a part of my daughter’s life. I was determined to make her life easier. To show her what it meant to me that she was willing to carry my child and take care of her.

I wanted to show her what that night three years ago meant to me and, now, I finally could. Now that Junior and I had escaped our horrid past.

Chapter Eleven – Rose

 

I picked up the dinner shift after I took Ana to her doctor’s appointment to make up for the loss in my tips. It still wasn’t enough to completely make up for it, but it would help to make ends meet until the Sunday lunch rush. The last customer had just left and I was honestly considering locking the doors fifteen minutes early. I wanted to get home to Ana to see how she was doing after having all of her shots. I knew Cassie had a handle on things, especially with Kevin really taking a liking to her, but all I wanted to do was hold my little girl and comfort her.

But my wishes were blown to shreds when the bell above the door rang as another customer entered.

I turned around and saw a tall, rugged, muscular man walking in. Clad in a flannel shirt that clung to his chest and worn-down jeans that seemed to fit him just right, I couldn’t help but sense a familiarity about him. The dark brown hair on his head was stuffed underneath a hat, and the thick beard on his face was trimmed close to his square jaw. I couldn’t make out his eyes from, though I watched him, and the way he directed his attention towards me suggested he knew me.

Then, as I approached him and placed a menu in front of him, I realized why he looked so familiar. His piercing blue eyes ripped through me. He was my dark prince from all those years ago.

My hands shook and my eyes widened. I watched as he held my gaze, just as steady as he’d done that night in the city. My palms were sweating as I reached down and grabbed him a coffee cup, looking for something to do while his eyes studied me intently.

Did he know? Was he here to hurt me? To take Ana away from me?

He’d have to fight through me to get to her. That much was certain.

I grabbed the coffee pot and poured him a cup and, all the while, he simply watched me. His menu was left untouched and his body didn’t budge.

My nervous lips broke the silence hanging between us. “What are you doing here?”

I knew it was him. Back then, he had been clean-shaven and he was wearing a mask, but I knew those eyes. I knew that stare. I felt that familiar thrill rush over my body while his eyes followed me. I would’ve known that feeling anywhere, even if he had spotted me from across the street.

I was blown away by how handsome he was without the mask. His strong hands were rough, boasting thick callouses, and his beard suggested he’d been in the area for a little while. He looked like one of the locals. The full beard suited him in a way I would’ve never thought possible and, as I poured him a cup of coffee, all he did was shrug.

That was when fear rushed through me. Did he not remember me?

He stayed silent, not ordering any food, but he didn’t touch his coffee, either. I went about my business, trying to clean up around me so that when he did finally leave, I could get home to my daughter.

Our daughter.

“We’ll be closing in a few minutes,” I said. “Is there anything you’d like, to go?”

“I don’t want to order anything,” he said in that same slight accent. “But I would like to talk to you.”

I felt my body freeze as I slowly panned my gaze over toward him. It was him and he did remember me. That voice was unmistakable and I felt myself growing weak at the knees. Sensations from that night echoed through my system and I had to brace myself against the counter just to keep my balance.

And all the while, he kept staring.

I never once considered telling him about Ana after she was born. Trying to track down a man I knew was dangerous and telling him I was pregnant with his child seemed like a bad idea. I wondered how he found me. After I informed Crystal that I was pregnant, she immediately launched into the rumors she’d heard about him. Rumors of him being tied to the mob, being the head of a ruthless family, having so much blood on his hands he could drown the entire city in the carnage he left behind. The stories shook me to my core and kept me up crying at night, even as I curled up and kept my arms braced around my stomach.

My stomach that carried a child I vowed to protect with all my might.

Plus, he owned a sex club. He wasn’t exactly the stereotype of the perfect “baby daddy.” Sure, he was rich, but that didn’t mean anything if his history put us in danger. Suddenly, a chilling idea crossed my mind. What if he was here to fight me for custody? What if he was here to take her from me? I wasn’t about to let him take my daughter and introduce her to a world filled with blood and criminals. I would have to keep my secret from him. I would have to safeguard Ana with my life, no matter what he wanted to talk about.

I continued to clean the counter while his coffee was left untouched.

I felt a thread of fear winding through my stomach. Why was he here, acting all mysterious? Did he already know about Ana? Surely, if he had me tracked, he knew about her, but I couldn’t be sure. All he was doing was staring at me like he had that night and I had no idea what was going on in his mind. I assumed he would want nothing more to do with me, especially after leaving me the lines of that Yeats poem like he did.

I still had that note, even after all these years. I used it as a bookmark for the books I allowed myself to dive into whenever I did have a little bit of free time on my hands, which wasn’t often.

“I assumed you didn’t want anything to do with me,” I said as I walked back toward him. “You were gone when I woke up.”

“Did you get my note?” he asked.

“I still have it actually.”

I felt his stare burn into me as my eyes rose to meet his.

“Some cryptic Yeats poem about losing innocence, portraying yourself as dangerous. I heard you loud and clear. So, I left. Why are you hunting down a booty call from three years ago?”

I slammed my rag onto the top of the counter and his eyes narrowed. In that very moment, I knew I’d made a fatal mistake. A rush of heat drenched my panties, even as that thread of fear grew into a pulsing tree that spread its limbs throughout my body. As petrified as I was of this situation, he was still so hot. So dominant and self-assured. I knew I’d never find someone who could make me feel the way he did that night. So, I hadn’t bothered to date. Not while I was pregnant and not after Ana was born.

But there was something in his stern stare that told me he already knew. He already knew all of it.

“You’re hiding something from me, songbird,” he said.

I poured all of my energy into my little girl. Being a single mother was tough, especially when you were raising two kids. Your entire life gets put on hold for them. I sacrificed everything to make sure my family stayed together, but the moment those words flew from his mouth, I was hooked.

Hooked on him again, just like I was that night.

My pulse sped up with the rough turn of his accent. His voice had dropped into that octave that sent my knees quaking. I looked away from him, not wanting to say the words that were sitting on the tip of my tongue.

But I didn’t have any choice. I knew he knew.

I walked away from him and came out from around the counter. I had to continue cleaning up so I could close this place down. My boss had already left, and the cook had slipped out the back, leaving me alone with this beautiful, petrifying man while I swept the floor. His eyes were hard on my body as I came closer to him and, when I was within arm’s reach, he yanked me from the floor and pulled me onto his lap.

I squealed as his hands pinned my arms behind my back, thrusting my chest out to him. Without any warning or any words spoken, he kissed me harshly. My lips automatically swelled underneath his touch while our tongues danced a familiar tango and I felt myself short of breath by the time he pulled away. All this time had passed and his kiss could still render me speechless.

The attraction between us was so strong, I could feel it electrifying the stale air of the diner.

“Tell me what you’re hiding,” he said.

I turned my head away to try and disconnect what I knew was brewing between us.

“Now,” he said darkly.

I tried to fight the animal magnetism between the two of us. I could feel my entire body trembling as he tugged harder on my arms. My chest wrenched out toward him and his lips descended to my skin, pressing his barely-there kisses while he watched the whole of my skin pucker at his touch.

But the soft moment was soon gone. He grabbed my ponytail and forced me to look him square in his eyes.

Those beautiful, icy eyes that brought both hope and fear into my life.

“You’ll tell me, or I’ll punish you,” he said.

His words made me hot and I started to squirm in his lap. I remembered how his spanking made me feel last time. How his finger had slipped effortlessly into my virginal hole. He forced me to bend farther, my back threatening to snap as his free hand wrenched my work shirt over my face. He pulled it so high that it covered my eyes while exposing the lower portion of my face and that’s when I felt it.

His lips pressed once again into mine, and I whimpered softly at his touch.

He bit my bottom lip, pulling a moan from my throat that caused him to growl. I started grinding down into his lap, feeling his erection swell in his pants while his hands traveled to my bra. I started to backtrack from him, trying to get off his lap as his grasp held me in his lap.

I knew the moment he saw the stretch marks that trailed up the sides of my breasts that he would know.

He pulled my bra down, and my breathing sped up. For a moment, my nipples were bared to the warm air of the diner. I could feel them puckering underneath the dark prince’s gaze, hardening as I spilled into my panties. His fingertips rose to the side of my breast, tracing every lightened stretch mark he could find as I visibly quaked in his lap.

I was panting with fear while my pussy was growing wet with desire.

Suddenly, his lips dipped to my pert nipples. He licked and sucked, the sensations driving me crazy while I continued to moan. The electricity that shot through my body could’ve powered the entire town and, as I bucked wildly in his lap, I could feel the vibrations of his voice echo off the corners of my mind.

“Tell me your secret,” he said.

He ground against me, causing me to gasp for air. I wanted him and I knew he could tell. But I hadn’t told him what he wanted to know. I hadn’t told him that we had a daughter. A beautiful daughter who looked just like him. My nipple fell from between his lips and his knee pressed against my clit, causing me to lose myself in his body again while he moved me back and forth.

My arms stayed taut, and his hand stayed wound in my hair as my body shook with the pleasure coursing through my veins. He rocked me to my precipice, my clit swelling with lust and wanton passion as my body started to shiver. My body jolted and darted with my orgasm as he rocked my body faster and faster against his leg, his lips wrapping around my nipples and riding me through the wetness pouring out from between my legs.

I shook helplessly on his lap as my orgasm barreled over my body and, once I collapsed, I felt him readjust my bra and pull my shirt down.

My hazy gaze found his stern eyes, and even though I was flushed with the pleasure he’d just given my body, he still wouldn’t let me go. I stared back at him, truly afraid of what was coming next, but something inside of me chanted a very familiar tune.

You can trust him. You can trust him. You can trust him.

 

 

Chapter Twelve – Camillo

 

I’d left my nephew with the nanny I had my private detective check out. I kept her on speed dial and monetarily comfortable, so I could have her at the drop of a hat. I knew this would be the night I’d go to see Rose. The night I would take in her luscious body with my eyes again and devour her essence with my lips. I called the nanny up and told her to come over before I kissed my nephew goodbye and told him he could play games until he fell asleep if it helped him to sleep better.

From the moment I walked into the diner, I was speechless. It was as if the past three years hadn’t aged her at all. The halo of innocence that surrounded her didn’t seem tainted at all by her circumstances. The way she continued to glide around the floor, cleaning up after people who probably had no respect for her, was astounding to me.

It stunned me into a silence as I made my way to the counter and sat down.

The fact that this woman was my daughter’s mother made my heart pound hard within my chest. I’d been able to keep part of the vow I made to myself that night. I followed it so fervently, in fact, that I couldn’t fuck any other subs after her. I was disgusted by their inferiority to the perfect submissive I’d found in her that night. They were all just pathetic copies of the one true princess I’d found in her that evening.

That perfect evening three whole years ago.

When I saw that first picture of my daughter, I’d almost lost my mind right there in the cabin. After losing both of my parents to such senseless violence, I couldn’t live without my family, now that I knew they existed. I couldn't allow my daughter to grow up thinking her father didn’t want her. Didn’t love her. Didn’t care for her or her mother.

But I was also eager to see Rose. To see this beautiful princess again for the first time since that night. I was ready to be in her presence again and feel the tension that naturally thrummed between us. As I sat down at the counter and watched her pour me a cup of coffee, I couldn’t help but hide a smirk at how the words burst forth from her lips.

She wanted to know what I was doing here but pretty soon, I would show her.

I watched her drift around the diner, cleaning up and tending to her own business. I could see the slight sheen of sweat on her brow, denoting the long day she must’ve had. A twinge of guilt slithered through my body as I watched her hunch her back over that damn broom.

The mother of my child shouldn’t have to work nearly as hard as she was in order to provide for our child.

I knew she recognized me from the moment she looked into my eyes. When she asked me what I was doing here, I no longer wanted to tell her. Anger bubbled up in my throat as she defied me and bucked up against me with the strength I knew she possessed. She’d kept my child from me. She’d kept our beautiful daughter a secret. I’d missed precious years of her development because of her unwillingness to reach out to me.

She needed to be punished like the bad little princess she’d been.

Now, I had her in my grasp. I could see the fear behind her eyes, but she made no move to get away. There was still an innate trust vibrating throughout her entire body, pressing her into me in a movement I don’t even think she registered. I bent my lips down to her ear and heard her gasp, kissing the shell of her ear before she continued to writhe in my lap.

“My truck’s out back,” I said. “You’ve got twenty minutes to close down and get out there.”

Then, I released her and made my leave. I threw a few bills onto the counter to pay for the coffee, striding out back as I made my way to my truck. I watched her while she flew around and cleaned, making haste in everything she did as I sat back and smiled. She was trying her best to prove to me she could still listen, even after committing the ultimate betrayal.

It was that innocence in her rising to the top and I felt my cock pressing hard against my pants.

Twenty minutes later, she cut off all the lights and locked up the building. She came outside and spotted my car, and she approached it without hesitation. I kept the motor running so she could climb into its warmth, and the moment she sat down in the seat next to me, I could hear her teeth chattering.

“What do you want?” she asked as her gaze whipped over to me.

“Why didn’t you contact me?” I asked.

Her eyes widened in surprise and her lips parted in shock. I watched her eyes narrow as that fierce spirit of hers flooded back to the surface and I prepared myself for a fight.

“Why in the world should I have tried to contact you?” she asked.

“You’re really not going to tell me on your own, are you?” I asked.

I watched her swallow hard, but her gaze stayed intense. I had to applaud her for her strength. I was finally getting the full understanding of how the note I’d left her had affected her. She straightened up her back, with one hand on the door handle of the truck, ready to escape should the slightest thing go wrong.

I decided to keep the door unlocked, just to let her know I wasn’t going to cage her.

Not without her permission. “I guess I’m just going to have to drag it out of you,” I said, grinning.

My cock was hardening against my pants as I thought about all the ways I could torture the information out of her. I could spank her until she cried out for mercy.

All the while, she sat there, sturdy and strong, but still with that little glimmer of innocence in her eyes.

“Drag out what?” she asked.

She wasn’t going to tell me, but I couldn’t punish her in the car like I needed to. Like I’d intended to the moment I stepped out of my cabin to venture into town. My eyes scanned her body, taking in every dip and valley that was still so beautiful, yet just a bit different from the last time I’d taken her. I wondered if any other man had touched her body since, defiling her while she was pregnant with my child. The thought awoke anger inside me and as my eyes bored into hers, I saw her scoot back just a bit from me.

Her fear was beginning to take over, but all I wanted to do was taste her coming on my tongue. All I could think about was her legs clamping down around my head. I thought about her hands tugging at the tendrils of my hair. I thought about her juices getting trapped in my beard while my hands pinned her arms, rendering her silent and immovable while her tits arched into the air for me.

I scooted closer to her and, in an instant, the door was open and she was out in the cold once again.

I took a deep breath as she stood there, staring at me. She was different now. She was special. She was the mother of my child and we had to find a way to forge our family together. We had to find a way to navigate these new and uncharted waters side by side. I had to find a way to learn softness. My hardness and my cruelty were no longer appropriate. No longer necessary.

No longer what she needed.

I realized, then, why she was keeping her secret. Why she wasn’t telling me about our daughter. I settled back down into my seat and drew in a deep breath, trying to settle my cock while she trembled out in the cold. I clenched my hands onto the steering wheel of my truck, feeling the animal she brought out in me quiet down as a sigh ripped from between my lips.

Slowly, she got back up into the truck and I decided to simply tell her.

“I know about our daughter, Rose.”

I looked over at her and her eyes widened. I watched her pale skin, that was once flushed with the pleasure I could bring her, grow paler than the snow falling outside. I felt a twinge of regret, exposing myself to her like this, but I had to press on.

My daughter was at stake.

“When I moved to the area a few months ago, I hired a private detective just to check up on you. To make sure you were all right after our encounter all those years ago. That’s how I know about our daughter.”

Her jaw unhinged in shock, her chest panting as my words rendered her speechless.

“You… live here?” she asked.

“I do a lot of skiing here. It only made sense to have some sort of home here I could come to, instead of paying for those luxury spa resorts.”

I wasn’t ready to tell her yet about the fact that I’d moved here to be close to her and that I was running from my past with the mob. I wasn’t ready to tell her about my nephew.

I wasn’t ready to tell her any of that, just like she wasn’t ready to tell me anything about her, either.

“I know she’s my daughter,” I said.

I waited to see if she would contradict me and, when she didn’t, I breathed a sigh of relief. I turned my gaze back out through the window as the snow continued to pour harder and harder onto my truck. I knew if I didn’t let her go soon, we’d both be trapped here at least overnight.

And while the idea of being trapped with her throbbed my cock to life again, I knew it would only frighten her more.

My perfect little songbird, scared to sing her song for me.

“She is,” she said. “But I didn’t contact you because of the note you left me. It was a very telling warning. That, coupled with the rumors of your background and your connections to organized crime, I thought it better to simply leave you be.”

I kept my gaze hard out the window as I relaxed back into the seat of my truck.

“I understand. But I do wish I would’ve had that time with her. Would it be possible for me to see her?”

“I… honestly, I don’t know,” she said. “I’m a bit nervous about that. I don’t know what your intentions are, or where you are in your life, or what types of trouble you might bring into ours.”

I nodded slowly, her words piercing me like one of the knives I had hanging on the walls of that room I’d led her into that night.

That night that changed everything for me. For us. For my future.

“You know, you didn’t exactly reach out to me either. I haven't heard from you all this time and, now, you just show up out of nowhere and want to see your daughter? What changed?”

I’d almost forgotten how intelligent she was. How she could put pieces together, even if she didn’t understand she was piecing.

“I won’t rest, knowing my blood is out there, and I have no ties to it. Family is the most important thing to me, more than anything else on this planet. And I look forward to proving that to you.”

I turned my gaze toward her and I could see the doubts running through her mind. Her hands were squeezed in between her thighs, her body desperately trying to keep a grip on her nerves. But there was a strength about her, even as she trembled in my presence. There was a fire behind her eyes that wasn’t present the first time I’d ever gazed into them. She had a strong moral streak, I could tell, and I knew she would eventually relent.

I knew she wouldn’t keep me from my daughter for long.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll let you see her, but only because it’s the right thing to do. Because she’s your daughter. Not because of… whatever just happened back there.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and relief coursed through my system. We could talk about what happened in the diner at a later time. For now, I was simply reveling in a truth I didn’t realize I needed so desperately.

My beautiful Rose would let me see my daughter and my heart thundered with joy while the snow slowly let up its furious downpour.

 

Chapter Thirteen – Rose

 

“The snow’s letting up,” I said.

“It is.”

“Would you like to follow me to my place?” I asked.

I studied the way his face fell back into its stern expression. His strong jawline was present, even underneath the thick, trimmed beard. The way the flannel on his body pulled against his taut muscles called to me and, for a split second, I wasn’t looking at a man with a shadowy past. I wasn’t looking at the man who had taken my virginity without one ounce of regret. I wasn’t even looking at the man that had just made me come inside my own work establishment.

Instead, I saw a shocked man, chomping at the bit to claim the only piece of family he seemed to have left. A man like him, with the life he led, must’ve seen many people he loved dearly die, and there was a part of me that didn’t want to keep him from her. Or keep him from the family he unknowingly created.

I slid from the truck and walked around to my car. The taillights of his car were on my body, and I unlocked my car as I went to turn it on. I kicked up the warmth, trying to get the ice off my windshield, and I grabbed my scraper.

But when I looked up, he was already out of his truck, scraping the ice off my windshield while I sat in the warmth of my car.

“Camillo,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“I suppose we should introduce ourselves,” he said, grinning.

His eyes connected with mine from behind the windshield he was clearing, and I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. I felt a bit of the tension release between us and, for the first time since he’d walked into the diner, I watched his shoulders release.

“I suppose we should,” I said as I stepped out of the car. “Rose Brugman.”

“Camillo Moretti.”

I held my hand out and he took it, shaking it with a firm grip. His hand held onto mine tightly and, even from beneath the gloves, I could feel a spark between our bodies. The flames roaring in my toes shot up my spine, prickling my arms as I let go of his grasp.

Had I not known any better, I could’ve sworn he was smirking at me.

“Get back in the car,” he said. “It’s too cold for you to be out.”

Grateful for his words, I slipped back in and shut the door. My car was warming up, and I sighed with relief, listening as he continued to scrape the ice off it. His demeanor came off as bossy, even though his actions were kind, but deep down, I kind of liked it. I had to make so many decisions for Ana and Kevin throughout the day that it was nice for someone else to take charge for a change. It was nice to not have to do anything but listen.

In a way, it showed he cared about me. He cared enough to want to get me out of the cold. He cared enough to scrape off my windshield so I didn’t have to do it. It wasn’t much, but it was something and I held onto that something as I thought back to our moment in the diner.

The way he glared at me. The way his hands felt around my wrists. The way my body came for him in an instant, just because he wanted it.

When I opened my eyes, he was no longer there, and I panicked. Where had he gone? Then his truck lights flickered at me, commanding me to pull out so he could follow me.

I watched him in my rearview mirror all the way back to the house. As I got closer and closer, I realized just how rundown our house truly was. It was two stories and, at one point in time, it shined with the glory of familial love but, over the years, it had withered away. I couldn’t keep it up the way my father had, nor did I have the money to pay someone to do it.

I was suddenly embarrassed. Would he think it wasn’t suitable for his daughter? Would he try to take her when he saw what she was living in? It was the best I could do under the circumstances, and I felt tears rise to my eyes as I pulled into the driveway.

Camillo was rich and, if the rumors were true, living in a shitty house wouldn’t be agreeable to him. I jumped out of my car and rushed inside, panicked with the decision I’d just made as I walked into the madhouse. Kevin was blaring music and Cassie was burning dinner. Ana was tearing out pages in a dictionary I didn’t even know we had and scattering the bits all across the carpet. The smoke from dinner was filling the kitchen and I cut the stove off, glaring at Cassie and telling her to back away.

Then, I went to the bottom of the stairs and began yelling.

“Kevin! Turn that shit off!”

“But it’s the best part!”

“Then turn it down,” I yelled. “Now!”

I scooped Ana up into my arms and she giggled with delight. I handed her to Cassie and threw her disgusting, burnt soup down the drain.

“I’ve made a decision I’m still not sure about, so I need you to trust me,” I said.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

“I don’t have time to explain. Get upstairs with Kevin and keep him entertained. Please keep the noise down and shut the kitchen door. I’ll explain once he’s gone.”

“He?” she asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise. “Who’s ‘he’?”

“Cassie, just do it. Please.”

I washed the remnants of the soup down the drain and piled the dishes in the sink. I sprayed some perfume around the room, hoping to disguise the stench, and I turned on the oven fan. Cassie was looking at me wildly as she stepped out of the kitchen, shutting the door and closing off the ripped-up paper in the living room before she ventured upstairs. I cooed lightly in Ana’s ear, bouncing her in my arms while she giggled and clung to me.

I turned around from the mess in the sink and saw Camillo standing there, his eyes bright as he looked fondly upon the child in my arms.

“Ana, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” I said lightly in her ear. “His name is Camillo. He’s a friend of Mommy’s.”

I nodded my head for him to come in but he stayed just at the door. He closed it behind him, not wanting to let the little bit of heat we had out into the nighttime sky. I could tell by the way he was staring at her that it was love at first sight. The hard expression he usually wore faded away, softening his intense jawline and sparkling his eyes.

In that very moment, the warmth that spread throughout my chest was unmistakable. The way he was looking at his daughter melted my insides and I knew that I’d made the right decision.

“Hello, Ana. I must say, you are very beautiful.”

The way he spoke to her melted my heart, and I had to keep blinking in order to keep my tears at bay. Ana waved at him, making him smile, and the beauty of his bright smile lit up his entire face. His features came to life and his body arched toward her, his hand reaching out for her while she reached for his finger.

I watched as she wrapped her little fingers around his massive one, smiling even bigger as his eyes sparkled in her direction. It was the first time I’d ever seen this expression on his face and I felt my stomach do a somersault. He was so handsome—like a fallen angel. Not a dark prince.

“Your eyes are beautiful,” he said.

“Blue!” Ana exclaimed.

“Yes, you have blue eyes,” he said. “Wonderful, sky-blue eyes.”

“Just like her father,” I said.

He looked up at me and I could see a world of possibility swimming behind them. I started to wonder if the family he’d been going on about was something that could really happen. I figured he was just talking about a fantasy he once had—longing for a family that maybe he’d already lost.

But as I stood in my rundown kitchen and watched him talk lovingly with our daughter, I wondered if it could be possible.

Chapter Fourteen – Camillo

 

I drove behind Rose all the way up to her house, but the farther we got from the diner, the more uneasy I became. We were getting into a part of town that was known for its run-down homes and I started to sit on the edge of my seat. Where in the world was my family living? As I pulled up behind Rose and parked my truck, I saw her scramble into the house.

She was embarrassed about where she lived and what she could provide, that much was certain. I sat in my truck and took deep breaths, taking in the run-down, two-story home. I could tell it once stood proudly, maintained well, even though the paint was peeling. It had strong bones, just like my beautiful little songbird but, inside, it was probably in poor condition. Tired. Neglected.

Just like Rose.

I took my time getting out of my truck. I wanted her to know she had all the time in the world to present her life to me. I took a deep breath, allowing the cold to seep down my lungs. Then I shut my truck door loudly. I wanted to alert her to the fact that I was coming and I wanted her to understand that I didn’t care where she lived.

If this was what she could provide, then she was doing a wonderful job. If she sacrificed herself and her dreams to put a roof over her family’s head, then that meant family was just as important to her as it was to me. I slowly approached the door, hearing a scramble behind it before Rose’s soft voice wafted through the wood.

The moment I stepped into the house and saw the little girl in her arms, my hard heart roared back to life.

The small girl’s big blue eyes were glowing while they stared at me. I stepped into the house and shut the door behind me, no longer caring about what the house might look like. I could see the worry in Rose’s eyes, even as she cooed softly into the ear of our daughter. The strength of a mother, even in times of worry, astounded me, and I was being shown just a fraction of the strength my beautiful princess had within her.

I talked with the girl and reached out for her. She grabbed my finger, and I melted right there into the palm of her tiny little hand. I saw Rose’s eyes dancing around my face when she mentioned she had her father’s eyes and I held her gaze with a steely intensity that came naturally to me. She was willing to at least mention the idea of a father in front of her, which told me her stance had changed.

The doubt and worry she had been experiencing slowly dissipated as I drank in her eyes.

But then, she did something I didn’t expect. Ana held out her hands and launched herself at me. Rose’s eyes widened and she moved to catch the flying little girl, but I cradled her against my chest before Rose could get a handle on her.

I planted kiss after kiss on top of her head as I took in her scent. She smelled like freshness. Like innocence. Like a purity even her mother didn’t quite exude. The weight of her in my arms felt like feathers floating against my body.

And all the while, this small little treasure was nestling into my warmth.

I could tell Rose was shocked, but she made no move to take the girl from me. Ana looked up at me with her bright blue eyes and her wide smile and she started babbling sentences that made little sense to me. I could catch some words here and there, but her toddler’s tongue twisted around others. It was like she was trying to hold a conversation, pausing and waiting for me to answer.

So, I answered her as best I could.

She continued talking and I continued nodding and, when Ana busted out in a fit of giggles, I couldn’t help but laugh with her. Her eyes sparkled with a life still unlived. With hopes and dreams still forming themselves in her mind’s eye. I was entranced by the whole of her. My eyes peeled over to Rose’s and, in an instant, I wanted to know everything.

How much did she weigh when she was born? When was her birthday? Was she sick as an infant? Did she sleep well for her mother?

I wanted to know all the little details I had missed out on.

“Anastasia,” she said. “But we call her ‘Ana,’ for short.”

Anastasia. In Greek, the word roughly meant “resurrection.” And honestly, I couldn’t think of a more fitting name. This child was an opportunity for the resurrection of what hung between Rose and myself. She was the binding force between us, something that I thought had been lost the moment I left her with that note in my bed. I hung onto Ana tightly while she continued to smile up at me and, in an instant, my eyes were back down onto my child.

My beautiful, perfect child.

This was a moment of resurrection for Rose and me. A resurrection of our passion and our past. A resurrection of our connection and our blossoming curiosity about one another. It was a resurrection of a life we never thought possible with one another, a life we thought was lost when I left that room and she left the city.

How fitting that the perfect combination of the two of us would embody that ideal.

This was a chance for us to be reborn. As I looked into the eyes of my daughter, I felt myself being filled with something I never thought was possible in life.

I felt myself being filled with the idea of a second chance.

This idea thrilled me. The prospect of raising this daughter and watching her grow alongside the beauty and perfection that was her mother was thrilling. For the first time in my life, I felt I was trekking into new territory. I felt as if I was living out ideals and notions I thought were only possible in my dreams. But I knew the obstacles would be great. I knew my past was still out there, chasing me down while I ran from it. I knew my present would provide an even greater challenge, for living off the grid wasn’t for everyone.

Would the mistakes and the enemies I’d made allow me to have a future with my family? Would the moves I’d made over the past few years be enough to keep them safe?

How in the world would I convince her that a future was possible? How in the world would I ever convince Rose that I wanted a future with them? That I could provide it for them?

Suddenly, I heard a commotion come down the stairs and I saw Rose’s face grow panicked. I handed Ana back to her and stood poised, stepping in front of them as the door flew open. I didn’t know what had her so nervous and I didn’t know what flooded that fear into her eyes, but I was determined to put a barrier between it and her. The door flew open and I recognized the two people standing there: the boy from the park and the young woman who had been beside Rose on the bench. They stood there, looking at me with their mouths parted in shock and it was then I felt Rose step out from behind me.

“I need to take Ana to the potty,” she said. “Kevin, could you look after our guest for me?”

I watched the boy’s eyes widen as Rose pushed between the two people standing in the doorway.

“You’re Ana’s father,” he said.

“I am,” I said, nodding. “I was just coming to meet Ana.”

“It’s you,” the young woman said breathlessly.

I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she wasn’t just talking about the statement Kevin had just made.

“It’s me,” I said.

“Cassie,” she said as she held out her hand. “This is Kevin. Ana’s brother and my cousin.”

I could tell the boy was distrustful. His eyes had the same hesitancy Junior’s always had when meeting new people. I remembered the ramble Rose went on that evening about her home and her life and how something had happened to her in college.

She’d dropped out of culinary school because of something.

I looked into Kevin’s eyes and noticed a familiarity in them. The light bags underneath his eyes and the hazy stare, the way he positioned himself slightly in front of Cassie, even though she was much older and more mature. His protective instincts were kicking in, even if he didn’t realize it, and the last piece of Rose’s life fell into place.

She’d lost her family.

That’s what had caused her to drop out of school.

Cassie was looking at me with wild eyes. I heard Ana giggling in the background and Rose cooing at her, telling her to stand still so she could get her clothes back on. I wanted to help her, to show her that I could be the father and man she needed me to be. She’d played this role for way too long by herself. She’d sacrificed more than most people had in a lifetime.

I wanted to change all of that for her as quickly as I could.

But in order to do that, I had to win over the trust of the family standing in front of me. Her brother and her cousin, two people who were actively guarding her with their lives. Even though Rose had lost her parents, she was still surrounded by people who loved her. People who cared for her, just like she deserved.

They were important to her. That much, I could tell. If I wanted to become important to her, they had to become important to me. As Rose pushed back through them and came to stand beside me, I made another vow to myself. A vow I would keep for all eternity, no matter the consequences to myself.

I would protect and keep all of them safe. I would give my life to make sure they were taken care of and wanted for nothing. And, in return, all I would ask for was a life with my daughter.

A life with the woman I’d created her with.

A life with this beautiful family who loved Rose and Ana the way I intended to from this point forward.

 

Chapter Fifteen – Rose

 

I pushed past Kevin and Cassie as I made my way back into the kitchen. I knew this was going to come as a shock to everyone, having Camillo here, but the more he was around, the more I realized how much I’d missed him. I’d clung to that night for months after the encounter that changed my life. No man that approached me at the diner ever compared to the beauty and strength he showed me that night and the very memory of his body against mine got me through the worst of times. There were nights where I would lay in bed, clinging to that note he’d left me, hoping I could conjure his presence. And now, here he was, plucking our daughter from my arms while I shooed him into the other room, telling Camillo to go spend time with his daughter so I could try to salvage dinner.

Kevin stood in the doorway and gawked at the two of them playing, while Cassie stood next to me at the fridge.

“He’s here,” she said.

“All we can really do is a salad,” I said.

She ignored my comment. “I mean, he’s actually here. With Ana. In his arms.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

I bent down and started grabbing vegetables. I threw them on the counter so I could get to chopping, throwing everything into a massive bowl. I opened up the freezer and pulled out a microwavable package of grilled chicken, inwardly groaning at the fact that I’d be feeding this rich man microwavable chicken.

He had tasted the delicacies of the world and now he’d have to choke down my pathetic salad.

“Aren’t you scared he’ll take her away or something?” Cassie asked.

“Nope,” I said. “He just wanted to meet his daughter. I had to give him that.”

“Oh, you just had to. Right. Gotcha. You want me to throw this in the microwave?”

“No, I want you to set it in there, set the timer for five minutes, and let it cook.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” she said sarcastically.

“If you hadn’t burned soup, I wouldn’t feel the need to tell you how to microwave chicken,” I said, grinning.

I saw Cassie taking glimpses of Camillo, with Ana in his arms, while Kevin slowly made his way toward them. Kevin didn’t trust anyone. He didn’t make friends easily at school and he kept to himself. I tried to get him to open up and even invite kids from school over, but he never did.

So, the fact that he was approaching Camillo was a massive deal.

“Holy shit, Rose. Kevin just sat down beside him.”

“Are you serious?” I asked.

I tossed the rest of the lettuce into the bowl before I poked my head around the corner. Kevin was staring warily at Camillo, who was now bouncing Ana on his chest. He leaned back into the couch and Ana was jumping up and down on him like he was some sort of trampoline or couch cushion.

And all the while, Kevin was slowly scooting closer to him.

“How the hell did he find you?” Cassie asked.

“If I told you, I’m not sure you’d believe me,” I said. “Let’s just say he lives around here now.”

“So he moved here for you,” she said. “Why the hell else would someone want to live in the Poconos?”

“For the skiing?”

“Look at him. Does that beard and those muscles look like someone who skis regularly?”

Camillo was watching Kevin out of the corner of his eye but he made no move toward my brother. I had considered the fact that this man wanted Ana. I had considered the fact that he might take her and I’d never find her again. But the moment I saw his eyes light up with love for her, that same innate trust I’d felt for him years ago came rushing back. Despite the rumors of his ties to the mob and despite the warning his note had left for me, I knew he would never hurt me.

I knew he would never hurt his daughter.

I threw the rest of the cut-up vegetables into the bowl just as the microwave went off. I dumped the chicken on top of the salad and covered it in mandarin oranges while Cassie set our small table to hold five. I pulled out juices and sodas we could all drink and put them in the middle of the table, then I dished up salad for everyone’s plate while Cassie grabbed the salad dressings. We danced around one another, stealing peaks of Camillo in the living room while we did so.

“Whenever you guys are ready, dinner’s on!” I called out.

“Five more minutes?” Kevin called out.

“The chicken’s gonna be cold by then,” I said as I walked into the living room. “What’s taking you—”

I saw that Kevin had the television on, with Minecraft going on the screen. He was showing Camillo all the things he had created and was in the middle of trying to blow something up. Ana was curled into the crook of her father’s neck, her little eyes fluttering open and closed while she breathed against his chest. Kevin was talking Camillo through the game and he seemed to be listening intently, his eyes dancing across the screen while he watched Kevin pull out all the stops for his own entertainment.

The scene brought tears of shock to my eyes as I watched my brother interact fluidly with this stranger.

“Five more minutes,” I said. “Then, it’s dinner time.”

“Okay,” Kevin said.

“I’ll start the countdown,” Camillo said.

My eyes connected with his as a tear dripped down my face. His eyes grew stern, studying me as I turned back and headed for the kitchen. I was overwhelmed by the sensations I was experiencing. Overwhelmed by all the emotions that were flooding my chest.

My hands were trembling as I counted the minutes down on the microwave clock. I heard Kevin laughing while Camillo kept asking questions and, soon, Ana’s small little snores could be heard all the way into the kitchen. Just before I was about to call out the fact that five minutes was up, I heard Camillo talking quietly with Kevin.

Then, the three of them came into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Ana was passed out on his shoulder as he sat down in a seat. I fought between waking her up to eat and letting her sleep peacefully and I realized Camillo wouldn’t be able to eat like that. I walked over to him and tried to take Ana from him, but he simply shook his head.

“I can eat with one arm. It’s okay.”

I was enamored with the attention he was paying Kevin. I was overwhelmed by the way he cradled our daughter while he dressed his salad. I was impressed with the way he didn’t flinch at the fact that he was eating microwaved grilled chicken and, all the while, my hands were shaking in my lap.

I was enjoying this too much and it scared me.

“Why were you gone so long?” Kevin asked.

“Kevin,” I said, scolding him.

“No, it’s all right,” Camillo said. “My work took me away for quite some time. Things got very busy, and I didn’t want to bring that stress into your sister’s life.”

“But you’re here now,” Kevin said. “Are you staying?”

“That’s enough,” Cassie said.

“I promise, his questions are fine,” Camillo said.

“So, are you?” Kevin asked.

I sighed and allowed my gaze to fall to my lap. I knew the dinner was going to be awkward, but I didn’t realize Kevin was going to take so well to Camillo.

I still wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

“Well, I do live in the area and I’d like to be a part of Ana’s life now. But that mean’s I’ll also be a part of yours somewhat. Are you okay with that?”

“Maybe you should pose that question to Rose first,” Cassie said.

I snapped my gaze up at her before my eyes drifted toward Camillo. I shot him a silent apology as Cassie rolled her shoulders back. She braced for a fight every single time a guy came into our lives. Though I loved that she was protective of me, it sometimes annoyed me to no end.

“How about we talk about that later?” Camillo asked.

“Okay,” Kevin said, defeated. “What questions are okay to ask?”

“You could ask me about where I grew up,” Camillo said. “Or what I like to do for fun.”

“What do you like to do for fun?” Kevin asked.

“Sleep,” Camillo said, grinning.

I couldn’t help but giggle at his answer while Kevin’s eyes lit up.

“Hey, me too!” Kevin said. “What else?”

“I do a lot of manual labor. It helps to calm my mind. You know, chopping wood, gardening, hunting, building furniture. That sort of thing.”

“What sorts of furniture? Like could you make us a bigger table?” Kevin asked and I flashed him a look.

“I haven’t tried making a table yet, but I’ve made bookcases and chairs,” Camillo said.

“You work with wood?” I asked.

The grin he threw me across the table shivered me to my toes.

“I work with wood a great deal, when I can,” he said.

I felt the heat creep up my neck and color stain my cheeks. I knew his innuendo was intended for me and it left me a little flustered.

“You okay?” Cassie asked.

“Just fine,” I said breathlessly.

I felt Camillo’s eyes on me as I got up from the table. I needed to start doing something constructive or I was going to jump him at my table in front of my family. I started clearing dishes and took them over to the sink while Kevin put the dressings back into the refrigerator.

I heard everyone get up from the table while I began rinsing the dishes. Cassie took Ana so she could put her down and Kevin was quickly on her heels. My hands were trembling even as the hot water rushed over them, but I was ripped from my trance when the dishwasher beside me opened.

I looked over and saw Camillo staring down at me before he reached for the plates and started stacking them in.

Silently, the two of us cleaned the kitchen. We got everything put away and the table wiped down. He helped me pick up the shreds of the dictionary Ana had left behind on the floor. He even took out the overflowing trash I kept forgetting to deal with before I went to bed.

And by the time he came back in, I was ready to ask the looming question.

“So,” I said breathlessly. “What happens now?”

 

Chapter Sixteen - Camillo

 

I looked into the eyes of my little songbird when she asked me that question, and I found myself lost. This woman was like none other. The strength she possessed and the love she carried for her family rivaled my own. I’d walked into her life after three years of absence between us and she welcomed me to her dinner table like I was an old friend. She had served me the best of the food she had to offer in her home and she had allowed me to bond a little bit with someone who was important to her in her life.

All the while holding our daughter close to my chest for the very first time.

This beautiful woman had been working full time at a diner, trying to make ends meet while taking care of her family and raising our daughter. She was single-handedly the foundation of this run-down home and had sacrificed everything she could in her life to make sure the children had everything they could ever want. She was still in her work clothes while a brand-new gaming system sat on the shelf for her brother in the living area. I admired her for the strength and beauty she possessed and I wanted to know everything about her. I wanted to know what she needed from me to be able to be happy.

She was staring at me, waiting for me to tell her what would happen next.

She was waiting for me to take control, just like I had all those years ago.

“I need to be a part of my daughter’s life,” I said.

“Okay.”

“I want to get to know you,” I said.

“Why?” she asked.

“Why do I want to get to know the mother of my child?” I asked. “Because…”

How did I tell her? How in the world could I communicate to her that no woman I’d ever attempted to be with since her compared to what we shared that night? How could I tell her that I stopped sleeping with subs altogether because of how perfect she was beneath my body that night? How could I tell her that I couldn’t rid her sounds from my ears or her image from my eyes?

How could I tell her all this without scaring her?

I could see the doubt filling her beautiful eyes and I knew I was losing her. I saw fear and hesitancy, like she thought I might be lying to her. “Because you’re beautiful and have done an amazing thing here raising Ana and Kevin. Because I’d like to see if we could be more than what we shared the night we made Ana.”

She looked at me like she desperately wanted to believe what I was saying, but was afraid to let herself. I realized she must have suffered disappointment after disappointment in her life.

“If you don’t believe that I want to get to know you, then at least let me get to know Ana. Let me come around. Let me play with her. Let me be a part of her life.”

I could tell she was thinking and I was hanging on to every movement her eyes made as they danced around the room.

“Let me provide for you what I should’ve been giving you for the past three years,” I said.

“What does that mean?” she asked, her eyes narrowed.

I did the only thing I knew how to do.

I was going to show her what I meant.

I reached into my pocket and wrapped my hand around the massive wad of cash. I’d brought it to the diner, intent on having this talk. I’d brought it to the counter under the assumption that I’d have to prove to her what I could provide before I even got a chance to see my daughter.

But she’d allowed my entrance into her home without even knowing what I brought to the table.

I pulled the cash out of my pocket and took her hand. I placed it into her small palm, the wad of money dwarfing her entire hand. Her eyes widened and she tried to give it back to me, but all I did was cup my hands around it and bring her fingers up to my lips.

I kissed each of her knuckles while our eyes connected, and when I dropped her hand, she clung to the money instead of trying to give it back.

“You’ve done such a wonderful job, Rose,” I said. “You’ve sacrificed whatever it took to make sure you could give Kevin and our daughter the life they deserved. But I know you were embarrassed when I drove up to your house. I knew you were scrambling to clean it up. It’s why I stayed in the truck for as long as I did.”

I saw tears of shame rising to her eyes and I pulled her close to me. I expected her to push me away, to backtrack as fast as she could now that she had the one thing she needed so desperately.

But all she did was press herself deeper into me, almost as if she were seeking something else.

“This isn’t a bribe,” I said as I held her close. “You have the final decision in this. But this is what I want to provide. Money. Support. Guidance. Whatever I should’ve been giving you these past few years, I want to be here to give it now.”

She sniffled and pulled away from me, her eyes glued to the bundle of cash she had to hold with both of her hands.

“You can come visit,” she said as her entire body trembled. “When I get off work, during the evenings.”

“That’s all I ask,” I said.

“Under one condition,” she said as she looked up at me.

“Anything.”

“Please don’t take my daughter away from me.”

In that very moment, the fear she had been holding back trickled down her entire body. She shivered, goosebumps raced up her arms, and tears started down her cheeks. I moved toward her, backing her into the fridge and pinning her into my body.

Then, I scooped her up into my arms and held her close.

“Never am I ever going to separate my daughter from her mother,” I said into her ear. “You have my word. Look at me.”

Her eyes, bathed in her tears of fear, slowly panned up to me, and I felt my chest fill with the same warmth I’d felt all those years ago. Even as she sniffled and tried to control her sobbing chest, she was the perfect vision of beauty. Even in her sadness, her big, bold eyes and her beautiful, black hair boasted of a kindred innocence she shared with my daughter.

I hooked my gaze onto her as I leaned against her kitchen counter.

“I am never taking Ana from you,” I said. “I want what’s best for all of us. For me. For you. For Cassie and Kevin. All I’m asking for is a chance to prove it to you.”

I held my breath as I searched her face for a reaction and relief coursed through my pulsing veins when she smiled.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly.

I hugged her close as I slowly set her down onto her feet. She leaned her cheek against my chest and allowed her hands to slide down my stomach. I had to take deep breaths to try and calm my body, because just her warmth was intoxicating. I ran my hand through her hair and rubbed her back soothingly, finally feeling her relax from the weight of all I had brought upon her tonight.

“The next time we meet up, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” I said.

“Oh?” she asked. “Who’s that?”

“You’ll see,” I said as my hands stroked her arms. “For now, all I want to do is help you in any way I can. Is there anything else you have to do tonight?”

“Well,” she said as she looked down at her hand. “I suppose I have to figure out what to do with this.”

She lifted the green wad of cash up to her face and smiled a devious little smile. I couldn’t help but lose myself in her playfulness, the way she’d opened herself up to me without any regard to how I might hurt her. I felt my softness come into play as my hand reached out to cup her cheek, my thumb tracing over the pouty lower lip I’d suckled on back at the diner.

She puckered her lips to kiss the pad of my thumb, and I felt my entire body heat up underneath the small little touch.

What this strong woman did to me was unmistakable and I knew in that very instant I’d never let her go.

Not even if she wanted me to.

 

Chapter Seventeen – Rose

 

Work was long, and I still had four more hours to go. I’d taken the lunch and the dinner shift back to back, wanting the morning with Ana and Kevin before Camillo came back over tonight. I was nervous about having him over. Last night had felt more like a dream than it had reality and when I woke up this morning and was getting everyone ready for their days, I had almost convinced myself it hadn’t taken place.

It wasn’t until Kevin asked when Camillo was coming back that I realized I hadn’t dreamt anything.

My prince had shown up on my doorstep. He’d walked in from the cold with snow on his shoulders and sat down right in front of me. He’d taken me into his arms and pulled my wrists back tightly, exposing my body to him just like he had that night. He sat there right on one of my stools in my place of work and brought me to an ecstasy I thought was long gone with the memory of him from three years ago.

And in this little diner in the middle of the Poconos, my fallen angel had found me once again.

In a way, revenge had been my biggest secret that night. It wasn’t Ana or how my parents died. It wasn’t the fact that I’d given up my dreams or sacrificed my life for theirs. It was the fact that I wanted to show that life couldn’t beat me down. I wanted to rise from the ashes, no matter how battered and bruised I was and spit in the face of life while it laughed at my sorrows. I kept myself busy during the days, and then I laid my head down at night, vowing revenge to an entity that didn’t exist. Vowing revenge on whatever entity was responsible for the way my life had turned out.

But instead, life gave me the one piece of relief I’d had in the past three years and I’d gladly opened my arms to him.

I had no idea if that was a good idea. I didn’t know if trusting him would lead to yet another tragedy in my life. I had no idea who he was, what he was about, or who this mysterious person was he wanted me to meet. But I knew two things for certain.

The love he had for Ana was unmistakable and I was attracted to him, now more than ever.

I was finally able to clock out of work and rush home to make myself a little more presentable. All night, last night, I’d worn nothing but my sweaty work uniform. Usually, my dinner dress was a loose-fitting t-shirt and yoga pants. The ensemble was cheap to purchase, easy to wash, and allowed me the comfort I sought in the evenings once everyone else had gone to bed.

But tonight, I wanted to dress a little nicer for my dark prince.

I barreled through the doors and brushed past Cassie and Kevin playing Minecraft. I rushed upstairs and peeked into Ana’s room, seeing her playing with her toys. I smiled and then I hopped into the shower and washed myself down quickly. I allowed my hair and body to dry while I shuffled through my measly closet. I didn’t have much. My paycheck didn’t afford me the ability to purchase nice clothes, but I did come across a dress I let myself purchase a couple of years ago.

A loose-fitting, dark green dress that cinched around my waist and fluttered just past my knees.

I threw it on and dried the rest of my hair just as I heard the doorbell ring. I heard Kevin get up to answer the door. I reached down and grabbed Ana off the floor and headed downstairs, coming around the corner just as Camillo walked through the door.

Only this time, he had a little boy in front of him.

I stared at the little boy and noted how he didn’t quite look like Camillo. They shared the same skin tone and sternness around the eyes, but that was about it. The boy looked to be around twelve, and I tried to keep my surprise at bay as the young man slowly backed up into Camillo.

“This is my nephew, Junior,” he said.

I looked up into Camillo’s eyes and I could see the way he was raking them over me. I buried my smirk and tried to tame the blush creeping up my skin. There was something inside of me that took a great deal of pride in being able to look presentable for him and I clung to Ana while she tried to wiggle from my grasp.

“Is that her?” Junior asked.

“It is,” Camillo said. “Would you like to go meet her?”

I bent down to the level of the boy as he walked toward me. His movements were tentative and restricted, like he was still feeling out the place. Junior studied Ana intensely.

But then the boy looked right into my eyes and nodded.

“She looks like you,” Junior said.

“I think she looks more like her father,” I said.

“That’s what I meant.”

The boy was guarded and I held up my hand to stop Camillo from reprimanding him. The walls this little boy had thrown up must’ve come from a massive blow to his life and I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to bring him to live with his uncle.

But instead of questioning the boy about it, I made a mental note to talk with Camillo about it later. I saw Junior’s eyes flicker over to the television and, in an instant, I saw a familiar glow of happiness pour over his face.

“You play Minecraft?” he asked.

“Not me, but my brother does,” I said. “He’s been teaching your uncle how to play.”

“Uncle Camillo, playing video games?” he asked.

“Yep,” I said, grinning.

“Wanna play?” Kevin asked.

We all turned toward Kevin, who was now sitting on the couch. Camillo went over and sat down beside him as Ana finally wiggled out of my grasp. She ran over to him and he picked her up, smiles lighting up their faces. I watched with joy pouring into my chest.

And all the while, I could feel Junior’s eyes on me.

“Can I play?” he asked.

I turned my gaze back to the boy and saw a sorrow behind them that wrenched my soul. I wanted to reach out my arms and envelop him. I wanted to welcome him into this home like I had so many other lost souls. I wanted him to know that he was welcome here anytime to come play, no matter what time of the day it was.

But I settled for nodding at him before he dove onto the couch next to Kevin.

I got out of the way of the television, and Camillo’s eyes followed me. He kept his gaze on me for as long as he could before the boys started talking to him about the game. I saw him get lost in it all, in the way Ana clung to him and the way the boys wanted to bond with him. I stood in the doorway as Cassie approached me. Then she tugged my arm and brought me into the kitchen.

“What?” I asked.

“Do you see it?”

“See what?” I asked.

“How Kevin’s just gravitated to him?” she asked.

“Yes, I have. Kevin’s been without a strong male influence for a very long time. And during a critical time of his life, as well.”

“So, you’ve been thinking about it,” she said.

“About what?” I asked.

“Stop being so thick. About Camillo sticking around. He was over here last night, and he’s here again tonight. If he keeps coming around, Kevin’s gonna think he’s staying. Ana, too.”

“And what if he does?” I asked.

“I just wanna make sure your head’s still in this. He swept you off your feet three years ago, remember? But now you’re a mother. A caretaker. You can’t allow yourself to do that again.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Why couldn’t I have all of it? The family and the bonding and the romance?”

“Do you really think three years ago was romance?” she asked.

“It was to me and that’s all that matters,” I said.

I folded my arms over my chest before I turned my gaze back out to the boys. Kevin had handed Junior a separate controller and the two of them were building an entire farm. Camillo was chiming in with materials they should use and telling them stories of the types of materials he’d used to build his own things and I got lost in the perfection of it all.

But Cassie’s voice pulled me from all of it and I sighed.

“You look nice,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“I haven’t seen you wear that dress in years,” she said.

“Never had a reason to wear it.”

“But you do now?”

“Yes, I do now.”

“What’s that reason?” she asked.

“Cassie, could you back off?” I asked.

“Think this through. Why did you come in and get dressed up?”

“Because I wanted to impress Camillo, okay? I was in my fucking uniform all night last night. So, sue me for wanting to feel pretty again.”

I saw the worry behind her eyes and I sighed before I enveloped her in a hug.

“I know you’re worried about us and I know you’re just looking out for us. But trust me, okay? I wouldn’t ever bring someone around my own daughter and my brother if I didn’t think they would be good for them.”

“But what about what’s good for you?” Cassie asked. “It’s about time you started doing something for you.”

“And I am,” I said as I held out my arms. “Look at me. I’m in a dress for the first time in years, and I’m loving it.”

“You are?” she asked.

“Yes, you idiot, what the hell’s wrong with you?” I asked, giggling. “I couldn’t even look at another man after that night three years ago. You think it was because he hurt me, but it was really because he opened my eyes up to this world. This… this lifestyle of unimaginable beauty and pleasure and grace. No man compared, Cassie. None of them. And just look at Camillo. Look at how good he is with those boys.”

I stepped aside and allowed Cassie a glimpse into what I was already becoming addicted to.

“He is good with them,” she said, murmuring.

“He’d be perfect for this role. This strong male influence that Kevin hasn’t had in so long. And Ana? She deserves her father.”

“I just don’t want you getting your hopes up,” she said. “He just strode in out of nowhere. How do you know he’s not gonna just walk back out?”

“There are a lot of unknowns, yes. But you let me deal with those, all right?”

“Whatever you say, crazy town.”

“You haven’t called me that in months,” I said as I stepped over to the fridge.

“Because you haven’t done anything that warranted it until now.”

I pulled out the lasagna I pieced together this morning and threw it into the preheated oven. I pulled out a long loaf of bread I’d gotten at the store and split it in half, coating it in butter and fresh garlic before I wrapped it in tin foil. Just as the cheese started to bubble on top of the lasagna, I threw the garlic bread into the oven. Then Cassie and I began setting the table.

The boys trickled in soon after, with their noses tuned in to the smells wafting around our small little kitchen.

“It smells good in here,” Junior said.

“I hope you like lasagna,” I said. “I put it together this morning before work.”

“Do you have the garlic bread, too?” Kevin asked.

“Of course I’ve got garlic bread for the garlic monster,” I said, winking.

“Garlic monster?” Camillo asked.

“Kevin would probably eat raw garlic if I let him,” I said.

As the boys sat down at the table, I could see Camillo out of the corner of my eye. He was settling Ana into her high chair, clipping her in while she grabbed onto the tendrils of his hair. Junior had dropped his guard just a bit, so I could see a little more of that childish side of him and something told me that Kevin had finally found a friend to play with.

I knew Cassie was worried about me and she had every right to be. Camillo showed up in a snow-covered truck only twenty-four hours ago and now he was sitting down to family dinners like he’d been here for years. I really didn’t have any idea if he had any intentions of sticking around like he said. All I really had was my choice to believe him.

And I allowed myself to sink deep into a fantasy I didn’t even realize I had.

I wanted to know more about his nephew’s situation, but that wasn’t for me to pry into. If he wanted to bring it up and talk about it, I’d be there with an ear to listen. The mere fact that he had taken this boy in and was raising him as his own was a testament to how much he cared about family and it only served as more evidence in my mind to the fact that he meant what he said.

That he wanted to stick around and get to know all of us better.

I took out the leftover salad from last night and set it on the table. Cassie grabbed drinks for everyone while I backtracked for the salad dressings and, by that time, the oven timer was going off. I scrambled to the oven to take out the lasagna and garlic bread and my stomach began to rumble. Just as I turned around with the hot lasagna in my hands, I was met with the towering form of Camillo.

My eyes ventured up toward his as his stern gaze settled on me. He slowly took the hot lasagna from my hands, taking a step back before he took it to the table. I released the breath I didn’t know I was holding while I reached back for the garlic bread, but his hand came down on top of mine.

Oh, how I’d missed his touch.

“I’ve got it,” he said.

I looked up into his eyes and allowed myself to swim in their icy blue depth for a moment. He scanned me again, taking in my body in this dress while our heat radiated between one another. There was a part of me that wanted to raise up and kiss him. Just envelop his lips with mine to provoke him. I wanted him to pin me to this counter and take what he knew was his. I wanted that commanding presence from three years ago to rear its head and strip me of all my walls again.

I wanted him to pull from my body what he’d given me three years ago.

“Would it be all right if I fed Ana tonight?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said breathlessly. “That’s just fine.”

The two of us walked back over to the table and sat down. Lasagna was being divvied out and the garlic bread was being sliced. Everyone was digging into the food and spooning more onto their plates and, all the while, Camillo was feeding Ana. He kept pulling apart the garlic bread and giving it to her to hold onto. Then, he took to chopping up some of the lasagna on his plate, once it had cooled, and was feeding it to her off his fork.

I melted into my chair while I watched him take care of his daughter.

The attention he was showering her with weakened my knees. The way he was completely focused on her, blowing on the food and tearing it into bite-sized pieces, it was almost enough to bring me to my knees. There was a pang of regret that washed over me. Could it have been this way from the moment Ana was born? If I’d just reached out to him and told him I was pregnant, could she have had this her entire life? Had I missed out on a partner that could’ve helped and supported us instead of me dragging our family through the mud and mire just to make ends meet?

Did I rob her of something substantial that would forever affect the way she developed?

“Rose, you okay?”

I felt Cassie’s hand reach over and touch my knee, squeezing it lightly as I turned my gaze toward her. I could feel how hot my cheeks were as Camillo turned his head to me and, in an instant, the joyful gaze he held for Ana descended back into the stern one he always held for me.

He was studying me. Trying to figure out what was wrong without alerting the boys to anything.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” Camillo asked.

“It’s just been a long day,” I said. “Work was rough. Customers are jerks. Same old thing.”

I watched Camillo nod his head as he scanned my face one last time. Cassie’s hand was still resting on my knee and I reached underneath the table to grab it. The guilt was overwhelming, choking the very life out of me, even as my stomach rumbled with hunger. I tried to cast the questions out of my mind. I tried to tell myself to stop thinking like that. I had done what I thought was right. I stayed away from a man who told me he was dangerous and I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl I was determined to provide for. I sacrificed and scraped by, making sure Kevin and Ana could have everything they’d ever wanted.

I did my best. I did what I thought was right. I had to stop thinking the way I was.

If I didn’t, I was going to break down at the kitchen table, and the last thing these children needed to see was me sobbing.

“So,” I said as I squeezed Cassie’s hand. “Is everyone ready for Christmas?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kevin said. “Got my list ready and everything.”

“Me, too,” Junior said.

“What do you want for Christmas, Junior?” I asked.

“A bookcase,” he said. “All my books are in boxes underneath my bed.”

“Do you like to read?” I asked.

“Yeah, do you?” Junior asked.

“When I can,” I said. “What do you enjoy reading?”

“Poetry, mostly. Sometimes fantasy novels. You know, the really long ones.”

“Poetry,” I said as my eyes flickered over to Camillo. “Do you have a favorite author?”

“Right now, I’m reading Yeats.”

“Yeats?” Kevin asked. “Who’s that?”

I was suddenly pulled back into the past. Into the beautiful dungeon lair of my dark prince. I was handcuffed to the bed with Camillo’s body on top of mine, writhing into his chiseled chest while his body stuffed me to the brim. The lines of that tattered note I still kept in my bedside drawer raced through my mind as Junior talked at me, but all I could see were his moving lips.

There was no sound. Only the feeling of those fluffy handcuffs against my wrists, with Camillo’s teeth sunken into my neck.

“Could I read it sometime?” Kevin asked.

“Sure, I could bring it over soon,” Junior said. “Would that be okay?”

My hand was massaging my wrist as my gaze fluttered over to Junior.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Junior wants to bring his book of Yeats over for Kevin to read sometime,” Camillo said.

I could feel his eyes on the motions around my wrists as I dropped my hands to my lap and swallowed deeply.

“Junior, you’re welcome here whenever you want to come over. No matter the day of the week or what time it is. You’re always welcome here. Just like your Uncle.”

“Awesome,” he said, smiling.

“Thanks, sis,” Kevin said.

My eyes gravitated back toward Camillo, who had ripped his gaze from me and was now paying attention to Ana. I looked back over to Cassie, her attention fully trained on me. For the second day in a row, I was no longer hungry for food and I could see the worry bubbling up behind Cassie’s beautiful, dark blue eyes as her hand slipped back onto my knee.

I clenched it tightly, allowing all my emotions to pour into that one action, while my face kept a small grin for the comfort of the people around me.

But deep down, I was scared. I was scared, angry, guilt-ridden, and sad. And I had no idea what to do about it.

 

Chapter Eighteen – Camillo

 

Rose was overworked. That much, I could tell. Her mind was so exhausted, and her body was so downtrodden from her life that she was having a hard time keeping herself together. But when I saw her massaging her wrist, I had to suppress the burn rising in my gut.

“When’s your next day off?” Cassie asked Rose.

“Tomorrow, actually. It’ll be nice. My mind’s just so…”

“Tired?” I asked.

Rose’s gaze whipped over to me, giving me a chance to study her further. The slight way her shoulders slumped. The way her breathing was labored. The way the bags underneath her eyes hung just a little bit lower.

She needed help. My beautiful songbird needed a break.

“Why don’t I come over tomorrow and help out with Ana?” I asked.

“Oh, she’s got daycare tomorrow,” she said. “And Kevin’ll be in school.”

“Would it be possible for her to skip a day of daycare?” I asked.

I saw Rose thinking about it while Cassie eyed me cautiously.

“If he came over,” Cassie began. “It would give the two of you some time to talk, as well.”

I could see the confusion behind Rose’s eyes at Cassie’s words.

“Could I stay home from school, too?” Kevin asked.

“Could I come over with Uncle Camillo tomorrow?” Junior asked.

“You guys, let’s not throw all of this stuff at her at once,” I said.

“Actually, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Rose said.

Everyone turned their gazes toward her and I drew in a deep breath through my nose.

“Yes, I’ll keep Ana home from daycare tomorrow so you can spend time with her. Junior, if you want to come over and spend time with Kevin, I’ll call him out of school tomorrow. The two of you can play Minecraft all day and I’ll make us all some snacks we can eat.”

“I can make the snacks,” I said.

“You’ll be too busy entertaining your daughter,” she said, grinning. “I’ll make the snacks. You just make sure the two of you are back over here tomorrow.”

“Only if you let me cook dinner,” I said.

“Actually, I thought the guys, and I could do a pizza night with movies,” Cassie said.

“What?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. If Camillo’s gonna be here with Ana, she’s probably not gonna nap. That means she’ll be down early for bed, so the boys and I can have pizza and watch movies.”

“Actually, I was thinking I could make dinner,” I said. “It’s been a long time since I had the ability to make a full family dinner.”

“Camillo, you don’t—”

“What was the promise I made to you, Rose?” he asked.

Her eyes stared at me as I pulled Ana from her high chair.

“We’ll come over tomorrow and I’ll cook dinner for us all that evening,” I said.

I shot her a stern gaze, and immediately, she backed down.

“All right,” she said, nodding. “I’m looking forward to it.”

I convinced her to leave the food on the table while we all ventured into the living room to play charades. Junior and Kevin automatically paired up, which warmed my heart in ways I didn’t think were possible. I held my sweet, beautiful daughter in my arms while the boys challenged the girls and I couldn’t stop laughing as they bounced around and tried to win points for their team. By the time the game was winding down, Ana was getting fussy, and before I knew it, Rose was plucking her from my arms.

I watched her turn her back and head toward the stairs and, immediately, I followed her to watch their routine.

I wanted to know how my own daughter enjoyed being put down so I could do it tomorrow night.

I walked behind them into her room and watched while Rose changed her into her pajamas. She wiped down Ana with some baby wipes, explaining to me that Ana preferred morning baths instead of evening ones. I took in every single detail of the encounter as I watched mother and daughter enjoy their routine.

I never thought my heart could fill with the amount of joy I had, watching the mother of my child take care of our daughter.

She put Ana down into her crib, but Ana’s whining got worse. Rose tried to shush her. I could see the frustration and exhaustion quickly creeping up her back as she bent over the crib, so I went over and planted my hands onto her hips.

She gasped as I slowly moved her off to the side, her body obeying me as it always did.

I looked down into the beautiful blue eyes of my angry little girl, and I planted my hand onto her stomach. I slowly began to massage her, chuckling lightly as burp after burp rose up from her throat.

“I guess garlic doesn’t agree with everyone,” I said, grinning.

Then, an idea crossed my mind.

“Ninna nanna, ninna oh. Questo bimbo a chi lo dò? Se lo dò alla Befana, se lo tiene una settimana. Se lo dò all'uomo nero, se lo tiene un anno intero. Ninna nanna, ninna oh, questo bimbo me lo terrò.”

I sang the little Italian verse over and over again, like my mother did with me when I was angry at night. I could still hear her soothing voice in my ears while Ana’s cries slowly lessened. Over and over again, I sang the lyrics to her while memories of my own mother flooded to the forefront of my mind.

I missed her every single day I woke up.

After the third time of singing it, my beautiful little daughter was asleep. Rose was staring at the interaction, her eyes wide with questions.

I rose up and looked over at her, watching as she peeked over into our daughter’s crib. I could see the delight behind her eyes at the fact that Ana was asleep and the relief that flooded all the way down to her toes.

She had been easy to read that first night and it was wonderful that she was still so easy to interpret now.

“What was that?” she asked.

“A lullaby my mother used to sing to me back in Italy,” I said.

“What does it mean?”

“It’s about how a mother talks about keeping her child for herself because she knows no one else will take better care of her child than herself,” I said.

“Could you… teach it to me?”

The sparkle in her eye returned. The curious gaze that soaked my soul returned, blasting me with memories of the past. Memories of the way her eyes took in all my little toys. Memories of the way she dangled so wondrously from that chain in the ceiling. Memories of things I’d wanted to do to her. Paddles I wanted to redden her skin with and marks I wanted to make. Nipple clamps I wanted to tease her with and massages with hot oils that would’ve made her squirm.

“I can,” I said.

She led me out of Ana’s room as I turned out the light. I closed the door behind me, and we stood in the hallway, listening to Cassie play downstairs with the boys.

I already had a plan formulating in my mind of how I could get her alone tomorrow night.

“How did you find yourself raising your nephew?” she asked.

I felt my entire demeanor darken as images of the blood and carnage pushed away the beautiful thoughts of her body.

“My brother and his wife died,” I said. “I am his godfather, so when his parents died, I took him in. I decided that boy had experienced enough for one lifetime, so I liquidated everything and moved us here to start fresh.”

“So, they’re true? The rumors about you?”

I looked down at her as her wild eyes stared back up at me.

“Yes,” I said. “They are.”

“I’m so sorry about your family,” she said.

“And I’m sorry for yours.”

“Can I be honest with you?” she asked.

“I hope you’re nothing but, my songbird.”

I heard her gasp lightly at the name as I turned my body fully toward her.

“What do you wish to say?” I asked.

“I’m worried,” she said. “About your ties to the mob. Are we…? Is Ana…?”

I knew what she was trying to ask, and I heard the fear dripping from her voice. The only thing Rose deserved to feel was happiness and pleasure.

“My past is behind me,” I said. “You and Ana have nothing to worry about.”

Her dazzling eyes drank me in, hanging onto every word before she finally nodded her head. I could still see the doubt rolling behind her eyes, even as she tried to convince herself that my answer was enough for her. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close to me and, just like she had before, she melted into my body. How willingly she gave herself over to me time and time again. How eager she was to trust me despite everything.

I moved my lips to the shell of her ear.

“Good girls do as they are asked and believe what their masters say,” I said.

I felt her nod into me while her legs trembled.

“Tomorrow, we shall have a wonderful day. I will look after Ana, the boys will occupy themselves, and we will all enjoy a day out on the town. Then, I will cook dinner for all of us. Then Cassie will watch the children while I whisk you away.”

“Have you talked with her?”

“Good girls never interrupt their masters,” I said. “Is that clear?”

Her hands clung to my clothing, pulling me closer to her body as her cheek pressed into my chest.

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

“Join me tomorrow evening and you will be rewarded. Anything less will require punishment.”

My lips trailed down her ear, causing her to shiver before I planted a kiss onto her neck. Her legs gave way while my arms kept her steady, her breath coming in short pants while I held her in the dim lighting of her upstairs hallway. Her pulse was jumping against me. Her entire body was screaming out for me. She wanted me as badly as I wanted her, but she would have to wait one more night to have it.

To have me.

I waited until Rose could get her feet underneath her. Then the two of us headed back downstairs. I could tell the boys were getting tired, so I coaxed Junior off the couch and told him he’d be back tomorrow. I could feel Cassie and Rose silently communicating, as I was sure Cassie was curious as to what took so long.

I shot one last, telling look toward Rose before Junior and I started for my truck.

“Thank you for dinner,” Junior said. “Your lasagna’s awesome.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Rose said.

“See you tomorrow!” Kevin exclaimed.

“See you!” Junior called out.

The entire drive back home, my nephew wouldn’t stop talking about Cassie and Kevin. It was wonderful, listening to the words of happiness fly from his lips. I hadn’t seen him this excited for anything since I found him curled up in that closet three years ago and I knew, in that very moment, I was doing the right thing.

Rose and I both were.

I pulled the truck up to the cabin and, when we got inside, the nanny took over for the night. She got Junior laid down for bed before she left for the night and I started planning out our day tomorrow. I was going to surprise everyone by taking them out for brunch. Then, I’d take us all to the aquarium so we could walk underneath the shark corridor and let Ana pet the stingrays. After that, we’d get some treats in town to tide us over until dinner. Then, I would start cooking dinner while Ana sat in her high chair and the boys played video games.

I’d have to pack up stuff from here to take with me in the morning so I could cook Rose what I wanted to.

I laid down in bed, a smile on my face for the adventure to come. I could still feel the way Rose melded into my body. My cock was tormenting me underneath my pajama pants, threatening to push forth and ache for the rest of the night. Every single part of me wanted to masturbate to the thought of her. I wanted to stroke my cock to the memory of her body. The way she arched into me and accepted all of me. The pain and the pleasure I had to give. I wanted to come with her name on my lips while I imagined her chained from the ceiling. Pinned to the shower floor. Her ass reddened for me while I paddled her as punishment.

But I couldn’t. If my beautiful little songbird had to wait until tomorrow night, then so would I. I got out of bed and took a cold shower, trying to abate my urges before I fell back into bed. My body was buzzing with excitement for the day to come. A day spent out in the middle of town with my growing, blossoming family.

However, all night was spent dreaming of the night to come. I would convince Cassie and my nanny to babysit while I brought Rose back to the cabin. My mind raced with thoughts of her writhing at hot wax being poured onto her skin. Whimpering while my cock split her in two, her legs roped to the bed.

I woke up the next morning two hours before my alarm was set to go off, with a throbbing erection. I took another cold shower before I started packing up all the food I wanted to cook for our family dinner. Then, I picked up my phone and called our nanny.

I was going to need her to help me convince Cassie to keep the kids while Rose and I came back here.

Back to the cabin where I would claim her as mine once again.

 

Chapter Nineteen – Rose

 

I couldn’t believe how wonderful Camillo was being. He showed up at my house with Junior and his nanny in tow and announced he was taking us all to brunch. We all piled in our respective cars and followed him to the Garlic Restaurant and Bar where we had the most delectable food I’d ever tasted. Camillo was feeding our daughter while Kevin and Junior were talking each other’s heads off. I took in the sights around me, while Cassie talked with Junior’s nanny.

The day had been spectacular. The air was chilly, and the snow was falling, which blanketed the town around us in a beautiful, pristine crispness. It reminded me of the outfit I was wearing when I first saw Camillo, the lacy white dress clinging to my body while he stared at me from on high. My mind got lost in the memory of him while his words rang deep in the back of my mind. Words that prickled down my neck when he’d whispered them deep into my ear the night before.

Good girls do as they’re asked.

I could tell Camillo was trying to steal glances at me. Ana kept crying for his attention, a feeling I was all too familiar with. He didn’t blink an eye when he paid the massive check that was delivered to the table and, before I could protest any further, we were all being swept over to the indoor aquarium.

Inside, the boys were in absolute awe of all the fish. The nanny and Cassie were running around with them while I walked alongside Camillo, listening as he held our daughter and pointed out all the fish to her. She planted her hands onto the glass and tried to kiss the fish, pulling a chuckle from Camillo that rushed straight down my back. Every single time he interacted with her, he burrowed deeper and deeper into my heart. The natural love and bond he had with his daughter would’ve made me jealous had it been anyone else.

But as he smiled at his daughter and continued to talk softly in her ear, I could see the way she was grasping his shirt. She didn’t want to let him go.

Like I hadn’t wanted to let him go that night.

“Camillo?” Kevin asked.

“What’s up?”

“Junior and I are hungry.”

“Oh, you guys are, are you?” he asked, grinning. “Well, how about we go get a snack?”

“Can we, sis?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah, can we, Miss Rose?” Junior asked.

“I don’t see why not,” I said, shrugging. “But I’m paying this time.”

“No, you’re not,” Camillo said.

“Yes, I am,” I said.

He shot me a look, just as Cassie walked up behind me.

“I think you’d better listen to the man,” she said. “He seems very serious about treating us to a day out.”

“I just don’t want him feeling like he has to pay for everything,” I said.

“I don’t,” Camillo said. “There’s a place called Trattoria’s. They have wonderful Italian teas and tea cakes. It’ll be a nice way to warm up with the downturn of the weather.”

“Camillo, please let me pay,” I said.

That stern gaze I was growing so familiar with descended upon me, making my legs shake as he held our daughter.

I was entranced by the way only a glance could make me feel and, suddenly, I found myself wishing it was already dinner time.

We followed him over to Trattoria’s and indulged ourselves in wonderful little cakes. Ana was shoving them in her mouth while Camillo smiled at her, and I just couldn’t get enough of their tea. I had three cups by the time we were done at the restaurant and I could tell the boys were starting to wind down, despite the sugar they’d just pumped into their stomachs.

“Want to take one home for later?” Camillo asked Ana.

“More cake, more cake!” Ana chanted.

“All right, why don’t you pick one out?” he asked. “Do you want vanilla?”

“No,” Ana said.

“Do you want chocolate?”

“No!”

“How about… the red one?” he asked.

“Red and blue,” Ana said.

“There isn’t a blue one, princess. Want two red ones?”

“Red and blue!” Ana said.

“Ana,” I said, scolding her. “There isn’t any blue.”

“But… blue.” Ana’s eyes began to water and I could see how much it hurt Camillo for her to be upset. He turned his entire body toward her and focused on her, his massive thumb dwarfing her cheek as he wiped his daughter’s tears away. Ana sniffled and I swore I could see Camillo’s heart shattering right behind his eyes.

“Why don’t we head on back to the house and relax before it’s time to cook dinner?” I asked.

“Hold on,” Camillo said as he stood.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To get my daughter a blue tea cake.”

I watched him walk off and signal for the baker. He was talking to her, motioning to his daughter while I watched with wild eyes. I saw the baker smile and nod her head, smiling at him while she batted her eyelashes. She was flirting with him, I could tell and my toes curled with jealousy in my shoes just as Cassie leaned into my ear.

“Be careful, your green-eyed monster is showing,” she said jokingly.

“Shut up,” I said.

“All right,” Camillo said. “A red one and a blue one.”

“Red and blue! Red and blue! Red and blue!”

Ana continued to chant while a broad smile grew upon his cheeks. I shook my head and giggled, astounded at the fact that he’d somehow swayed the baker to give him exactly what his daughter wanted. On the one hand, she needed to be taught that sometimes she couldn’t get what she wanted. On the other hand, I was enthralled with the fact that Camillo was so determined to give his daughter whatever he could.

“Maybe we could put on a movie, hunker down in the living room, and get away from all the snow,” Cassie said.

“You don’t like the snow?” Camillo asked.

“Oh, I love it,” Cassie said. “Just not being out in it. Snowing is a spectator sport, as far as I’m concerned.”

Camillo laughed, his face lighting up, and I realized just how much I liked to see him smile.

“Miss Rose?” Junior asked.

“Yes, honey?”

“Do you have any popcorn at the house?” Junior asked.

“Of course, I do,” I said. “Would you like some when we get there?”

“I just really like eating popcorn when I watch a movie.”

“Well, I don’t just have popcorn,” I said. “I’ve got flavors, too. There’s caramel, white cheddar, and kettle corn flavors. Would you like one?”

“You have flavors?” Junior asked, his excitement showing.

“I do,” I said, giggling. “How about this? I’ll pop you a bag and split it up. That way, you can have all three flavors.”

“Thanks, Miss Rose!”

Junior threw his arms around me before I could even react and I looked over at Camillo. His eyes were wide and bright with shock, watching our every move as my arms embraced the little boy. I could feel his body shaking with excitement, ecstatic at the fact that I was going to let him have all three flavors of popcorn.

My heat broke as I thought about what this boy must’ve been through to be so excited about flavored popcorn.

“You can have whatever you want when you’re at my house,” I said as I hugged him tightly. “Whatever you need.”

The baker delivered the tea cakes Camillo ordered, much to Ana’s delight. He scooped his daughter up into his arms before he paid, eyeing me with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and smiled. He was rubbing it in my face now, the command he had over me. One look was all it took to do me in and, even though I still didn’t understand why, I was loving every second of it.

Until we got outside and I saw Camillo stiffen.

His eyes settled onto a car idling on the other side of the road. He handed Ana to me absentmindedly an,d immediately, Junior froze at my side. Camillo’s face hardened, like a threat had just found us, and he stalked toward the car before it peeled off into the falling snow.

My eyes were heavy with worry as Camillo strode back across the road.

I couldn’t read his expression, but I knew something had just taken place. Something that rattled his insides and caused him to switch back to the strong, protective man I remembered from that night three years ago.

I tried to choke down the fear I was feeling, so as not to taint this perfect day.

“What was that about?” I asked as he took Ana from my arms.

“Nothing,” he said. “I thought I knew the driver of that car. He owes me some money.”

“Guess it wasn’t him?” I asked.

“Nope. Wasn’t him,” he said, plastering a smile back on his face.

He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and I tried to forget the look I had seen on his face just moments before. He had told me that we were safe and I wanted to believe him.

By the time we got home, it was time to start preparing dinner. Camillo started pulling bags out of a cooler in the back of his truck, and all I could do was shake my head. I popped Junior’s popcorn and made it up for him while everyone hunkered down onto the couch. Then I headed into the kitchen and shut the door behind me.

“Aren’t you going to go watch the movie?” Camillo asked.

“Nope,” I said as I grabbed a knife for him.

He expertly chopped up the vegetables, his hands flying between slices as if he was a professional. I was preparing the filet mignons he’d purchased for us to eat, sprinkling them in salt and pepper before laying them out to come to room temperature.

“Where’d you learn to cook?” I asked.

“What makes you think I cook?” he asked.

“Besides you offering to cook? You’re pretty good at wielding that knife over there.”

I watched his face slowly sink as he tossed the vegetables into a pan. His eyes glazed over with a faraway stare and I swallowed thickly.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“I learned to cook from my mother before she died.”

He tossed me a haphazard smile but I could see the pain behind his eyes. I was familiar with that type of pain. The ache of a child who had been orphaned far too early. The pain of losing the one person you clung to for support. I saw that ache in my brother’s eyes every time our parents’ birthdays rolled around.

We danced around each other in relative silence, preparing dinner and setting the table so everyone could come eat.

I sat there silently while I watched everyone else dig in. Camillo was entertaining Ana, and the boys were talking about the movie. Cassie and the nanny were talking about previous employment they both had and, then, there was me.

Trying to figure out what my place was in all this.

Usually, I was running around, trying to bend to everyone’s whims. Usually, I was feeding Ana while getting Kevin drinks and trying to keep Cassie entertained with conversation after her days at the bookstore. Usually, I was ranting to her about my day over a glass of wine while Ana laid down in her room and Kevin played Minecraft in his.

But, now, I was just a spectator at my own kitchen table.

“Cassie, I was wondering if I could ask you something,” Camillo said.

“Speak to the oracle of life and I shall consider your request,” Cassie said, grinning.

“Would it be possible for you to watch the kids with Mrs. Barker while Rose and I spent some time together?”

I whipped my head up at my name, my plate of food untouched for the third night in a row as my eyes shot over to him. I knew exactly what he meant. I knew exactly where he meant to take me. And suddenly, I had found my place again. My eyes descended upon his while the boys begged to have more time together and Ana was already falling asleep in her high chair with one of her tea cakes crunched up in her hand.

“I suppose that wouldn’t be a problem, if Rose wants to go with you,” Cassie said.

“The boys will be just fine with us and it looks as if Miss Ana won’t be an issue,” Mrs. Barker said.

“Rose?” Camillo asked.

He’d been the perfect father all day and he deserved a reward. He’d treated all of us and I couldn’t deny the excitement bubbling up within me. His words from last night echoed off the corners of my mind and a smile spread across my face.

“Let me get my purse and phone and we can head out,” I said.

Fifteen minutes later, with Ana in bed and the boys playing video games, Camillo and I were off. His hand immediately wrapped around mine before he brought my hand to his lips. He kissed it and his eyes darkened three different shades and settled onto the stormy blue eyes I’d lost myself in that night.

But the words that came from his mouth caused my entire body to shake.

“You have a punishment coming, my little songbird,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“You kept a secret from me. A precious secret meant only for my ears. You were naughty and you know it.”

I squirmed in my seat while he held my hand tightly and we wound around town. I was looking forward to whatever punishment he had in mind, especially since I could feel my core heating up just with his breathy promises. My nipples were puckering against my bra as we slowly pulled up into his driveway and I took in the beautiful log cabin in front of us as he slid out of his seat and came to open my door.

He pulled me from the car and dragged me to his room, wasting no time in pressing his demanding lips against mine.

I arched into him, clasping onto his shirt as I pulled him deeper into me. His hands roamed my body roughly, commanding my curves while our tongues battled for dominance. Then he spun me around and pressed me into a cold wooden desk in the corner, his hand flipping up my skirt to expose my soaking wet satin panties.

I heard the rush of wind just before his hand cracked down onto my ass. I moaned, my legs pulling taut as he smacked his hand against my other ass cheek. My hands pressed into the cold wood, my body instinctively trying to get away, even as my silken fluids dribbled down the inside of my thighs. Again and again, his hand connected with my skin, burning it to a point where I thought my legs would give out from underneath me.

Then, he ripped my whisper-thin panties from my body, the tattered satin falling to the floor while I heaved into the desk.

My skin burned with pleasure. I was so turned on, I had no idea what to do with myself, but before I could make a move, Camillo stood me up and slammed his lips back onto mine.

I moaned into his luscious pout as I threw my arms around his neck and, as his massive hands descended around the throbbing globe of my ass, my legs gave out from underneath me.

 

Chapter Twenty - Camillo

 

The way her skin glowed red in the moonlight caused me to grow painfully hard. Her lips tasted of honey and powdered sugar, a combination that swirled in my head as she collapsed against my body. I lowered her to her knees, her body trembling as I finally released her sweet, swollen lips.

I unbuckled my pants and pulled out my massive cock for her to see.

“Suck,” I said.

Without a second thought, she wrapped her hand around my dick as I looked down upon her beautiful face: the woman I’d been chasing in my mind all my life. She wrapped her lips around my cock and, instantly, I realized she had no idea what she was doing.

I growled as my hand wrapped itself into her long, black tresses.

“Smooth your tongue over the head. That’s it. Just like that.”

Her cheeks hollowed out as she took all she could of me before she gagged and I couldn’t help but smirk at the sound. Oh, what a compliment that paid me as she wrenched her eyes closed and tried to do what she thought was right.

“Listen to me, songbird. Squeeze your hand that’s wrapped around me while your lips suck my tip.”

I watched her draw my cock out from between her lips before she stopped. I had to hold my hips at bay, resisting the urge to thrust all the way down her throat while she learned how to please me. Her hand squeezed around my thickness and I groaned, feeling my balls filling up with release while her hot spit dripped down my cock.

“Wrap your tongue around it. Just like that.”

Her mouth was learning me. Exploring me. Filling me with a warmth that was drawing my balls tight against my body. I wasn’t ready to spill into her. Not like this. I looked down upon her beautiful face as spit leaked out from the corner of her mouth and, in that moment, she captured my heart. This strong woman, with eyes the color of emeralds and skin the color of snow, was yielding to my every command and obeying my every word to fill me with a bliss I’d sought for years.

She definitely deserved her reward.

I pulled my cock from between her lips before I could climax down her throat. Her lips were swollen so perfectly with her efforts. I sat on the edge of my bed and I raised her to me, her legs straddling my lap as my hand lifted her skirt.

I watched her beautiful pussy sink down onto me, my thickness stretching her while she moaned.

“So tight,” I said, groaning. “So good.”

I ripped her shirt above her head and wrenched her wrists behind her back. Her clothed breasts were in my face, taunting me with their sweetness while I nibbled at her skin. Her hips gyrated against mine, trying to find her natural rhythm while her walls clamped down around my dick.

I thrust deeply into her, rendering her breathless as my cock grew thicker and thicker against her warm, wet walls.

“Camillo. Yes. Please, don’t stop.”

“Beg,” I said. “Beg for what you desire.”

“Please, make me come. I’ll do anything, Camillo. Just please. Let me have you one more time.”

I pounded into her body, her juices splashing upon my skin as her arms pulled taut. I could feel her legs quaking while her pussy vibrated around me, pulling my cock deeper and deeper into her as my balls pulled themselves up into my body.

We came together, a swirling tidal wave of passion, sweat, and sin as my toes curled. My cock spilled into her, marking her mine while she panted and heaved for air. Her hips bucked wildly against me, riding out her own pleasure while my tight curls raked against her swollen clit.

The moment she collapsed into me, we fell to the bed, panting, while her body instinctively curled against me.

I watched as Rose’s eyes fluttered closed, her body glowing with the effort of her lust while I looked upon her in ecstasy. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes upon and I admired her more and more every day I spent with her. The passion between us was overpowering and the orgasms she gave me rendered me senseless. It was unlike anything I’d ever known in my lifetime, the way this beautiful, inexperienced princess made me feel, and I fell more and more in love with her every single day.

We fell into a deep sleep, cuddled against one another until the morning sun poured through the window and my phone rang on the table next to the bed.

I looked at the number and answered it, sitting up as I tucked my cock away. Rose was still sleeping in my bed, her hair spread among the white satin sheets while her breasts settled against her body. I cursed the person ruining my time with her and I was determined to let them know exactly how I felt about it.

However, the voice that assaulted my eardrum boiled my blood and I stood up.

“Hello, Camillo.”

It was the head of the fucking Del Vecchio family.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve calling me,” I said in a growl.

Rose stirred. I had a feeling this conversation was going to be unsettling for her, so I quickly switched to speaking in Italian. The man on the other end of the line simply chuckled at me, which caused my blood to boil while my hand clamped down tightly around my cellphone.

If I held it any tighter, it was probably going to break.

“I saw your goons today,” I said. “You should pay someone with a little more intelligence to follow me.”

“Smarts aren’t necessary to get the job done that I want,” he said. “However, they did inform me of a little girl you were carrying. She has your eyes, you know? And that little nephew of yours? It’s a shame what happened to his parents. Is he coping okay?”

I felt my temper explode in my chest while I tried to contain my outer demeanor. Rose was slowly rubbing her eyes and searching the bed for me, so I knew I had to make this conversation quick. The last thing I wanted her to think was that she was being followed. That she was in danger because of me.

Even though she was.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked as I kept my Italian tongue smooth.

“It means I still haven’t paid you back for the death of my cousin, my brother, and my uncle. All the family you mowed down over the years, Camillo. You know what they say about karma.”

“Both sides have seen their fair share of blood spilled, Del Vecchio,” I said. “But no one goes after children.”

“Unfinished business has a way of… prompting desperate solutions. Just know I see you, Camillo. Know you can’t run and you sure as hell can’t hide.”

Chapter Twenty-One - Rose

 

I woke up to the sounds of Camillo speaking beautiful Italian in my ear, but as I collected myself, I realized he wasn’t in bed. My body ached from last night. My shoulders and my ass screamed out for mercy as a smirk donned my face.

How powerful the air had been between the two of us.

But the increasingly gruff sound of his voice ripped me from my trance. He was speaking rapidly. Forcefully. Almost as if something was wrong. I reached for the nightstand where my purse and phone had been set, no doubt by Camillo after I’d fallen asleep last night. I checked my phone, making sure nothing was wrong with my family, but when I saw no one had called, I started wondering who he was talking to.

I pulled the covers up over my body while Camillo paced the floor, his body shrouded by the darkened corners of his room, even as the sun rose steadily over the mountaintops. I scooted myself back toward the headboard, afraid of the way his voice sounded urgent and angry.

I’d never seen Camillo upset before.

He was a big man, a powerful man. The tone of his voice dropped while the volume of it rose and, soon, his body stiffened as his words shifted from Italian to English.

And what he had to say brought terrified tears to my eyes.

“I will fucking kill you. Do you understand? You touch her and I will exterminate you and your entire fucking family from the face of this planet. That is my vow to you.”

I shook as I bunched the comforter up to my face. He hung up his cellphone and threw it across the room, causing it to shatter into pieces. I yelped against the headboard.

I’d never seen him lose his cool like that before. I always saw the anger behind his eyes, but I never once imagined him being someone who would act upon it. I saw recognition behind his eyes, almost like he hadn’t even realized he’d started speaking English.

His fiery eyes connected with mine as he drew in a few deep breaths through his nose, trying to calm himself down while his hands slowly unfurled from their fists.

“Who was that?” I asked lightly.

He shook his head and turned his back to me.

Suddenly, I felt a rush of tension cascade through the air, the type of tension that signaled to me that I needed to run. I knew this man was trouble. What the hell had I been thinking?

“I want to go home now,” I said as I slid from the bed.

“Please stay,” he said.

“No,” I said as I pulled my shirt over my head. “Take me home now, before I call someone to come get me.”

His silence spoke volumes, so I grabbed my purse and my phone. I scrolled through and pulled up Cassie’s phone number. I strode through his cabin, trying to find my way out. The hallways seemed endless as I hit dead end after dead end and, just before I made it to the kitchen, I felt Camillo’s hand hook into my arm.

“Please,” he said as he whipped me around. “Just stay a little while longer.”

“You’re hiding things and that doesn’t work for me. It’s not just us anymore, Camillo. This isn’t three years ago and you’re not some mysterious, dark prince who’s swept me off my feet. I have a family to protect and take care of.”

“And I don’t?” he asked.

“For a man who tells me he does, you sure aren’t being very forthcoming with your protection.”

I wrenched my hand from his grasp and took a step back from him. He lurched forward, grasping my arms as he led me over to the kitchen table. He sat me down, pulling up a chair before he sat and put his hands on my knees.

His fingertips massaged my skin, bleeding a warmth into my muscles that I wished would just go away.

“I have enemies, Rose,” he said. “Because of the life I used to live. I’m a very rich and very influential man and I thought my riches could hide me. But I’m realizing I was wrong about that.”

“The car you chased after yesterday,” I said.

He nodded.

I turned my eyes away from him as tears rose to them. I didn’t want him to see my weakness. I didn’t want him to see my fear. I didn’t want him to see the pain in my eyes as the fantasy I’d quickly built for myself came crashing down.

There was no way we could be together. Ever.

“They know about Ana,” he said.

“Excuse me?” I asked. “Who knows about Ana?”

“A rival family. One that’s chased after us for decades. That phone call was them, trying to use that knowledge against me. To try and draw me out.”

Nope. No, no, no. This had gone far enough. Now, he was talking about people threatening my daughter and I wasn’t going to stand for this.

Not one bit.

“Take me home. Now.”

“Rose, just listen.”

“I need to know they’re safe!” I shrieked.

I stood up from the chair and backed away from him. His eyes connected hard with me, his body slowly standing tall while the shadows of his home played off his burly features. His icy blue eyes and that beard that had tickled my skin all night. Those beautiful lips I’d probably never kiss again and those rough hands that pinned me down for his own taking.

How stupid I had been to think this could work.

“Let me grab my keys,” he said.

We got into his truck and sped back to my house. The roads were icy, and the snow was still coming down, but not once did Camillo let up. My head was swirling with a million thoughts as I tried calling Cassie again. Had someone come to the house? Did someone have my family? Why the hell was she not picking up her phone!?

“I’m so sorry, Rose,” Camillo said. “I’m sorry I got you tangled up in all this.”

“Tell that to Ana,” I said flatly.

All I wanted to do was get home and make sure Ana was okay. He didn’t even get the truck stopped in the driveway before I barreled into the house. I ran up the stairs, taking them two by two while my purse and my phone tumbled down the stairs.

The moment I skidded into Ana’s room and saw her sleeping soundly was the moment I collapsed into a fit of despair and sobbed.

Suddenly, I felt my body being lifted. I felt something strong and warm against my skin as I was carried out of my daughter’s room. I was being settled into my bed, my body being covered before a warm pair of lips descended onto my throbbing temple.

“Let me go check on everyone else,” Camillo said.

I cried while he checked on the rest of the family. Everyone was sound asleep, the boys in Kevin’s room and the nanny sleeping in Cassie’s. I curled into my pillow and soaked it with my tears. Tears of sorrow and anguish and fear. Tears of embarrassment and anger and weakness. How I lost myself in him again, I had no idea. But I knew I couldn’t do it again.

I couldn’t allow him to bring this sort of danger into our lives.

“Talk to me,” Camillo said as he sat down next to me. “Say something.”

“I can’t take living in fear like this,” I said.

“I will protect you,” he said. “All of you. Your family is my family now and no one is going to get away with hurting any of you.”

“You can’t guarantee that, Camillo,” I said. “You’re just one man.”

“No one would dare cross me,” he said as his voice darkened.

“I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I said, sighing.

I felt his arms yank me upright before he pulled me into his body. I could feel him trembling, his own fear taking over, even as he tried to comfort me. I tried pushing away from him. I tried getting away from the beautiful comfort I felt in the arms of this dangerous man. But the more I fought, the tighter he clung and, soon, I felt the whole of me giving way to him as my tears soaked his shirt.

“I will keep you safe,” he said as he pressed a kiss into my head. “That is my vow to you. I will keep you all safe.”

 

Chapter Twenty-Two - Camillo

 

I hated involving her in my bullshit. I was a fool to think I could leave my old life and expect it not to follow me here. And, now, I’d put the only family I had in my life at risk. My own flesh and blood. My beautiful, thriving daughter. My innocent songbird who’d stolen my heart and captured my soul from the moment she first popped up onto my camera.

All of it at risk because of my idiocy.

I had to make things right. I had to make sure my family was safe. So long as the Del Vecchio family knew they were here, they would never stop. They would never be safe.

“You’re coming with me,” I said as I got up from Rose’s bed. “Get packing.”

“Excuse me?” she asked.

“I have a private place where you and Ana can stay. You’re coming with me.”

“Not on your life,” she said.

I turned toward her and I could see the wildfire blazing behind her eyes. I could see how confused she was and I realized how absolutely insane I was for ordering her to run away with me. She had a life. A job. A roommate and a brother to take care of.

“Fine,” I said. “They can all come, too. Get them all up. We’re leaving in an hour.”

“We’re going nowhere,” she said. “I’m not going anywhere with you and that’s the end of that.”

“You’ll do as I say,” I said, my voice lowering to command her attention.

“That shit only works in bed and you know it.”

I tried to pull her into my arms, to get her to understand that this was for the best but she fought me. She clawed at my arms and wiggled away from my grasp, tumbling off the side of the bed before she hopped onto her feet. She grabbed the small lamp on her nightstand and held it above her head, ready to attack me if I came after her again.

“I can’t just uproot my life and leave my house,” she said, trembling. “I can’t just leave my job and risk my only source of income because you’re the one that made a mistake.”

“But you can’t stay here,” I said. “Not any longer. They know you’re here.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“I can’t risk you being in danger. I have to handle the men that have threatened my family and I will. But you aren’t safe here. I can get you safe. All of you. But you have to come with me.”

“What do you mean ‘handle’?” she asked, backing away from me.

“Rose…”

“What exactly have you done, Camillo? What is this ‘influence’ you keep talking about?”

I couldn’t answer that question. Not when she was already so frightened of me. The way her body was humming with adrenaline, her fight or flight response was kicking in. I realized in that moment that she was afraid of me.

And it killed a part of my soul I hadn’t known existed until she’d come into my life.

“I will tell you everything,” I said. “I promise. Once this is all over, we will have a long discussion. But right now, the less you know, the better off you are.”

“No. I don’t agree to those terms. I can’t trust you if I can’t understand what we are up against.”

My chest flooded with relief at that one tiny word. That one two-letter word that encompassed the whole of what I’d wanted ever since I’d tracked her down.

We.

“No,” I said. “Right now is not that time. I’m sorry.”

“Then get. The fuck. Out.”

“Rose, you need to—”

“Get out,” she said.

“Rose-”

“Get! Out!”

She threw the lamp at my head, shattering it into a million pieces. People in the house began to stir and Ana started to cry. Rose rushed past me, not giving me a chance to react, and the moment she scooped my little girl up into her arms and turned her back to me, I knew I needed to stop. I needed to stop trying to convince her that my way was the right way.

If I pissed her off anymore, I might lose both of them forever.

“Uncle?” Junior asked. “Everything okay?”

“Good morning, you guys,” Rose said, smiling. “Everything’s fine. Ana’s not feeling too well, and I tipped over the lamp trying to get to her.”

“Anyone up for some coffee?” Cassie asked, groaning. “Because I could use some.”

“I don’t drink coffee,” Kevin said.

“Well, I do,” Mrs. Barker said. “I’ll go start the pot and get breakfast going.”

Rose shook her head. “Mrs. Barker, that’s not necessary. I can—”

“Why don’t you go take care of that beautiful little girl in your arms? Let me handle breakfast, and then we can go from there.”

I looked over at Junior’s nanny and she shot me a look. I’d hired her because of her wonderful background. I’d had her thoroughly checked out by my private detective to make sure she didn’t have any ties to anyone that would want to hunt me down. She didn’t know much about my life, other than the fact that Junior and I were wanting to start fresh, but she did know a fight when she saw one.

And she could tell by the look on Rose’s face that I was no longer welcome.

“I’ll be back tomorrow for your answer,” I said to Rose. “Just think about it.”

“You have my terms,” she said.

“Where you going, Uncle?” Junior asked.

“I’ve got some things that need to be taken care of at the cabin,” I said. “How do you feel about staying here a little while longer?”

I looked up at Rose, secretly begging her to just take the boy in for a while. I needed all of them together if I was going to assess the threat and keep an eye on them. If there was even a small chance that the target would move if I did, then I had to take that chance.

Which meant leaving Junior with Rose, even when she already had so much to juggle.

“Junior?” Rose asked. “You ever had a movie marathon day?”

“I love those,” Junior said, smiling.

“Can I do one, too?” Kevin asked.

“Oh, we’re all gonna do one,” Rose said, smiling. “Right after breakfast.”

I sighed with relief as I made my way downstairs, bypassing Mrs. Barker on the way out the door.

“I take it you want me to stay?” she asked.

“You’ll be compensated well for your time,” I said as I grabbed the door.

“It’s none of my business, but if I were you, I’d tell her whatever it is she wants.”

I looked her square in her eyes and not for a second did she back down. I’d have to run another background check on her, just to make sure she didn’t know more than I felt she was letting on. Mrs. Barker had always been an intuitive woman, with the best intentions in mind, but everyone had a price.

Even her.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I tried going back to the cabin and formulating a plan, but my mind was swirling. So, I packed up some blankets, drinks, and snacks and I parked myself down the road from Rose’s house. I kept thinking of our life together, the mere hope of it keeping me awake while I watched their house. I could see Junior and Kevin running back and forth with one another while Rose bounced Ana in her arms. I could see how frazzled she was already becoming. How tired she must already feel, running after the children like that.

I saw Cassie leave for work and come back with bags of food in her arms while Mrs. Barker tried to take Ana from Rose’s arms. I knew she was trying to get her to slow down. Accept her help. Let her in. But if the fire in Rose’s eyes was any indication, she probably saw Mrs. Barker as an extension of me. I saw her finally give Ana over to Junior’s nanny for just a second. Just so she could get a quick shower.

But then she was right back at it, doing everything for everyone, with no one else giving any regard to how she might feel.

I watched all night for any sign of the Del Vecchio family. I eyed the cars as they drove up and down the street. I was wary of any parked car that sat there longer than ten minutes. I would crank up the engine from time to time and make my way around the block, looking for anything suspicious before taking up my station and watching the house.

And all the while, I was plotting my revenge.

Maybe it was time to stop running and destroy their family at the source.

The moment the morning sun started creeping above the trees, I pulled my truck up into Rose’s driveway. I made my way to the front door, knocking relentlessly until I heard someone stir behind it. The door flew open and my eyes looked upon a haggard Rose, the bags underneath her eyes heavy with exhaustion and her eyes bloodshot from crying. Her shoulders were slumped over and she was in her clothes from the day before, her skirt crooked upon her hips and her tattered shirt still boasting of the bra she’d slept next to me in.

This was my doing. This was my fault. She was up all night, crying and worrying over the shit I’d brought into her life. I’d thrust another child upon her, desperate to keep them all underneath my gaze, keep them safe, and not once did I give any thought as to what this would do to her.

I was selfish and I was instantly disappointed in myself for allowing this to spiral so far out of control.

I was the one who needed to worry, not her. I was the one who needed to protect the family, not her. I was the one who needed to provide the money, not her. I was the one who needed to work all hours of the night, not her.

I was the only one who could remove this burden from her shoulders. I was the only one who could make this problem go away. I was the only one who could scoop her up and give her the relaxation and the devotion she deserved after putting her entire existence on hold for the same family I now loved.

The same family I now wanted to protect.

She looked up at me with her peridot eyes and, in an instant, I knew what to do. Even if she still said no, they had to come with me. Even if she was still against it, I had to find a way to make her see that this was the best way.

I had to convince her that I’d be able to keep her safe. Keep her fed. Keep her healthy. Keep her happy.

I’d lost her once three years ago and I wasn’t going to lose her again.

 

Chapter Twenty-Three - Rose

 

I opened my door and saw Camillo standing in front of me. I took in his disheveled appearance, digesting what he looked like for the very first time. I’d never seen him this way, with his clothing rumpled and his beard amiss. His eyes were tired and his hands were trembling, making it clear he had been up all night.

I stepped aside without saying a word, letting him into my kitchen while everyone else slept. I’d called Kevin out of school and Ana out of daycare. Then I’d called out of work and told them the entire family had come down with the flu. I wasn’t too scared of losing my job just yet, seeing as I never took time off when my boss asked me to. But that still didn’t mean I could just run off with this disheveled man that had taken a seat at our kitchen table.

No matter how much trouble we were in because of him.

I shut the door and no sooner had the door latched than my back was against it. Camillo’s lips were on mine, pressing feverishly into me as my hands immediately clung to his wrinkled shirt. His tongue forced its way between my lips, pulling a groan from my throat while his pelvis ground against mine. I could feel his cock rising, pulsing against me with its massive girth as his knee pinned itself between my legs.

But I had to push him away, even though his tongue tasted like honey and his lips swelled perfectly against mine.

“The kids are here,” I said. “We can’t.”

He grunted, hesitantly pulling away from me. I could see the disappointment in his eyes and I had to admit that I was disappointed, too. Even with the danger looming over our heads and even with so many unanswered questions, there was a part of him that commanded everything about me. The way he looked at me with his stern, icy eyes. The way his rough hands traveled along my body, punishing me but never truly hurting me. The way the warmth of his body tugged at mine and the way his cock pried my body open and brought me to heights of pleasure I could’ve never dreamed existed.

But I had to face the facts, even when my body didn’t want to.

“Have you packed?” he asked.

“No,” I said plainly.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because I can’t just run off with you on some vacation. The kids have school. Ana has daycare. Cassie and I’ve got work. That’s not how it works. Not in the world we live in.”

“Those things aren’t important when your safety’s at risk.”

“And again, whose fault is that?”

“At this point, fault isn’t what matters,” he said. “Getting my family safe is what matters to me.”

“I have to work, Camillo. Don’t you get it? If I don’t work, none of this gets paid for.”

“That’s the thing,” he said as he grabbed my arms. “You don’t ever have to work again. Not with me. I have enough money to keep us in luxury for the rest of our lives.”

“What?” I asked.

“You’ll never want for anything again, Rose. Not with me. And school? It’s almost winter break. The kids can spend the holidays in the tropics. What would be better than a family vacation someplace warm?”

“This isn’t some kind of paradise, Camillo,” I said as I shrugged him off. “This isn’t a luxury vacation. We’d be on the run. From trouble you brought with you.”

I dipped my head toward the floor and squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted all of this to go away. I wanted to rewind back two days. Back to when Camillo was whispering salacious promises in my ear and using my body for his own pleasure. Back to when we were in the darkness of his cabin and he was teaching me how to please him.

I wanted those times back. Not these.

I felt his finger crook underneath my chin and pull my gaze to meet his. My eyes fluttered open, my weakness dripping down my face in the form of tears. I could see the hurt behind his eyes while he studied me, his intense gaze slowly slipping into one of regret.

That was when I realized he understood what he’d brought into our lives and just how badly he felt because of it.

“I’ll do my best to make it a vacation,” he said. “To give you a break from working so hard. To give you a break from struggling to support your family. I’ll deal with this problem behind closed doors while we give this family the vacation they deserve—the vacation you deserve—and after it’s all said and done, we can talk about where we go from there.”

I felt myself weakening for him, even as I continued to shake my head no.

“I’ll still want you to stay, even when the danger is no more, Rose. I need you to hear that.”

His grip on my chin tightened, commanding my attention as his stern gaze slowly settled back onto my face.

“I’ll still want you,” he said darkly.

“You’re still acting like this is just a little problem,” I said breathlessly. “It’s a death threat, Camillo. Against our daughter.”

But then, I saw something switch behind his eyes.

He released my chin and stepped behind me before he threw the door open. I followed him into the living room as he stood at the bottom of the stairs, his voice barreling up to the second floor as he yelled for everyone to get up.

“Kevin! Junior! Get up! Pack your things! We’re going on a vacation!”

“Camillo, stop,” I said.

“Mrs. Barker! You’ve got some time off! Take it through the holidays! I’ll call you later!”

“Camillo!” I exclaimed.

“Cassie! You, too! Get up and pack! I’m sending you on a fun vacation!”

I threw my hands up as I stormed away from Camillo. I heard everyone rising up from their beds, and the boys ran around throwing their things into bags. I heard Camillo stomp up the stairs as Cassie came stumbling down, her eyes wild and her hair matted to her face as she found me in the kitchen.

My cellphone rang just as she opened her mouth to ask questions and I held up my hand to her while I answered the phone.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hello there, bestie,” Crystal said.

“Hey there,” I said breathlessly.

“Well, don’t sound so excited. Listen, I’ve got Rockette tickets. I want you guys to come in next week so we can go.”

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Yep,” she said. “All of you. Cassie, Kevin, Ana, and you. It’s gonna be so much fun. We’ll see the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and we’ll skate on the ice outside. We’ll walk around town in the snow, drinking hot chocolate and listen to the carolers on every corner. Come on, Rose. It’s time you took a vacation.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna be possible,” I said.

“And why not?” she asked.

“Because I think we’re going out of town.”

Cassie’s eyes widened as the boys stumbled into the kitchen. Kevin had a small suitcase packed and Camillo assured Junior that his bag was already in the truck. Camillo was holding Ana, her own bag packed full of her things while I clocked all the stuff Camillo missed. I saw him whisper something to the boys before they ran outside and jumped in his truck and realised I’d been defeated.

“Rose, what’s going on?” she asked.

“So much,” I said as tears welled in my eyes. “So much, Crystal.”

“Then take a deep breath and talk to me. Is Ana okay? Is something wrong with Kevin?”

“No, nothing like that,” I said.

“Then start from the beginning.”

I sighed heavily as I turned my tired eyes toward Cassie.

“What if Cassie came to see you?” I asked.

I watched as Cassie’s eyes lit up with happiness.

“Cassie’s always welcome. That girl can throw back some tequila.”

“Interested in spending the holidays with Crystal and the Rockettes?” I asked her.

“Uh, of course,” Cassie said. “Tell Crystal I’m packing my things now.”

“Now, why is Cassie coming and not you?” Crystal asked.

“Because Ana’s father’s in town and a lot has happened since then.”

Silence descended upon the phone and I could feel her shock through the receiver. I looked over at Camillo, his eyes filled with relief as I rolled mine at him. I walked through the house and started up the steps to go pack my own bag and it wasn’t until I started folding my clothes that Crystal finally spoke.

“The dark prince is back,” she said.

“His name’s Camillo and yes. He’s apparently moved into town with his nephew, living the simple life despite the fact that he’s rich.”

“Holy fuck,” Crystal said.

“Yeah. And those rumors about being tied to the mob?”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Also, true.”

“Wait, what? Are you guys okay? Have you guys been threatened?”

“Honestly? I’m not sure what I can tell you and what I can’t. All I know is that we’re packing up to go on a vacation, even though we’re actually kind of running.”

“Holy shit,” she said. “Yes, Cassie can come here. Ana and Kevin going with you?”

“Yep, but I still don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“A good idea to what?”

“To go with Camillo,” I said.

“Why not? He being a dick or something?”

“You mean, besides bringing all this trouble into our lives?” I asked. “No.”

“Oh, I know that tone of voice. The chemistry’s still there, isn’t it?”

I zipped up my bag as memories of our night in the cabin came flooding back to my memory.

They flooded back so quickly, in fact, that my nipples rose to painful peaks behind the three-day-old bra I was wearing.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly.

“Honestly, I can’t believe you told him that Ana was his,” she said. “How did he react?”

“Well, it’s kind of unmistakable. Ana looks just like him.”

“So, when are you guys supposed to leave?” she asked.

“Wait, wait, wait. I tell you that some rich-ass mobster that fathered my child is back in town, and the only thing you want to know is when I’m leaving with him?”

“Look, I don’t know all the details of what’s going on. Clearly, I need to call you more since you never pick up the phone to call me. We’ll talk about that later. What I’m saying is, if you guys are actually in danger, then Camillo’s the only one that can protect you.”

I turned my gaze toward the door and saw Camillo looming in it. His eyes were focused on my packing and the way my fingers danced across the zipper of the suitcase while I tried to jam all my toiletries in the front pocket.

“I guess,” I said.

“I mean, he’s not tossing you in a basement somewhere, right?” she asked.

“No. He’s apparently taking us somewhere tropical for the holidays.”

“So, what you’re telling me is some hot, rich man wants to whisk you off to a tropical island or something for the holidays and you’re bitching about it?”

“Because we’re in trouble?” I asked.

“Semantics. Is he a good father?”

“What?”

“Does he treat Ana well?” she asked.

“He treats her… perfectly,” I said breathlessly.

I saw a grin cross Camillo’s cheeks as he walked in and picked my suitcase off the bed.

“Then go. Stay by his side. Let him protect you and keep you safe. See what happens. Girl, he’s a sexy billionaire who wants to take you away to paradise for a little while. Fucking go, you idiot.”

“Fine, fine. I hear you, okay?”

There was a pause as I walked into Ana’s room, picking up the last few things she would need and stuffing them into her diaper bag.

“I can hear you screaming in your head,” Crystal said.

“I’m nervous,” I said. “Crystal, we’re in trouble. Real trouble. There was a phone call and Camillo was so mad. He shattered his phone and threatened to do all these terrible things.”

“Was he violent toward you?” she asked.

“No, but he was just so… so angry. I’d never seen him that angry. That out of control.”

“Rose, listen to me. If you think for one second he’s gonna get violent with you, don’t go. Call the police. Run as fast as you can. Do you hear me?”

“I don’t believe that. I don’t believe he’ll hurt me or Ana. But his rage, Crystal...”

“Was turned onto someone else. Someone he viewed as a threat to his family. Do you feel safe with him?”

I realized I did. I did feel safe with Camillo. I knew he would never turn his anger on us or take it out on us in any form. I knew he would fight to defend us until his very last breath, just like I’d do for him.

Holy hell, I’d fight until my last breath for him.

“I do,” I said.

“Then go, Rose. Tell Cassie I’ve already purchased her flight to LaGuardia. It leaves in three hours.”

“I’ll let her know,” I said.

“And Rose?”

“Yes?”

“Call me the moment you guys are safe,” she said. “Don’t jeopardize anything. I’ll take care of Cassie. You just take care of your family.”

“I’ll come into the city soon so we can have a legitimate conversation about all this,” I said.

“Oh, trust me. You’ll give me an entire week of your time so we can unpack all this. But for now, enjoy what part of this you can.”

“I will. I promise.”

I hung up the phone with Crystal and looked at it in my hand. I could feel Camillo’s presence outside the door, his body fighting between curiosity and giving me my privacy. I tossed my cellphone into Ana’s bed, leaving it behind as I stepped out into the hallway. Camillo took her diaper bag from my hand.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” he said.

“Feel what way?” I asked.

“That you’re safe with me.”

The intensity behind his eyes was no longer stern, but filled with something else. Something I couldn’t quite identify.

Something that seemed familiar, but still different.

“I do,” I said, nodding.

“Come with me,” he said as he held out his hand. “It’s time to go.”

“Can I at least know where we’re going?” I asked as I took his hand.

“In time,” he said.

I was just going to have to get used to his cryptic ways. Especially if I wanted his protection.

 

Chapter Twenty-Four - Camillo

 

Getting all of us in the truck and to the tarmac took much longer than I would’ve liked. There was still the obstacle of properly storing Ana’s car seat as baggage, as well as trying to figure out a way to sit all of us in the seats of my truck. Cassie had already left the house, heading for the airport so she wouldn’t miss her flight to New York and part of me sighed with relief at the notion.

It was one less person I had to worry about and watch over on the island I was taking us to.

Ana was fussy the entire time we were waiting on my jet. She was wiggling around and trying to get out from my grasp. She wanted to run around and take everything in but I didn’t want to put her down. I bounced her in my arms while the boys sunk themselves into their portable gaming systems. All the while, Rose was mindlessly staring out her window.

We still had to refuel and maintenance had to double check a couple of things before we could head to Italy, which meant we had to wait another two hours before the jet could finally take off safely. Rose made the suggestion of flying out of an airport on a commercial flight so we could get into the air earlier but I discarded her suggestion. If I was going to have them on the run for their holiday season because of my misplaced feelings of safety, then they were at least going to be comfortable while it happened.

But Ana’s crying wouldn’t stop and I could tell it was worrying Rose.

“Let me see her,” she said.

“I’ve got this. You just sit back.”

“Camillo, let me—”

“Daddy,” Ana said.

My ears perked up the moment the word fell from Ana’s lips. Rose whipped her head over with wide eyes and even the boys looked up from their gaming systems to take in what had just happened.

“What was that, princess?” I asked.

“Daddy, look at the clouds.”

Ana was pointing out the window while her small little hands clung to me. Rose’s eyes were filling with tears while the boys had massive smiles on their faces. My heart soared with joy at the word that had just come from my daughter’s beautiful lips. I opened my window shade to show her everything outside while Rose kept her eyes trained on us.

But just as soon as the beautiful moment happened, it faded away as Ana’s sniffling and crying began once again.

“She’s tired,” Rose said.

“Then I’ve got the perfect remedy for that.”

I stood up and made my way to the back of the jet. I opened the door leading into the bedroom. Rose craned her neck back, taking in the sheer size of everything as I lay down on the bed. Ana wiggled underneath the covers and quickly moved toward me, her small body sinking into the crook of my arm while her head rested on my bicep.

Suddenly, I felt a presence at my back. I felt a warm pair of lips press a kiss to my neck before the figure rounded the bed and slid in. Rose’s eyes glistened with tears as she slid in next to our daughter, her arm wrapping around the small girl’s frame while Ana slipped off into her beautiful little slumber.

I lay there, my eyes studying how tired Rose looked, and held them both while they slowly drifted off to sleep.

I watched them, taking in the beauty of it all as their light snores slowly filled the room. Ana turned and gravitated toward her mother while my fingertips ran through Rose’s soft curls. I watched my beautiful songbird wrap her entire body around her daughter, protecting her even in sleep, and pride welled in my chest.

Not only was the mother of my child beautiful, innocent, and sweet; she was also devoted, protective, and fierce.

Suddenly, a sound pulled me from my reverie. There was a loud thump and the boys called out. Then, I heard the rush of footsteps falling quickly in the main part of the airplane. I jumped up and strode out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind me and closing off the bedroom in order to save Rose and Ana in their vulnerable states.

But the moment my eyes landed on Cassie, with her arms around both the boys, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry, but knowing my family’s in danger, I can’t just go to New York,” she said.

I saw Cassie through a different set of eyes in that moment and I nodded my head while the boys continued to hug her tightly.

“Very well,” I said. “Does Crystal know?”

“She’ll figure it out.”

“Make yourself comfortable,” I said. “Rose and Ana are sleeping, and we should be taking off any second.”

“Any chance I can know where we’re heading?” she asked.

“In time,” I said.

“You’re a pretty cryptic dude,” she said.

“I try my best.”

“What’ll happen when we land?” she asked as she sat down.

“There’s a helicopter that’ll take us to our final destination,” I said.

“Any chance there’ll be wine at this final destination?”

“As much as you want,” I said, grinning.

I picked up her suitcase and tossed it into the overhead compartment as she buckled herself in. The pilot came aboard and talked to me for a few seconds, letting me know the jet was ready for takeoff. I gave the go ahead and got the boys buckled in before I went into the room to keep an eye on Rose and Ana.

The ascent would jostle them quite a bit and I wanted to make sure they stayed asleep.

Once we reached cruising altitude, the stewardess came in and distributed a menu. Cassie was excited about the prospect of enjoying champagne on this plane ride, but I could tell the boys were confused by the menu. Almost everything was in Italian, so I knelt down and translated everything for them. They crinkled their noses at most of the food descriptions I was giving.

“I’ll have a glass of champagne and the linguini with clam sauce,” Cassie said.

“Wonderful choice. I’ll get it cooking. For you, Mr. Moretti?”

“Just some water and a small helping of carbonara, please,” I said. “Boys, how do you feel about cheese, crackers, grapes, and juice?”

“Is there apple juice?” Kevin asked.

“Yes, there is,” the stewardess said, smiling.

“Then that sounds awesome!” Kevin exclaimed.

“Junior?” I asked.

“Orange juice?” he asked.

“We’ve got that, too,” the stewardess said. “I’ll get to work on everything.”

I sat back in my seat, my eyes looking back toward the bedroom. If we were lucky, Ana would sleep most of the trip. By the time we landed in Italy, it would be around midday, which meant Ana would have to be up for another few hours before she went to bed. Plus, I knew Rose needed the sleep. As long as Ana didn’t budge, she wouldn’t either.

“Can we go snorkeling?” Kevin asked.

“And skydiving?” Junior asked.

“Oh, what about racecar driving?” Kevin asked.

“And horseback riding,” Junior said, smiling.

“Well, I’m not sure about the racecar driving and the skydiving,” I said, chuckling. “But there is a reef not too far off the island’s coast. We can definitely go swimming and snorkeling.”

“An island!” Kevin said. “Cool. I’ve never been on an island.”

“Me neither,” Junior said. “At least, not that I can remember. Wanna play Marco Polo?”

“We can’t play that game underwater,” Kevin said. “We’ll drown.”

“I mean, when we get to the beach,” Junior said.

“Only if Camillo plays,” Kevin said.

“Oh, I’ll definitely play,” I said, smiling.

“Good, because Rose and I are going to suntan while Ana plays in the sand,” Cassie said.

“Good,” I said. “I hope you can help her relax. I get the feeling she’s never taken a vacation.”

“Not since our parents died,” Kevin said.

I could see the shocked look roll over Cassie’s face. My eyes descended onto Kevin’s and I could see the way Junior was studying him. He’d found a kindred spirit. A kid close to his age who understood the pain of losing their family.

“My parents died, too,” Junior said.

Cassie panned her gaze over to me with a quizzical look.

“What happened to your family?” Kevin asked.

I felt my heart racing as Cassie turned her gaze back to the boys.

“I don’t really know. There was just… this guy who came in one night. My dad told me to go hide in the closet and not come out until my uncle came to get me. There was just a lot of screaming. That’s all I remember.”

I felt Cassie’s eyes slowly bore a hole into my temple as I held my breath.

“Mine died in a car accident,” Kevin said. “A drunk driver hit them.”

“I’m sorry,” Junior said.

“Me, too. For your parents.”

The boys scooted a little closer before they lost themselves in their games again. In that moment, I had more respect for the bond growing between the two of them. The hurt they’d experienced was something no child should ever have to know and, as I digested what Kevin had said and what Junior had openly admitted to, I felt my chest swell with anger and sorrow.

And that’s when I felt Cassie’s hand reach over and grasp my arm.

“I’m holding you personally responsible for their protection,” she said.

“They’ll be safe with me. I promise. Now you lay back and enjoy the glass of champagne coming for you. I’ve got the kids.”

The stewardess handed me my water before she handed the champagne to Cassie. I watched her drink it down, her lips never once leaving the glass, her eyes filled with worry. The stewardess took her glass from her to refill it while I sipped on my water, listening for my two girls in the bedroom while my jet soared us through the clouds.

They would be safe with me on the island I was taking them to.

They would be safe from the wrath I was about to rain down upon the Del Vecchio family.

 

Chapter Twenty-Five – Rose

 

Ana and I slept the entire flight and when I woke up to Cassie sitting across from Camillo on the jet, I flipped out. I ran and embraced her, holding my cousin tightly while Ana ran into the arms of her father.

“What in the world are you doing here?” I asked.

“Girl, I’m not going to New York without you,” she said. “I can’t handle all of Crystal’s mess on my own, no matter how much tequila I drink.”

The two of us giggled while Camillo began unloading our things from the storage units above our heads.

It was pleasantly warm when we landed, easily in the high eighties. The sun was shining high in the sky, indicative of the fact that wherever we’d landed, it was still midday. I took Ana from Camillo’s arms so he could carry all the suitcases and, soon, he was tossing everyone’s things into a massive helicopter that was waiting for us.

“Wait, can Ana fly in one of these things?” I asked.

“Her car seat straps in the same way,” he said. “Come on.”

We all piled into the helicopter and I got Ana seated before I buckled myself in. The boys were ecstatic, pointing out the windows and making jokes as we slowly rose into the air. Camillo’s personal jet became a small little toy in the palm of Ana’s hand as we rose up into the air and, soon, we were up in the air high enough for me to take in the bulk of the land around us.

The helicopter flew us over the ocean until the city was nothing but a speck on the horizon. I looked over at Camillo and found him staring at me, his hand tickling Ana’s stomach while his eyes scanned my body. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for or what he might’ve been thinking, but I felt my skin prickling underneath his gaze while Cassie kept the boys entertained.

Suddenly, we began making a sharp descent. Ana giggled at the sensation as she put her hands over her ears and the boys were trying to make themselves yawn so their ears would pop. Cassie looked over at me with excited eyes, her happiness no longer containable as the helicopter descended onto an island.

An island that had nothing else on it except for a massive home, a smaller set of quarters off to the side, and what looked to be a fire pit.

It was literally a private Italian island.

I gawked even as the descent made me woozy.

His estate was enormous. The grass was green and the birds were chirping in the random clumps of trees that peppered the island. His massive mansion sat on one end of the island with the back porch dumping right out onto the beach. There was a smaller house situated on the western end of the island, about one hundred feet away from the main house. I saw people pouring out of its front door and heading to the house.

The helicopter landed on the southern tip of the island, the massive house covered up by the trees and island foliage as we all poured onto the beach. The boys were practically jumping out of their skin as I clung to Cassie’s hand and Camillo climbed out behind all of us, with Ana giggling in his arms. A couple of Jeeps pulled up, driven by men who were nicely clad in work suits and they both began loading up our stuff onto the vehicles before we all climbed on and headed toward the mansion on the hillside.

We were ushered into the building by a warm and welcoming man who sat us all down at a table. There was already a spread being set out for lunch while wonderful smells poured from the kitchen. The staffers who drove the Jeeps were hauling our luggage into various parts of the house and Camillo guided them with his smooth Italian tongue as decanters of wine and carafes full of water and juice descended onto the table.

“For lunch, we have a choice of fresh salmon or homemade, in-house pasta,” the chef said through his accent.

“Pasta!” the boys exclaimed.

“The salmon sounds fantastic,” Cassie said, smiling.

“I’ll have the salmon, too,” Camillo said. “Rose?”

I was so overwhelmed with all that was going on that I couldn’t even formulate the words for my damn lunch order.

“She’ll partake in the salmon as well, chef,” Camillo said.

We all dined and drank ourselves into oblivion while Ana stuffed her face with pasta. I moaned at how easily the white wine slipped down my throat, providing a smooth aftertaste to the lemon-peppered salmon that had been set in front of me. The vegetables had been steamed perfectly, the french fries had a wonderful crunch to them, and before I knew it, Ana was playing with her pasta instead of eating and the boys were finding it harder and harder to swallow the food they were stuffing down.

“Who wants to spend the day on the beach?” Camillo asked.

“I do!” Kevin exclaimed.

“Where’s our stuff to change?” Junior asked.

“That’s actually a really good question,” Cassie said.

“If you all want to follow me, I can show you to your rooms,” one of the workers said.

Cassie had her own room and sprawling bathroom, complete with a jacuzzi tub I knew she would love. The boys were right across the hall from her, excited about sharing the same room as they ran and jumped onto their beds. Kevin started bouncing up and down on the mattress while Junior was rifling through his luggage. Soon, Camillo’s hand descended onto the small of my back and I turned to look at him.

“Come on,” he said. “Our rooms are upstairs.”

I ventured up the stairs with him while Cassie simply smirked at me. She started gathering the boys up and helping them get changed, wrangling their energy before they ran out the back door and right down onto the beach. Camillo led me into an absolutely massive room, with a four-poster bed sitting against the wall and, immediately, the memories of that first night came rushing back to me once more.

“This is your room,” he said.

“Wait, just me?” I asked.

“Well, Ana can sleep in here as well, if you’d like. She has her own room down the hall, away from everyone except us. But her crib is easy to move.”

I found myself disappointed in the fact that he wasn’t going to be sleeping in the same room as me.

“I’ll be just across the hall,” he said as his hand rubbed my back. “Now, why don’t you get changed into your bathing suit? I’m going to take Ana to do the same.”

“I don’t own a bathing suit,” I said.

“Why don’t you open the closet door?” he asked.

I furrowed my brow as he walked out of the room, Ana’s hands playing with his nose as he walked her down the hallway. I watched him open the door at the far end of the hallway, noticing how he placed Ana out of reach from anyone who might come running up the stairs.

That stark reality pricked the smallest of holes in the pleasure bubble I’d allowed myself to dwell in.

I walked over to the closet and threw it open. My eyes scanned the closet full of clothes, all of them in my size. I rifled through the beautiful fabrics and colors hanging off the hangers, my hands trembling as tears rose to my eyes.

It was an entire wardrobe fit specifically to my body. My chest swelled with gratitude. My eyes fell to the bathing suit Camillo was talking about.

It was a bikini. A string bikini, to be exact. My eyes widened as I picked up the green and yellow fabric, my eyes scanning it as I held it up to my body. I couldn’t wear something like this. Not in front of the kids. The top didn’t even have underwire in it. My breasts would sag all the way to my knees!

But I still put it on and I was amazed at how wonderful it looked on me.

There were still the faintest of stretch marks around my belly button, finally fading after the past two years. My thighs were a bit looser and there were feather-like stretch marks on the sides of my breasts, but the bathing suit still accentuated my curves in a way I hadn’t allowed them to be for years. I twirled around in the full-length mirror, studying the way my ass looked as a smile crawled across my face.

I noticed Camillo in the mirror, watching me from the doorway. When my eyes met his, I felt my entire body blush with embarrassment.

“It looks just like I thought it would,” he said. “You ready?”

Ana was dressed in the cutest little bathing suit, a matching one piece with the same green and yellow swirled around on the fabric.

“Is there something I could cover up with?” I asked.

“Why would you want to cover yourself up?”

“Because there are two boys down on the beach,” I said.

“One of them’s your brother,” he said.

“And the other isn’t.”

“Fair point,” he said. “Look in the first dresser drawer right in front of you.”

I pulled it open and gasped when I saw the white lacy overlay. I slowly panned my gaze over to Camillo, his smirk gliding across his cheeks. I giggled breathlessly. He knew exactly what he was doing and I loved every second of it. I draped the white lacy fabric over my body and I could feel him devouring my presence.

“Seems familiar,” he said.

“Oh, shut up.”

“A good girl never speaks to her master that way.”

The way his voice darkened caused me to whip my gaze over to him. His intense gaze had settled onto me and I suddenly felt on display. My ass cheeks already warmed at the idea of a punishment coming and I started wondering if it really was punishment at all. I swallowed thickly before I stepped into a pair of flip flops I’d found and when I was ready to go, Camillo held out his hand for mine.

We all played on the beach until the sun went down. The boys played Marco Polo in the water, while Ana sat in my lap. Then, Camillo came and took her into the ocean while Cassie and I lay out in the sun. For a while, I allowed myself to forget why we were on that island in the first place and I just soaked up the beautiful sounds of the boys laughing, while my pale skin deepened with the slightest tan.

Before we knew it, it was time for dinner and the chef had prepared a mouth-watering spread.

There was grilled chicken caprese for the kids and filet mignons for the adults. There were spiced mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. There was a bright and decadent fruit salad, along with more wine than I could ever imagine. There were fresh breads and cheeses and jams to slather onto the slices of fluffy paradise and the boys stuffed themselves so full, they were practically falling asleep in their chairs.

Cassie quickly got up and put them to bed before she went to go pluck Ana from her chair.

“I’ve got her,” Camillo said. “You go get some rest.”

“All right,” Cassie said. “I’ll see you two in the morning.”

“If the boys get into bed and wake up again, there’s a game system with Minecraft on it, as well as a bunch of other pre-downloaded games. Just turn their television on to the second HDMI port and turn the system on,” Camillo said.

“Of course there is,” I said, giggling.

“I’ll take note of that,” Cassie said. “Might do that in the morning so I can sleep in.”

“You do whatever you want,” Camillo said. “That’s what all this is here for.”

Both of us took Ana upstairs and made our way into her bedroom. Camillo placed the tired girl into her bed, covering her with the soft blanket he’d probably had made specifically for her. I had no idea how he had the time to pull any of this off, but my guess was he placed a great deal of phone calls while Ana and I slept on the plane ride over. I stood at the doorframe as Camillo rubbed Ana’s back, singing her that beautiful Italian lullaby. I closed my eyes and simply took in the sound of his voice.

By the time he was done singing, Ana was fast asleep and all I could think about was the fact that I had Camillo all to myself.

“Come on, my beautiful songbird,” he said into my ear. “I have something to show you.”

I took his hand, and he led me down the stairs. We walked over to the kitchen, slipping into what I thought was the pantry. He tugged at the wire racks, and I watched as they gave way. My jaw dropped to the floor as the hidden door revealed a hallway.

There was a door at the end of it with a hand-print lock, and I allowed Camillo to lead me behind him, just like he had that night.

The hidden pantry door shut with a thud behind us and, suddenly, I was painfully aware of how tight the hallway was. I grasped tightly onto Camillo’s hand before he let me go, pressing his hand onto the pad. The door jolted open. He turned around to look at me and smiled and that devilish glint that had lured me in the first time hooked its warmth right into the center of my heart.

I watched him enter the room and step off to the side, revealing a beautiful playroom that easily rivaled the one at his club.

I felt the heat rise in my body instantly as my eyes scanned the room. It was absolutely massive. It easily spanned half the length of his house. But I was still unsure. How in the world was I going to know the kids were safe while we were in here? What if someone came into the house?

“Camillo, I don’t know. What if something happens to the kids? What if they scream and we can’t hear them? What if—”

He put his finger to my lips, stopping me mid-sentence. My eyes fluttered up toward him. His eyes had darkened to the color of night, his body already unleashing the devil inside that wanted to devour me whole.

“In this room, there are no worries,” he said.

All I could do was nod.

“This room is a sacred place. A place outside of time. In this room, I am the master and you are my captive princess.”

I felt my knees buckling underneath me as the intensity of his words slammed right into my chest.

I was absolutely speechless at the beauty of it all. The toys that lined the walls. The paddles that hung behind my head. The four-poster bed he was obviously obsessed with and the chains that dangled from the ceiling. There was a massive shower and another dungeon off in the corner, laid out similarly to the one he had me in, back at the club.

I was so speechless, in fact, that Camillo had taken my silence for obedience.

Suddenly, his lips were upon mine. His hands were pushing the white, lacy fabric off my body as I stood in front of him in nothing other than my bikini. I felt his fingertips pulling at the bows on my hips, the fabric of my bikini bottoms falling from my body as I drew in a deep breath through my nose.

In an instant, my hands were on him. Ripping his shirt over his head and running my fingertips along the muscles of his chest. Finally, I got to see the man I’d come to fear and enjoy. Finally, I got to see the man who had given me the most beautiful daughter in the world.

His hands ripped my bikini top off my body and my eyes danced along his chest.

He was beautiful. Strong. Perfect. His masculine body was chiseled in every way a woman could ever desire. His shoulders were strong and his chest was broad. His abs were rippling and he had beautiful pointers that beckoned for me to chase their pathway. I slowly slid his bathing suit down his legs, his thick cock springing free as the swell of his strong thighs came into view.

And all over his body, there were blue-inked tattoos.

Strange symbols and Cyrillic writings. Swirling designs that bled into other ones and dates I didn’t recognize. Things that seemed to resemble English letters, but weren’t quite right. They all peppered his body and swirled around the wonderful crevices of his muscles.

We were naked for one another. Gazing upon each other gently while my fingertips traced the outlines of his tattoos. I leaned in, pressing my lips to each of his dominant muscles, exploring his body. Here he was, the beautiful man that had captured my attention and my body three years ago, baring himself for me in the dimly lit dungeon of his own design as I sank to my knees for him.

I watched his cock bounce for me as the tip of it began to leak. My eyes fluttered up to his while I wrapped my arms around his thighs, digging my fingernails into his pert ass cheeks. I wanted to pleasure him. To give myself over to him. To lose myself in this timeless vault of debauchery and pleasure as I felt his hand wrap silently into the black tendrils of my hair.

I sank my mouth onto his cock and he groaned. I could feel the rest of my hesitation fall away as I hollowed out my cheeks.

 

Chapter Twenty-Six – Camillo

 

The way she dropped to her knees for me was unlike anything I’d ever witnessed. I didn’t ask. I didn’t command. She simply knew what I wanted. My beautiful, submissive little princess was pulling involuntary groans from my throat, but this encounter wasn’t for me.

It was for her.

I tugged her up by her hair, hearing her gasp as I led her over to the sunken-in tub. I filled it up with hot water and stepped her down into it, letting go of her hair before I sat her down right where I wanted her. I turned her around, chaining her legs open and her wrists above her head as the water filled the tub.

Her pussy was exposed perfectly to one of the most powerful jets in this tub and I was about to watch the show while she screamed for mercy.

Once the water reached just above the jets, they cut on. They started slowly at first, and I watched her body jolt. Her eyes were wide with wonder, while her tits bounced beautifully for me and I sat beside the jet while I took in the stark flush of her body.

I allowed my hand to wrap around my cock, stroking it as the jet grew more and more powerful.

“Oh, no! Camillo. Holy shit. What... what’s going on?”

Her legs were spread for the jets, and I pressed a few buttons on the side. The shower beside us turned on, filling the room with heat while her moans and whimpers grew to wails of pleasure. Her nipples were standing at their perfect peaks for me, simply begging for my lips to be around them.

So, while she writhed with torture in her chains and begged for her orgasm, I wrapped my lips around her nipple and sucked.

“Yes! Yes! Camillo!’

Her body trembled and quaked as the jet continued to pummel her clit. She begged for mercy, saying it was too much at once. My hand came up and caressed her stomach, fluttering over the luscious stretch marks that told the story of how she’d carried our daughter deep within the protection of her body.

Tears streamed down her face as the jets brought her to her hasty second orgasm.

I could see her fluids permeating the water as I turned the jets off. It swirled, the opaqueness of her juices tinting the perfect waters of this tub. I unstopped the drain and released her from the chains, carrying her body out of the water before I led us over to the shower.

I set her down onto her feet and pressed her into the glass wall, feeling her muscles jumping and twitching underneath my body as my cock easily slid into her throbbing pussy walls.

I groaned, my eyes rolling into the back of my head as her tightness clamped down around my cock.

“Oh, Camillo. Fill me up.”

Her words unleashed a demon within me and my grip on her hips tightened. I squeezed her so hard that bruises of my fingerprints would be there in the morning. I fucked her relentlessly while the warm shower water battered our bodies. Her hands clamored against the glass, streaking the perfection of them with her nails as she cried out in glorious pleasure. I slammed into her, my balls smacking against her thighs and her clit as I felt my orgasm approaching.

Never in my life had I ever lasted so little with a woman until Rose. The power her body had over me was something I had yet to decipher.

“Come with me,” I said.

“I don’t know if I can,” she said, whimpering.

“You can and you will. On my count.”

“Camillo, please.”

“One,” I said.

“Oh, no.”

“Two,”

“Oh, shit. Oh, fuck.”

“Three.”

I thrusted into her one last time, and my balls smacked hard against her clit. I pressed deep into her, feeling my body release as I coated her walls with my arousal. I felt her pussy massaging my cock, pulling from me every last drop it wanted while our bodies pressed deeply into one another’s.

My hands slid up her sides and down her arms, our fingers interlocking as I slowly slid from between her legs. I unhooked the showerhead and washed her down, lathering up her weakened body as she stood with her arms tightly wrapped around me.

When I was done, I wrapped a plush robe around her, cradling her in my arms as I walked our dripping bodies over to the bed. We fell asleep together that night, her curves underneath the strength of my arms while I buried my face into her hair. I woke up in the early hours of the morning and watched her sleep, noting the light grin on her face as her body relaxed.

In that moment, I realized I was in love with this amazing woman and I’d do whatever it took to keep her at my side.

I gathered her robed body up in my arms and carried her out of the playroom. I walked my naked body across the house, her head cradling against my neck as I carried her up the stairs. I laid her down into her bed, feeling her tug at my arms when I tried to pull away.

“Please stay,” she said.

And oh, how I wanted to.

But I knew the kids weren’t ready to see us like this and I knew she wasn’t ready to explain anything to them. The shock of Ana calling me “Daddy” for the first time was still something we were waiting for them to bring up and the last thing Rose needed was to have more on her shoulders because of a decision she made when she was tired.

So, I dipped down and kissed her forehead, singing that same beautiful lullaby softly into her ear and she fell back asleep. Then I made my way back into my room, pulling on clothes and getting myself ready for the day.

I wanted to catch the boys as they got up so Cassie could get some rest, but I also wanted to take this time to make some phone calls.

Some very pertinent, important phone calls.

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Seven – Rose

 

The days to come were filled with perfection and fulfilled dreams. We all had fun exploring the island and snorkeling. The boys ran around the beaches before going off to explore the forest and its foliage. Ana had fun running and splashing in the surf and Cassie and I explored all the fun amenities Camillo’s mansion had to offer. There was a paintball arena and a miniature castle that had been built from a clump of trees in the woods. There was even a private lagoon with the most incredible and serene floating platform I’d ever seen. For four hours during the day, the sun battered down on it, providing the perfect area for Cassie and me to sunbathe while Camillo bonded with all the children.

This island had it all and, for a little while, I was able to convince myself it was a family vacation. I was able to lose myself in my dreams of Camillo bringing our family together and being the man I desperately wanted in my life. I dreamed of us being the perfect family and living together on this picturesque island, homeschooling the boys and raising them in this wonderful Italian culture.

But Camillo and I were also able to sneak away sometimes. Ana would be napping and the boys would be playing video games and he would take that time to show me other hidden features he’d peppered along the island. There was a rock cave with a stone rolled in front of it that had been converted into a dungeon. It had authentic chains and manacles he could use to strap me to the wall, so he could dispense his erotic torture to my body. There was a beautifully hidden waterfall, complete with a hidden passageway that dumped into a natural hot spring.

And on the walls that lined the hidden passageway, there were toys and blindfolds he could use before taking my body as the hot water engulfed us both.

Our sex had been adventurous and inventive. It had been fulfilling and wild. Camillo had introduced me to things I would’ve never dreamed existed and I found my love for things like paddles and leather. Never in my life had I felt so satisfied and content and, for a little while, I was able to convince myself that this was real and that we were happy and safe and in love.

But then, I got up one morning and heard Camillo on the phone again. I crept around the corner and stood there, pulling my robe close against my body while his fluid, sensual voice jolted me back into reality.

“Are the weapons I requested in place?” he asked.

I felt bile rising up in my throat as the sun slowly started to trickle up from beyond the horizon.

“Yes, it’s happening,” he said. “All you have to do is get them in their proper place. I’ll take it from there.”

Tears rose into my eyes as I pressed my back against the wall. How could I have been so stupid? How in the world did I fall for this again? How could I have convinced myself that we weren’t still in danger? Camillo was still who he was despite where we were. I heard Camillo hang up the phone before he strode around the corner and I could tell I’d caught him off guard as his eyes descended onto my shaking body.

“How could I have been so stupid?” I asked breathlessly.

“What’s wrong, Rose?” he asked.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Who the hell was that on the phone, Camillo? I allowed myself to fall into this fantasy you’ve painted for all of us, but enough is enough. You need to tell me what is going on.”

I saw a frown cross his face before he drew in a deep breath through his nose. He tried to take my hands but I wrenched them away, pressing my quaking body deeper into the wall as he took a step back from me.

“I found the source of our issues,” he said. “They’re camped out in areas around my cabin back home.”

“So, what the hell are you going to do from here?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m leaving soon to go take care of it.”

“Wait, what? You’re… you’re leaving us here?”

“Yes. To resolve our issues, once and for all.”

“Stop being so cryptic, Camillo,” I said. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“What do you want to know, Rose?” he asked.

“Who are these enemies? Why are they so dangerous?”

I could see the war raging behind his eyes. He was battling between telling me everything and keeping me in the dark. But I was done with the darkness and I was done with the mystery. It was no longer fun, sexy, or intriguing.

I wanted answers and I wanted them now.

“Come with me,” he said as he held out his hand.

He led me into his room before he locked the door behind us. He guided me toward the bed and sat me down, my hands encompassed by his while he sat next to me. I took deep breaths to try and still my body while his eyes searched mine and then he drew a deep breath through his lips.

He was finally going to talk to me.

“You have to understand, Rose. It’s hard for me to say these things.”

“But you have to,” I said. “You can’t build a life worth anything around secrecy.”

That seemed to be the statement he needed that broke the dam of emotion behind his eyes.

“My father was a powerful man in Italy but he had poor taste in friends. He built an empire in organized crime but it ultimately led to the death of him and my mother.”

“Oh, my gosh,” I said breathlessly.

“My father vowed revenge and that’s when he dragged me into things, training me to take over the family business. I never wanted this lifestyle for myself but I couldn’t disobey my father. And, after he and my mother were killed, my brother Lorenzo and I were left with a mess on our hands. I was good at what I did and I continued to do it because I didn’t know what else I was supposed to do.”

Tears poured down my cheeks as Camillo took in another deep breath. He had been born into a life that was full of violence and darkness and had never had a chance to really live in the light. As terrified as I was of his past and what it could mean for us, I was heartbroken for the man he never had the chance to become.

“Did these people also kill Junior’s parents?” I asked.

He nodded. “At first, all I wanted was revenge, but then I had Junior to think of and I couldn’t expose him to any more violence. That’s why I tried to leave the life behind, to make a new start for my nephew and myself.”

“But your past just keeps coming back to haunt you,” I said quietly.

“Yes,” he said, nodding. “And now, they’ve tracked me down. I can’t outrun them anymore, so I’m going to have to stand and fight.”

 

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Camillo

 

The look on her face made me sick with shame and regret. Her expression changed from pity to anger and the moment she slipped her hands from mine, I knew I was in danger of losing her. I wished I could have come to her clean, the way she had to me. I wished I could put back on that white suit and cleanse my soul for her taking. But I couldn’t. This was who I was. If killing these men was required to keep my daughter and the woman I loved safe, then I would do it without hesitation.

“You’re not going to even try another way?” she asked. “At all?”

“There isn’t another way,” I said. “Not when you’re dealing with them. They are ruthless, and they’ve proven time and time again that they will take the lives of innocent women in order to prove their point. I will not let that happen to you or our daughter.”

I tried to reach out and dry her tears but she moved away from me.

I couldn’t blame her. She was looking into the eyes of a killer. I’d tried to put these ways aside. I’d tried to forget the life I led before I uprooted my nephew and moved to Pennsylvania. I wanted to clean up my business and make it legitimate, casting out the people I knew were ruthless and keeping the people, I knew would attempt to build something great with me.

Now it seemed that no matter what I’d hoped for, I could never be the man I wanted to be.

I wouldn’t allow my family to be at risk. Rose stared at me, her eyes wild with fear and fury, but it still didn’t prompt me to stop my plan. I was going to do whatever it took to keep them safe.

Even if it meant losing them in the process.

“I had a few rough years after my parents’ death,” I said. “But after I realized the anger that consumed me would never truly go away, I worked to change. I took my inheritance and invested it into new ventures that have garnered me the wealth I have today.”

I saw her swallow thickly, but she still wasn’t speaking.

Nor was she coming any closer.

“I wanted to clean up our family name. Pull us out from the depths of the crime syndicate we’d fallen into. I wanted to clean our money of any stench of impropriety, so I donated much of it to charities. But my family name still holds a lot of sway and implications of power. They want me gone because they don’t believe that I won’t come back and try to take back my territory.”

Rose drew in a shaky breath and it broke my heart.

“I can’t imagine how terrible your childhood must’ve been,” she said.

I turned my gaze on her while tears continued to pour down her face. And then she did the one thing I would’ve never expected her to do during this conversation. She launched herself at me and threw her arms around my neck.

I held her close in my arms, drawing her scent deep into my nostrils. She locked her legs around me, her hair covering my reddening face and her lips grazed the shell of my ear. “I’m so sorry about your parents,” she said breathlessly.

“Thank you,” I said, whispering.

I buried my face into her neck, feeling her tears drench my skin. I kissed her skin repeatedly, memorizing the way it felt on my lips for the last time. I honestly had no idea if I was coming back from this endeavor but I was willing to die if it meant keeping my family safe.

With every kiss I pressed into her skin, however, I felt her body stiffen in my lap.

“But you can’t keep using violence to solve your problems, Camillo. It just perpetuates the cycle. Don’t you see that?”

I pulled away from her and looked into her eyes, watching them silently beg me to come up with another way. But I knew what I had to do, no matter what she thought about it.

“I won’t allow our family to be in danger, or to live in fear,” I said. “No matter what happens, I’m going to deal with the problem, once and for all.”

 

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Rose

 

Lightning cascaded through my veins the moment Camillo said “our family.” All of the daydreaming and the luscious escapades at night had all amounted to those two powerful words flowing from his lips. I closed my eyes, memorizing the way those words sounded in his rugged, beautiful accent while his hands traveled up and down my back.

For a moment, I was able to allow those words to block out the truth of everything that was going on.

I clung to him tightly as we sat there on his bed. I could hear the boys stirring downstairs, the morning sun finally peeling their eyes open. I sighed into his shoulder. I didn’t want Camillo to go. I wanted him to stay here with us. I wanted someone else to deal with the violence if there had to be some. I didn’t want him to taint himself further with the one tactic that brought him to where he was sitting in the first place.

But when I raised my head from his neck and looked into his eyes, I knew he hadn’t changed his mind.

“You’re still going, aren’t you?” I asked.

“I have to, my beautiful songbird. I have no other choice.”

My spine shivered with his nickname for me. His fingers tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. I looked deep into his eyes, pinning him with my gaze.

“Then you have to make me a promise,” I said.

“Anything.”

“You have to promise to come back to us.”

He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, staring into my eyes. A look of profound sadness crossed his handsome face and I felt my insides go cold.

“Rose, I cannot promise that,” he said. “I promised you I would keep you safe, no matter what that means for me.”

“Promise me,” I said again.

“I can’t.”

Tears rose to my eyes as Camillo pulled me into his body. I cried into the crook of his neck, taking in the scent of his cologne as my fingernails dug into his strong back. This man who took my virginity and gave me my daughter and showed me an undreamt of world, had to come back to me. Because I loved him. Because I needed him. Because he was my family.

“I can promise you that I will try with everything that I am to make it back to you,” he finally said. “Will that do?”

He leaned toward me, his lips pressing lightly against mine. It was different from all the other times he’d kissed me. This one was soft and delicate, like lace. His lips slowly pressed into mine and my arms threaded around his neck. Soon, I was being lifted off the bed while his hands rounded the globe of my ass.

I felt him sit me down onto the edge of his desk in the corner of his room. My tongue slowly explored the mouth I’d come to associate with sweetness.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and his fingertips slowly pushed my robe off my shoulders. My bare body was glowing for him and his eyes roamed my curves before he dipped down and took one of my nipples between his lips. I could feel his cock growing against my thigh and wetness started to gather between my legs, but a knock at the door interrupted us.

“Camillo?”

Camillo groaned into my breast, pulling a moan from me that was tinged with a bit of laughter. He slid my robe back up onto my shoulders as Kevin knocked on the door again, trying to find his new best friend.

“He probably wants to play on the beach,” I said, grinning.

He kissed the tip of my nose before he helped me off the edge of his desk.

“To be continued,” he said, smirking.

“Anyone in there?” Kevin called out.

“Yeah, buddy,” Camillo said. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to play on the beach,” Kevin said.

“Is Junior up yet?” he asked.

“He’s getting his bathing suit on but Cassie’s still drinking coffee.”

“Shocker,” I said, murmuring.

I went over to answer the door, and I could see the slight shock on Kevin’s face. His eyes bounced between us for a second as Camillo walked over to his closet, and I didn’t have to look back to see what he was doing.

He was pulling out his suitcase and getting ready to pack it.

“Camillo has to go tend to some business for a few days,” I said. “Is it okay if I take you guys to the beach?”

“Will he be back soon?” Kevin asked.

I looked back at Camillo, who was beginning to pack some of his clothes into the suitcase he’d sat on the bed.

“I’ll be back before you know it, and we’ll have a wonderful Christmas,” Camillo said.

“Awesome,” Kevin said, smiling. “Can we go to the beach now?”

“Have you eaten breakfast?” I asked.

“Do we need to?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Go downstairs and find something to eat for breakfast.”

“The chef should be in the kitchen, Kevin,” Camillo said. “Just tell him what you want, and he’ll whip it up.”

“Awesome. Thanks!”

I drew a deep breath through my nose before I turned to look back at Camillo. Then I stepped out and headed for Ana’s room. She was awake and playing in her bed, occupied with a toy I didn’t recognize. I shook my head as I plucked her from her crib, listening to her wonderful sounds as I carried her downstairs.

I didn’t even get Ana into her highchair at the table before Camillo came downstairs with his suitcase in hand.

“All right, you guys,” Camillo said. “Something’s come up at work. But don’t worry, I’ll be back in time for Christmas. You can help yourselves to anything but there’s one rule you have to obey.”

“What’s that?” Junior asked as he came around the corner.

“You all have to stay on the island,” he said.

“Oh, that’s easy,” Kevin said. “This place is dope.”

“Dope?” I asked.

“It was a phrase in one of our videogames,” Kevin said. “The main character called a car ‘dope.’ I think it means something’s awesome.”

“You’d be correct,” Cassie said.

I didn’t have to look around the house to tell Camillo had beefed up security. There were men walking along the beach out back, which told me they were probably scattered all along the island. The chef put a small plate of eggs and buttered toast in front of Ana as the boys sat down at the table, and I took the opportunity to escort Camillo to the front door.

I grabbed his lapels and looked up into his light blue eyes.

“Remember your promise,” I said.

“Always.”

He kissed me sweetly, like he had upstairs. His body stepped into me while his free arm wrapped around my back and, suddenly, I wanted all of him. His lips undulated against mine in a slow dance and all I wanted him to do was press me against the wall and connect his body with mine.

But all I could do was pull away, smoothing my hands over his broad chest while I memorized every last bit of him I could.

“Please come back,” I said, whispering.

He dipped his lips to the shell of my ear, causing my eyes to flutter closed as I bit back a moan.

“I promise.”

And just like that, he was gone. I went back to the breakfast table and felt Cassie’s eyes on me the entire time, but I was determined to distract the boys. We ran around on the island and they didn’t seem to care about the men with guns strapped to their hips. Cassie stuck close to me and I could tell her eyes were constantly scanning the tree lines. Over the next couple of days, I didn’t really sleep much. I tossed and turned and, eventually, I started sleeping in Camillo’s room just to breathe in his scent.

I tried calling him a few times but he never answered, and he never called back.

I had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to communicate with me, but it didn’t stop me from being upset with him. The worry was eating me alive and I cursed him for being reckless and for putting our family in this position. I was upset, frightened, and sick with anxiety. I could hardly eat and I slept even less. Eventually, Cassie tried to intervene with sleeping pills she found who-knows-where.

But I waved her off. I needed to keep my wits about me, for the kids, for Cassie, and for Camillo, if he ever came back.

The boys continued to make memories and Ana continued to enjoy running around in the surf. Every once in a while, Cassie would take the kids and it would give me a chance to venture around the island. I stood in Camillo’s secret dungeon and fingered the chains he had once harnessed me in. I walked back and found the hidden waterfall, allowing myself to soak in the hot spring as tears fell down my face.

All I wanted was for Camillo to be back. All I wanted was to be a family again.

“Please come back to me,” I said through my sobs. “Please come home.”

 

Chapter Thirty – Camillo

 

I am going home again. Home to my family.

As I traveled back to the Poconos, back to the cabin Junior and I had called home for months, I realized exactly what was going on. I saw the black sedans with the tinted windows. I saw the surveillance on my cabin. I saw people who were walking back and forth in my house, tearing it apart and destroying the furniture.

I was far outnumbered and so, I alerted the police to what was going on and watched as the raid went down. I told them to come up without their lights and sirens on if they wanted to catch them in the act. I watched from my car on top of a hill as the firefight began, smirking as the police officers downed each of my enemies with lethal force.

When I flew back to Italy, I did so in a suit. I wanted them to know I was coming for business. I wanted them to know I wanted to talk. I sat in cafes and sipped teas from my youth, relishing thoughts of losing myself in Rose’s body when I got back to the island.

My security team kept updating me on the condition of my family and every time they told me they were okay, I breathed a sigh of relief. I could tell myself I was doing this for the greater good. That if I had to break my promise, it would not be in vain.

Though I knew breaking my promise to Rose would mean I would lose her forever.

And just like I expected, things went sideways on me. I followed cars and familiar faces into alleyways. I drove along the back roads of Italy, passing run-down vineyards still trying to breathe life into their soil while the vines withered and died. The Del Vecchio family owned most of the countryside of Italy, running all the wineries as they saw fit and robbing these families of their much-needed wealth. My family owned most of the city areas, where the Del Vecchio family wanted to take over.

In the end, I did what I had to do and I vowed to take those secrets to the grave with me. All that mattered was that my family was safe and would never be in danger again. My ultimate destruction of the Del Vechhio family finally closed that chapter of my life for good.

The helicopter descended onto the island and the security team was there to greet me. I talked with them for a little while, congratulating them on a job well done. I told them their paychecks and bonuses for keeping my family safe and alive had been deposited into their accounts and then I started up the hill with my luggage.

I had no idea what I was going to tell Rose, nor did I know how she was going to react.

I couldn’t wait to see everyone again. It was Christmas Eve, and I could smell the holiday in the air. The morning sun draped across the island as I walked all the way up the hill, taking the time to think instead of having someone drive me to the front door. I knew Rose would be curious and I knew she would see the bruises and stitches I’d tried to cover up with my clothes. I winced with every step I took, reminding myself that they were safe, healthy, and cared for.

I came through the front door and dropped my luggage to the floor. I could hear the boys chattering and my sweet Ana giggling and, as I rounded the corner, I saw them all at the table. The chef was placing a variety of foods in front of them while Cassie mindlessly sipped what was probably her third cup of coffee. Then, my eyes descended onto Rose.

She looked haggard and worn, her eyes heavy with exhaustion as she slowly panned her gaze toward mine.

Her shriek sent the boys flying at me. They wrapped their arms around me, but Rose stayed rooted to her seat. Cassie smiled and Ana giggled and I finally made my way to the table to place multiple kisses all along Ana’s face. I smelled the top of her head, committing her scent to memory as I shut my eyes, and, all the while, I could feel Rose’s eyes on my body, clocking my every movement, as if she could read me like the pages of a book.

Ana lifted her arms up to me as I lifted her up from her highchair. Her hands clung to my suit and she buried her face into my neck. I breathed deep and said a silent prayer of thanks that I was still alive to hold my precious little girl.

And then I felt Rose’s hand on the small of my back.

I propped Ana up onto my shoulder and wrapped my tight grip around Rose. She felt soft underneath my grasp, like the petals of the flower she was named after, as her face pressed into my chest. I could feel her sigh with relief against me as my hand stroked her back, relaxing her tense and taut body into mine as I held my family in my arms. I bent down, burying my face into her neck, trying to wash away what I’d just gone through.

I kissed the side of her neck and I felt her stiffen. I knew the boys were watching and I knew I was holding our daughter, but I didn’t care. I no longer cared what they saw. This was my family, I was in love with Rose, and hell be damned if the boys were uncomfortable with me kissing her.

I planned for us to be together the rest of our lives, so they just had to get used to it. I released Rose and put Ana back into her highchair, but I could still see the uncertainty in Rose’s eyes. I sat down and had breakfast with them, stuffing myself with eggs and toast and jams and fruit. I hadn’t eaten a meal like this in days, surviving on nothing but portable meals and caffeine to keep my body humming. Alert. Alive.

I stared at Rose all through breakfast, noticing the fact that she wasn’t eating. Her shoulders looked slimmer and her cheeks were a bit more hollowed out. I cast my eyes over to Cassie, silently asking her if Rose had been okay. But all Cassie did was shake her head and my stomach plummeted to the floor.

“Camillo!” Kevin said. “Wanna see the Christmas tree Junior and I decorated?!”

“You guys put up a tree?” I asked.

“Yeah! Come see it!”

Kevin hopped up from his chair and took my hand. He pulled me into the living room with Junior hot on my heels and that was when I realized how much decorating had actually occurred. Green garlands lined the walls and doorways of the home, peppered with red and silver decorative balls. The Christmas tree was massive, with twinkling white lights and ornaments I kept in the attic. I smiled at the beauty of it all while the boys rattled off all they did while I was gone, but the only thing I could think about was Rose and how she hadn’t followed us into the room.

I bent down and hugged the boys tightly, telling them that this would be a wonderful Christmas.

“All right, boys,” Cassie said. “Who’s ready to go swimming?”

“Me, me, me!” the boys chanted.

“Go get your bathing suits on, then follow me,” she said. “I’ve got something fun to show you guys.”

I looked at Cassie and sent her my silent thanks before she nodded back to the table. Rose was still sitting there, her plate untouched as she stared off into the kitchen. I looked over at the chef and he shot me a worried glance, his head shaking to confirm that she had, in fact, not been eating.

I walked over to her and bent down, taking her hand within mine and bringing it to my lips.

“You’re back,” she said.

“I’m back,” I said. “For good.”

She slowly panned her head over toward me and my heart broke for the emptiness and sadness that settled into the soft, supple features of her face.

“I have to go check on one more thing for tomorrow, and then we can crawl into bed,” I said. “How does that sound?”

Rose nodded but said nothing.

I rose up onto my feet and pressed a kiss into the top of her head. I smelled her hair, taking in the slightly greasy feeling to it and I sighed heavily. She hadn’t been taking care of herself at all, that much was certain. I was already formulating a plan for the day in my head.

I was determined to make her happy.

I ventured upstairs into my office to check the shipment that was due tomorrow. I called down to the staff quarters and informed them that people would need to be down at the dock with the Jeeps. I expected them to drive all of the stuff to me that I needed so I could ready Christmas for my family. Then, I sat my phone down and came out of my office.

And Rose was standing there, her arms crossed across her chest.

“How did the trip go?” she asked.

I swallowed deeply as I saw the anger rising behind her eyes. Rose wasn’t worried.

She was upset.

“You didn’t call,” she said.

“I couldn’t.”

“I was worried,” she said breathlessly, her tears trying to keep themselves at bay. “I called and called and called and you didn’t even take the time to let me know you were still alive?”

The pain of the stitches at my side ripped me from my thoughts. I could see Rose slowly approaching me, her hand reaching out for my arm. I whipped my hand up and grabbed her wrist, catching her by surprise. Her eyes widened at my quick movement.

I needed to forget. I needed to forget all of it.

I started walking and pulled her behind me. I headed downstairs and into the pantry to the door of the hidden hallway. I threw her over my shoulder while she squealed, her legs kicking in the air as I walked toward the door of our playroom.

I brought my hand up and slapped her ass, causing her to cease her movements and she whimpered lightly into my back.

“Camillo,” she said breathlessly.

I held my hand up, opened the door, and walked us into my hidden lair.

I slammed the playroom door behind me before I strode for the bed. I dropped her down onto it, and her body jumped, her tits bouncing freely for me as her legs spread. I slid my knee between her legs and pinned her wrists above her head, feeling her chest panting for air as I bent my face down into the crook of her neck.

I sniffed deeply, taking in her womanly musk, as well as the perfume she was using to cover up the fact that she wasn’t bathing.

“I need to forget,” I said huskily. “I need you to help me forget.”

I traced my nose along her neck, grazing the shell of her ear before I pressed a kiss to her cheek. I nuzzled my nose against hers, watching as her eyes fluttered closed while I held her helplessly to the bed.

I hooked my eyes onto hers as she opened them and, the moment she nodded, I encompassed my lips with hers.

I pressed my entire body into her. I felt my cock growing with each stroke of my tongue against her lips. I could feel her mouth swelling against mine as I pressed deeper and deeper, replacing the terrible memories with the taste and scent of her. She was intoxicating, like a glass of scotch on an empty stomach, and I felt her entire body relax as my tongue slowly raked across the roof of her mouth.

That was when I knew I had her. My beautiful little songbird, wrapped around the very fingers that pinned her wrists to the bed.

 

Chapter Thirty-One – Rose

 

I knew he was hurting. I could see it in his eyes. From the moment he came around the corner, I could see the bruise he was trying to conceal underneath his eye. When he bent over to kiss Ana, I could see the ring of bruising around his neck he was trying to conceal with the suit.

He needed to forget and, quite frankly, so did I.

He needed to push the world away for a little while and his kiss provided just that. It was forceful, but tender. His tongue explored my mouth while his hands and knees pinned me beneath him. He shuffled us onto the bed while his teeth bit into my skin. Not nipping. Not kissing. But biting and marking and sucking. I would be covered in bruises of my own come the morning but, instead of pulling away from him because of the pain like I did three years ago, I found my body bowing into him.

His hands roughly grazed my skin, and I could feel the cuts and scabs he had on his knuckles. My legs wrapped around whatever part of him I could. His teeth bit down into my breasts, causing me to moan while the wetness gathered between my legs.

My mouth begged him to stop, but never once did I say my safe word.

His hands finally released me and I clung to his body. I ripped off the clothes I could reach while his hands readied the chains he would put me in. The moment he chained my arms outward, I knew he would render me helpless. He chained my ankles to the bed, spreading me wide for him as he climbed off the bed. He shed his clothes while his eyes devoured me and, with each piece of fabric that fell away, a new bruise or injury was released from its dark hiding place.

His ribs were bruised purple and gauze lined his side. His chest had scratch marks and his neck was black and blue from where someone had tried to choke him. Tears rose to my eyes as I took in his hands and how battered they were as my naked body was spread for him.

He joined me again on the bed and brought his lips to mine in a searing kiss. I returned the kiss with as much fervor and heard him growl low in his chest. I wanted to hold him so badly, to soothe him and help him forget all he’d been through, but I knew that wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what he needed. His lips blazed a trail down my body, nipping and licking their way to my wet pussy, and his tongue thrust deep into me. Soon, all I could do was arch my back and cry out into the room while his tongue made quick work of my clit.

He lapped and he sucked. He flicked and he bit. He sucked the wetness of my pussy lips and slid his tongue into my entrance. His fingertips dug into my thighs, pulling me closer to him while my shoulders stretched to their absolute limit.

“Camillo! Fuck, yes!!”

His tongue lapped deep, raking across my sensitive bundle of nerves, and my body convulsed with my first orgasm. Stars burst behind my eyes while he continued his assault. Electricity shot through my body and my legs shook. He dug his fingernails into me, rendering my body useless and immovable and my mind shook with the pleasure he awoke inside me. I could hear him drinking me down. I could feel my juices sliding down the crack of my ass. I could hear him gulping, reviving himself on the fountain of youth gushing from between my legs as my head pressed back into the pillow.

“Camillo! Fuck!”

I came again on his tongue and he pressed it deep into me. My entire body was shaking and tears were pouring down my cheeks. Never in my life had I felt so much pleasure at once.

Camillo slammed his lips back onto mine. His hand wrapped steadily into my hair, pulling my head off to the side and revealing the spot on my neck I knew he would sink his teeth into again.

Without warning, he slid his massive cock deep into my pussy. I cried out as he pumped into me, his hips jolting my tits against his body while his teeth raked against my pulse point. My hands were red and my feet tugged against the restraints. I wanted to wrap myself around him while his hips slapped hard into mine. His teeth stayed at that spot on my neck and my cries of pleasure echoed in the corners of the room.

Camillo grunted into my skin and his hands gripped the curves of my body.

The sounds of skin slapping skin permeated the room. My eyes rolled into the back of my head while another orgasm started creeping up, rendering me speechless as my mouth dropped open. I could feel my pussy pulsing around his cock and I knew he was getting close to coming as well.

And then, just as the two of us fell over the precipice together, his lips connected with mine.

“Rose. My beautiful songbird. How you cover me with your beauty.”

The words were warm. Dark. Deep. His voice shivered through me and I cried out into the room. The pleasure was too much to bear. My vision was tunneling as he bit down onto my lower lip, and my tongue captured his once more before my body finally collapsed. I had nothing more to give him. I felt our intermingled juices dripping from between my legs and coating his bed while he slowly slid out of my aching channel.

His hands made quick work of my restraints. He gathered me in his arms, his entire body shaking as he held me. In that moment, he was so vulnerable that it nearly took my breath away.

“Are we safe?” I finally asked.

He pulled me close, pressed a kiss to the nape of my neck, and nodded.

“Yes, we’re safe,” he said, his eyes begging me not to ask him to elaborate.

“Good,” I said. “Because I can’t live without you.”

He raised his head and looked at me, a shocked expression on his face. “You can’t?”

“No Camillo,” I said breathlessly. “Because I love you.”

His eyes widened, and his eyebrows hiked up on his forehead. His darkened eyes lit up a shade.

“Say it again,” he said.

“I love you.”

“Again,” he said heatedly.

“I love you, Camillo.”

He pressed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes and I finally felt him exhale.

 

Chapter Thirty-Two – Camillo

 

I stared out at the water while I watched the ship dock in the early morning light. The staff was there, loading the boxes into the Jeeps, and I watched while they made their way up the hill. Everyone was still asleep and I relished the quiet for a few moments while I sipped my tea.

I went out to meet the staff and they helped me get the boxes into the living room. I sat on the floor with my knife and ripped boxes open. Then I began wrapping all the gifts for the kids. I wrapped up video games and sports memorabilia. I wrapped up new toys for Ana and placed her beautiful new dresses flat in boxes with bows on them. I got Cassie a new Keurig coffee machine, as well as a personalized coffee mug, complete with a thousand-dollar gift card to a website that specialized in k-cups.

She’d be drowning in coffee by the time she spent it all.

And for Rose, I got her jewelry and specialized lingerie. I bought her new outfits for winter in the Poconos and a gift card to the local furniture store so she could restock her house with comfortable things. New beds for everyone and couches that didn’t have stains. A kitchen table that didn’t wobble and bed frames that didn’t creak.

I’d set up college accounts for both Kevin and Ana. I’d dumped five hundred thousand dollars into each of the investments accounts, which would grow over the years into almost one million dollars. Schooling children was expensive and I wanted to make sure they had the best start in life possible. I put all of that official bank documentation into a folder and sealed it up.

I wanted the kids to have the perfect Christmas.

I wanted them to remember this Christmas for the rest of their lives. I wanted this Christmas to change the way they viewed the world. I wanted this Christmas to be remembered as the Christmas they stopped struggling and started living.

It was the first Christmas I was spending with my family, and I wanted it to be filled with happiness, smiles, and love.

But Rose had been distant after our lovemaking the night before. As much as she’d seemed to enjoy herself during, afterward she’d curled in on herself. I thought back to how she’d told me she loved me and the words warmed me all over again. But then she’d changed.

Maybe after the haze of her orgasms had dissipated, she had truly realized what it meant when I’d told her we were safe. She had finally admitted to herself that there was only one way that could have happened. Maybe she regretted loving a man with blood on his hands. What would I do if she did?

I sat there by the tree until the sun was high in the sky and shining down on this Christmas morning.

Suddenly, I heard the boys stirring from their beds. I heard the chef come in and walk toward the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee before he came and took the tea cup from my hands. Cassie was dragging herself down the hallway with her heavy feet as she schlepped into the room, but the gasp that fled from her lips caused me to turn my head toward her.

Her eyes were sparkling in shock at the presents lying underneath the Christmas tree.

“Boys, Rose, get the fuck up!” she yelled. “Get up now!”

For the first time since I’d known her, I smirked and shook my head at how brazen she was.

Some man would be lucky to have her by his side one day.

The boys came barreling into the room and screamed with joy. They ran and tripped, stumbling over to the tree as they began to shake the presents. I heard Rose’s feet hit the floor above my head, probably getting herself dressed before she went to get Ana from her crib.

I got up from my seat and started watching the waves crash upon the sandy beach while Rose rounded the corner.

“Oh, my gosh,” I heard her gasp. I saw her reflection in the window, holding Ana close to her as her jaw fell open.

I sighed heavily, memorizing the way she looked in that very moment. She was perfect.

I felt her approach me while my eyes stayed trained on the ocean. The truth was, I didn’t want to look at her. I wanted to keep the memory of her shocked happiness in my mind.

“How’d you do it?” she asked. “The presents, I mean.”

“I made some orders and rush shipped them,” I said. “They arrived around five this morning.”

“Thank you,” she said lightly.

And she didn’t move from my side.

“I’ve been struggling with things all night,” she admitted while Ana squirmed in her arms.

I nodded but didn’t say anything. I felt my hands gripping themselves behind my back so hard that I split open one of my wounds. I felt the blood trickling down the palm of my hand, and I winced, bringing my hands around to look at them as Rose set Ana down.

“Go see Cassie, sweet girl. Go on.”

I watched Ana run off toward the tree and pounce onto Cassie, who was giggling with the boys while they sorted through the presents.

Without another sound, I watched as Rose picked up the corner of her robe. She took my hand within hers, and pressed the robe to my wound, soaking up the blood while her eyes danced along my skin. I watched her closely, studying her every move while she drew in a deep breath through her nose.

Then, her shoulders heaved with a deep sigh before she allowed her gaze to travel up to mine.

She took both of my hands within hers and brought them to her lips. She kissed each bruise and cut on my knuckles and, as I watched, the heat in my body rose from my toes. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, taking in my scent while my wound slowly began to clot.

Then she smiled into my skin and I knew I was safe.

“I love you, Camillo,” she said. “And I’m just so glad you’re home.”

“I love you, too, Rose,” I said. “And I’m so glad you welcomed me home.”

 

Chapter Thirty-Three – Rose

 

I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. As I stood there holding his hands, my eyes watered while my gaze studied his intently. He was looking at me with his icy blue eyes and the comfort that radiated from them was nothing less than sensual.

Lately, he’d been talking a great deal about family. He had mentioned “our family” on more than one occasion, but never once had he said anything about love. He talked about wanting to keep us safe and making sure we could all live the life we wanted, but never once had he expressed any interest in being anything more than a protector and a pleasure-giver.

I knew my desire for him was white-hot, but was it possible for a man like him to love me? Was it possible for me to accept his past and pull him into my future? I felt his hands drop mine before his palm raised to cup my cheek and, suddenly, the thoughts of Christmas day faded from my head. The only thing that remained was his hardened gaze, his soft touch, and the words that still lingered in my ears.

He pulled me into his arms and I melded into his body. My hands ran up his stomach, grazing the bruised strength underneath his clothing as he pulled me into his chest. The beating of his heart was a sound I’d become obsessed with. A sound that I found both comforting, erotic, and frightening. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

“I know you must think I’m a monster, Rose, but I want to change. I have been changing because of you.”

I gripped onto his shirt and pulled myself closer into his body.

“Having a family is the only thing I’ve ever wanted and your family is perfect,” he said. “All I wish is to be a part of it.”

I craned my neck back to respond, but the shouts of joy coming from beside the Christmas tree ripped us from our reverie. I giggled and shook my head. Camillo took my hand and led me back into the living room where Cassie and the boys were sitting cross-legged beside the tree.

Ana came running up to Camillo, her arms held out wide for him. He picked her up and swung her around.

“Merry Christmas, my princess,” he said.

“Can we open presents now?” Kevin asked.

“Yeah, uncle, can we?” Junior asked.

“Of course,” Camillo said. “You boys can go first.”

One by one, they unwrapped gifts. Portable game consoles and new games for their new Play Stations, clothes they could wear and jackets for the winter in the Poconos and all their favorite treats. Cassie’s smile was broad and my eyes were filled with tears. This was the type of Christmas I’d always wanted to give Kevin, but never had the money to.

Ana was tearing into her presents, peeling the paper back and giggling at the shredding sounds. She unwrapped new toys that sang and a tablet installed with all the latest learning games. She pulled out beautiful dresses I knew Camillo had had made and tailored just for her and there was even a fuzzy blanket with a massive unicorn head at the corner of it she could cuddle with.

She was already dragging it everywhere with her while Cassie grabbed one of her presents.

“The hell’s this?” she asked as she opened the envelope.

“Probably should’ve opened the big one first,” Camillo said.

“It’s just a bunch of jumbled up letters and numbers,” she said. “Thanks?”

“Open the big present beside your knee, Cassie,” he said.

She ripped it open, and her eyes widened when she saw the Keurig. I couldn’t help but throw my head back and laugh while her fingertips scanned the packaging. It was like Camillo had given her the holy grail of presents. He’d revived her mornings with the coffee machine of her dreams. She reached for a smaller gift and unwrapped it, pulling the massive coffee mug, tailored only for her, from the packaging.

The cursive on the coffee mug was in all the colors of the rainbow and it read, “Coffee… because it’s too early for wine.”

She threw her head back in laughter while the boys tried to get their new handheld game consoles going.

“The jumbled letters and numbers are the username and password to the website on the back of the card,” Camillo said. “It’s a site that specializes in nothing but k-cups for your machine. It’s a premade account with a thousand dollars loaded onto it.”

“A thousand dollars?” Cassie exclaimed. “What?”

I looked at Camillo with widened eyes and a smirk crossed his face.

“Enjoy the next three years of coffee on me,” he said.

I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Camillo,” I said, whispering. “What in the world?”

“I believe it’s your turn,” he said, smiling.

He handed me a small gift and I unwrapped it carefully. It was in a beautiful velvet box, complete with sparkling edges. I held my breath as I opened it, revealing two beautiful pearl earrings that sparkled in the Christmas morning sun streaming through the windows.

I felt tears crest my eyes and my gaze panned up toward him.

He handed me gift after gift. A matching pearl necklace and lingerie that made me blush. New outfits to take home with me and makeup he somehow knew I adored but could never afford. There was a perfume fragrance that entranced me and a pair of high heels that were absolutely astounding and, somehow, all of it was just perfect for me.

And then there was a manila envelope he handed to me.

“This was a last-minute adjustment in plans. There’s a combination gift for you and Cassie behind the tree, but I want you to open this first.”

I nodded at Camillo before I plucked the envelope from his fingertips.

I opened it up and pulled out a bunch of official documents with words I didn’t understand and percentages that made no sense. I scanned the lines like I understood what I was looking at, but I could feel the grin crawling across Camillo’s face.

He knew I had no idea what I was looking at until I got to the letter he wrote at the back.

Rose,

In this envelope are the documents to two different investment bank accounts. You are the primary name on both of them, but the secondary names are different. One is for Kevin, and the other is for Ana. Both of them have five hundred thousand dollars in them, and they are designated as educational accounts. Schooling children is expensive and I want them to have the best start possible. By the time they reach college age, there should be around one million dollars for each of them to use for whatever purpose is necessary.

I don’t want you to have to worry about their future when you’re always so preoccupied with their present.

Love,

Camillo

Tears stung my eyes, and I brought my hand to my mouth. I gasped, my chest hiccupping with tears. One million dollars. For each of the kids?

I held the documents close to my chest while my eyes sobbed tears of joy and relief.

“Oh, my gosh. Camillo. You shouldn’t have—”

“Save your words, my little songbird,” he said. “Cassie. Get the present from behind the tree.”

I dragged my eyes over to her as she pushed a massive box along the plush carpet of the living room. She grunted and groaned, her lips muttering curses underneath her breath as she pushed it to my feet. I looked up at Camillo with a quizzical look, wondering what in the world he’d done now.

“Just in case you want me gone,” he said quietly as he nodded toward the gift.

I held my breath while Cassie and I opened the present. The wrapping paper revealed a box, and Cassie immediately took to working the tape off. She ripped it from every direction while the two of us flipped open the lid, and the moment my eyes settled on what was inside, I shrieked with shock.

Inside was nothing but wads and wads of cash. Like the wad he’d pressed into my hand the night he came barreling back into my life.

Cassie was so stunned that no sounds were coming from her throat.

“What the hell is this?” I asked as I cried.

“I wanted you guys to be all right,” Camillo said. “I wanted you guys to be okay if things went south.”

“What does that mean?” Kevin asked.

“Nothing, sweetheart,” I said breathlessly. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Lining the bottom of the box are gift cards to various places. Restaurants in town and furniture stores. You can replenish the house you have now or buy a new one. You can invest the money and never have to work again, or you can use it to put toward your retirement and keep on working. I don’t care what you do with the four million dollars, but—”

“Four million dollars?” Cassie exclaimed.

“In cash, yes,” he said matter-of-factly. “There’s more in gift cards at the bottom.”

I felt dizzy as my eyes took in the sight.

Immediately, I took Camillo’s hands within mine and pulled him from the couch. I looked at Cassie and told her to watch the boys and not to worry about the mess. She was still staring intensely at the box, her head nodding to indicate she heard me.

Then I tugged Camillo upstairs into my room before I slammed the door behind me.

“Did I do something wrong?” he asked as he sat on the bed.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You did absolutely nothing wrong.”

Tears were dripping down my cheeks while his eyes connected heavily with mine.

“Thank you,” I said. “So much.”

“For what?” he asked.

“For the best Christmas our family has ever had.”

I saw his ears perk up at my statement and his gaze grew firm.

“I have a present for you now,” I said.

“You do?” he asked.

“I do.”

“Where can I find this present?” he asked.

I sauntered over to him and straddled his lap, my arms threading around his neck before my forehead rested against his.

“On the tip of my lips,” I said.

His eyes studied mine while I nuzzled my nose with his. He tried to kiss me, but all I did was lean back, teasing him while his hands grasped the small of my back.

“How can I enjoy this gift if I cannot reach your lips?” he asked darkly.

“Because the gift isn’t a kiss,” I said.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s an invitation, Camillo. To join our family.”

My eyes found his and, for the first time, I watched his icy blue stare melt into something akin to warmth. A sparkle in his eye I’d never seen before twinkled and, soon, I felt my body being lifted into the air. He spun me around and I laughed. His face buried into the crook of my neck while I held him closely.

Then I felt my back hit the door and his lips were upon mine like a madman.

He pressed kiss after kiss against my lips and planted his hands against the door while my legs wrapped around his waist. My hands cupped his cheeks and our lips drank in the other’s taste.

Our bodies slid to the floor, him kneeling before me while I clung to him. My back sank to the floor, the plush carpet coming into contact with the backs of my legs as he pressed me into the carpet. I could feel his cock growing against me, slowly and steadily, while his hands explored my skin.

Then, as if I weighed nothing, he picked me up into his arms and carried me into his bathroom.

 

Chapter Thirty-Four – Camillo

 

I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. As I carried Rose into the bathroom, my body was vibrating with happiness. I had the family I’d always wanted—the family I’d come to love and fiercely want to protect. The mother of my child loved even the monster within me and I loved her in return.

I set Rose down onto her feet and slowly began peeling her clothes from her. Every inch of her skin glistened for me, flushing with a beautiful desire, while her hands undressed my own body. Bruises and scratches and stitches came into view and, each time she found a new one, she pressed her lips against it. Her touch was warm and gentle.

Finally, when there was nothing left separating us, I reached into the shower and turned it on. The steam filled the room as I opened the massive glass shower door and ushered her in. She sighed as the water hit her skin, the dirt and grime from the past few days swirling down the drain as I began to wash her.

I paid attention to every single part of her body, including the treasure trove between her legs.

My soapy hands parted her pussy lips, feeling her dripping for me as her back pressed against my chest. My fingertips found her swollen clit, throbbing against the pad of my thumb while the rose-scented bubbles popped against her skin. Her legs shook and her breath came in short pants, every inch of her shaking and jolting while I nipped and kissed at the beautiful skin on her neck.

I was intoxicated with the way the white soap bubbles blended in with her beautiful pale skin.

“Camillo. Yes. Please. Don’t stop.”

Her breathless commands were my promises as my fingertips made quick work of her body. She was shivering against me while the hot water battered our bodies and I could tell she was close. Her ass ground back into my cock while her fingernails dug into my arm that was holding her against me and, soon, her head was cocking back, searching for my lips while she came.

I reveled in the way my name dripped from her lips as her legs gave out from underneath her.

We sank to the shower floor, and I began washing her hair. She laid there, curled up in my lap while I shampooed and conditioned her beautiful black locks. Her hair had grown well past her shoulder blades, the perfect length for braiding it. So when I had the conditioner spread throughout her hair, I braided up its thickness before sliding the band off her wrist and tying it off.

“A deep condition this morning?” she asked breathlessly.

“Don’t you think you’ve earned it?” I asked.

She turned around and straddled my lap, hovering her beautiful pussy over my throbbing cock. She smiled at me, encompassing my lips with hers just before she sank down onto it. I felt her juices slick over my skin while her walls throbbed around me and, in that moment, there was only the two of us.

My hands crept up her back while she slowly began to rock in my lap and, soon, the two of us were bucking wildly against one another.

Trails of hot water dripped from her pert nipples and I couldn’t help but pull one between my teeth. Her fingernails scratched my scalp while her head lolled back and my hips pounded up into hers. I could feel her pussy humming around me, sucking my dick deeper into her body I rose up from my seated position and quickly had her on her back, the water pooling around us as it dripped off my face.

Her hand raised to cup my cheek before I resumed burying myself deep within her body.

Her cries of pleasure were muffled by the steam and the intensity of the water pouring onto us. I threaded my fingers with hers, pinning her hands to her sides while my hips rolled desperately into her.

“I love you, Rose,” I said heatedly.

Her eyes flew open and studied mine intently as I slammed myself deep into her pussy again.

“I love you, too, Camillo,” she said, moaning. “I love you so much.”

I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have gotten my family for Christmas. Faster and faster, I pounded into her, watching her tits bounce for me while she gasped with pleasure. I bent myself back up and took her within my arms, twirling her around and pinning her to the shower wall before our lips met one another’s again.

Only this time, my fingertips trailed down to her pussy lips and found that swollen little clit of hers that was peeking out for more attention.

“Camillo. Yes. Holy hell. I’m gonna come. Please let me come. Please.”

“Come with me, Rose,” I said. “Come with me, my beautiful songbird.”

In an instant, her pussy was clamping down around my cock. She was singing her song for me. A song only I could pull from her lips. She wailed and moaned while her fingernails raked across my shoulders and I buried myself deep within her soft wetness as I peppered her neck with kisses. I emptied myself into her, my cock twitching and vibrating with pleasure, while her pussy pulled every ounce of hot cum I had from my balls.

Then the two of us simply stood there, her back pinned to the foggy shower wall, while our lips danced lazily on top of one another’s.

“I have one more present for you,” I said into her skin.

“What in the world could possibly top all this?” she asked.

I smirked before I pulled my cock from between her legs.

I undid her braid and washed her hair out one last time before I cut the shower off. I reached for a towel, wrapping her perfect body up within it before I helped her out of the shower. Her legs were wobbling and I felt a surge of pride swell within my chest, happy that I could still make her tremble with the pleasure I could afford her.

I sat her on the bed before I grabbed my own towel, wrapping it around my waist before I pulled a box out from my bedside table drawer.

“Open it,” I said.

Her fingertips studied the small box with a tiny little bow on it. Her brow furrowed in confusion and she popped the box open. But the moment she did, her mouth opened with shock before her gaze whipped back up to me.

“Camillo?” she asked. “What is this?”

“This,” I removed the diamond ring, “was my mother’s. Given to me by her on my fifteenth birthday. It was the ring my father first bought her when he proposed and she passed it on to me to give to the woman I would ultimately hand my life over to.”

Tears filled her eyes as I got down onto one knee and took her hand within mine.

“Rose, you are everything I could’ve ever wanted in a woman. You are a divine mother and a sensual woman. You are passionate, dedicated, and unwavering. Like a mountaintop rising far above the rest of the world. I promise you, my life of violence is behind me and I will love and protect you and our family forever.”

Tears were dripping down her face as I slowly plucked the ring from its confines.

“Will you marry me?”

Her watery gaze slowly panned down to mine and, the moment she nodded, a smile crossed my face. I crashed my lips up into hers, laying her towel-wrapped body down onto my bed while she slid the diamond ring on her finger. Our tongues battled heatedly and she pulled the towel from around my waist, casting it off to the side while my hands made quick work of opening hers.

Her legs parted to encompass my body as I settled on top of her silky, soft skin.

“I love you so much,” she said as my lips trailed kisses down her neck.

“And I love you,” I murmured into her skin.

I couldn’t wait to start my new life with my new family. Even with the bruises that covered my ribs and the stitches still healing at my sides, I felt a new Camillo being resurrected. My lips trailed down this beautiful woman’s body as she gave herself over to me, wholly and completely, in every way I’d only ever dreamed of. My lips slid between her legs while my tongue parted her beautiful folds and I drank her pleasure from between her legs.

“Oh, I love you, Camillo,” she said, whispering. “I love you so much.”

 

Epilogue - Rose
One Year Later

 

I was excited to be back in New York City for Christmas. Even though last Christmas on the island was absolutely unforgettable, there was nothing quite like Christmas in the city.

Camillo and our family had spent most of the year here, simply getting to know one another. We took our time explaining to the boys what was going on and how we were handling things from here, but the moment we told them they were going to be brothers, they were ecstatic.

We even told Cassie she had a place with us forever, if that was what she wanted.

Camillo had actively rolled back most of his duties from his criminal empire. He cashed in what he could, sold off what he couldn’t, and turned people in where necessary. He wasn’t just willing to turn the criminal domain over to someone else. He wanted to be rid of it completely.

Now, we were simply enjoying our extended vacation. He had purchased a massive penthouse apartment for all of us to live in whenever we traveled to New York City and Kevin simply couldn’t believe his eyes. The boys were still hellbent on sharing a room and we’d employed Mrs. Barker as their full-time nanny. Camillo was still spending every waking moment he could with Ana and, the more time they spent together, the more my heart melted for them both.

I didn’t think I could feel love for any two individuals the way I loved them.

During the past year, Camillo insisted that I pursue my culinary dreams. He even went so far as to build a test restaurant on a plot of land he purchased that would eventually be the site for our new home together as a family. We’d decided to get out of the Poconos and put ourselves in the middle of a city the two of us loved dearly.

And Crystal was happy to have us closer to her.

Camillo hired a wonderful chef to be my mentor in this test restaurant of his. I’d learned a great deal under his tutelage and I was closer than ever to achieving my dream. He taught me all of the techniques I would’ve learned in culinary school and tested me just like a school would have. Pretty soon, I was challenging him in the kitchen with tastes, plate designs, and food pairings.

Camillo beamed with pride every time he dropped in on us and heard me bucking up to my mentor.

I was confident my venture would be a success. I’d always wanted to own and operate my own restaurant, and with the skills I’d learned and Camillo’s support, I knew I could do it. People came for miles to our little test restaurant in order to sample the flavors and partake in my latest concoctions and there was always a positive, raving review in the newspaper the next day.

The city loved my food and I knew I would finally achieve the dream I’d set out to achieve when I was eighteen.

Now, it was December twenty-eighth. My birthday. Christmas had come and gone and the massive surprise Camillo had for me was plans to build a restaurant in the heart of the city. I’d squealed and threw my arms around his neck, but what I would later come to find was that he had already built it. He’d found my random sketches and artistic suggestions for what my dream restaurant would one day become and he handed them over to an architect and interior design expert to bring to life. With his promise of forever sparkling on my left hand and my family sitting at one of the restaurant’s V.I.P. tables, it was time for the restaurant to open its doors to the public.

It was time for me to make my debut as Chef Moretti.

Camillo had worked hard to keep the restaurant a secret from me, but he’d worked even harder to promote it. So on opening night, on my birthday, a line of excited customers stretched down the block. I was in the back, prepping for the dinner rush with employees he’d hired behind my back, calling out commands into a kitchen I could now call my own. I was expecting an insane night that would keep me here well into the early morning hours and I smiled from ear to ear as I thought about it.

I wouldn’t want it any other way.

I had my husband to thank for all this. For the restaurant and for encouraging me to continue pursuing my dreams. He was the one that had chased behind Ana for the past year and he was the one that took care of the boys’ schooling issues. I watched as Camillo weaved around chairs, chasing our wild four-year old around while she giggled and cried out for “more playtime.” Camillo swooped her up into his arms and slathered her face with kisses, trying to get her out of sight before people started filing in to sit down.

And all the while, the boys were sitting at the table, doing their school work.

They loved the middle school they had been enrolled in. They were in a great deal of classes together and were quickly making friends in the city. They frequently had friends over to play video games and eat all our food and I took it as an opportunity to try out new snacks and finger foods with their friends. Of course, the boys would eat anything I put in front of them, but the more practice I could gain, the better off I knew I would be.

Life couldn’t have gotten more perfect than this.

The door to the restaurant opened and in poured the people. Men and women of all different races, backgrounds, and social classes were spilling into the seats and the wait staff were quickly taking drink orders. The bar was in full swing as I started grabbing appetizer plates. Then I made my rounds to make sure everyone had everything they needed to make this night a rousing success.

Then, I heard the first ticket order come through and I ripped it from the printing station before I turned toward the kitchen.

“I need two orders of the toasted brioche rounds with the creme fraiche and the caviar on both. And one order of olive straws!”

I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Camillo beaming, waving at me while the boys cheered me on. I felt tears rise to my eyes as I took a deep breath, listening as the tickets began pouring in from the main room. I ripped them off and continued to call out order after order, then I made my way into the middle of the kitchen and started preparing the massive lamb shanks that were on the menu for tonight.

Yes. Life could not have been more perfect than this.

 

The End