CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Samira

The next week was the hardest week of my entire life. I had to bury my father and hold my head high in the face of the public. Condolences poured in from everywhere and they drowned me. I started to hate when the sun came up because it meant I’d have to deal with people and listen to them talk about my father and what a great man he was and how unfortunate it was that he was killed in a botched robbery.

Bullshit.

It was all bullshit.

Santana was a master at projecting a smiling face for the public and thank god he was able to shield me from most of the world. He didn’t say much to everyone but somehow he kept them at bay. It was when we were alone that sadness enveloped him like icy black waters.

He threw himself into Papa’s work and began contacting his connects one by one from memory. He had all their information stored in his head and I had no idea how the fuck he managed to do that. He was amazing but he was so sad and lost. It hurt to watch.

We both needed something to pull us out of the pit we were sinking into. Santana made the decision to shut down Papa’s restaurant for a few weeks while we sorted through everything and he spent most of his free time there reading over the books. That’s where I found him one morning when I rolled over and he wasn’t beside me.

His broad shoulders were tense and drawn together as he sat at Papa’s desk, pouring over papers. I walked up to him and slid my hands along his tense muscles. He relaxed the moment I touched him. He lifted his head and looked at me. Pain swam in his coffee eyes and it gripped the pain in me like an iron fist.

I settled in his lap and he kissed my temple. It was the sweetest gesture and it made my toes tingle. “I think we can take it over…if you want to, Samira.” I watched his thumb press down on the ink pen he was holding repeatedly. I could feel the nerves buzzing on his skin. I had to do something to help him calm all the way down.

“Run what, Santana? The restaurant?” My fingers lazily slid through his hair while my eyes took in every feature on his handsome face. His dark eyes held tight to a level of intensity that they didn’t have before we lost Papa.

It made him smolder.

“Yeah, the restaurant.”

“I want to.” I swallowed a thick knot in my throat and looked into Santana’s chocolate eyes. We had to take over Papa’s restaurant. There was no way in hell I was letting it go downhill or get sold.

I told Santana, “I want to take over both businesses.” I made sure to hold onto his face while I said it so that he’d know I was serious. I thought I’d be met with resistance from him but instead he gave me a nod.

“The Alvarez name will still live on strong,” Santana gave a half smile and squeezed my thigh. Words fell to silence and something swirled around us. It was like a familiar friend that neither of us had seen since Papa died.

“You’ve been so strong and beautiful this week, Sammie. I’m proud of you.” His strong hands slid up and down my sides and I pushed out a shaky breath.

“Thank you, but I think the real one who needs love is you, Santana. Papa would be so proud. It’s only been a week and you’re already talking about running the restaurant and the family business.”

“Thank you, Princess.” He kissed my forehead and my thighs clenched.

“Is it wrong that all I can think of is you inside of me?” That made Santana pause for a moment. It made my cheeks turn red. I waited for him to say something…anything but he remained silent.

I’d started to wonder if maybe he still wasn’t ready. I felt like an asshole. I tugged on the hem of my dress and nibbled on my bottom lip a little. Anything to redirect the nerves.

I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath so I could speak. I couldn’t get a single word out though because Santana’s mouth covered mine in a slow kiss that burned so fucking good. I whimpered against his lips and locked my arms around his neck.

He lifted me onto Papa’s desk and I heard things crashing to the floor. Insignificant things that meant nothing compared to the passion growing and stretching between us.

“I missed you so much,” I whined.

“I missed you too,” he growled. His cock was so hard it made my core throb when it pressed against me.

“Oh god, Santana…” The way his tongue moved in determined strokes against my warm skin made me squirm. I had no patience. I all but squealed when I heard the metal clank of his belt coming unbuckled.

He pulled back, looking between our bodies and said, “Touch your pussy for me, Sammie.” My hands flew between my legs and I rubbed my stiff clit while he watched. “Shit. You are so perfect.”

I let a moan escape my mouth as I slid my fingers across his bottom lip painting my desire on him like war paint. We needed this release. We needed to come together in more ways than one.

Santana teased my sensitive pussy with the head of his cock and I sucked slowly on my bottom lip while my hips rotated to meet him. I needed him. He paused right at my slick opening and tugged his shirt over his head in one motion and my stomach tensed. It was worse than waiting for Christmas.

My hands roamed over his tightly packed abs and it made the anticipation even worse. By the time he was done toying with me, I was raining all over the desk. An erotic scream slid from my lips as Santana drilled inside of me like a man possessed.

I held on for dear life while I screamed his name and dragged my fingers along his strong back. His brand of pain was so silky and rich. As much as I shied away from it, I needed it. It brought a sense of clarity with each thrust.

I felt every ounce of stress evaporating from Santana’s body while he fucked me and drove away all the heartache even if just for a few moments. Our lips met in a feverish kiss. Our tongues slid against each other while he gripped my hair.

The animalistic growl that rumbled through him while he bit my bottom lip made me cry out. “You trust me, Sammie?” He rasped.

“With my life,” I answered without a blink. Santana wrapped his big hand around my throat and squeezed, choking me until darkness nibbled at the edges of my vision. I let go of every bit of control. Suddenly, it wasn’t about Santana calming down and relaxing. It was about me doing the same thing.

My eyes fell shut and I ran toward the orgasm mounting between my thighs. It crashed into me so hard that tears leaked from my eyes when it hit. Santana let go of my throat at that very moment and I gasped for oxygen while I trembled.

It was the most intense shit I’d ever experienced.

“Fuck!” I shouted to the ceiling. My voice was so loud that it made my ears ring. I pressed my teeth together and shook violently while I clutched Santana to me. I was scared that if we parted I’d die. I needed his energy to keep feeding me or I’d starve to death.

“Shit, Samira.” He dipped his head low and swept his tongue across my parted lips, sucking on each one while his thick dick throbbed inside of me. He was getting ready to cum. I wasn’t ready.

I whimpered and locked my ankles behind him to brace for the insane sensation. When it hit, he slipped me his tongue and I sucked and nibbled on it while he filled me up. I came all over again. I thought I was going to pass the fuck out.

After a few minutes, my mind cleared and I realized…

We belonged to each other.

Our experience was so unique that nobody else would ever understand it. We were linked in a way that was only for us no matter how much fire we’d come under. Once the news hit that we were together, the shit would definitely hit the fan but I was ready.

I’d faced way worse beside Santana. A little family opinion wasn’t going to make me turn my back.

“I think I needed that more than I knew,” I said, scooping my hair into a high ponytail.

“Shit, me too. I don’t think either one of us ever came that hard before.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. He wasn’t lying about that. That was the kind of orgasm that made women crazy over a man.

“I was starting to withdraw a little, Sammie. I’m not going to lie. I just kept thinking about Dom killing Mom and making it look like a car crash. He was at her fucking funeral, Samira. He cried over her casket.” Santana waited in the dungeon for Dom to wake up the night we found Papa dead. He waited for twenty minutes, not moving a muscle.

When Dom finally cracked his swollen eyes open, Santana made him tell, in detail far too vivid, how he set up Mama. Turns out he’d studied her schedule for months prior and knew when she’d be heading to the restaurant and what streets she’d take. He paid a truck driver an insane amount of money to run a red light at exactly 12:34 PM and t-bone Mama. She died on impact and they could never find the truck driver.

Dom hoped that getting Mama out of the way would leave Papa so grief-stricken that he’d turn over the entire organization to him. When that shit didn’t happen, he hoped for half the business but Papa didn’t give him that either. Dom worked alongside Papa for years, hoping to get his hands on the connect contacts but he wasn’t allowed. Nobody was.

Until Santana came on board.

That’s when Dom lost his shit. He hated Papa for letting Santana in so easily, giving him access to top-secret contacts, and letting him control the soldiers. He wanted Papa out of the way so he could manipulate Santana into giving up the business to him.

Well, he was wrong about that shit too. Santana and I were going to take over Papa’s and make him proud in every fucking way.

Fuck Dom.

Fuck what he did to our family.

He’d never get another chance to stab the Alvarez’s in the back again.

I rubbed Santana’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. Those beautiful dark pools of coffee that warmed my soul when it felt like a brick of ice.

“Dom can’t hurt us anymore, Santana. It’s over. It’s done. Don’t ever withdraw and leave me out. We’re all we have now and we have to trust each other blindly. I need to know that if you’re going through something you won’t keep it in your head.” He gave me a sure nod. “I’m serious,” I said, my voice shaking. “We can’t afford to fuck this business up and we can’t afford to lose each other to our own demons.”

“It’s me and you, Samira. We’re going to build this fucking Alvarez empire until it’s a monster crushing everything in its path. We’re going to make Pop proud.” He kissed the back of my hand and a slow smile spread across my face.

“Let’s take over the world then. Bonnie and Clyde style.” We locked pinkies and I felt everything shift and set in stone.

I hated Dom for taking my parents away but in doing that he set Santana and me on the path we were really supposed to be on.

He unleashed the darkness I’d been trying so hard to hide. Now, the world was going to see it and I planned to wear it proudly like a crown.

All hail the motherfucking king and queen.

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