After Nico approves Aurora’s request to work on the tablet, he settles Serenity on the couch and stalks down the hall to retrieve it from their bedroom. I pull Aurora down onto the loveseat beside me.
“Do you remember what you were doing before the blue screen popped up?” Aurora asks.
“I was downloading updates on the design app my school requires for all students.”
“Did any of the other students report issues?”
“I don’t think so. The tech guy said maybe it’s because I didn’t update my tablet first, but I never saw a notification, and I always install the updates as soon as they roll out, so I don’t know.”
Aurora takes the tablet from Nico, but the creases on her forehead say she wouldn’t notice even if a monkey handed it to her. She hits the power button and reads the warning.
When she shifts as though to stand, I slip my hand around her forearm and tug her back into the seat. She gives me an annoyed glance, but goes back to fiddling with the tablet as though nothing else exists.
I shouldn’t call her cute, since some would say she’s barely legal, but she’s an intriguing mix of angelic and demonic as she ignores the rest of the world to pinpoint the issue.
When I finally pull my stare from her face, she’s scrolling through a never-ending wall of white text on a black background. Surprise widens her eyes before she scowls and leans closer to the screen.
She understands more than she lets on. Tendrils of suspicion sneak through me, so I watch and catalog her every movement, but the HTML code or whatever jargon she’s reading may as well be in hieroglyphics to me.
I can torture a man without mercy, run a business without breaking a sweat, and navigate the ruthless mafia underworld without hesitation, but I can’t do… whatever it is she’s doing.
This is more than the average ‘I was homeschooled’ or ‘I was raised on a computer’ skill set. I meet Nico Russo’s eyes. His attention sharpens as he picks up on my suspicion.
She flips and types, scans and swipes, and returns the tablet to the home screen within a few minutes.
Trained professionals take hours to work through what she just fixed. At Serenity’s excited squeal as she hands it over, Aurora smiles.
My heart skips a beat. I want her to look at me with those caring eyes and that soft expression.
“I uninstalled the design app, but everything you had saved should still be in the school’s cloud storage system. Your software is up to date, too, so maybe talk to a different technician to figure out what went wrong before you download the design app again.”
As Serenity thanks her, Nico studies Aurora, as baffled as I am over her skills. I pull her to my side and wrap my arm around behind her to grab her hip.
Her elation fades when she glances at my face.
When Nico not-so-subtly tries to kick us out again, I say goodbye to my sister and pull Aurora toward the door. She pauses in the foyer and looks over her shoulder, but turns back around and exits the suite without another word.
I consider confronting her about my suspicions but decide to wait until she’s comfortable telling me the truth, so I settle her into my car without a word and drive in silence. When she leans her shoulder against the door and sighs, I reach over the console and take her hand. Her fingers tremble as she gives me a squeeze.
Her sweetness may be the death of me.
After a few minutes, her lashes sweep down to rest against her cheeks.
Pride and awe swell within my heart. Every time she falls asleep in my presence, she steals a massive chunk of my soul.
I stop at the gate to our last destination for the day and roll down my window to talk to the guard. Aurora’s hand twitches in mine when he speaks. The man welcomes me and waves me through the gate. I pull forward and park in the posh roundabout near the front entrance.
Unable to resist, I lift Aurora’s hand to my face and brush my lips over the back.
“Wake up, mia topolina. I brought you home early, so you can go inside and rest.”
She scowls and mumbles, still half asleep.
“Tristan won’t be home until after dinner. I don’t want to go in early.” I pause before rubbing my lips back and forth over her knuckles.
“Why don’t you want to go inside?” I murmur against her skin, keeping my voice low so she doesn’t fully wake.
“We didn’t have sex. She’ll lock me in the closet again.”
She gasps and jolts awake as I squeeze her hand in shock.
“Your mother locked you in the closet?”
My voice emerges as more of an animalistic rumble than actual words. After a moment of confusion, she glares at me in fury.
“You’re such a jerk. Let me go. I—”
When she reaches for the door handle, my control snaps. I grab her by the hair and haul her over the center console and into my lap. She screams and flails, but I part her knees around my hips and trap her arms to her torso while pulling her head back, exposing her neck as much as possible in the cramped space.
“Is that why you’ve been half delirious and exhausted all day? Because your mother locked you in the closet last night? For not having sex with me yesterday—the day we met?”
Trapped and stretched out like a feast on my lap, Aurora trembles from head to toe and aims vulnerable green eyes at me. The defiant set of her features slices me in two.
“You were never going to tell me either, were you?” I snarl.
“You didn’t need to know! I can—”
I release her arms and grip her jaw, framing her face with my massive hand.
“No, I don’t want to hear your excuses, Aurora. You’re mine now. Only mine. No one except for me, not even your mother, will ever hurt you again.”
A single tear escapes her lashes and trails along my finger.
“We’re leaving. You’re moving into the townhouse with me and never coming back here again,” I snarl.
Her glare hardens my cock and awakens my need to conquer and claim every inch of her.
“No. I’m staying at my parents’,” she insists.
“Why? Does she lock your brother in the closet, too?”
“She’d do that and so much worse if I left. I need to stay.”
“We’ll take him with us,” I snarl, half delirious from her ass against my thighs and beyond furious over how she was suffering in silence because of me.
“Are you stupid? He’s the heir to the Achilles family. You may be the Vivaldi heir, but you can’t kidnap him without starting a citywide war. Thousands of people would die in the crossfire.”
How in the hell is this tiny woman so smart, scrappy, and stubborn?
“Then thousands die. I don’t care. You’re my only priority, mia topolina.”
She scoffs and shoves against my chest.
“So much for being a man of your word. Let me go.”
“Excuse me?”
She stills as the menace in my tone registers, but the anger vibrating from her fills the car as she speaks with barely leashed fury.
“You’re lying. I’m not your only priority. Your sisters and parents are important, too. Can you imagine how hurt Serenity would be if she heard you kidnapped an eight-year-old boy and put everyone associated with your family in danger?”
I grind my teeth and fight the urge to tilt my hips. The heat emanating from the juncture of her thighs scrambles my thoughts while her helplessness against my strength heightens my desire.
“If you don’t want to see how much of a monster I can be, you’d better start giving me options, topolina, because right now all I can hear is you telling me no.”
“I just need some time to figure things out.”
“You don’t have time. You’re not going back into that house until I can protect you.”
“I’ve lived there my entire life. I’ll be fine.”
“You’ve only been my betrothed for one day, and it landed you in the fucking closet. You’re not going in until I know you’re safe.”
“My mom won’t take away my phone if she knows you’ll call, so tell me you can’t wait to hear my voice later or something stupid like that, but make sure she hears you. It’ll probably be enough for her to leave me alone.”
As my rage boils within my veins, I realize there’s only one way I can appease her mother without hurting Aurora.
I lean forward and nip her ear.
“Put your hands behind your back,” I snarl.
“What? Why?”
“If you touch me, I’ll take you right here, right now, in the driver’s seat of my car while parked in front of your parents’ house in broad daylight. Do you think she’s watching through the windows? Is fucking you the only way to solve this?”
She shakes her head but doesn’t release the front of my shirt.
“Move your hands, mia topolina. Now,” I growl.
She does, which pushes her breasts against her shirt as though in offering. My mouth waters.
I feast, licking, nipping, and sucking her ear, throat, and lips, until she gasps and writhes in my lap.
It’s too much but not enough. I need more.
Her whimper as I unbutton the front of her dress arrows straight to my balls, but I pull the fabric away from her shoulder and close my mouth over her pale flesh. She gasps and rolls her hips. The friction almost sends me over the edge.
I twist my fingers in her hair, holding her where I want her, and cup her breast through her clothes as I bite down harder on her shoulder. Her nipple stiffens and presses against my palm. I flick my thumb over the sensitive peak and enjoy her moan as I skim my hand down her side. She squirms as I slip my hand under her dress, but with her knees stretched wide around my hips, she’s powerless to stop me as I find her clit through her panties.
I growl and lick the flesh trapped within my mouth. She’s soaked. Wetness coats my fingertips even through the fabric.
I stroke her with my thumb. She squeaks and clenches her knees around me. I shift my hand, wedge my fingers between us, and draw a slow circle over her entire sex.
The scent of her desire fills the vehicle. My mouth waters and lust muddles my mind. I yank my hand free only to dive into the thin scrap of material blocking me from her pussy.
Her breathy sound of alarm mingles with my groan as I sink my middle finger into her tight, wet heat. My control slips and fire rushes down my shaft to wet my pants.
I growl, release my bite, and nip a line up her neck to murmur against her jugular.
“Mio Dio, you’re soaked. You’re going to cum all over my hand, aren’t you, mia topolina?”
She squeaks and shakes her head. I chuckle and lick her ear.
“Yes, you will. This one’s for me, capisci?” She shakes her head harder. I curl my finger inside her and groan. “I need to see you fly apart in my arms. Give me your pleasure, Aurora. Let me see you at your most vulnerable.”
Her breath hitches. I angle my thumb and stroke her clit as I surge my finger in and out of her pussy. She makes adorable and enticing sounds of distress as I work her higher and higher. I suction my mouth high on her neck, just under her jawline, and growl in delight as she undulates in my lap.
Her thighs clench a millisecond before her pussy flutters around my finger.
It’s not enough. I sink my digit knuckle-deep and stroke her G-spot over and over.
She screams and erupts. I lift my head and relish the sight of her locked in rapture as she floods my hand with her honey.
She’s the most erotic sight I’ve ever seen.
I gentle my touch and wait until she recovers enough to meet my gaze before I slip my finger out of her pussy. Her throaty moan spears through my hard as steel erection, but I torture myself further by sticking my finger in my mouth and sucking her juices off.
Her flavor bursts through my tastebuds. I close my eyes and savor every lick as I clean my digits, and when I lift my lids again, her glazed eyes almost push me too far.
I snarl and cover her pussy with her panties before lifting her off my lap to put her back in her seat, but she pulls her arms from behind her back and clutches my shoulders.
“W-wait. You can’t go in there with a hard on. She—”
“No.”
I can’t force myself to say more. If she touches me, I’ll fuck her. The only way I will not be balls deep inside her pussy is if I completely ignore my cock.
I guide her over the console, careful to protect her head, and settle her in her seat.
After snatching half a dozen tissues from the glove box and giving her a few, I brace my forearm on the wheel and lean my head on top. I wipe a spot on my thigh and pretend to clean up after an impromptu quickie in case we have prying eyes.
A sour taste infects my mouth, tarnishing my bride-to-be’s lingering flavor.
As deplorable as it was of me to maul her in the car, I would have taken it much further if Aurora wasn’t so important to me.
I can’t believe I’m going to let her waltz back into her familial home as though nothing is amiss, but we’re both boxed in by our roles in life, and I’ve done everything within my power to protect her, at least for tonight.
No matter what it takes, I’ll free both her and her brother, because even though I haven’t seen him since he was a toddler, if Tristan is important to Aurora, he’s important to me.
The feisty, wickedly smart mafia princess has stolen my heart and made herself the center of my universe.
I’ll do anything for her.
Including kidnap her brother if she can’t find another way to protect him from their abusive mother.
