LUCA
My phone on the nightstand buzzes. I put my glasses on and take a look at the message from Donato, saying the gun delivery has been fucked up again. I’ll need to ask Damian if he knows what happened the first time, but that can wait until I get to the office. A piercing pain jolts through my skull between my temples, and I suck in a breath. It’s gone just as quickly. Maybe I should go see Dr. Jacobs for a checkup. This isn’t the first time it’s happened.
Isabella wriggles in my arms, then places her palm over my hand between her legs and presses on it. She certainly has become addicted to having my finger in her pussy. Yesterday we took Rosa and some of her friends to a movie. The kids sat in the first row, but Isabella and I stayed in the back. Once we were alone, she took my hand, slid it under her skirt, and whispered that her pussy needed it. The small sigh of relief that left her lips as I thrust my finger inside her made me so hard I barely managed to stop myself from dragging her off like a caveman. She fucking whimpered when I had to remove my finger at the end of the movie.
I brush the palm of my free hand down Isabella’s back, squeeze her ass lightly, then run my fingers over the skin on her side. “I can count your ribs, Isabella. Have you lost weight?”
“I’m trying to slim my butt a bit. I’m on a diet,” she mumbles.
“What?” I put a knuckle under her chin and raise her head to make her look at me. “Did you ask for permission to starve yourself?”
“No.” She blinks at me, looking slightly confused. “I thought men liked skinny women.”
“You thought wrong.”
“My butt is huge, Luca. I want to be a size down before the party.”
Squeezing her chin, I lean forward until I’m in her face. I don’t want her ass to get smaller. I want it larger. “How much weight have you lost?”
“Ten pounds.”
“You have two weeks to put that weight back on, Isabella,” I say, scowling at her.
“It will all go to my ass. It will get even bigger.”
An image of Isabella, with her beautiful behind a size or two larger, fills my mind and my cock swells. “Good.”
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “I guess those new pants I bought yesterday will go to waste. I barely managed to get into them as it is.”
“Fuck the pants.” I move my hand to her backside and squeeze her ass cheek again. Her butt does seem smaller. “I want this as it was.”
“Is that an order?” She smirks.
“Yes.”
The smile on her face widens. “I like when you order me around.”
I curl my finger to expand the pressure against her walls and press my thumb to her clit, loving the way she squeezes her thighs together to hold my hand in place.
“It turns me on so fucking much when you wear these glasses, Luca.”
I growl and keeping her flush to my body, I turn us over on the bed until she is lying under me, and lean closer to whisper in her ear. “And what else turns you on, tesoro?”
“The frustration I feel for those few seconds when your finger slides out of me during the night, just before your cock replaces it.” She breathes out and mewls when I do just that, but I keep my fingers on her clit, teasing her.
“This is tyranny,” she says, sliding her hands through my hair.
“I know.” I bend my head to bite her neck, pinching her clit at the same time.
“Damn it, Luca!” She fists my hair.
It amuses me to no end that she gets frustrated when I don’t bury my cock inside her right away. I position myself at her entrance and start sliding my cock into her greedy little pussy. God, the sounds she makes. Sometimes I think I could come simply from hearing her moans.
“Is it better now?” I retreat, then push into her.
“Yes . . . Yes . . . Yes . . .” She pants to the rhythm of my pounding into her while her body shakes under me, climbing the high. I pinch her clit again, then massage it. She squeals a little when I pinch her clit again and squeezes her legs around me.
“I love the sounds you make, tesoro.” I bury myself within her with a groan. “So damn much.”
She whimpers and grabs my shoulders as she comes. I thrust inside her again and explode, marveling at the feel of my cum filling her up. The best feeling ever.
“Come here.” I wrap my arm around her waist and press her back to my chest. She’s still trembling when I cover her pussy with my palm and slide my finger back inside her.
“I wish I could have your finger, or your cock, inside me all day,” Isabella sighs.
“You don’t like the feel of your pussy being empty?”
“Nope.” She cocks her head and looks at me. “You’ve made an addict out of me.”
“Perfect.”
“I might need to start stopping by your office during the day. To get my fix.”
“I like that plan.” I smile, then nuzzle her neck. “And I’ll arrange something else for you in the meantime.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“You’ll have to wait and see, tesoro.”
ISABELLA
“Can I dye my hair red?” Rosa asks from the opposite side of the dining table.
“No.” Both me and Damian reply in unison.
Rosa leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest, her chin tucked in.
“When you grow up, you can dye your hair, sweetie,” I say, “You’re too young for that now.”
“But I want to,” she mumbles.
“Why? Have some of your friends dyed their hair?”
“Nope. I still want to do it.”
I sigh and shake my head. It’s exactly as if I’m listening to my sister. “How about a new haircut? I can take you next week. We could do our nails too.”
Rosa’s gaze snaps to me, her eyes wide. “Really?”
“Sure.” I nod. “I’ll call my stylist and tell her to book another spot. Do you have a specific hairstyle in mind?”
Rosa fidgets in her chair, then shrugs. “I want it short,” she says, then looks up at me. “Do you think Dad would let me?”
“If you explain that you’d really like to have it short, of course he would.”
There’s a sound of footsteps approaching, and Luca rounds the corner, coming into the dining room.
“Dad!” Rosa jumps in her chair, “Can I cut my hair short? Isa said she’ll take me with her. Can I? Please?”
Luca stops behind Rosa and places a kiss at the top of her head. “Sure, piccola. Now, go to the kitchen and help Viola with food. I need to speak with Isabella and Damian.”
“I want to hear, too!”
“It’s business stuff, Rosa. Go. Please.”
Rosa scrunches her nose, gets up from her chair, and leaves reluctantly.
As soon as she’s gone, Luca turns to Damian. “Salvatore Ajello requested a meeting,” he says. “Who the fuck is Salvatore Ajello?”
I stare at Luca while panic starts gathering in the bottom of my stomach. “When’s the meeting?”
“Tomorrow,” he says. “Who is he?”
“The don of the New York Family,” Damian says. “Do you have anything on him, Isa?”
“A ton of gossip. Nothing useful. And I don’t know anyone who does.” I don’t think many people even know what the don of the New York crime family even looks like. If you need to contact the New York Cosa Nostra, you call Arturo DeVille, the underboss. Never the don. I turn my eyes back to Luca. “Did he call you personally?”
“Yes. He just said he wants to discuss business, no other details.”
“I know they mostly deal with drugs. I heard my grandfather mention it once, but that’s it. My father might know more.” I look at Damian. “Did Luca meet with Ajello before?”
“Not as far as I know. And he would have mentioned something like that.”
“Then it’s safe to ask Francesco,” Luca says. “I’ll call him to let him know we’re coming over for a coffee.” He bends and bites my ear lightly, then whispers, “Go, change. That pink dress I like. I’m taking you with me, and we can go somewhere for lunch on our way back.”
I stand up from the table and head toward the door, but then stop and look at Luca over my shoulder. “I think I’m going to wear the navy one.”
“Isabella.”
I smile inwardly at his tone. It riles him up no end when I decline to follow his orders. “Yes?”
“The pink dress.”
“If you insist.” I smile and resume walking.
I’m halfway to the dining room door when I hear Damian whisper, “You need to loosen up your reins, Luca, or she’ll flip out.”
I smile. If only Damian knew how much his brother’s commands turn me on . . .
* * *
When I get inside the car with Luca twenty minutes later, wearing the pink dress, of course, he’s unusually quiet, seemingly focused on his thoughts. I let it slide, but when he doesn’t say a word until almost halfway to the Agostini mansion, I decide he’s brooded enough.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
“Luca,” I sigh, “just spill it.”
He grinds his teeth and squeezes the steering wheel. “Am I too extreme? Do you need me to ‘loosen the reins,’ as Damian put it?”
“Is this about the clothes thing?”
“Everything,” he says and looks at me. “Do you need me to loosen the reins, Isabella?”
“No. But maybe you could reciprocate in some way.” I smirk and lean to whisper in his ear. “I’ve been thinking, if you get to keep your finger in my pussy while I sleep, I get to do this while you drive.”
Smiling, I reach my left hand over and place it on his crotch, putting a little pressure in just the right spot. The car swivels slightly while his cock hardens under my palm. Luca turns his head to look at me and his nostrils flare. I press a little harder and he inhales sharply.
“From now on,” he says, “when you’re driving with me, that’s where your hand will be. The whole time. Am I clear Isabella?”
“Of course, Luca.”
He looks at me sideways and I see a corner of his lips curve slightly. “When we get back home, I’m going to fuck you so hard, you won’t be able to walk.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” I squeeze his cock.
LUCA
“Salvatore Ajello?” Francesco’s hand stills halfway to the coffee cup, his eyes wide. “Crime families rarely go into business ventures together. Too much possibility for a conflict of interest. And I’ve never heard of the New York Family reaching out to someone for collaboration. From what I’ve heard, he rarely leaves New York. And members of other families are strongly”—he clears his throat—“discouraged from visiting his region unless specifically invited.”
“What if someone ventures there without invitation?” Isabella throws in.
During the drive, we agreed she’ll ask the questions, so as not to raise any suspicions in the event I slip up and mention Ajello in front of Francesco at some point.
“He ends up being sent back home. In a body bag. Sometimes in more than one bag,” Francesco says, then turns to me. “Be careful, Luca. That man is not to be taken lightly.”
“Have you met him?” Isabella asks.
“No. But your grandfather did. He didn’t like him. He said, and I quote, ‘There are ruthless people, and then there is Salvatore Ajello.’ He didn’t elaborate other than mentioning that he’d never met a man who seemed so dead inside.”
“Sounds promising.” I smile. “How old is he?”
“I have no idea. He was a capo until he took over the Family two years ago, so I assume he’s in his forties or fifties. There are no photos of him that I know of. I’ve never heard of him visiting any public event. The way he took over the don’s position created quite an uproar. He stormed into the Family meeting and killed the old don and the other six capos.”
“A maniac.” I snort. Perfect.
Francesco leans over the table. “If you do agree to collaborate on something with him, it could potentially make us millions. Nobody can confirm it, but rumor has it he owns half of New York.”
“We’ll see.” I shrug and take a sip of my coffee.