I glanced up at him, and then away, taking a sip of my drink as I tried to hide from the intensity of his stare. I could feel it, even though I couldn’t see his eyes. But unless I wanted to crawl under the table or walk out of the room, there was nowhere for me to go.
With that thought, I suddenly stood up. I needed a moment.
Enzo’s hand immediately wrapped around my wrist, keeping me there at the table. ‘Where the hell do you think you’re going?’
‘I just need to use the restroom,’ I told him as calmly as I could. But inside, I was freaking the fuck out.
He assessed me for a long moment. ‘Out the door and to your left, next to the kitchen.’ One finger at a time, he released me.
‘I’ll be right back,’ I told him.
Taking my coat to hide what I was wearing from the other patrons, I heard him say, ‘You have five minutes,’ right before I opened the door and walked out into the crowded restaurant. I scanned the room, but no one was paying any attention to me as I searched for the restroom sign and hurried in that direction.
When I got to the ladies’ room, I shut myself in a stall and locked it firmly behind me, feeling like I could breathe for the first time since he’d shown up at the club. Jesus Christ and Holy Mother, what the hell had I gotten myself into? Even with his sunglasses, which he hadn’t taken off once tonight, I could feel the heat of Enzo’s eyes. They burned me everywhere they touched. He was always a bit…intense. But tonight, tonight was different. And I knew exactly why. He planned to keep me with him all night. That’s why he’d told me to bring a change of clothes and why he was sticking to me like a burr. He wasn’t going to give me a chance to get away. But even though I’d agreed to do this with him, now that the time had come, I didn’t know if I was really ready for everything it entailed. I didn’t know if I was ready for him.
I stared at the hearts written in permanent marker on the stall door, not really seeing them. I swallowed hard. This man was going to consume me until I didn’t know who I was anymore. Until I didn’t want to be anywhere without him. Until I couldn’t leave him. And then he would discard me as men do. I’d seen it plenty of times. I’d watched as mafia men caught an interest in some unlucky woman. They would court them at dinners my father held. Pursue them like dogs after a bone until the woman was stupid enough to fall for their pretty words and possessive actions. And then once they had them, when the woman was so stupid in love with them they would do anything they said, the men would grow bored. They’d start yelling at them all the time. Calling them names. Breaking them down until the women were nothing but a shell of what they once were. And the men? They’d stop bringing their wives or girlfriends to the dinners and would show up with something new. Someone younger, prettier, but just as stupid. It made me sick to watch. I would not become one of those women.
Maybe I did just need to get out of this city. I had a little money saved, enough to get me to another state and set up for a month or two, but that was it. Not enough to have my name legally changed or to get a passport so I could leave the country, which was my ultimate goal. Somewhere where my father would never think to look, like Svalbard, that island way up by the north pole. He’d never think to look there. I hated the cold. He’d think I’d go somewhere tropical.
My phone buzzed in my jacket pocket. I pulled it out and checked the screen. There was a text from Enzo.
You have two minutes and I’m coming in after you.
‘Shit,’ I muttered to myself. Yanking down my ruffled panties, I quickly peed and washed my hands, then hurried back to the table. Our server followed me in with a tray.
‘You just made it,’ he told me.
‘What if I needed more time?’ I asked, my face hot as I took off my coat and laid it back over my chair. ‘Thank you,’ I told our server as she set my plate on the table before me.
‘Then you should tell me. Otherwise, I’m going to think you’re trying to run off on me, Sera.’ He said it with a hint of a smile, but I knew he didn’t find the thought funny at all.
‘Can I get you anything else?’ the server asked.
Enzo looked at me. I shook my head. ‘Thank you, I’m good.’
She gave him a small bow. ‘I’ll come check on you in a few minutes.’
‘Actually,’ Enzo stopped her before she could leave. ‘Would you mind giving us our privacy? I’ll pay on our way out.’
‘Of course, Mr. Delligatti. No problem. Just crack open the door if you need anything and I’ll come check on you.’
‘Thank you,’ he told her. Once she was gone, he took off his sunglasses and laid them on the table, then rubbed his eyes with his thumb and fingers of one hand. I watched him, noticing how strong his hands looked. Strength I already had personal knowledge of.
My heart was thundering in my chest, and I willed it to slow down. We were alone, but we were still in a crowded restaurant. He wouldn’t try anything here.
Would he?
My pulse continued to race. I looked down at my food. It smelled delicious and my stomach growled in response, but I had no idea how I was supposed to eat. Picking up my fork, I put a small bite in my mouth, savoring the flavors. It was really good. And as Enzo dug into his dinner, I found myself beginning to relax.
We ate in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes—at least on my part. Enzo appeared entirely at ease. I didn’t look at him. I was afraid of what I would see without the shield of his glasses to block his emotions from me. But I could feel him watching me the entire time we ate.
When I was about halfway done with my meal and my stomach no longer grumbled in anger, Enzo set down his chopsticks and picked up his napkin to wipe his mouth. It hadn’t escaped my notice that he had impeccable manners. ‘What’s wrong, Sera?’
Surprised, my eyes flicked up to his before I could think to stop them. He was frowning, his brown eyes filled with genuine concern. It softened me a little to see that coming from him. I tried to muster up a smile for him, but I didn’t think I was very successful. ‘Nothing. I’m fine.’
‘No. You’re not. You’re nervous. Did anything find its way into your pocket when you went to the restroom?’
I wasn’t just nervous. I was terrified. I tried again for a smile, even as my face flamed with embarrassment. ‘No,’ I told him in answer to his question. ‘I’m just worried about what everyone will say when I get back to work.’
His eyes roamed over my face, searching for the lie. But since that actually was one of the things bothering me, he appeared to believe me. However, I wasn’t prepared for him to pull out his phone and call my boss again.
‘It’s me again. Sera won’t be returning to work tonight. Please tell everyone she’s ill, and make sure they believe you.’ Looking at me, he asked, ‘When are you scheduled to work again?’
‘The day after tomorrow.’
‘She’ll be back on Friday.’ Ending the call, he put the phone back in his jacket and picked up his chopsticks to resume his dinner.
I stared at him in disbelief. ‘I’m going to be so fired. Dammit, you can’t keep doing that.’
Raising his eyes to mine, he told me, ‘You’re lucky I’m allowing you to keep the job at all.’
Taken aback, I wasn’t quite sure what to say. But this conversation was doing nothing to assuage my earlier fears. I sat stiffly in my chair and stared down at the remainder of my dinner. I needed this job. I wanted this job. I felt like an adult for the first time in my fucking life.
With a loud sigh, he set down his utensils and pushed away his plate, setting his arms on the table and leaning toward me. ‘What did you think was going to happen here with us? Hmm? We have an agreement, Sera.’
The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. ‘I thought you would fuck me, not ruin my life.’
‘Baby girl, I haven’t even begun to ruin your life yet.’
His dark eyes burned into mine. I could only stare at him.
Taking a sip of his wine, he pushed back his chair. ‘Come here.’
He sat there like the mafia king he was, hard and without a shred of mercy anywhere in his body, except for his eyes. There was something in his eyes. And it was that glimmer of emotion I saw there that propelled me out of my chair and into his lap. I felt something hard pressing against my ass, and I adjusted the way I was sitting to try to get into a more comfortable position.
‘You keep doing that, baby, and I’m going to have you face down on that table with my cock in your ass before we have a chance to finish our meal.’
I stilled immediately, clasping my hands in my lap and keeping my eyes down. I felt weird in this position. Partly like the child I was dressed up as, but also a woman. One he was obviously sexually attracted to. But I didn’t know what to do or what he expected of me, so I just sat.
Enzo’s chest was rising and falling heavily against my side. He slid his hand beneath my thighs, lifted me up, and turned me so my back was against his chest. He hung my legs over his, then spread his knees wide so my legs did the same. I hung onto the arms of the chair as I watched him lift the bottom of my dress until my black ruffled panties were on full display. His chin rested on my shoulder so he could watch too.
Holding my dress up with one hand, he slid his other hand over my pussy until I was gripped in his palm. My eyes kept darting to the door. ‘Someone might come in.’
‘They won’t,’ he rumbled in my ear. ‘And I want to touch you. So fucking bad, Sera.’ His fingertips found my clit through my panties, and my hips bucked, trying to increase the pressure as a rush of pleasure shot through me. He moaned in my ear, making the little hairs rise on the back of my neck and chills crawl down my spine. Instinctively, I tried to pull his hand away, and I felt him shake his head. ‘No. Keep your hands where they were.’
His hand stilled, and I slowly put mine back on the arms of the chair.
‘Thank you,’ he murmured.
My head fell back against his shoulder as he pulled my panties to the side and exposed me to the cool air of the restaurant. I could hear the other diners talking and laughing as they clinked glasses and enjoyed their meals together. Smelled the food coming out of the kitchen. But all I felt was Enzo’s fingers as they found my folds and slid between them. I was wet, and he moaned again when he felt it.
The hand that was holding my dress rose higher up my torso, cupping my breast. And when that wasn’t enough for him, he slid inside the neckline and under my bra to cup my bare flesh. My nipple hardened and grew sensitive against his palm, and I gripped the arms of the chair tight as his fingers found my clit again. Tension low in my belly gripped me and then released, and I couldn’t stop myself from moving with each rise and fall of pleasure.
‘Sera…’ My name was low and harsh on his lips as he ground his hips up into my ass. I felt him probing my entrance with one finger, sliding in just enough for my body to protest the invasion before he went back to my clit. My breath left me, and my heart pounded in my ears until I couldn’t hear anything else. I hung onto the chair so hard I was afraid I would break something, and on and on Enzo played my body with perfect precision, bringing me right to the brink but never letting me go over the edge.
‘See how you respond to me?’ he whispered in my ear. ‘See how your body moves against me? Fucking hell, Sera.’
I ground my ass down against his hard length and he gasped into the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine again. His hands clamped down on me, holding me still against him.
‘Do not push me.’ His voice was suddenly cold.
‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered.
He held me like that for a long time, only the sounds of our heaving breaths breaking the silence in the room. I heard someone greet some new customers. Heard dishes clank against each other as a table was cleared.
And then, gradually, he eased his grip on me. I felt his lips on the side of my throat as I relaxed against him once more, burning my skin with sinful kisses. I moaned when he found me again, and I tried to hold still, but I couldn’t. Not entirely. He teased my clit and my nipple as he moaned in my ear, telling me how good I felt. Telling me all of the things he wanted to do to me. He pushed a finger inside of me as he pinched my nipple and told me how tight I would be around his cock.
I whimpered with need as he filled my head with visions of all of the ways he would use my body. My orgasm climbed, hovering on the edge until my muscles trembled and his name was a plea on my lips.
‘Come for me, Sera.’
I did as he commanded, my entire body going stiff as pleasure so fierce it was nearly pain started in my womb and shot through my body before it exploded through me in shock waves of pleasure. Enzo’s hand slammed down over my mouth and his teeth sank into the muscle between my neck and shoulder as my orgasm wracked through me so hard my eyes nearly rolled back into my head.
I felt two of his fingers sink into me as far as he could reach, just enough that it began to hurt. I’d never had anything inside of me except a tampon. ‘You’re so fucking tight,’ he told me. ‘Even now. I’m about to come just thinking about being inside of you.’
He continued to run his fingers through my folds, coating them with moisture. Then, as I watched, he stuck them in his mouth so he could taste me. It was shocking. It was erotic. And I couldn’t turn my head and pull my eyes away from the sight of him sucking my orgasm from his fingers.
Pulling my panties back into place and adjusting my dress, he lifted my boneless body and turned me, so I once again sat across his hard thighs. I felt his erection digging into my hip, and had to stop myself from rubbing my body against him for fear he’d carry out his earlier threat.
Gently, he turned my face to his and pressed his lips against mine, forcing my mouth open with his tongue. I could taste myself as he plundered my mouth, forcing me to submit to him. He broke off the kiss just as quickly as he started it, pressing his forehead against mine. ‘We need to leave.’
‘Okay.’
‘Stay here and put on your coat while I pay the check.’ Picking up his sunglasses, he slid them back onto his face.
‘Okay.’ He didn’t ask me if I wanted to keep my leftovers or not, and I almost called after him to get me a to-go box, but he was out the door before I could. It was more out of habit than anything, though, because honestly, food was the last thing on my mind.
He came back just as I was buttoning up my coat. ‘Let’s go.’
I walked out of the room knowing that if I ever came back, I wouldn’t be the same woman I was now.
