Fastening the buttons of my shirt, I don’t let my gaze fall from her perfect body for even a second. My cock’s already twitching at the sight of her, despite the amazing blowjob she just gave me. But of course I’m hard; I collared her. I want nothing more than to throw her down on our bed and claim every inch of her until she has no memories of her past life, remembers nothing but me and my body.
But I want to show her off too. Let our family see how beautiful she looks wearing my collar. She smooths the fabric of her dress down over her hips and flutters her eyelashes at me.
“You ready, sunshine?”
“Ready, Sir,” she says, her voice a soft purr.
I squeeze her ass and guide her out the door.
Dante, Kat, Joey, and Max glance up from the table when we walk into the dining room. And when I pull out Mia’s chair for her to sit, they all seem to notice the thick white-gold collar around her slender neck. Kat gapes openly and Dante gives her a discreet nudge. My younger sister breaks the silence.
“Mia!” she squeals. “Is that a collar?”
Mia brushes her fingers over the choker, her cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink as I take a seat by her side.
“Yes,” she replies confidently, giving Joey a huge smile.
Clapping her hands, Joey pushes back her chair and throws her arms around Mia’s neck. “I’m so happy for you both!” Looking at me with tears in her eyes, she mouths, love you.
“Me too,” Max says, giving me an approving nod. Meanwhile, Kat continues to gape at us with her mouth hanging open.
Dante chuckles. “You’re staring, kitten.” She closes her mouth, but her narrowed eyes remain fixed on me.
“Are you okay, Kat?” Mia asks sweetly.
“Of course. It’s just …” Kat frowns, her gaze flicking to the jewelry at her cousin’s neck.
“It’s a collar?” Mia finishes for her.
Kat frowns. “It’s … I mean …”
“Katerina,” Dante says in a firm tone.
She turns and glares at him. “It’s just unexpected is all.”
I don’t buy it, and neither does my brother. He rolls his eyes and turns back to me. “Congratulations to both of you.”
“I have a little business to take care of, sunshine. I won’t be long. Go wait for me upstairs,” I tell Mia after dinner.
“Don’t be long, will you?” She presses her curves against me and makes my cock twitch at the thought of fucking her while she wears my collar.
“I’ll be real quick,” I assure her, giving her a soft kiss on the lips before smacking her on her ass and sending her upstairs.
Sitting down at my desk in the library, I fire up my laptop and read through emails while I wait. She doesn’t keep me waiting long. “I knew you were alone so I didn’t knock,” Kat says as she makes her way toward me.
Closing my laptop, I rest my hands on the lid. “I was expecting you.”
She gives me a faint smile. “You knew I’d come, huh?”
I raise my eyebrows. “You love your cousin and you want to make sure my intentions are honorable.”
She takes a seat opposite me. “Now you’re making me sound really stuffy and old fashioned, Loz.”
“You’re the one worried about your cousin’s honor,” I remind her.
She fixes me with that famous Kat Moretti glare I’ve come to love. She is more than a match for my strong-willed, headstrong younger brother. “Not her honor. Just her heart.”
I lean back in my chair. “I wish you’d had the chance to know Anya before she got sick.”
Kat blinks at me, unaccustomed to me using my wife’s name in her presence—in anyone’s presence.
“She was vibrant and challenging and full of life.” Emotion clogs my throat.
“She was all of those things when I knew her too,” she says sadly.
“She was a mere shade of those things after we came back from Italy,” I recall with a faint smile. “But before the cancer took hold, she was really something. A force of nature.”
Kat brushes a tear from her cheek.
“Dante told me how when you first met the two of us, you thought she was afraid of me.” I laugh at the absurdity of that notion.
She gasps, eyes wide. “He told you that?”
“Yup.”
“She just seemed so … so small in your presence. At least that’s what I thought at first.”
“Our relationship changed as she grew sicker.” Icy fingers of regret clamp around my heart. “It became necessary to take a greater degree of control. Perhaps too much.”
“No, Loz,” Kat says, reaching across the desk and placing her hand over mine. “My first impression was all wrong. Anya was never more alive than when she was with you.” She swats another tear from her face. “You took care of her and allowed her to make her own decisions right up to the end. You were the finest husband and partner she could have wanted.”
I give her a nod of appreciation.
“But Mia isn’t Anya,” she adds, wincing as though the words pain her.
It’s my turn to frown now. “You think I don’t know that?”
The sound of the door opening distracts us both. Mia glances between Kat and me, her eyes narrowed with confusion. A split second later, she walks straight toward my desk, head bent low as she avoids looking at my face, and drops to her knees at my feet.
“I’m here and ready to serve you, oh mighty one,” she says deadpan, eyes on the floor.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kat’s horrified expression, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. Fucking siren!
Instead, I cup Mia’s chin in my hand and tilt her head up until her gaze meets mine. Her eyes dance with amusement. “Behave, sunshine, or I’ll make you start doing that for real.”
“I couldn’t help it.” She giggles and jumps up from her knees. “The look on Kat’s face is worth it.”
Kat glares at her cousin. “That wasn’t funny, Mia.”
Mia perches herself on my lap and wraps her arms around my neck. “Well, why are you in here grilling Lorenzo about my collar when you could’ve just come and spoken with me?”
Kat’s tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip as she glances between Mia and me. “I just wanted to make sure he’s not pressuring you into this.”
“Kat!” Mia admonishes.
“She’s only worried about you, tesoro. That’s not a bad thing,” I say softly.
“Exactly,” Kat agrees.
“I think Kat’s worried that you’re a little too feisty to be my sub.” My statement is met with an eye roll from both women.
Mia turns serious. “I know this might seem absurd to you after what happened with Brad, but this isn’t about me losing control, Kat.”
“It’s not?” she asks.
“No. It’s about me choosing to give up control, and that’s an entirely different thing.”
Kat frowns, seemingly unconvinced. “But you’re allowing someone else to control your life. To tell you what to do. I don’t get it.”
“Okay.” Mia chews on her lip and thinks for a moment. “Let’s say you were in here alone and Dante came in and told you to get on your knees. With no other explanation. He just unzips his fly and says do it. Would you?”
Kat’s cheeks turn pink, and I clear my throat, wishing I wasn’t here for this part of the conversation.
“Well?” Mia presses.
“Yes, if we were alone, of course, but that’s because …” She goes quiet.
“Because you trust him? You know he’s not going to do anything you don’t want him to?”
“Yes,” Kat replies quietly.
“That’s what this is.” Mia laces her fingers through mine. “Pure and simple trust. That’s all.”
I squeeze her hand.
“You trust Lorenzo, right? You trust me?” Mia asks.
“Of course.”
“Then trust us to know what we want.”
Kat nods, tears pricking at her eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“Mia’s welfare is your business, Kat,” I assure her.
“Yours is too,” she retorts, her brow furrowed.
“Yeah, I know.” She and the rest of my family were the only reason I managed to put one foot in front of the other for the past few years. “But I’ve got her now. You can trust me to take care of her.”
“And I’ve got him,” Mia adds with a triumphant smile.
Kat’s eyes swim with unshed tears. “I see that.” Her voice cracks on the last word and she clears her throat. “And I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
I shake my head. “You didn’t.”
“I was just worried about you both, but I can see how happy you are. And …” She swats away a rogue tear. “And I’m glad you found each other.”
I mouth thank you and she acknowledges it with a nod before leaving and closing the library door behind her.
Alone with Mia, I turn her on my lap. She straddles me and runs her fingers through my hair, a half-smile playing over her mouth as she sinks her teeth into her juicy lower lip. “You got me, do you?” I ask with an arch of one eyebrow.
Her eyes narrow. “Yes. I get to take care of you too, don’t I?”
I tilt my head to the side, eyes raking over her face and down to her beautiful tits that are pressed against my chest, but I don’t answer.
“I think we need to revisit my hard limits, Sir, because you not allowing me to take care of you is a big one.”
I pull her closer and trail soft kisses down her neck that make her squirm. “Too late now, sunshine, you’re wearing my collar,” I tease. She gasps loudly, feigning indignation as she rolls her pussy over my already hard cock.
“I might go on sub strike.” Tilting her head back, she allows me better access to her throat. I take full advantage, trailing my teeth along her sensitive skin, my lips brushing over her new neckwear.
I pull down the zipper on the back of her dress. “You’re unionized already?”
“I’m starting my own union.”
Slipping the dress off over her shoulders, I growl when it falls to her waist. “Now that I would love to see.”
“You would, huh?”
“Hmm.” Moving lower, I pull her bra down so I can toy with her hard nipples. I roll one between my finger and thumb, making her whimper and grind her pussy on me. Flicking my tongue over the other one, I bite back a smile when she moans my name. “I can just imagine the punishments I could dole out for your strike. They would make the spanking you’re about to get upstairs for your little stunt with Kat look like playtime.” I sink my teeth into her juicy flesh.
“But you thought that was funny,” she whines, pressing herself into my mouth in search of the delicious blend of pain and pleasure. “I saw you trying not to laugh.”
Fisting my hand in her hair, I tilt her head so she’s looking at me. “It was very fucking funny.” A victorious smile spreads over her face, and I can’t help but grin back at her. That smile of hers is fucking infectious. “And that’s why I’m going to let you come after I’m done punishing you.”
