It’s been five weeks of the same routine with Delilah. We get up, go to school, study, and have sex anywhere and everywhere. I’m able to lie her down or pin her against a wall. Anywhere with a fucking surface, I’m sinking my cock into her tight pussy.
It’s more than wanting a child now. It’s more than me wanting an heir, but I need to get her pregnant. I need to. I want to breed with her every morning and every night, her pussy filled to the brim with my come, so the only choice her womb has is to open up and let me in.
I thought that when I came up with the idea of having her marry me and give birth to my child, love had nothing to do with it. It was about not being alone anymore and the child, well, I wanted a son or daughter to love me. It was the one love I knew I’d be able to have without question or fight. I don’t care what anyway says; love is important for humans to function.
But then Delilah surprised me left and right, carving her name into my heart.
I want more than what we agreed upon in the contract. I want a family. Our family. We can spend the rest of our lives happy and ruling this city. She’ll be a queen, a place she deserves to be since her father couldn’t put her there.
And I haven’t forgotten I told her I loved her five weeks ago. I haven’t said it again, and she hasn’t brought it up, but I’ve been waiting for her to ask if I meant it.
I did. I do.
I love her intensely. She’s more than my wife. She’s my fucking obsession, and if anyone dares to touch her, I’ll skin them alive and use their flesh as a rug under my feet.
The thought of someone touching her has a blind, murderous rage burning inside me. I don’t regret killing Romano’s men. I hope he took the bodies being dropped in his territory as the only warning he’ll ever get. Ryan has been forthcoming about everything regarding my enemy, and with the life he has endured with Romano, it’s my job to protect him now. And when Ryan told me about Romano’s plan to kidnap my Delilah?
It sends me in an untamed fury. Only she can bring me down.
“Are you ready for your exam today?” I ask her, buttoning the tailormade shirt while she throws her hair into a messy bun.
She’s very casual compared to my expensive suits, and I love that. I love those tight leggings and baggy sweatshirts. I know what’s hiding under there, and it brings me satisfaction knowing no one else can see the curves of her body. They belong to me anyway.
“Yeah, I hope everything is okay with the professor. To cancel an exam and leave for weeks due to a family emergency couldn’t have been good. I know his mom was sick for a long time, so I wonder if she passed. That’s sad. I hope it isn’t the case.”
“You’re sweet.” I kiss her cheek, inhaling the sweetness of her skin. “But death is a process of life.”
“I know that,” she sighs, gripping the counter with two hands. “Is that how you’d feel if I died? You’d be that nonchalant about it because death is a part of life, so there’s no reason to be sad?”
“Don’t ever talk about yourself dying. It’s unacceptable, Delilah. I won’t hear of it.” I tuck my shirt in my pants and walk out of the room because I don’t want to hear more of that nonsense.
“So, someone else dying isn’t a big deal to you, but me dying is? That makes no sense, Carmine.”
I spin around so fast; I surprise her and pin her against the wall near the bathroom door. I stare into her eyes so she can see how serious I am.
“Because I don’t give a fuck about anyone else. I don’t care about your professor’s mother. I don’t care about anyone other than you, Delilah. No one else. So yes, everyone else in this world could die, but not you. Not ever you. I feel no sympathy for your professor. I feel no empathy. I do not care about him. I do not care about her. You? You are the exception, Delilah. You have broken all my rules. The death of you would kill me.”
Her breaths are hot puffs against my face. Her palms are flat against the wall, one knee bent, and that damn sweater hangs off her shoulder showing the soft skin I want to mark as mine. With ravenous need, I tug her leggings down her thighs, then spin her around. Pressing a palm between her shoulders to keep her bent over, I use my other hand to unzip my pants and free myself.
“Carmine, what are you—Oh!”
I silence her in one deep stroke, sinking into her pussy that’s still wet from last night. Wrapping her hair around my wrist, I tug her head back and press my mouth against her ear as she moans. “You aren’t allowed to ever talk about dying again, do you understand me?” I groan from the feel of her and how tight she is. I quicken my pace. “Tell me,” I sneer.
“I won’t…ever…talk about…that again.” She struggles to speak every time I fill her, giving her every inch of me.
“You are the only one who matters to me. You.” I pull my hips back and slam forward. “I’d kill everyone for you. If it meant keeping you safe, keeping you here with me, by my side, with my children.” I continue the brutal beat, her cheeks shaking with every driving force, and that fucking sweater she’s wearing drifts down her shoulder more.
I bite her there, marring her flesh before lapping at it with my tongue. She becomes wetter, her walls contracting around me, massaging the long length that’s made for her.
Circling my hand around the front of her neck, I squeeze. I don’t know why I love doing that so much. Perhaps it’s because she’s at my mercy or in my control, but I love seeing my hand as a necklace. Only her throat column could make my hands seem clean and pure. I touch heaven every time I try to get her to experience hell.
“Carmine! Carmine! Oh, God. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”
Someone could hold a gun to my head, and I wouldn’t stop. “You’re mine, Sweetling. Say it. Tell me you’re all mine.”
“Yours. Yours,” she reassures, as she meets me thrust for thrust.
“And you’ll never die,” I say, holding her to my chest. The need to feel her against me consumes me. There’s a burning in my chest, one I can’t explain because I’ve never felt it before. It’s clawing at me desperately, needing more of her than ever before.
She doesn’t say anything.
I ram into her harder, slamming her flat against the wall, then yank her head to the side. “Tell me you’ll never die.”
I bury my face in her neck, squeezing my eyes shut and gripping her hips as hard as I can. I need to engrave myself in her body. I need her to always feel me. With every thrust, I lift, sliding upward so gets more of me with every push. “Damn it, you feel so fucking good.”
I press my forehead against her shoulder. I glide my hands up her waist, grasping and clutching every part of her. Sliding her shirt up, I palm her breasts under her bra, and she whines, pressing her ass against me, meeting my strokes. “Tell me,” I beg her with a gasp. “Tell me.” I thrust. “ Tell me.” I. “I slam home. “Fucking tell me.”
She shouts her orgasm, her nails clawing at the paint on the wall.
“Delilah,” I growl my release, pushing as far as possible, holding her shoulders tight, so she bears down on me. “Fuck, yes. Take everything, Sweetling.”
She sags against the wall, and I fall against her, kissing the sweat-slicken skin of her nape. Dragging my lips across her bare shoulder, I embrace her tightly. I’m not ready to be free of her. I want to stay inside her all day, all night. I never want to leave this room.
She’s safe here. The harshness of the world can’t touch her.
“You never told me.” My voice rasps as I palm her breasts and kiss between the middle of her shoulders.
She slides out from under me, and my release drips down her thighs. Something about that uncages something primal, instinctual.
I tuck myself back in into my pants and zip up. Bending down, I tug her flimsy leggings back into place, but she stops me.
“I need to clean up.”
I watch my come slide down her freely, and that burning appears in my chest again. Skimming my fingers up her legs, gathering the white liquid, and then pushing it back inside her where it belongs.
She gasps. “Carmine. What are you doing?”
“You won’t clean up. You’ll feel me all day. I want you to know I was here. No cleaning up, Delilah.” When I’m done, I slide her leggings up her legs, settling them just above her hips.
“Carmine.” She suddenly sounds shy.
“I’ll get you pregnant one of these days, and I can’t do that if I’m not inside you, Sweetling.” I hide my smile as she blushes, her cheeks a gorgeous shade of rose. I brush my knuckles across them, loving how I can feel the heat radiating from her. “You never told me.”
She tilts her head to the side and frowns, her palm rubbing across my heart. I hold it there and take a deep breath to calm down, but I can’t. I can never seem calm when it comes to Delilah.
“Carmine, I can’t promise that, and you know it,” she says. I shake my head in complete denial of what she’s telling me. “One day, I will die, but I don’t plan on dying anytime soon. We can’t live forever.”
“I want you to live forever. With me. Always. I meant it,” I say fiercely. “No one else matters to me the way you do. I meant what I said. I am not a good man. You know that. I care about no one.”
She bites her lip, standing on her tiptoes as she wraps her arms around my neck. “But you care about me.”
“But I care about you.”
“I’m the exception,” she repeats happily.
I nod, smirking, playing with a piece of loose hair that frames her face; then, I become serious as I stare at the woman who has become my entire world in a very short time. “Yes. Yes, you are,” I state.
“I have to go. I can’t be late for my rescheduled test, Carmine.” She kisses my cheek before heading to the chair in the corner where her backpack sits. “You still can’t come?”
“I’m sorry, Sweetling. I can’t. I have business down at the docks that I have to be at. Victor will be going with you.”
“I don’t have to have someone with me, you know. I can take care of myself. I can call Christy to come to pick me up before class starts. It isn’t a big deal.”
“Absolutely not.” I throw on my blazer. “That isn’t up for discussion. I won’t risk your safety.”
“My safety is fine. You know, Ari could go with me. He’s healing, but he’s up and walking now. I’m sure he’d like to get out of the house.”
“No. I’ll never have anyone assigned to you that isn’t at one hundred percent strength. Plus, I don’t like how Ari speaks to you. He flirts. Even with warnings, he still manages to put his foot in his mouth.”
“He does it to get under your skin. He doesn’t mean a word of it. Can you imagine if he ever found anyone? I hope she doesn’t give him the time of day and gives him a run for his money.”
“Mmm, as you do me?” I slap her ass as we make our way out the door and walk down the hall. The smell of breakfast hits me instantly, and my stomach rumbles, but there’s no time to eat since I have derailed us from our schedule.
I had to have her again.
“Just like I do you.” She takes my hand as we enter the kitchen, and I watch our fingers curl in on each other. I never want to let go.
I’ve never held hands with anyone before. I don’t enjoy the attention.
But I do and I will for Delilah.
“How are you doing, Mrs. Milazzo?” Marie gathers Delilah in a hug, and I pause. I haven’t heard Delilah be called by her new last name yet, and a wild possessiveness swells inside me. “I packed your breakfast, snacks, and your lunch. I know you have a busy day today. Good luck with your exams. I’m sure you will do well.”
Ari groans from the barstool. He’s pale with dark circles under his eyes.
“Are you okay? Are you in a lot of pain?” I ask, concerned for my brother. We might fight, but we are family.
I love him.
Even if we never say it.
“I’m fine. The pain is bad today. I think I will go back, lie down and take that pain medicine. I’m trying not to take it, but I’m sore. I have a gnarly scar, though. I’m going to look so badass when I’m healed.”
“Only you would like a scar caused by a bullet and a hot poker.”
“Makes a good story for the ladies.” He tries to laugh but grimaces instead. “I hope all of you have a good day. If you don’t mind, I’ll be seeing myself out.”
“But, Mr. Ari, you need your strength. You only took a bite of toast. Sit down and eat. I’ll get your medicine. You shouldn’t take your pills on an empty stomach. I want half of that plate gone, Mr. Ari.”
Ari pouts, slouching in his seat. “Yes, ma’am.”
Matias chuckles, leaning back to watch his twin. “That woman has magical powers for us to listen so well.”
“Someone has to,” Delilah says, reaching into her bag and grabbing a blueberry muffin Marie packed for her.
“Are you ready, Mrs. Milazzo?” Victor peeks his head into the kitchen. “Good morning, Mr. Milazzo.”
In three strides, I’m standing in front of him, leaning in close so only he can hear. “If anything happens to my wife while she’s in your care, I will kill you, Victor.” I brush off a few pieces of lent on the lapels of his jacket. “I will torture you first like her missing or dead would torture me. If she comes back into my arms with one scratch, I’ll make sure you have two to match. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Milazzo. I promise nothing will happen to her. I will make sure of it.”
I study his eyes for any lies, any deceitfulness, but I find none. I also do not find any fear. I like Victor. He hasn’t ever caused me any issues. He’s never lied or flinched because he always says there was nothing to fear if the truth was told.
I liked that about him. He was honest, but I’ve known honest men who have mastered lying.
“Okay, I have to go.” Delilah rushes by me and kisses my cheek. “I love you. Bye. Have a good day. I’ll be back soon. Don’t stain that blazer with blood. I like it too much on you.” She gives me a wave with a gentle smile before rushing down the steps, and Victor follows.
I stand motionless, staring at the door as it closes. “I love you too,” I whisper too late.
I haven’t said the words again since I said them weeks ago and she didn’t respond. Now, she says them so casually as if we say them all the time.
“Love?” Matias whistles under his breath. “That’s new.”
“I think it’s great,” Ari says, dropping his toast. Marie slaps his hand with a spatula. “Ow, I’m eating. I’m doing it. God, you’re so mean,” Ari grumbles, scooping eggs into his mouth.
Marie pinches his cheeks. “Only because I love you.”
Ari’s demeanor brightens, and he smiles, eating happily as the stress leaves him. He looks like a child, looking at a woman who is like his mother. And a child would do anything to make their mother happy.
“I like how casually she said don’t get blood on your suit. It’s an interesting way to leave for the day.”
“She understands how my days go. Now, are we ready to go to the docks? We have merchandise to pick up. And we need to stop by Lucky Sevens. They haven’t given us a cut in weeks, and we know what happens when we aren’t paid.”
Matias cocks his gun and smiles. “I’m ready when you are, brother.”
“Let’s go.” I turn to leave and see Nicky on the couch, sleeping, his arm still in a sling. Alex is next to him, watching TV and keeping an eye on his best friend. I have too many men out. “Alex, you’re coming too. We need all the backup we can get.”
“Yes, Mr. Milazzo.” Alex stands, looks at Nicky, and joins us in the kitchen.
“You’ll be okay, Ari?”
“I’m fine. I’ll stay on security if you want.”
“No, just get some rest. I can’t have your focus split with the pain. We will see you when we get back.”
I turn and leave. Matias, Alex, and Gianni following after me. As I open the front door, I found a few men outside playing dice and smoking cigarettes, laughing and having a good time. I slap one of them on the back of the head. “You five are coming with me too. We are going to the docks. Make sure your weapons are ready. The Romanos won’t blindside me. We’re at war, so remember that.”
Victor took the G-Wagon, and we climbed into the Tahoe. Tinted windows and bulletproof glass protect us just as the G-Wagon does. Every car I have is equipped with safety features from top to bottom.
The ride to the docks will take about an hour. It’s out of the way and in the middle of nowhere, which is perfect because the fewer people know about it, the better.
“I hope Romano is there,” Matias says, popping his fingers as if he is ready for a fight.
I don’t want to fight, but I’m always prepared to. I don’t like Romano just as much as he doesn’t like me, but neither of us wants to lose men.
The war between us has caused us to bury too many. Now that I have Delilah, I need to be extra careful. I always want to come home to her. I’ve never had to worry about that before. Coming home during a war is a luxury and an afterthought. In this life, tomorrow isn’t promised.
But I need it to be now. I always want to come home to my wife.
I think I might need her more than she needs me.
“How much longer until we arrive?”
“Another half hour, give or take,” he says.
So we’ve been driving for thirty minutes already and I haven’t heard from my wife. I check my phone and notice Delilah hasn’t called or given me an update.
Neither has Victor.
Victor never fails to check in with me.
I try calling her cell phone, but there is no answer. It goes straight to voicemail.
“Fuck,” I curse, dialing Victor next.
No answer.
“What is it?” Matias asks from the backseat.
“Delilah isn’t answering her phone.”
“Well, she’s taking a test, right? She won’t be able to.”
That’s true, but she knows to check in with me if she’s ever without me. Maybe she forgot because I’m always with her. “But Victor didn’t answer either.”
Gianni pulls off to the side of the road and puts on the hazard lights. “Try again, and I’ll start the location search.”
He opens the middle console and pulls out a tablet, turning it on to start the software.
I try Delilah and Victor again, texting them both with no luck.
“Something is wrong,” I say, cold coiling in my gut like an icy snake. “Turn around. Go back.”
“We can’t go back. We have to go to the docks, Carmine. There’s no way around it.”
“Then call a fucking Uber to take you there because I will not have anything happen to Delilah!” I roar at my brother.
“It shows Victor’s car is two miles from the school, but Delilah’s signal is coming up differently. She’s not in her classroom.”
“What are you talking about?” I lean over just as Gianni does, holding the tablet between us.
He points to two green dots. “That’s Victor. He isn’t moving, so he can’t be driving, and this is Delilah.” Gianni moves his finger up the screen, then across it. “She’s supposed to be here. This is where her classroom is, but she’s here.”
“And where is that?” I grumble, snatching the device out of his hands to get a better look.
“According to the blueprints, it’s a basement.”
My heart stops beating, and I hold a hand against my chest as fear possesses me. This is why love is so complicated for me. Everything is different when the heart is involved. I’ll sacrifice anything for her right now to know she’s safe. This is my weakness, and she’ll forever be used against me.
“Who is staying, and who is coming?” Unbuckling my seatbelt and opening the door to get into the driver’s seat.
Everyone gets out of the car, but Matias speaks first. “I’ll go with you.”
“Me too.” Ivar lifts his hand, then cracks his knuckles. “I don’t like it when someone decides to hurt a woman.”
“Everyone else, call an Uber. I don’t care how you get to the docks; just get there. I’ll keep you updated on Delilah.” I climb into the driver’s seat, and Gianni is tapping away on his phone.
“Dimitri is on his way,” Gianni informs.
Dimitri is a dirty cop who likes to get in on the action every once in a while. I’ve tried to get him to work for me full-time as security, but he almost has his thirty years in before he can retire and have a pension. He said after that, he would take me up on my offer.
“Tell me if there are any issues at the docks. If I don’t hear from you in a few hours, I’m going to assume things went south.”
Gianni nods. “Sounds good.”
Without saying another word, I slam the door. Matias takes the front seat, and Ivar takes the back while everyone else is waiting on the side of the road for Dimitri.
Slamming on the gas, the tires squeal, and the scent of burned rubber fills the cabin of the SUV. If I get there too late, I’ll never forgive myself.
And the lack of forgiveness will fuel my need for vengeance.
