“Indeed.” He exhaled, still panting. “That is an accurate exclamation for the way my cum is dripping out of you.”
My jaw dropped momentarily before I focused again. “There is so much blood. So much mess. I’ll clean it, let me get something?—”
Milan gripped my wrist and forced me back onto the chaise, his eyes containing what would beloveif he knew what that felt like. “You will sit down and not move. I will return, and you will still be here, yes?”
I didn’t know if I nodded. I only knew that he was going to look after me.
My eyes fluttered closed, aware of a gentle breeze from a newly opened window, and the sound of another adjacent door being creaked open. I moaned when a warm cloth cleaned and soothed the sore throb between my thighs and I was dragged into Milan’s lap, his body still and safe.
“Are you okay?” I croaked, nestling my head against his heart.
He cupped my head against his chest. “Are you?”
“I asked you first.”
“I am only well if you are.” He kissed my forehead, rocking me slightly. “Was I too rough with you?”
“No,” I said instantly through a yawn. “I think I’m a psycho. I liked it.”
His chuckle was a lullaby, the purest, deepest one that soothed my soul. “Your dark side is safe with me, angel.”
“I’m sorry about the mess. I know it bothers you.” I was so tired that I wasn’t sure if the words had been said aloud.
A deep kiss, one that almost hurt, was pressed to my jaw as he lowered me to the pillow. “Your mess is not mess. I have come to understand that anything you do is logically sound becauseyoudid it, and you are a strict requirement for my existence.” His voice began to drift far away as he said, “I think I-I know that I feel—for you—” He groaned, somewhat frustrated. “Please do not leave me without you.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Milan.”
There was a pause, but his breathing grew heavy, like his lungs were burning, like he was ready to extinguish that flame.
“Milan?”
“I am not a Lucca, and therefore neither are you,” he said quickly, suddenly, almost desperately. “My true father’s name is Stefano Fera, and I unrightfully claimed the Lucca inheritance, and—” He paused, only continuing when he inhaled deeply. “And I am the reason my mother is dead.”
18
MILAN
My body and brain hurt.
Sicily’s new studio was a mess of blood and cum and there were clothes scattered over the floor, but the mess did not matter.
I had told her everything that I had been bound not to. I told her because I had almost confessed what I felt deep inside, and I could not do that without her knowing me in my entirety, choosing me despite everything I had done.
And she had.
Sicily had passed out in my arms, both of us soaked in tears that I had not shed since I was a child, as I carried her to my bedroom. I had bathed her, cradled her against my chest as I washed every curl on her head and every inch of her body like she was sacred.Touching Sicily was a blessing, something that I did not deserve, but having her trust me enough to let me break her and now fall asleep in my arms caused me a smile that I felt throughout my entire body.
Sicily did not wake as I tucked her into my bed, inmyclothes, and told her unconscious form that she would never be leaving it again.
And then, though it pained me to do so, I left her alone to sleep.
I was covered in scratches and bruises, yet I was experiencing the intense urge to hum, drink coffee, and find Adriano. That was what ordinary people would consider to be happiness, sated lust, and peace, and that pleasurable experience lasted until I reached his bedroom door opposite my own, and threw it open, finding my Consigliere pressed into his mattress by the former Capo dei Capi of the Outfit.
Adriano’s room was certainly not as orderly as mine, but I had always thought Adriano’s spaces were warmer than my own. He had similar tastes to Sicily with his illogical choices of mismatched colors, navy bedsheets, and cream curtains, and I regretted any previous occasion that I had stated it was odd.
The sight before me, however,wasodd, and my eyebrows rose at the act I was witnessing.
This was an unexpected turn of events, but one that was somewhat fascinatingly deviant from Adriano’s standard behavior. He had never snuck anyone into the house before and had always informed me if he planned on bringing sexual partners home.
