Page 164 of The Art of Ruin

I go to unhook my bra, but he stops me. “No, push the cups of your bra down and show me.”

Something about that feels dirty and sordid. Him fully dressed and me not naked but half-dressed and disheveled. My clit pulses with need as I do as he asked.

“So fucking beautiful. I could come from just looking at you.”

A whimper leaves my lips, my whole body desperate to make him fall apart. I bob my head as my other hand works between my legs to give myself some relief.

“Casey, look at me.”

I look up and he’s watching with so much heat I almost combust.

“Make yourself come as you suck my cock and keep your eyes on me as you do it.”

Normally I’d be too shy to look at someone and do that, but he makes me feel a hundred feet tall. My gaze is glued to his gorgeous dark eyes as I use one hand on my pussy and the other to pump the base of his cock.

I watch his expression change as his hips begin to move more. My climax is building and I can feel the familiar pleasure ripple through me.

“I’m close, Tesoro. Where do you want it?”

I pull back and pump his cock as I rub my clit. I point his cock at my tits and he groans, his length thickening in my hand as his seed lands on my breasts in warm jets. The feeling of his hot come on my skin makes me come and I moan as I ride my hand. I feel his fingers on the mess he made on my breasts. His finger and thumb tweaking my hard nipples.

Before I can stand, he swings me into his arms and kisses me hard. His tongue dominates me in the way I love. Adi kisses like he’s declared war sometimes, and I fucking love it.

“You, Tesoro, are the biggest surprise of my life and I have no idea what I did to deserve you.”

26.Casey

By early March,my life is feeling lighter in ways I don’t notice immediately. I laugh easier, I smile constantly. I stop walking around like I’m waiting for someone to pull the rug out from under me. My confidence in myself is returning, and that feels good.

I sleep through the night more often than not because Adriano’s body is usually wrapped around mine by morning, warm and solid and steady enough to quiet parts of me I didn’t even realize had been anxious for years.

Letty has started automatically reaching for my hand whenever the three of us walk somewhere together, and the way Adriano looks at me when that happens makes me feel like I belong here. He doesn’t even try to show any restraint around me; his hand is always reaching for me, keeping me close. It’s like, since that first night, he’s stopped trying to hide that gentler, loving part of himself from me.

I should probably find it terrifying how fast we’ve settled into this, how fast I’ve let this family claim me when I promised myself I was done with men. Instead, I find myself wondering when exactly he became the first person I want to tell things to.

It’s dangerous. Being this happy always is. It’s like our brains forget to look for the threat. Maybe that’s why I don’t notice the black SUV parked across the street when I first leave the brownstone that afternoon.

I only wanted to grab a few things for dinner. I’m making braciole, and I need pine nuts and more pecorino for the filling. Elena gave me the recipe after she made it for us a few weeks ago.

Adriano is still at work. He works long hours but he’s always home to have dinner with Letty and put her to bed, even if it means he has to work on the couch in the evenings. I admire that about him so much. He puts his daughter before everything and it only makes me fall for him more.

Letty’s at dance class with Elena. Elena apparently is trying to persuade Rossi to take ballroom classes with her. I think there might be a wedding on the cards soon, but they keep denying it. Something about the way Rossi’s face pinks up when I mention it, though, makes me feel like I’m going to be buying a hat soon.

I snuggle deeper into my coat; the city feels softer today somehow. Manhattan is wrapped in pale sunlight instead of snow for once, and for the first time in weeks, my body feels fully mine again.

No pain, no exhaustion dragging behind me, just lightness.

I’m halfway back from the market, one paper bag balanced against my hip while I fish for my phone inside my coat pocket, when someone steps directly into my path.

My entire body jolts instinctively as I drop my bag to the ground.

I go to yell at the rude person blocking my way but freeze before the words leave my lips.

Jasper.

For one disorienting second, my brain refuses to catch up properly with what I’m seeing. Because he doesn’t look likehimself anymore. The last time I saw him, he still looked polished, controlled. Expensive coat, perfect hair. That carefully crafted, charming businessman image he wore like armor.

Now?