AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Includingme,” he finishes, and he grins wider.
I take a step back and bump into Julianna’s rose hedges.
“Didn’t say I’d hurt you now. Just…if orders come down the pipeline, you understand.” He flicks the cigarette butt into the ground and then stomps on it with the heel of his shoe. “But with this out, you get outta dodge. You stop sabotaging my boss, and shit can go back to normal.”
It feels wrong. Every last part of it. I’m still not breathing, still can barely form a thought. I swallow against a lump in my throat and try to blink back some tears. My heart aches at the idea of what Robby’s suggesting. How can I go through with this? I care about Gio too much. I can’t imagine my life without him anymore.
But if what Robby says is true…am I dooming myself to an early grave? Am I dragging Gio along with me?
Robby’s right about one thing. In recent weeks, Gio’s become more reckless, less cool and calculated. The emotionally detached man he was when I met him is no more. Now he’s passionate and volatile. It’s affecting him and the work he does…
“If you’re gonna go through with it,” Robby says, interrupting my thoughts, “you’ve gotta understand, it needs to be tonight. Listen to me carefully.”
Gio doesn’t say a word the entire drive home. With him quiet, I’m quiet too. We go up to his room and get ready for bed. I shower, and he doesn’t join me like he usually would. He’s preoccupied with a phone call, but when I wander into the room, he cuts the talk short and tells the other person on the line he’ll call back tomorrow.
I’m not talented at much. But one talent I’ve developed from my years of working in gentleman’s clubs is how to read customers. I can pick up on when a man is in a bad mood, when he’s feeling reckless with his money, and even when he’s preoccupied with thoughts about his wife at home.
As I approach Gio, my strut slow with a sultry sway to my hips, I know right away he’s closing himself off from me. I slide into his lap, the hem of my negligee riding up my thighs, and wrap my arms around his neck. He doesn’t kiss me, doesn’t even meet my gaze.
He keeps his attention on his phone. I go in, peppering kisses along his bearded jawline, moving downward to his throat. He loves when I play the minx role, but tonight no amount of teasing him, raking my nails down his chest, seems to do the trick.
What I don’t expect is his rage. As I boldly start teasing his ear, small little nibbles like he usually likes, his grip tightens around my hips. He pushes me off him and snaps to his feet from the desk chair. I stumble from the strength of the push, startled for a second he’d kick me off so suddenly, so forcefully.
He gives me his back, but I don’t care. Nobody treats me like I’m some nuisance. If he doesn’t want me touching him, that’s fine. I’m not going to be disrespected, though.
“If you’re pissed, then say you’re pissed!”
That does it. He turns around for a look at me.
The second Gio’s gaze connects with mine, I know I’ve done it. His eyes electrify, sending a frisson of tingles through my body. I watch as the vibrant blue of his irises darkens into a deeper shade. His expression is a chiseled one as sharp as stone as he’s never looked taller. He towers over me, a muscular mass of raw power and strength, of sin and darkness.
“Well…” I trail off, losing half my nerve. I put a hand on my hip. “Are you?”
I have no insight into what he’s thinking. The thoughts running through his head as he pins me with his intense stare. A long, seemingly never-ending second passes by with us squaring off on opposite ends. Finally, he releases a low chuckle and shakes his head.
“What?” I ask, puzzled. “What’s so funny?”
He starts for the door, but I’m not letting him go that easily. We need to sort out whatever the hell is going on. Obviously, what Robby said is true—or at least partially true. I follow him, dogging his footsteps ’til I’m within reach. I give his back a hard shove. Given our strength difference, one of my hard shoves barely makes a dent; it doesn’t even cause a single misstep.
But he does stop walking. He glances at me from over his shoulder. The reaction’s not enough, so I do it again. I rush forward and shove him as rough as I can a second time. Then I’m zooming in for a third, ready to keep shoving him ’til he pays attention. He catches me on my next attempt. His large hands snap closed around my arms with such force, for a second I’m lifted off the ground. He lets go of me just as suddenly, and I wobble a few steps back.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” he asks in a tone that’s low and dangerous.
“I’m wondering the same! If you’ve got something on your mind, why don’t you tell me?”
“You want to know?”
“Yeah, I wanna know!”
“No, you don’t—”
“TELL ME!” I scream, losing a handle on my temper. It doesn’t matter how petite I am, how he outweighs and outsizes me two to one. Right now, I’m as fucking ferocious as any other raging animal in the animal kingdom, snarling and snapping.
Gio doesn’t grant my request. He spends another long moment staring at me, his gaze unyielding and intense, and then he strides toward me. With his long legs, he closes the gap between us in less than a second. I don’t have time to react. His hand flies out and he grips my throat, pushing me backward. I hit the wall, my spine colliding hard against it.
Before I can process what’s happening, he kisses me. He smashes his lips to mine, his grip tightening around my throat. Air cut off and head spinning, I’m submerged into a pool of desire as soon as I taste his warm lips. It burns through my body like a wildfire, setting me aflame.
My sex throbs as I gasp against his mouth for air. But he shows no mercy, his grip on my throat tightening. The tips of my toes leave the ground in my struggle to regain some control. He doesn’t allow it, his mouth traveling to my ear. He nips and tugs and whispers, “Tell me who you belong to.”
