“Hey.” Adriano took a step forward, and Alessa answered it by taking a step back. “What is up with you?”
Alessa shrugged. “It’s been settled. I’m going to have to marry Dean Artino. The engagement and wedding date isn’t official, but I’m sure Joel will be an asshole and send an invitation to your father. I wanted you to find out from me and not someone else through the grape vine.”
Air cut through Adriano’s lungs with a searing burn. A ball of rage and possessiveness swirled in his midsection hard and fast, threatening to take him under with the current. Alessa was, and always had been,
his
.
Like fuck was he going to hand her off to some useless bastard like Dean Artino.
Over his dead body.
It wouldn’t happen.
“No,” Adriano said in a growl, stepping closer to her.
Alessa blinked up at him. “W-what?”
“No. You’re not marrying
Dean
.”
“I don’t think you understand, Adriano.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly fucking well.” Adriano couldn’t help but notice how Alessa didn’t back off the closer he came. Once they were toe-to-toe under the willow tree, she had to look up at him to hold his gaze. “I get it, but it’s not happening.”
Alessa’s tongue peeked out to wet her lips. “Right now, it’s just the promise of an engagement between Dean and me soon, but Joel assured me the wedding would happen within the next few months. I don’t get a choice and it’s not fair to you, so let me do what I have to. Okay?”
“No.”
“Adriano—”
“No,” he repeated darkly.
The pressure building in his gut only seemed to grow in intensity until it was spilling into his chest. A sudden surge of anger and jealousy danced hand in hand. Adriano was three seconds away from hunting the Artinos down and killing them all.
“Scum,” Adriano said, barking out a laugh.
“Who?”
“Dean and his dumbass father,” he explained. “Fucking cowards. They’re the worst kind because they wait until people are weak and then they strike. They use the pain and vulnerability of others to propel themselves upward. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have a fucking chance in hell of getting higher by their own hand—no, they have to break everyone else’s backs on the way up. Fuck them.”
They didn’t get to take what was his.
Alessa wasn’t theirs.
Dean wasn’t fucking
worthy
.
Adriano would
kill
.
“I’ll be okay,” she said softly. “You know that.”
Those six words broke whatever control Adriano had. She wouldn’t
be okay
without him. Alessa couldn’t be okay with anybody but him because nobody gave a fuck about her like he did.
Like a bolt of lightning had struck right under his feet, Adriano moved fast to close the last three inches keeping him from Alessa. He grabbed her wrists in both his palms and yanked her hard into his body. Alessa stumbled in her flats, but Adriano kept her upright with his hand to her lower back.
She stood inches shorter than him, short enough that he always had to bend down whenever he wanted to taste her mouth, but he never cared. He liked that she was short and small to his much taller and more muscular frame. It let Adriano feel like he was her protector in some crazy way.
His mouth crashed down on hers with punishing force. Alessa’s eyes widened right along with her soft lips, letting Adriano spear his tongue into her heat. Their teeth and tongues scraped and tangled as he kissed her harder, deeper. With every strike of his tongue along hers, Alessa melted into his embrace a little more until he could feel her body giving out under the weight of their kiss.
Adriano let her fall, holding her all the while. Alessa grabbed onto his gray T-shirt and pulled him closer. He fisted his hands into her hair, tasted her flavor burst along his palate, and watched the blues of her eyes darken as her knees hit the ground.
On her knees looking up, Alessa exhaled heavily. Adriano was leaning down with his fingers still firmly tangled in her hair. He used one hand to cup her cheek before driving it down over her racing pulse point on her neck.
Alessa shivered. “
God
.”
“You know it has got be something fucking good to take you to your knees, Lissa.”
She whined under her breath, sweet and needy. “That’s not fair. You never play fair with me. You always win.”
“Because you’re mine,” he murmured.
“I can’t be yours.”
“Too bad.”
Alessa’s lashes fluttered as Adriano ran his hand down her neck again. He kept his other hand firmly seated in her hair, keeping her in place. She trusted him. He didn’t know how to hurt her.
Wetness coated Alessa’s bottom lashes, but she didn’t try to wipe the tears away. Adriano bent down again and kissed her softer the second time.
“I’ll be okay,” she whispered as he pulled away.
“No, you won’t,” Adriano muttered.
Alessa swallowed hard. “Probably not.”
“You’re not his. You’re not marrying him.”
“No,” she agreed.
“And why not?”
Adriano waited, still and quiet. He let Alessa have her time and boundaries. He let her build as many walls as she needed around her heart to keep him from reaching too deep. He took his goddamn time with her so that she knew exactly what she wanted.
There was no mistaking anything about them. She wanted him.
“Why not, Alessa?” Adriano repeated. “Tell me.”
“Because I love you. And I have for a long time.”
Adriano tugged Alessa back to her feet. He held tight to her face, refusing to let her go. Tilting her head back so he could stare down into those wide eyes of hers, he found home.
“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to hear you say that?” he asked gruffly.
“A long time.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know what to do about Joel,” Alessa admitted.
“I’ll figure something out,” he said thickly.
“I missed you.”
“I didn’t chase off the jerk, huh?”
Alessa laughed. “Dean is such an asshole.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“And he kept … touching me,” Alessa practically spat out.
Adriano burned red hot inside. “Touched you?”
“All night at the dinner. And I heard Joel talking to them when I came back from the bathroom. Dean was trying to convince him to let me live with him before we’re even actually engaged. I can’t do that, Adriano. I would rather die.”
“Don’t say that,” Adriano demanded, letting his thumb trail along her bottom lip. “Never say that.”
“He’s a pig!”
“
Hush
.” Adriano pulled her into his embrace and let Alessa bury her face in his chest. Holding her close was better. “It won’t happen. I’ll make sure of it.”
Adriano simply needed a plan. There was only one place he could go to make it all happen: his father.
“But my brother and the Outfit—”
Adriano shook his head, quieting Alessa’s rebuttal instantly. “Needs a new boss. It won’t be Joel.”
Especially not after Joel tried to light Adriano up with the shooting. Adriano decided not to mention that to Alessa. She didn’t need to know, for one thing. And for another, there was no absolute proof it was Joel. Like the coward he was, Joel wouldn’t admit a damn thing. He liked letting other people take the blame.
Alessa blew out a heavy breath, looking up at him again. “Did your father do it? Terrance, I mean.”
Adriano lifted one shoulder in response. “He says no.”
“Why do I hear a
but
in there somewhere?”
“Because I don’t believe him, Lissa.”
Alessa’s face fell. “Oh.”
Adriano hated the pain on Alessa’s pretty features. It was like a knife to his gut, opening up his insides for the world to see. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t make it any better. I don’t entirely trust my father, either.” Adriano scowled, wishing he had a different option when it came to getting help for Alessa. “He’s playing some kind of game I don’t want to be a part of.”
“I know he’s angry about your mom.”
Adriano scoffed. “No, he isn’t. He plays that part well, but it’s just a front. You can’t believe or trust anyone in this business, Alessa. Especially not my father.”
Alessa spread her hands wide over Adriano’s broad chest. “I don’t want to talk about all of this right now. You’re here and that’s what matters.”
Adriano grinned. “Oh?”
“Very.”
“I’m still pissed,” he said honestly.
Alessa nodded. “I know.”
And if Dean touched Alessa again …
Adriano shuddered with his rage, unable to hide it.
“Hey,” Alessa whispered sweetly, her fingers skipping over his clenching jaw. “I know that look, Adriano.”
Chuckling, he asked, “Do you?”
“All too well.” Alessa flashed a quick smile. “Don’t be jealous.”
“I can’t help it. And that man doesn’t understand the word no.”
Alessa glanced away. “I’ll handle him.”
“Somehow, right?”
“Somehow,” she echoed.
Fuck
.
Leaning up on the tips of her toes, Alessa pressed a kiss to Adriano’s mouth. It was fast and fleeting, but it still woke up every nerve in his body. His cock ached under his jeans. The need to have this girl all over him thrummed hard and deep.
“Kiss me like that again,” Alessa whispered. “You’re right. It’s always best when you put me on my knees.”
“Dirty girl.” Adriano smirked. “Is that all you want?”
“We’ll see.”
Adriano pushed against the small of Alessa’s back, driving her into him. He kissed her, stealing kisses before she gave them, and turned them around to walk her backward. She tasted like sin on his tongue, just like always.
Alessa broke the kiss just as her back hit the trunk of the willow. “What—” Her question abruptly cut off as his hands drove under the skirt of her flimsy dress. The sound of her gasp melted into a low, airless moan when Adriano fisted her panties and yanked them down around her thighs.
“Jesus Christ,” she said, laughing. “You’re impatient.”
“I don’t like waiting, Lissa.”
“I know. You never did.”
Alessa spread her legs wider. Her thighs shook, but Adriano wasn’t sure if that was because of him or her nerves. Cupping her bare pussy in his palm, he could feel her juices seeping onto his hand. She was soaked and hot to the touch. Her sex felt like warm satin against his skin. He squeezed the supple, wet flesh.
“Shit, you want me bad, Alessa.”
“So bad.”
“So wet,” he murmured against her lips.
Alessa sighed the sexiest sound as he swept two fingers through the lips of her pussy, dragging her wetness up to her clit. “For you, always.”
“Just me, pretty girl.”
Adriano caught her first cry with his lips and muffled the sound as he circled her clit with light strokes. Alessa’s second cry whispered over his jaw when he teased his fingers down to her entrance and thrust inside to find her wetter than ever and clenching hard around his digits.
“Fuck, Adriano.”
“Mmm. Love that,” he said through gritted teeth.
Alessa’s teeth bit down into her bottom lip. Her hips canted into his hand over and over, meeting every plunge of his fingers. He could feel her arousal coating his digits and smearing to her thighs. He loved seeing her pussy sticky and slick with her come. The sounds of her juices and pussy sucking his fingers in for more was fucking glorious. Spreading his fingers wide on the withdrawal, he could feel her tremble a little more.
“Love that,” Adriano repeated. “My name in your mouth, Alessa. That’s all I ever need to hear—all I ever
want
to fucking hear. No one else does this for you, hmm. Just me.”
“You,” she breathed.
He was the only one who had ever touched this girl. Adriano knew it. He didn’t need Alessa to confirm it. Nobody had her, knew her sounds and tastes and the way she fucked like he did.
Catching her wrists in his palm, Adriano pinned Alessa’s arms on the tree high above her head. She tilted her head back, exposing the pale expanse of her neck to him. He bit and licked a line up her neck, over her racing pulse and up to her jaw.
“Don’t you move,” Adriano ordered.
Alessa swallowed hard, nodding. “Okay.”
“Let me fuck this beautiful pussy of yours with my fingers, stay still, and I’ll give you everything you need.”
Alessa watched him under her thick lashes as he nipped her jaw. “
Mmm
.”
“Do you want to come?” he asked huskily.
“Yes.”
“Hmm?”
“Please, Adriano,” she pleaded.
His strokes inside her pussy had been gentle, teasing touches meant to work Alessa higher and closer to coming. Adriano liked nothing better than seeing her squirm and moan under his want. He knew her body and what she liked. He knew exactly how to touch Alessa to make her stutter, shake, and come undone in seconds.
Alessa was sex on legs to Adriano. Pure sin. When she was chasing her orgasm, the girl just didn’t give a damn. She was wild in her movements, frantic in her chase. She rode his hand as hard as he fucked her with it.
“There,” Adriano said, curling his fingers with the next thrust. He knew the spot inside her walls and hit it perfectly. The next stroke of his fingers over her G-spot had her juices soaking him even more. “Right there, Lissa. Christ, feel you holding me so fucking tight.”
Alessa’s eyes flew wide. “Oh!”
“Get it, Lissa,” Adriano urged gruffly. “Let go for me, give it to me. I want your come all over my hand, covering me.
Come
.”
She came hard with her teeth clenching and her fingernails digging into his palm. Adriano caught her broken shout with his mouth, swallowing the sweet sounds she made as the walls of her sex shuddered around his fingers.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Adriano groaned, loving the feeling of Alessa.
It never got old.
Nothing with her ever did.
Alessa’s chest heaved with her heavy breaths. “I bet I look like a fucking mess right now.”
Her hair was mussed, her lips pink from his kisses, and her dress crinkled from his handling.
“No, you look sexy as fuck,” Adriano said.