“I know you don’t follow the Famiglia’s bloody sheets tradition, but I thought it was a nice touch.”
Adamo grimaced and his car crashed into the wall. Savio had stopped playing altogether.
There was silence on the other end. “There are rules in our world. We don’t attack children and women.”
“Funny that you say that. When your soldiers attacked my territory, they fired at my thirteen-year-old brother. You broke those fucking rules first, so stop the bullshit.”
Adamo’s eyes widened, and he glanced down at his tattoo.
“You know as well as I do that I didn’t give the order to kill your brother, and he’s alive and well.”
“If he weren’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, Dante. I would have killed every fucking person you care about, and we both know there are so many to choose from.”
“You have people you don’t want to lose either, Remo. Don’t forget that.”
Savio and Adamo watched me, and it took considerable effort to keep my fury at bay. “I thought the sheets might have made you see reason, but I see that you want Serafina to suffer a bit more.”
I hung up. After a couple of heartbeats, my phone rang again, but I ignored it.
“I take it Dante isn’t willing to cooperate yet,” Savio said with a grin.
Adamo shook his head, pushed to his feet, and stormed upstairs.
Savio rolled his eyes. “For a few days he’s been almost tolerable. I suppose that’s over now.”
I stood, switched the phone to silent mode, and shoved it into my pocket. “I’ll have a word with him.”
“Good luck,” Savio muttered.
I didn’t bother knocking before I stepped into Adamo’s room. My eyes scanned the floor, which was littered with dirty clothes and pizza boxes. I walked toward the window and flung it open to get rid of the horrid stench.
“Why don’t you clean your room?”
Adamo hunched over in front of the computer at his desk. “It’s my room and I don’t mind. I didn’t invite you to come in.”
I walked up to him and tapped against his tattoo. “You’d do well to show me respect.”
“As my older brother or my Capo?” Adamo muttered, jutting his chin out.
“Both.”
“For what you did to Serafina, you don’t deserve my respect.”
“What did I do?”
He frowned. “You forced her?”
I brought our faces closer. “Did I?”
“You didn’t?”
“Are we going to keep exchanging questions? Because it’s getting annoying.”
“But you slept with her,” Adamo said in confusion.
“I did,” I said. “But she wanted it.”
“Why?”
I laughed. “Ask her.”
“Do you think she’s in love with you?”
My muscles tautened. “Of course not. ” Love was a delirious game for fools, and Serafina was many things but not a fool.
“I like her.” Adamo regarded me almost hopefully. I wondered when our world would rid him of the last shreds of his innocence.
“Adamo,” I said sharply. “I kidnapped her so she could serve the purpose of getting revenge on the Outfit. She won’t stay so don’t get attached.” He shrugged. Sighing, I touched his head then left.
Oh, Serafina.
I headed toward my wing, but instead of continuing to my room, I stopped in front of Serafina’s door. I knew Dante would agree to give me Scuderi any day now. I unlocked the door and entered. Serafina was curled up on her side, reading a book. She put it down when I closed the door and walked toward her.
She frowned. “Just because I slept with you once—”
“Twice,” I corrected.
“Just because I’ve slept with you twice doesn’t mean I’ll sleep with you whenever you feel like it.”
I sank down beside her. “Is that so?” I trailed my fingertips over her exposed arm. Goose bumps rose on her skin.
“I’m too sore. I think last time was too much,” she admitted, her cheeks turning pink.
My fingers halted on her collarbone. “Do you need to see a doctor?”
“It’s not that bad.” She narrowed her eyes a tad. “Are you concerned for me?”
Ignoring her question, I said, “I didn’t come for sex anyway.”
“What did you come for, then?”
If only I knew. I removed my gun and knife holster and dropped it to the floor beside the bed before I stretched out next to her and propped my head up on my hand.
“Don’t tell me you’ve come to cuddle,” she said.
My mouth twitched. “I’ve never cuddled with a woman.”
“You did today.”
I considered that. I’d held her in bed after sex, had watched her sleep in my arms. “I was only there to make sure you didn’t drown in self-pity.”
“Sure,” she muttered. “You said you never cuddled with a woman. Do you make a habit of cuddling with men, then?”
I chuckled and slid my hand into her hair. She leaned into the touch ever so slightly. I wasn’t sure she noticed. “I don’t anymore.” At the questioning lift of her eyebrow, I continued. “I used to cuddle with Adamo and Savio when they were really small.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Sorry. I can’t see it. Considering how exhausting small kids can be, I’m surprised you didn’t end up killing them.”
My fingers twitched but I restrained my anger. “They are my brothers, my flesh and blood. I’d die before I ever hurt them.” I fell silent.
Serafina was quiet too. “I don’t understand you, Remo Falcone.”
“You aren’t supposed to.”
“I’m perceptive. Before you know it, you’ll reveal more to me than you want.”
I feared she was right. A chess piece. A means to an end. That was all Serafina could ever be. Nothing more.
My smile turned cruel. “Serafina, I know losing your virginity to me makes you think we share a special bond. But two fucks don’t make you anything special to me. I’ve fucked so many women. One pussy is like any other. I took something from you, and now you want to justify it with fucking emotional bullshit.”
She stiffened but then gave me a cunning smile of her own. Her fingers curled over my neck, and she pressed her forehead against mine like I had done before. “You took something from me, true, but you’re not the only one doing the taking. Maybe you don’t see it yet, but with every bit you take from me, you’re giving me a bit of yourself in return, Remo, and you will never get it back.”
I harshly claimed her mouth and rolled on top of her, pressing her into the mattress with my weight. “Don’t,” I snarled into her ear. “Don’t think you know me, Angel. You know nothing. You think you’ve seen my darkness, but the things you haven’t seen are so pitch black no fucking light on this earth can penetrate them.”
“Who’s not brave now?” she whispered.
I shook with anger. I wanted to fuck my rage out of my system. Wanted to hurt. Wanted to break something. I moved down her body and shoved her nightgown up then ripped her thong down her legs.
“I told you I’m sore,” she said softly.
Fuck, why did she have to sound so vulnerable in that moment? What the fuck was she doing to me? I pushed her legs apart. She didn’t stop me despite the tension in her limbs. Taking a deep breath, I lowered myself to my stomach, resting between her thighs.
Her body softened immediately when she realized I wasn’t going to hurt her. I jerked her toward my mouth, and she winced. I softened my lips against her folds, and soon she was writhing and moaning, her legs falling open, trusting, and fuck, it was better than any rage fucking had ever been. I took my time, enjoying the way she allowed herself to surrender to pleasure. My fingertips traced the soft flesh of her inner thigh, the relaxed muscles there. No sign of tension or fear.
She came with a beautiful cry, her body arching up, giving me a prime view of her gorgeous nipples. I trailed kisses up her body until I reached her lips. “You’re all about giving and taking. I gave you my mouth. How about you giving me yours now?”
“You can have my hand, no more,” she said firmly.
“I want to come down your throat, not in your hand.”
She held my gaze. “You can have my hand or nothing.”
“The last time a woman gave me a hand job, I was fourteen. After that I came in a mouth, pussy, or ass.”
“I’m not like them, Remo.”
No, she wasn’t. Serafina was everything. Cunning and strong. Loyal and fierce. She could have been Capo if women were allowed that place in our world.
I rolled on to my back and crossed my arms behind my head. Serafina sat up. She tried to mask her inexperience, but her nerves shone through when she fumbled with my belt. I didn’t help her. My cock was already painfully hard when she pulled it out of my briefs. Her touch was too soft as she stroked me, but I enjoyed watching her. Soon she found the right pressure and tempo, and I reached down between her legs and drew small figure eights along her clit and folds. When Serafina began shaking with the force of her orgasm, and her hand tightened around my dick, my own release overwhelmed me, and I came like a fucking teenager all over my stomach.
I used her thong to clean my stomach despite her frown. Then I pulled her down against me. She was stiff but eventually she put her head down on my shoulder.