The elevator opens. I walk over to the apartment door.
Nope. I need to get that shit out of my head. This is a job, and it’s time to be professional. I take a breath and open the door. Instantly I groan.
Goddamnit goddamnit. There’s a trail of clothing across the floor from her room to the bathroom door. The bathroom door that is halfway open, with steam from a hot shower billowing out. I can fucking hear her humming to herself in there. Naked, and wet.
“Is that you, Dominic?”
I grit teeth. Be strong. Be fucking strong.
“Dooooominiiic,” she calls in a sing-song voice. She’s doing what she does best: being a little brat. She’s teasing me. She’s trying to provoke me. And it’s about to fucking work.
“Dominic, I dropped the soap! Can you get it for me?” she giggles.
I don’t care if she’s legitimately trying to seduce me or just playing mind games at this point. I’m not going to play along.
“I’m not playing this game!” I bark.
“Ugh, okay! Fine! How about a towel, then?”
I stride into my bedroom and slam the door shut. Salvestro’s words echo in my head.
Yeah, I’m a dead man.
12
Lucia
Maybe I’m just used to getting what I want. Maybe I am the spoiled mob princess I like to say I’m not. Or maybe, for the first time in my life, I just know exactly what I want. And what I want is him.
Dominic stays in his room for the first half of the morning. I kill time with the TV and my phone. I check the Connect app about a hundred times. I’m losing my mind. I’m also still incredibly turned on from this morning and wanting him badly.
Okay, so sneaking into his room to do… that wasn’t maybe the best idea. Or maybe it was. I blush when I remember opening his bedroom door. I remember slipping over to his bed and peeling back the sheets. I’m not sure what I was trying to do. Maybe just tease him? Or wake him up by screaming in his room or something bitchy like that.
But when I pulled back the sheets and realized he was naked; it all just sort of happened. He was naked and totally hard. And that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
A knock on my door makes me gasp. My naughty, X-rated thoughts slip away. “What?” I mutter.
“I’m going for a run.”
“Good for you.”
I can hear him mutter something under his breath. “Look, I’ve got a guard posted at the apartment door. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“I don’t need a guard!”
“Yeah, you do.”
I hear him walk away, then the front door open and close. I poke my head out of my room. The apartment is empty. I walk over to the door and open it. A giant of a man who looks like he fought a metal fence with his face turns to look at me.
“Do you need anything, Ms. Scaliami?”
“Uh, no. Thanks.” I slip back inside and frown. Damnit. I walk over to the couch by window and slump onto it. My thoughts go back to this morning. I replay when I pulled back the sheets. I just stared at his erection. I crawled onto the bed for a closer look, and then… well? Then I just went for it.
And God, did it feel electrifying. Making a man moan like that, with just my mouth and hands? It was exhilarating. It was a rush. And then he woke up and the whole thing went to hell.
Warmth creeps through my body when I replay the morning. I blush and squeeze my thighs together. I tremble a little. I want to tell myself that I’m still not sure if I just want what I want, or if I actually want Dom. But I know the answer.
It’s him. I just want him. And I think that’s a big problem.
I’m on my laptop on the couch when the door opens. Dominic steps in wearing shorts, running shoes, and a hoodie. He’s red-faced from the run and the cold air outside. He peels his hoodie off. His shirt rides up when he does, giving me a flash of abs, hip grooves, and powerful chest.
God, he looks freaking delicious. And by now, my mind is made up. This isn’t about getting what I want for the sake of getting what I want. This is getting what I want because he’s all I want.
I put the laptop down. I stand and walk slowly towards him. I’m at least being somewhat subtle. It’s not like I’ve been waiting for him in lingerie, or naked. But I am dressed to kill, and I know it. A slightly too short sundress, a button too many open. My hair teased perfectly. My lips glistening. No bra.
Dominic looks up. He growls, like actually growls, when he sees me stalking towards him.
“No,” he grunts. He shakes his head. “Don’t you start that.”
I smile. “Start what?” I keep walking until I’m right in front of him. Dominic growls again. He looms over me, his face hard.
“No,” he snarls. He’s rougher this time. He’s gruff and growly. And it turns me on even more. “I won’t touch you, Lucia.”
I purse my lips. “Why, because of my grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“Or because you’d be the first.”
His face hardens. Desire burns in his dark eyes. I tremble, wanting him so badly.
“Stop it.”
“What?”
“Lucia, stop it. That’s just something girls…”
I roll my eyes. “What, that’s just something girls say?”
He shrugs. “You tell me.”
I laugh coldly. “Do girls say that to you, Dom?” My voice drops sarcasm. “Oh please, Dom!” I whimper in a high-pitched voice. “Please, Dom! Go slow! It’s my first time!” I snicker. “Is that what they say to you, Dominic?”
He smiles thinly. “You did.”
I glare at him. Okay, it’s true, I walked right into that.
“And that’s why you won’t?”
“That and your grandfather putting a bullet through my head if I laid a finger on you.”
“I think you laid more than a finger,” I mutter.
He glares at me. He shakes his head, turns, and strides for his room.
“Are you forgetting a little detail here?” I snap at his back. He pauses in the doorway.
“Which one is that, Lucia?” he grunts.
I scowl and raise my hand up. “That we are married!?”
Dominic whirls. I honestly can’t tell if the look on his face is fury or lust. The combination and not knowing which makes me tremble. It makes my core melt.
“Take that off.”
“Take yours off!” I yell back.
“Can’t,” he growls. “I’ve tried.”
“Well so have I!” I snap back. “I don’t know how the fuck we got them on in the first place!”
He groans and rubs the bridge of his nose. “We’ll deal with it.”
“What? The marriage, or the ring?”
“Both, Lucia.” He sighs heavily. His shirt is sleeveless, and I can’t help but let my eyes wander all over his muscled arms.
“Look I don’t know what your fucking game is here—”
“My game!?” I stare at him incredulously. Why is it he’s even more attractive when he’s infuriating? “And what game is that, Dom?”