“Tino, please.”
“No, Tessa. I’m not going anywhere. If you need to cry, I’ll still hold you. If you need to scream, I will listen but that’s it. I can’t be what you need anymore and I’m sorry for that. I wish I could.” I step toward him but he throws his hand up to stop me. With my mouth hanging open, I turn my anger on Enzo. This is his fault. He narrows his eyes as if I’m going to challenge him but I don’t. Instead, I walk past him, slamming my shoulder into his as I go. I storm down the hallway and into his room, slamming the door behind me. Is this where I belong? Is this what my life has become? Am I truly his?
The door cracks open as I curl into myself in the middle of the bed. I hear it close before feeling the bed dip before his hands wrap around me.
“Why are you doing this?” I whisper softly.
“I want to keep you, Tessa.”
“Why Enzo? I’m nobody.”
“Not to me you aren’t. You don’t see yourself the way others see you. You see yourself as the lost and broken girl that asshole left you to be but that isn’t what I see,” he says, his lips brushing over my ear lobe. Swallowing hard, I ask the question that has been bothering me.
“What do you see?”
“I see a woman that has sacrificed herself for others. A woman that has found her own way through life. A woman that is smarter than she lets everyone believe but most of all, I see you.” Tears slip down my cheeks when he kisses my neck. I shudder, pressing myself into his arms.
“What do you want from me?” I whisper through the pain, the ache in my chest.
“Everything. I want everything.” Enzo rolls me over onto my back, hovering over me. His lips come down on mine gently as he kisses me. I’ve never felt him like this before. So soft, gentle. His tongue slowly parts my lips as he deepens the kiss. Each swipe of his tongue is pure pleasure as he presses his body into me. I moan as I arch my back, needing to feel him closer than he already is.
“Enzo,” I say his name on a pant when he pulls away and looks at me. His hand comes up and brushes my hair away from my face.
“All you have to do is tell me what you want, Tessa. I will give you anything.”
“You. I just want you.” I don’t need to say anything further. Enzo pulls back, pulling his clothes off. I sit up on my elbows, watching him as he unbuttons his shirt. The way he keeps his eyes on me, the way the heat sizzles through the air. I never thought I would feel this. Not after what happened to me. The darkness tugs at the edge of my vision. I can feel myself slipping when Enzo grabs my ankles and pulls me across the bed.
“Where is your head going?”
“Nowhere.”
“You’re lying. Look at me,” he says. I slowly raise my head letting my gaze roam over his muscled abs to his tattoo covered chest. As I lick my lips, his hands move to the front of my jeans. He slowly unbuttons them and slips them down my thighs. He lowers his head and presses a kiss to my thigh before sucking my flesh into his mouth. I gasp and writhe but he doesn’t stop. Each mark he leaves on my flesh causes bumps to form across my skin. My pussy clenches as gasps fall from my lips.
“Where is your head going, Tessa?”
“I’m scared, Lorenzo,” I finally give in and say. His lips move up, his hands pushing my shirt up my stomach as his lips replace it.
“I will not let him touch you. I will not let anyone touch you.” Grabbing my panties in his hands he tears the sides ripping them from my body. His cock runs over my wetness before he slides inside of me.
“That’s not what I’m worried about,” I whisper as he thrusts. His lips come down on mine and everything else just slips away. The fear isn’t about Rozano. It’s for Lorenzo. He could hurt me just as easily as anyone else could.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tessa
I haven’t seen Lorenzo all morning. In fact, I haven’t seen anyone. I wander the halls of this place and look at the pictures on the walls. Everything feels so…impersonal. It’s as if no one really lives here.
“He hates this house.” I turn and look over my shoulder when I see Gaia. She seems like a nice enough person although we haven’t spoken much.
“Why? It has everything he could possibly need.” Gaia nods as she walks toward me.
“This is true but my brother has never liked having so much space. He said he doesn’t need it. He’s somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to homes and things like that. He doesn’t like all the fancy shit,” she says with a shrug.
“Isn’t that how you were raised?”
“Yes. Which is why I think he hates it at times. He was never really one to care about what things he had.”
“What does he love then?”
“The power.” I nod. I can see Enzo as the powerful type.
“I can see that part.”
“I can see why he likes you as well,” she adds. I don’t see it. I look at myself in the hall mirror but I come up blank. I’m no one. I’m nothing. Gaia steps up next to me, brushing my hair over my shoulder.
“I know you doubt yourself, Tessa. I can see the look in your eyes but I also see the look in his. Lorenzo isn’t a man to take on a woman without thinking about it.”
“I broke in here. It’s not like he really had a choice in the matter,” I tell her. Gaia laughs.
“He had a choice, Tessa. He always has a choice. Lorenzo is difficult at times but he never does anything he doesn’t want to do.”
“She isn’t wrong,” Lorenzo’s voice vibrates down the hall. Gaia turns first before I follow.
“You really need to stop with this stalking thing,” Gaia tells him as she smiles up at him. He grabs her and pulls her into his arms and it makes me smile. I don’t know why it makes me so happy to see them together.
“But I do it so well, sister.”
“Seems so. Where have you been? When can I get out of this house?”
“Ah, the million-dollar question. Not enough for you to do here?” Enzo asks her. She grins but shakes her head.
“It’s boring. I want to go out, Enzo. I have been locked up for so long.”
“That’s what I was coming to talk to you girls about,” he adds.
“About what?” I ask.
“I’m thinking of sending you and Gaia on a little trip. Maybe a beach somewhere,” he says. Gaia lights up but I don’t. I’m not going anywhere. I know what he’s doing and I won’t allow it.
“Not a chance in hell,” I growl.
“I’ll take it,” Gaia squeals and claps her hands.
“You will not throw me out of this,” I state my hands balling at my sides.
“This isn’t an open negotiation, Tessa.”
“Like hell it isn’t. This is my life, Enzo!”
“Where to? When can we go?” Gaia asks excitedly.
“Go see your husband. He has all the details,” Enzo tells her but never takes his eyes off me. Gaia rushes off but Lorenzo and me stand in a stare down that could get heated. I know the tension between us and I know the outcome of our clashes.
“Why are you trying to push me out?”