I look at my hands covered in blood, a literal interpretation.
I hit him again.
And again.
And again.
Elise’s sobbing, as her arms go around me from behind. “Tavi, no,” she says. “You’ll regret it. Bring him home. Let Romeo deal with him.”
I stand and kick him, satisfied when I hear ribs break. He doesn’t move.
The car door slams and the doctor I called stares at me with wide, terrified eyes.
“Who needs a doctor, Mr. Rossi?”
Half an hour later, both Santo and Leo, the motherfucker, are stable.
I call Romeo and fill him in.
“Thanks for leaving him for me, brother,” he says. “But I promise I wouldn’t have blamed you if you offed him.”
I know he’s talking about Leo. Santo’s another story.
After Santo and Leo are resting peacefully in guest room beds, the doctor tries to tend to me.
“Le tue mani, per favore.”
I shake my head.
“Check her first.”
“Tavi, I’m fine,” Elise says.
I insist.
She is, indeed, fine.
I reluctantly let him check me out. He tends to some lacerations and a headache that won’t quit. I put my guards on Santo and take Elise upstairs.
I don’t know how things stand between the two of us. I don’t know what to expect from her at all.
“There’s a guest room on the top floor that we—”
She pushes me up against the wall. She’s so much smaller than I am, a move like this would normally be laughable, but I’m so stunned, my back hits the wall in surprise.
“Kiss me,” she whispers. “Fucking kiss me.”
I’m so relieved, I lay my hand on her cheek and hold her gaze. “You want me to kiss you, baby?”
She lets me call her baby. My heart pounds.
So many words need to be said. So much needs to be explained, so much healed and mended between us, but she only says the one word I need to hear.
“Yes.”
I lift her in my arms and ignore the burning pain in my shoulders. I’d walk across hot coals for this woman. I can handle a little sting.
Her legs wrap around me, and she buries her head on my chest as if she’s craved this, like she needs this.
“I love you, Elise Rossi,” I tell her. “I love you. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not healed from any of this, Tavi, and I don’t know how long it will take. I won’t lie to you about it. But I am telling you right now that I know this life is complicated, and I heard what you said.”
“What did I say?” I ask, kissing her pink cheeks and remembering how soft she feels.
“You said it’s… possible to commit terrible crimes, and still love someone.” She rests her head on my shoulder. “And maybe that’s true for all of us.” She sniffs and repeats. “Maybe that’s true for all of us.”
I nod. “I think it is. For me. For you. For all of us.”
I bend my head to hers and kiss her, relishing the sweet taste of her. The way she softens and yields to me, in a way she never would for anyone else. I’m honored by her submission to me. I’m honored by her forgiveness.
Our kiss deepens as we walk to my bedroom here at the vineyard. While not quite as big as the master bedroom in my main residence, this one overlooks the vineyard. The blinds are still open, the night sky out before us.
I’m so tired I feel as if my bones ache with exhaustion, but I know what we both need. I can tell by the insistent way her hands reach to take my jacket off that she needs this, too.
I’ve fucked her hard against a wall and in the shower, on her knees and on her back. Tonight, I want to hold her gaze while we make love. I want her to see all of me, and to know I see all of her. I want her to know I accept her just the way she is, and pray that she’ll accept me, Ottavio Rossi, Underboss to The Family.
We reach the bed. I lay her down gently on her back, and she quickly takes my jacket off. I shrug, aiding her. Next comes my belt. The clasp quickly falls open, and she tugs it out and tosses it beside her. She makes a hungry noise in her throat as she slides her hands along my torso, moaning a little.
“Let me, Tavi. Please.”
I put my hands out by my sides and nod to her. “Have at it, baby.”
I love the way her small fingers move nimbly over the buttons. I love the way she bites her lip in concentration. I love the way her brow furrows when she slides the shirt off my arms. She helps me strip until I’m naked, my clothes piled haphazardly on the floor beside us.
“Now my turn.”
I kneel in front of her and slowly strip her clothes off, each layer, bit by bit. I toss them onto the pile on the floor and take a minute to admire the perfection of her.
The gentle, graceful curves of her shoulders, her pretty pink breasts, the swell of her belly and curvy comfort of her thighs. I glide my hands to her ass and squeeze, holding her to me. “Thought I lost you,” I whisper in her ear. “Thought it was over after this bullshit.”
“I’ve been here all along.”
“Yeah… but not in your heart, baby.”
She closes her eyes only briefly before she opens them and nods. “I saw every woman I ever know wall herself off from true love,” she whispers. “Until Angelina and Orlando.”
I nod. I understand. Real romance in our circles is so rare.
“Speaking of Angelina…” she begins with a frown.
“We’ll deal with that when we go back home.”
I know she has no interest in discussing any of this now, but the time will come.
We won’t discuss this now, though. Right now, I want this woman. Right now, I need her.
I lay her on the bed and lay kisses all over her beautiful, soft pink skin until she keens and moans with pleasure.
“Tavi,” she says, moaning with every ministration from my lips. I brush my lips across hers, and her hips rise to meet me. She’s so damn turned on it’s an aphrodisiac. My own dick’s hard as a steel rod.
I love the feel of her hands around my neck. I love the feel of her breath on my cheek. I love the way her body melds to mine as she gives herself completely, totally, irrevocably, to me.
I glide my stiff cock between her legs, and she parts them for me, silently begging for us to join together. I hold her to me, take in a deep breath, and slowly slide into her.
I groan out loud at the feel of her hot, tight cunt squeezing me. Her legs wrap around me as I seat myself fully within her, until we’re as close as two people could possibly be. I lift my hips, pulling myself almost fully out, relishing the feel of the two of us skin to skin. Slowly, I work a rhythm that makes her moan with pleasure and close her eyes.
“I love you, Tavi,” she whispers, as I thrust in fully again. She can take me, all of me, and doesn’t balk or buckle. “I love you,” she repeats, when I thrust in her, making her back arch in pleasure.
No woman’s ever told me they loved me before. I love that Elise is the first, and Elise will be the last.
Our lovemaking goes on for hours or minutes, as time loses meaning. All that matters is Elise. All that matters is we’re together. All that matters is what was once me and her has become… us.
Together as one.