Aftermath (10 page)

She scrambled to her feet, “Will you call
me later?
”
             
             

“I think you should spend time with your family Geovonna
and
mourn.”

“Then will you call me?”

Giuseppe dressed, “My family is in mourning as well. I will see.” He sat on the bed, donned his socks and shoes and exited the bedroom. Outside the door, he instructed his
guard
to hurry and get her home then went to the kitchen for food, until she was gone.

He
sat eating when the front door closed and he sighed, thankful Geovonna was no longer present to talk him to death. A
h
, he
could
no longer
handle the
incessant chatter, if not for
her talkativeness
she would have been nice company.

He thumbed through the list of female contacts on his cell until the name Shanda appeared. Despite his words to the contrary, he was quite interested in that one. An American cop as a father,
yes that
could be
a
problem, unless he flew her to Sicily. The American ‘cliché’, the long
arm
of the law, did not reach inside his home. He would love to take her
out;
she seemed so
vibrant and fun. Ah, not to mention, their compatibility in bed
. It was certainly a
foundation to build upon. He
was about to touch the screen when another expected call canceled-out his plan.

He had
an
important rendezvous
with a Russian
.
He snarled, “Fedrik it is payback time!”

                                                    ****

Nico suspected Bianca play
ed
match-maker. She claimed the spare
b
edrooms were filled, which he knew was a damn lie! He didn’t intend to offend his hostess and accepted the sleeping assignment without mumbling a word.
Sharing close quarters with the woman he loved wasn’t easy, especially when he reconciled they were done and he didn’t have a chance.

Yes, she came and brought the boys for moral support but it didn’t change what she said a few days ago. She couldn’t do it, she didn’t want to and he relented despite the knot in his chest and let her go. Now, here they were, less than ten feet from each other and he couldn’t touch her, couldn’t hold her,
and couldn’t
do a damn thing except fac
e
the window on
a
hard ass divan trying
to rest and
clear his head
before the job
. He heard the bed move before he
heard he
r voice, “Nico, I’m
truly
sorry about
your dad. I
t’s a shame I didn’t know about your real father
until yesterday. You never told me
about him, w
hy?”

He feigned sleep. He didn’t want
to
answer her question or
talk
about why’s. If that’s the case, they could talk about why she hadn’t said much all day but now she wanted chit-chat when he wanted
silence
before meeting with the guys tonight.
He knew Ari, this wasn’t about the whys. She opened a line of communication to emotionally draw him in.
She was horny, plain and simple and wanted sex
.

A
fter a few m
inutes
he heard her l
ie
down and whisper, “Good-night
, Nico
.
I have to leave tomorrow. Darren’s doctor wants him in
for a check-up
.
”

“I thought you took him to the emergency room and said everything
’s
fine?”

“I knew you weren’t asleep.”

Nico rolled on his side
to
fac
e
the bed,
“I’m going to that appointment
,
”
he said, besides he had unfinished business in New York. He had to tie up
the
loose end with th
at youth
claiming to be his brother’s son. If he discovered Sergio lied, he
’d
carve the little shit into pieces for the cruel con. But, if it turned out he was telling the truth, he’d set the kid up with some money, hopefully he’d straighten-up his life. Vincent would do the same thing. Yeah, Vincent would have done a helluva lot more.

“So, when it’
s
about our
kids you talk.”

“I was listening to you
,
isn’t that what women want?
”
Nico scowled.

“You mean avoiding conversation, don’t you?”

“You want conversation, now,
when you haven’t said much to me the entire day
? Sweetheart, give me a break.”

“
What do you want
me to say to that,
Nico?”

Angry, emotionally drained and tired of Ari’s bullshit, he
sat forward and
leaned his elbows on his knees
with his
legs apart, searching
Ari’s face
in the dark. “You know what
the hell
I want
!
”
She didn’t answer and he
bolt upright, yanked the
t-shirt over his head, stepp
ed
out of his shorts and stood naked,
“
But, isn’t a fuck what you want?
”

When she didn’t
protest
, he crossed the distance,
seized her ankles
and
pull
ed her
toward him. He then
spread her legs
and
caressed
the inside of
her thighs
. He didn’t want talk, dammit, unless it was to tell him she’d changed her mind and wanted him back, otherwise
she needed to kill the damn questions.

He roughly yanked down her panties to give her what
she
wanted. She wanted to fuck without any strings attached
and
he’d screw her like any other woman and when finished walk the hell out the door!

Nico glared at the pretty woman who was the love of his life,
daring her to flee, wanting her to stay, but not wanting to plead his case to do it.
Either she made up her mind about what role she wanted in his life, be it wife, lover
or
friend
or he’d choose for her. He preferred Ari as a spouse, a lover and confidant. He couldn’t do
the
friend
shit and
have a
meaningless
fuck
with a woman he loved. It meant something, but he decided to
disconnect.

Bam
!

Emotions
off!

His
body hovered
above the sexy woman then
he bent to kiss her while massaging her clitoris with his fingers, making her squirm by the touch of his hand.
Her succulent lips opened wider and her legs when his mouth descended from her lips, licking
her throat, not bothering to remove the sheer negligee
instead wetting it
with
the tip of his tongue.
She lifted
her buttocks
when
he replaced his
fingers w
ith
tongue
.

Ari
gripped
the firm
shoulders
to
demand more.
“
Nico…dammit, fuck me
…now
!”

He
wanted her to wait.
This was
his
want
,
not
hers
and
he disregarded the passionate plea
to drive her mad because it’s wha
t
he
want
ed!

Ari
pushed harder
and
whimpered, “Please…I want it Nico
,
” then thrashed about when his large hands palmed her ass
. H
is tongue and lips worked in consort
and
found
he
r G-spot and she raked fingers through his hair, as
her
liquid sex filled his mouth. 

“
Nico
…
Nicooooooo
…oooooh pleeeeease
!
”

He pushed up the flimsy top to massage her breasts, stimulating her areolae with deft fingers and they hardened beneath his touch. Her body spoke the truth to him
with
each adoring thrust
of
her pelvis to his face and the carnal confessions of feminine flesh confirmed her desire was much deeper than lust. He wanted her to say it, scream the damn thing from her mouth, but in stubborn Ari fashion, she demanded and gave him ultimatums rather than admit she wanted to be with him
.
He
empathized with her
fear;
a control freak
wants to
stand at the
helm
,
but he
failed to relent. This is a battle of the sexes and he was damned if he
’d
let her win!

Alberti
managed to have
children and a marriage which
brought semi-normalcy
to his life
, all he
wanted
was
the same thing
…with Ari. If not with her, he
pledged to remain a
whore-mongering
bastard for
the duration of his life.

Retirement wasn’t in the immediate future, truthfully, it’d been difficult being away from the action. He couldn’t do a
nine to five
either and pretend to be normal when he wasn’t. All of that’s
a fantasy
Nico and that’s something she had to understand.
Every time he tried to conform or change his destiny, someone died
and goddammit he wanted to keep her and the kids alive
!

The emotional detachment began to dissolve.

‘
Ariana
you’re my destiny dammit…
how else could
we
have survived
without incident so many years
?
When we were
together Vincent was alive
and it’s my fault he died. Honey I’m hurting inside with this guilt. I
screwed up
royally
, love. I got the memo, I read it and you’re right. But this friends with benefits shit can’t work with us, with you
I need more.’

These were his thoughts, unshared with the exotic woman in his clutches. Instead, he decided to end the bullshit
tonight…
c
ut the sex out of their relationship
. After tonight she’d have to find
another stand-in
.
The
friends with benefits
had to end.

He wanted a second chance with Ari. She was more than a friend. Much more.

He fucked up. It’s true.

He cheated, yet it hadn’t been the first time. The difference with his latest affair is he had feelings for the young woman and was pulled in to the fantasy.
His male e
go, plain and damn simple
got him here
.

Selange
’s
admiration and
the way she
stroked him with
her mind made him feel wanted and needed, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. H
ell and damnation screamed at
his
back
, yet he ignored it and ultimately it caused his marriage to collapse.

He wanted Ari to need him that way and
love him enough to
want
to be in his l
ife!

Nico
withdrew his fingers
to
position her right where he
wanted
for maximum
penetration
. His
knees collided with the
edge of the
mattress
and
he guided his
rigid
organ
into the moist protection
of her body
and thrust so deep
she gasped
. He made certain she
remembered
it was Nico occupying her body and not Gre
gory, the low-life shit, the so-called upstanding lawyer she
screwed and
who later kidnapped their
kid.
Today he buried his father and
a loving caress from her would have sufficed. A gentleness of touch and an empathetic
woman
who
love
d and eased the pain with affection is what he desired and not a lawyer who transformed into a woman only when she wanted sex!