Giovanni (13 page)

One of his hands stayed on her waist, pulling her back to meet every demanding thrust of his cock. The other found the back of her neck, his fingers tangling into the wisps of hair that fell from her chignon.

“Oh, God … Giovanni, just like that,” Kim breathed. Gio could feel her heart rate at the pulse point on her neck racing like crazy. “So, so good.”

The roughness of their coupling didn’t seem to bother Kim a bit. A shiver wracked her shoulders as she stared at Gio in the reflection in the mirror, those pretty pink lips of hers falling open with low, whining cries. The frantic, frenzied pace kept her high on her toes and her thighs slamming into the counter. No doubt that silk dress of hers would be crumpled and wrinkled something awful when Gio was done with her.

Kim’s fingernails dragged across the mirror, her hands balling tightly. She bent her head down, using her fists to cushion her face from the hard surface as every crack of his body meeting hers pushed her into the glass.

“What do you want?” Gio asked, his voice thick. “Tell me how you want me to fuck you, Tesoro. Tell me how close you are to coming all over my cock.”

“So close … so fucking close.
Più duro, più veloce
,” Kim hissed through clenching teeth.

Harder, faster, she told him.

“Oh, I can do that.”

Gio let go of her waist to grab roughly on her inner thigh. Lifting her leg high enough so her knee was resting on the counter, she was spread wider for him. It gave Gio the best view of his painfully hard length vanishing into her pussy. The new angle allowed Gio’s cock to sink deeper and she met him thrust for thrust. He hit something good for her because the hot walls of her sex clamped down while her fluids flowed down his cock. Kim’s head tossed back up, her eyes wide as she let out a strangled whisper of his name.

Every inch of him felt her climax in an instant, sucking him in and milking his dick. The pressure he hadn’t realized was building in his spine and groin released without warning. Gio’s orgasm crashed down hard over his senses, blinding him with sparks of colors behind his closed lids. He held her tight to his groin as he spilled deep into her sex.

Somehow, Gio managed to bend down and bury his face in the spot between Kim’s shoulders to muffle his shout, pulling her leg down from the counter at the same time. As it was, they’d both already been gone from the party for too long, so he reluctantly pulled out from the ecstasy that was her pussy. Gio’s hand was on her neck, trembling from the intensity still rocking throughout his body. He struggled to catch his breath, feeling the stickiness of his own come trickling down where his fingers were still squeezing the inside of Kim’s thigh.

Silently, Gio fixed Kim’s thong, kissing the dimples above her backside before dropping her dress back in place. She didn’t move from her place bent over the counter, though.

“You okay?” Gio asked.

“Yeah,” Kim said, her voice weaker than he liked.

Kim finally spun around from the counter, her gaze sweeping the bathroom floor. Gio wasn’t sure what she was searching for until she finally found it and plucked it up. The ring she tossed away so hatefully earlier was slid back onto her hand without any hesitance. The sick, angry feeling rushed through Gio’s blood, but this time he knew it had nothing to do with the cognac from earlier, or Franco’s treatment of Kim. No, Gio was enraged with himself and … hell,
Kim
.

“That’s it?” Gio asked, not bothering to hide the heat in his tone. “You let me fuck you and then you put his ring back on just like that?”

Kim looked wary. “Gio …”

Gio didn’t want to hear it. None of her excuses, he just didn’t want to listen.

“This can’t happen again,” Kim said, swallowing hard as she swiped her fingers under her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“No shit,” Gio growled. “Is this some kind of game for you?”

“I should ask you that, too. Because the way you act sometimes sure seems like I’m nothing more than a good chase for you and the prize always ends up being a hot fuck.”

She was flushed, sweat-slicked, her make-up smudged, and so damned beautiful. But, he was so fucking pissed with her, too. Used, that’s how Gio felt. Like Kim had just manipulated him.

“Can you even remember who you were before he told you who you needed to be?”

“Screw you. Just because you’ve fucked me doesn’t mean you know me,” Kim muttered spitefully. “Don’t think you have any idea of what I’m going through.”

But he wanted to know her … everything about her. Why couldn’t she see that? Kim didn’t want to see it, clearly. What she wanted was some abusive little prick with entitlement issues, and maybe a fuck or two on the side with Gio.

Anger flared in Gio again, fast and vicious like his next words. “Don’t sleep beside him tonight with me still wet between your thighs, Kim. Franco’s an asshole, but he’s not a complete fucking idiot.”

Kim gasped, her hand fluttering up to cover her trembling lips as her back hit the wall behind her. The hurtful remarks had flown out of Gio’s mouth before he could stop himself, and he wished he could take it back the moment he said them. It didn’t matter. Her actions were clear enough for him. They were done, and what happened between them again tonight was just a sport for her. Nothing more than revenge. Gio wouldn’t be her toy to use when she needed to hurt Franco.

“Go to hell, Giovanni.”

“
Tesoro
, take a good look at me. You’ve already put me there.” 

Chapter Eleven

Gio ignored the rolling nausea ravaging his insides as he paid the cab driver and got out of the car. He hoped he could get the rental car and go back to the hotel to sleep. No rest had found him after he left the Sorrento home the night before.

The sick feeling he sported had little to do with the liquor he indulged in, but rather, the disgust he held for himself. Gio scowled at the sight of a familiar luxury SUV parked a ways down from his rental car. He assumed Franco and Kim would have gone home after the party, but apparently not.

Just his fucking luck.

Not wanting to stick around long enough for someone to notice him, Gio unlocked his car.

“Giovanni, I thought that was your car.”

Gio cringed at Maximo’s cheerful voice coming from behind him. Turning, Gio watched as the man patted his wife on the cheek before letting her get into a dark sedan. Maximo made his way down the short driveway.

“What are you doing this morning, Skip?” Maximo asked.

“Sleep,” Gio said. “That’s the plan, anyway.”

“Have you eaten?”

Gio could lie, but he figured he done that enough lately. “Not yet.”

Maximo nodded, turning with a wave. “Come. Kimberlynn cooked. I adore my wife, but she’s horrible in the kitchen. It’s one of the only things I miss about my ex-wife.”

Gio couldn’t refuse the offer, no matter if he wanted to or not. It was rude to deny a Don, especially when it came to something like a personal invitation into his home. Gio might have bent the rules, but there were some he knew better than to cross.

Antony would not be pleased to find out Gio shunned a boss.

“What’d she cook?” Gio asked, trailing slowly behind Maximo.

He didn’t know what else to ask.

“
Dolce
Cristo
… everything.”

• • •

Maximo didn’t lie. The buffet spread in the kitchen was enough food to feed ten people, at least. There were a few stragglers hanging around in the house. The food wouldn’t go to waste. Gio recognized the men as Franco’s idiots and a couple of Maximo’s capos.

Kim had barely managed to hold back the shock and anger at seeing Gio. Politely, she said hello when he came in, but that was the extent of their interaction.

Two men Gio knew only as Ben and Lucas, friends of Franco’s and the guys that kept a close watch on Kim, were being loud and obnoxious in their seats. They couldn’t be much older than Gio, but they were acting like pre-teens, tossing bits of food at one another from across the table.

“
Cazzo
,” Maximo barked, making both of them men jump. Gio leaned over like nothing happened to grab a waffle from a plate. “Cut that shit out before I kick your sorry asses out of my house. Goddamn bunch of
stolti
.”

Maximo shot a baleful look over his shoulder at his son who seemed unbothered by the rude ruckus his men were making. Too quiet for the idiots at the table to hear, he asked, “Giovanni, have you been introduced to Ben and Lucas properly?”

Gio took note of the careful wording. “I haven’t.”

“These
cafones
are friends of Franco’s. They’re already aware of who you are.”

Gio gave a single nod in response. Both were unmade men, and by the way Maximo regarded them, they would stay that way for a while.

“Enjoy some food before you get a start on your day, Skip,” Maximo said. “I have to make a couple of calls, but I’ll be back.”

Maximo wasn’t gone from the kitchen more than five seconds before Franco swiveled on his stool. Gio knew what was coming. Franco was predictable. Sickeningly so.

“Is your father getting in on the cars, or not?” Franco demanded. “Because I’m starting to get twitchy with you around my guys all the time. I thought you had your crew to handle back home. No doubt your brothers are once again picking up your slack. Just like always, they’re stupid for doing it.”

Gio wasn’t in the mood to play Franco’s game of trading snide remarks.

“First of all, nobody takes care of my shit but me. Secondly, I thought I made it clear what would happen if you insulted another man in my family.”

To make a point, Gio removed the gun he picked up from a dealer a few days earlier from the back of his pants and rested it on the table in view of anyone in the kitchen. Let Franco make of that what he wanted. Gio grabbed a knife off the table, dipping it into the butter before spreading it on his waffle. The easiest way to piss Franco off was by acting like he didn’t even matter.

“And finally,” Gio continued, sucking butter from his pinky. “I don’t talk business with a woman in earshot.”

“Kimberlynn’s not an idiot, Gio. She knows what goes on around here, and if she doesn’t she might as well learn now rather than later.”

Kim said nothing as she picked at the eggs on her plate. Gio didn’t understand how she could stand for Franco to talk like that about her, let alone say it as if she wasn’t even there.

“I didn’t say your fiancée was an idiot. Kim can’t involve herself in the discussion, and we know it. You might not mind doing it, but I think it’s downright fucking disrespectful to exclude someone from a conversation when we could avoid it altogether. The fact remains; I don’t talk business with women around.”

Franco’s gaze narrowed in on Gio. “You do realize who this home belongs to, don’t you?”

“Your father invited me in and not to talk about your schemes. Besides, I have no doubt Maximo would agree with me.”

“I don’t—”

“Don’t what, Franco? Unless the conversation directly involves something with Kim, we don’t need to be having it while she’s here. You know it like I know it.”

Franco huffed like a pissed off bull. The fool liked to dish out his bullshit, but he didn’t like to take it back.

Gio turned in his chair, done with the chat. He took a bite of the waffle, tasting cinnamon explode in his mouth. The food was great. Even if he was pissed at Kim, she should know he appreciated her meal, so Gio added, “My apologies, Kim, the food is delicious.”

“Thank you,” Kim said quietly.

Clearly Franco wasn’t quite over being put in his place. “I’ll be happy when you’re back in your own fucking city, Gio.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Gio mumbled around another bite of waffle.

• • •

The door connecting the house to the garage opened, allowing Kim to slip in silently before she shut it just as quietly.

“What are you doing?” Kim asked.

Gio held up his lit cigarette.

“No. I mean what are you doing
here
.”

“Getting my car,” Gio said, cocking a brow. “I drank too much last night. I didn’t think you’d be around.”

“I didn’t have school, so Franco wanted to stay.”

“Don’t care.”

Kim flinched at his dismissal. “About last night—”

“Don’t bother,” Gio muttered, exhaling a cloud of smoke to the air. “It’s over. That’s what you want. We’re done.”

Shit. He wished he could convince his head and heart of that, too.

“I never said—”

“You didn’t have to, Kim. You couldn’t even wait until I was out of your sight before you put his fucking ring right back on your finger.”

“Stop interrupting me, Giovanni. You were awfully quick to point out to someone else when they’re insulting or being rude to me, so take a note or two from your own book.”

Gio cleared his throat, knowing she was right. “I apologize.”

“Thank you. Why are you even still here?”

“I just told you. My car.”

“No, here. In Vegas.”

“Business. Like it or not,
Tesoro
. That’s why.”

And you
, his mind added.

Whether Gio liked it or not, he was still there for her, too. Denying it was pointless.

“You don’t need to be here, though. Franco wouldn’t shut up after you left the kitchen, so I got the gist. You’re not interested in whatever deals they’re working, so why are you really still here?”

“Business,” Gio repeated.

Kim’s jaw tensed. “Can’t you stay away from me while you do it? It must be a great game for you to watch me walk on eggshells.”

Actually, no. It was sucking the life right out of his soul.

“Is that what you think, that I enjoy seeing that cocksucker parade you around like some trophy wife?” Gio asked sharply. “Taking you off the shelf when it’s convenient and putting you back up to rot when you start to blink awake?”

“Why not? You’ve had your turn with me.”

“And I came back for more!”

Kim jerked backward. “What did you just say?”

“I came back for more,” Gio repeated low, pain lacing his words. “After I knew who you were and what you kept from me, I still wanted more of you. I wanted to know you.”

“Whatever, Gio.”

“I’m not lying. This isn’t a game to me, Kim. You’re not the only one walking on eggshells around these goddamn men anymore. Being with you after I knew who you were and that Franco was your fiancé, I screwed up doing that.”

Gio barked a bitter laugh, tossing his cigarette to a tin can. “Where did that girl I met in New York go? Confident and quick. Played the house out of money and kept an intelligent conversation going all the while. She wasn’t afraid to invite me back to her hotel. Kept me awake for days, chasing some crazy high I haven’t ever felt before.”

“I can’t be that girl here, Giovanni.”

“So you’d rather be some brainless pretty face on Franco’s arm?”

“I don’t have a choice!”

There she went using that word again.

“Why the hell not? You’re a grown woman. Your father isn’t nearly important enough to arrange a marriage between you and Franco without your consent.”

“It’s not that simple. Don’t you even know why I’m marrying him?” Kim asked quietly.

“Obviously not. I wouldn’t stand in the same room as your father and Max doesn’t talk about personal things.”

“You really don’t know.”

Gio shrugged. “No. At first I thought you fell in too fast with Franco, not knowing what he was like and couldn’t dig your way out. You wouldn’t be the first to fall into his traps.”

“And then?” Kim asked.

“When I was told it was an arrangement, there was nothing for me to think. It’s business. If no one talks about it, and it doesn’t involve my family, I don’t have the right to ask. I suspect they gave you a choice—”

“A
choice
? There was no choice!”

Gio glanced warily at the closed door. “Lower your voice, Kim. Today is not the day I feel like losing my life.”

Kim toed at the cement floor with her sneaker. “Is that what would happen for what you did with me?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“It doesn’t matter that you’re … you?”

“What, a mafia prince? So is Franco. Just because my last name is Marcello doesn’t mean I’m going to be treated all that differently from anyone else. I have to follow the same rules as they do. I’m the son of a Cosa Nostra Don, but that doesn’t make me fucking bulletproof.”

“What about me?” Kim asked, her eyes meeting his.

“That would likely be left up to Franco to decide, but history says chances are nothing fucking good. Needless to say, it’s bad shit,
Tesoro
.”

“I hate that man,” Kim whispered, pained. “I never wanted to marry him.”

Gio hummed disparagingly. “I figured that out when every time he came near or tried to touch you, you would freeze up like a block of ice. Then again, I can’t figure out why you won’t refuse, so that leaves me nowhere.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Pardon?’

“Touch me,” Kim explained. “At all.”

Gio canted his head at her admission. Oddly, satisfaction filled him at the realization he hadn’t been sharing Kim, so to speak. He shook those thoughts away just as fast.

“Because he doesn’t want to or because you won’t let him?”

“Mostly because of me,” Kim said. “I’m not his wife yet, so he doesn’t get to use me as a personal toy. Franco’s got more than enough
goomahs
spread out across Vegas to keep him occupied. He’s fine leaving me be for the time being.”

“Until the wedding.”

Kim’s jaw clenched. “Yeah.”

“What happens then?”

“Hope he gets his fill elsewhere before he comes home.”

“That’s disgusting, Kim. Is that really what you want, to be his fucking hole to fill when he feels the need?”

Kim swallowed audibly. “No.”

“And yet there you are with his ring on your hand.”

“Because it was this,” Kim said, raising the ringed finger, “… or face whatever consequences he deemed appropriate for stealing a couple of hundred grand from his family.”