Father narrowed his eyes at me. I knew I hadn’t been quick enough to hide my possessiveness, much less my murderous thoughts. My muscles tensed, trying to consider the best way to kill him…shoot the camera in the corner and then kill the guards before they could alert reinforcement. I knew Father was hated among our men, but even the respect they harbored for me wouldn’t be enough to make me Capo, at least not of a united Famiglia. We would be torn in half between the men who were loyal to my father, or pretended to be because it suited them better, and my supporters. It would be the end of the Famiglia. The Outfit would use our moment of weakness to strike, truce or not. The Famiglia was my future, my fucking birthright.
I forced myself to relax. I’d kill him another day, when I’d figured out a way to do so without people finding out. Father smiled. “Do you enjoy breaking her?”
I stared into his eyes, my smile turning harsh. “I won’t talk about my wife, Father. She’s mine and whatever happens between her and me is only for me to know. I won’t share a fucking memory with anyone. Mine alone.”
Father chuckled, but then he sobered. “Good, good. As long as you don’t mistake your ownership of her for something else. Don’t let a cunt lead you around by your dick. Women are good for three things only.” He waited for me to recite what they were.
My hands itched for my gun, or better yet my knife. This kill would have to be personal. I wanted his blood trickling over my fingers, wanted his last breath against my skin. I wanted to rip his bowels out one after the other as he watched. “Fucking, sucking, and showing off,” I got out.
Father cackled.
“I assume you didn’t call us over so we could untie Nina for you?” Matteo asked with cocked eyebrows.
I sent him a glare.
Father narrowed his eyes. “No. The Famiglia in Sicily is struggling. The Camorra over there is much stronger than they are in the States.”
That was a safer topic than women, but my anger still simmered under my skin.Aria was content ignoring me. She never sought my closeness and slept soundly beside me at night while I couldn’t stop watching her and wondering why she looked at me as if I were my father when I’d sworn to myself to treat her right.
Fuck. I was turning into a fucking pussy.
Two days had passed since my last meeting with Grace, but today I met her again, and I didn’t wait long. Grace didn’t look at me with disgust. With her, I didn’t feel like my sadistic bastard of a father, even when she wasn’t the woman I wanted.
Within a few minutes of her arrival, I had shoved her on all fours on the bed and was fucking her from behind.
My mind kept drifting to Aria with every thrust. I pushed Grace further down so I only saw her hair—blonde but so very different from the spun gold of my wife. I tried to imagine it was Aria, tried to imagine her flowery scent, but Grace’s sweet perfume clogged up my nose and her moans kept distracting me.
My grip on her hips tightened further and I thrust harder into her, but I could actually feel myself soften at her fucking view. That had never happened, not with anyone.
I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t have to see the woman before me, and instead an image of the woman I really wanted formed before my inner eye.
“Yes! Harder!” Grace screamed, and I almost snarled at her to shut the fuck up. Instead, I tightened my hold on her hips and slammed into her, anger consuming my veins. What the fuck was I doing?
“God yes,” she moaned.
A board creaked. Tension shot through me a second before I reached for my gun on the bed beside me and opened my eyes, expecting a Russian fucker trying to catch me by surprise. Fuck. Aria stared back at me with wide, horrified eyes. Shock washed over me and I stilled. What was she doing here? How had she found this place? I’d never wanted a Bratva ambush more than I did now. Anything was better than the hurt look on my wife’s face.
“What’s the matter, Luca?” Grace shoved her ass back, driving my cock deeper into her, but I was already going soft. Aria still hadn’t moved, and nor had I. Her blue eyes filled with tears, and my chest tightened uncomfortably. She should never have seen this.
Before I could decide what to do or say, she whirled around and started running.
“Fuck!” I growled.
I pushed Grace away when she tried to reach for me. “Let her leave.”
I pulled up my pants, fucking glad that I almost never undressed when I fucked Grace. I started chasing Aria with my shirt still unbuttoned and my fly open, not giving a fuck if someone saw. Aria disappeared in the elevator and, before I could reach it, the doors closed and it began its descent. Damn it. I took the stairs, trying to button up my shirt. I couldn’t go out in public half-naked. That was a newspaper article I didn’t want to have to explain to my fucking father.