Devil You Hate (The Diavolo Crime Family 1)

I tuck my chin to my chest, trying to paint the picture of a meek submissive even as I chant how much I hate him in my head. “Okay.”

He grips my jaw in his huge hand and forces me to meet his eyes. “Try again, but this time with a little conviction, stellina, fucking convince me, and maybe I’ll let you scamper away unscathed.”

I clear my tightening throat. “What’s your name? What do I call you?”

His eyes narrow, but to my surprise, he answers, “Nicolo.”

“I’m Celia. I’m sorry, Nicolo.” I glance up to look into his flinty gaze. “I’ll listen to you next time.”

He loosens his grip on my chin and drags his calloused fingers down to curl around my neck. My heart shoots into my throat, and I shiver against his firm chest. Is this it? The moment he decides he’s tired of putting up with my shit. Maybe I should’ve tried harder. Now I’m going to end up like my sister. Dead.

His fingers remain loose around my throat until I cease shaking. “Why are you so useless? Is there anything you’re good at? How about sucking cock? With no sex to offer your little boyfriends, did you spend a lot of time on your knees?”

I know he’s baiting me. Deliberately degrading me to draw me into another fight. Another excuse to punish me. He likes to see me angry, but he’s going to be deeply disappointed. I won’t let him drag me into another fight. Instead of defending myself, I duck my chin again and focus my attention on the floor and let him believe what he wants.

But even my refusal to rise to his prodding angers him.

He coils around me like a snake, his chest pressing against my bicep, and his free hand wrapping around my hip. Hot breath fans across my collarbone, and I focus on doing everything I can to not react to him. To not encourage him, even as liquid heat circulates through my belly, pooling at my core.

“I know what you’re good for,” he whispers so softly I barely hear him. It’s the whisper of a beloved, a lover, the devil.

Lightning fast, he lifts me over the edge of his desk, my belly on top of his ledger, my hips pressing painfully against the solid edge. I gasp at the quick movement, and the sound of my thundering heartbeat in my ears drowns out everything around me for a moment. Not wanting to antagonize him further, I remain still. I don’t wiggle, and I barely even breathe.

“You’re learning, Celia.” My name rolls off his tongue like a curse. “Put your hands out and grip the other side of the desk.”

Knowing to fight him is futile, I slide my hands up and curl my fingers against the solid wood edge of the desk. Fear uncoils in my chest, and I quake, waiting for what he might do to me this time. All his threats of raping me, is now the time? Did he reach his limit?

Tears build in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall, quickly blinking them away. My breath comes out through my nose in shallow pants. I can get through this. Whatever happens, I can get through this. This monster of a man will not be my demise.

He can have my body, but not my mind.

I feel his fingers beneath the shirt, long, thick fingers that slip into the waistband of my underwear. With little effort, he drags my panties down my legs and jerks them off my feet. I remain locked in place, afraid to even twitch and incite his wrath.

The scrape of metal against metal tells me he’s unbuckling his belt. My shivering increases until my teeth are chattering.

When his fingers sink deep into my hips, I lie my cheek flat against the wood and try to stop the sob from ripping from my throat.

What else can I do?

To my utter shock, he gently presses his hard cock along the seam of my ass, sliding upward so the crown butts against my crack.

Ever so gently, he surges forward. He’s not entering me or parting my legs at all, but that doesn’t mean he won’t. The threat remains, fear rising higher as he uses my body how he sees fit.

I can feel the heat of his thighs against my own and the fabric of his dress slacks against my calves. The hardness of his body is suffocating, making it difficult to suck in enough air. No matter how many times I breathe in, I feel like I’m not getting the oxygen I need.

After a moment, he angles himself differently, downward between my clenched thighs, right where my pussy is. Like a bow, my entire body anticipates what’s coming, my muscles tighten, and my chest aches only to realize a second later, he isn’t entering me, just sliding between the natural curves of my body. The head of his hard cock nudges my clit, and I bite my lip to hold back a whimper. When he does it again, a quiet sob escapes my lips.