He groans and pulls me against him.
Our lips crash together in a collision of hunger and warmth and belonging.
10
ALEX
Three Days Later
“It’s over,” Matteo says down the phone. “I’ll send you the rest of your cash from your liquidated assets over the coming weeks. But the war’s done, boss.”
“And I’m done,” I say, nodding with satisfaction as I look over the rolling glistening landscape of my vineyard flecked with moonlight.
“Are you sure?”
Beside me, Bella is humming as she works. Dragging her paintbrush over the canvas, biting her lip in concentration. These past three days have been hectic. I’ve spent every second either on the phone or in the village, decimating the Russians.
But now it’s over.
A deal with the Bratva to make them back off in place—finally—a deal they were forced to take because they were losing the war.
I’m tired down to my bones. But also energized. After every day, I came home thinking Bella might’ve left. Lost her nerve. But in the brief moments we’ve been able to spend together, I’ve felt our love. Felt it bloom. Our connection. Deeper than any words or surface-level bonding could ever be.
Our love goes past our skin. Past our lips and our breaths and past our sex, even. It’s fate-sent, destiny-tinged, marked with a purpose no regular couple could ever understand. It’s us, just us, only us.
“Boss?” Matt says.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything,” I tell him, hanging up.
I walk up behind Bella. Gently touch her shoulders. She shivers, letting out a soft moan. She looks at me over her shoulder, hair cascading down her bare back. She’s wearing an open dress. Showing her shoulder blades, her creamy skin.
“What do you think?” she asks.
“Beautiful,” I tell her.
She laughs, flashes a look up at me. “I was talking about the painting … Daddy.”
Fuck.
We haven’t had sex for three days. I tried on the first day, but she said she wanted to wait until this was over. I respected her decision. She deserves respect. Always.
“The painting is incredible,” I tell her honestly. “You’ve made the vineyard look like something out of a dream.”
“It is a dream,” she murmurs. “On this balcony, with you, with nothing but the stars and the moon watching us … don’t you think it feels like a dream, Daddy?”
My pole aches. Pushes against my pants. My heart thunders against my chest.
“I was going to take you for a romantic meal, Bella.”
There’s something I need to ask you.
She arches her back against my touch. Lets out a high-pitched breath. “Daddy should know by now that nothing’s simple with us. We can be romanticanddirty.”
I take her by the arms, haul her to her feet. She gasps in a way that tells me exactly what I need to know. I shove her against the balcony railing, pushmyrail against her thick ass through her thin dress.
“Every single night,” I growl, “you’ve been waiting for me. For this. In the safe room, locked away so nobody can touch you, you’ve been thinking about this. Maybe my horny little girl even touched her slick slit, hmm? Maybe my excited girl couldn’t help herself.”
She pushes against the railing. Grinds her ample sexy ass up and down my crotch. I let out a trembling growl. Wrap my arm around her body and slip my hand into her dress. Find her nipple already pricked hard for me. Already horny asfuck.
