There’s a knock on my door, and before I can even pause the video call, Marlena bursts in.
“Hold on,” I tell the group, pressing mute and turning my camera off.
I barely have time to stand before Marlena rushes into my arms, weeping and carrying on. Her bodyguard follows just a few seconds behind. When he sees us together, he stands back, a little ashamed.
“Sorry, boss,” he says. “I don’t know what the protocol is for her.”
“It’s okay,” I tell him. I’m not angry that he let Marlena barge in on me. She seems to be distraught, and that’s what worries me.
The bodyguard steps back outside, closing the door and giving us some privacy. I press my laptop closed to cut off the call. This seems much more important than a measly ten million dollars in revenue.
“Hey,” I say in my most soothing voice. “What’s wrong?”
“My brother,” she gasps. It takes a minute for her to calm down enough to communicate with me. “I think something’s wrong. He called me, and he was shouting. I thought I heard footsteps and then his call cut off.”
“Okay,” I reply, pressing her forehead to my chest. “I’m going to take care of this.”
I hear her draw a deep breath, but it’s another full minute before she’s settled down enough for me to take my hands off her. I reach for my phone, one arm still drawn around her shoulders. With a single hand, I find Giovanni’s name to call for him. He arrives a moment later, looking worried.
“I want you to tell Giovanni where he can find your brother,” I instruct Marlena.
She sniffs, turning around in my arms so that she can face my underboss. “He goes to the university. Pogue Hall, room 612. ButI don’t think he’s in his dorm room,” she stammers, fighting to deliver all the necessary information without crying. “I thought I heard a car horn. He must be out on the street.”
“We’ll find him,” Giovanni promises. He gives me a meaningful glance before letting himself back out. I know that look. It means that he doesn’t have high hopes of finding Marlena’s brother alive.
My mind immediately goes to Carlo Andretti. Has he discovered who Marlena is? Does that mean he traced her brother to his college dorm room, unable to get to my soon-to-be bride? I hope not. But what are the odds that something unrelated has happened to Brandon? Slim to none, and I know it.
I wrap my arms around my woman, doing everything I can to assure her it will be all right. I sit down in my office chair, guiding her onto my lap. She curls up without protest, putting her head down on my shoulder.
“We’re going to find him,” I promise. Thirty minutes later, my phone beeps, and it’s Giovanni. He’s asking for a photo of the brother. “Do you have a picture of your brother?” I ask Marlena.
She nods, pulling away from me so that she can access her phone. She flicks through her photos until she arrives at one showing a handsome young man in a sunny quad. I take her phone from her, type in Giovanni’s current number, and send the picture.
I’m not sure what to do now. She’s sitting in my lap looking so delicious, her rear end planted so close to my crotch, they’re practically kissing. I put a hand on her knee. She’s wearing the bathrobe I left for her, and it’s fallen apart at the waist.Underneath, there’s an oversized t-shirt but no pajama bottoms. I can feel my erection growing hard.
It’s not the time or the place. The woman is distraught. We need to locate her brother and make sure he’s okay. I hope Giovanni is wrong in his assessment of the situation. I hope we can find Brandon alive and deliver him back to his sister in one piece. I’m not sure what will happen to Marlena if she loses the only family she has left.
“Giovanni’s going to find him,” I repeat, as much to myself as to Marlena. “We’ll find him and bring him back here where he’ll be safe.”
At the mention of welcoming Brandon into my home, Marlena visibly relaxes. Her shoulders slump, and she wilts into my arms. I can see that was the right thing to say, and I send a silent prayer to whatever god is watching over us. I hope I can deliver on that promise, but in the meantime, I’ve got more pressing issues to consider.
I have to get out from under her, or my hormones are going to drive me crazy. There’s only so much a man can handle, and a beautiful, half-naked woman rubbing around on my crotch is torture. I wonder if there’s any way I can momentarily separate from her, to give myself time to breathe and maybe take a cold shower.
But Marlena surprises me yet again. She puts both hands on either side of my jaw and kisses me. All bets are off now. I’m blinded by her presence, and I can’t think of anything except getting inside her. All my carefully constructed plans fly out the window. I’m not a man who can live without love for the rest of my life. I only agreed to her sexless marriage idea because I thought I could convince her otherwise later on down the road.But this kiss breaks all the barriers, and thrusts me into the moment with such force that I lose all inhibitions.
I pick her up, setting her lovely bottom down on my desk. I’ve put her right on my laptop, squeezing the delicate technology between her silky thighs and the hardwood surface of the desk. I have the presence of mind to move it, but I can’t break free long enough to push it very far.
Marlena grabs me by the collar, unwilling to let go. She allows me a single second to move the laptop out of harm’s way before capturing my mouth again. Her hunger astonishes me. I thought she was on the fence about whether we were truly meant for each other. But I’m not the one demanding sexual favors at the moment.
I slide my fingers through her hair, catching a knot at the base of her neck. She moans into my mouth, reaching for my belt. This is all happening so fast, and yet, at the same time, it feels like I’ve been waiting forever.
I devour her, thrusting my tongue down into her mouth to taste her exquisite femininity. Somehow, her breasts end up in my hands. It’s like she’s a magnet, drawing me inexplicably forward. She doesn’t mind. In fact, she pushes her chest forward, pressing her ripe tits into my greedy palms.
I realize that this is it. We’re going to take the plunge. There’s no need to rush, and yet I’m overcome with lust. I can’t fuck her quick enough. All the back and forth that’s gone on for so long haunts me. I remember dancing with her at Frankie’s party. I thought then that we were destined for each other, but then she stonewalled me in her bedroom. Pretending to want space, she held me at arm’s length. And I agreed to it, if only for a while.
Now it looks like I’m about to make good on my deeply held attraction for her. She’s just as thirsty as I am, maybe even more so. I warn myself that this is all moving too fast, but my body doesn’t listen. I reach for her underwear and drag it down her thighs.
CHAPTER 23
