“I wanted you to have a week of normalcy.” His fingers ran up and down my spine. “Starting a new job. Going to the spa. Meals and sleep. You needed that more than we needed to take this fucker down.”
“Really?” I drawled.
But he spoke over me. “We’ll get him, and you were always safe in my city, fiore. Not even a warlord who has a debt over your dad can touch you here.”
I huffed. “I can’t be mad at you for that, but I want to be.”
“You can tie me up in the bedroom,” he promised, and I brightened at the suggestion before he turned serious again. “But now, it will be a few more weeks before we have another chance to take the warlord down. Until then, your dadwon’t be able to find you so long as you stay in Boston and don’t make contact with him.”
This was the plan. Vincenzo laid everything out for me. He showed me that he trusted me, and it was my turn to trust him.
“Thank you for telling me,” I conceded. “That’s exactly what I needed.”
And before he could say anything else, I added, “Ti amo, Enzo. Ti amo, per sempre.”
Because there was nothing else left to say.
Chapter 54 –Vincenzo
From the excitement in her voice, it sounded like her third week at work had gone better than the other two combined. And those were stunning successes from the reports I’d received, including the ones she gave me every night when we talked on the phone.
I smiled against the device, tapping the wireless gun against my knee. “I’ll see you soon, Mandy.”
Amanda huffed into the phone. “You said it was a weekend trip.”
“Ah, do you miss me?” I watched the deadbolt on the door turn.
“Yeah, well, newlywed and all,” Amanda muttered.
Her yelp of surprise when she stepped through the loft door and saw me sitting across the room was sweet music to my ear. She looked at her phone, then back at me, brows drawing together as she attempted to scowl.
“That was a rotten trick,” she muttered, putting her phone in her handbag.
I set mine down on the floor. At the sound of their mama’s voice, the twin menaces yowled from the other room. Amanda took a step toward the workout room, but my voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Don’t.”
Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her tits up. A bolt of heat shot straight through my dick at the look of defiance on her face. I shifted forward in the brand new armchair, elbows on my knees. Tonight wasn’t going to be gentle. It was going to be a lesson, one that pushed Amanda to her limits. To explore the boundaries of our chemistry and see if she was really able to play out the fantasies she read about.
“Close the door, Amanda.”
One dainty heel kicked out, and the door slammed shut. “Next?”
She was baiting me.
The high powered lawyer was back in her element. The phoenix had risen from the ashes, and while that was a victory in the outside world, here in the space between us, I was going to teach this beauty who was in control.
“Strip.”
Amanda dropped her purse. She planted her hands on her hips. “What game are you playing, Enzo?”
A game…yes, that was what this seemed like. Under the guise of fun and pleasure was a deeper struggle. One that needed to be faced before we moved forward in our relationship.
“I said, strip.”
The reason I’d gone away for business hadn’t been because anything needed my immediate attention. I wanted Amanda to have space. To feel like she was thriving, especially since she was starting her new job. When we were around one another, we hovered—mostly naked—on top of each other. She needed to find her footing. That was who she was. It was the right call. So every few days, I left her, safe and secure in my city, and watched from a distance when possible.
In the space of a few weeks, she’d fucking flourished.
