This awful display of power.
Quit overreacting.
There wasn’t enough oxygen in my brain to make this rational. But in the midst of my freak out, I caught sight of the M on his finger. It clicked.Mandy and Enzo. Our names for one another. The ones no one else used. He was always V or Vinny to the Made Men. I was Amanda to the world. But to each other….
He branded me!
So why did that thought make me so wet?
Because that was exactly the horrifying reaction my body had to the dominant act. I was his wife, and now the whole world would see it. Gritting my teeth, I couldn’t quite bring myself to hate the tattoo as much as I wanted to.
The look on his face said that my reaction cut deep. My heart thumped hard as I read the truth in his eyes. There wasn’t anything I could say to make this better.
But I can show him….
I stared at my finger, formalizing a plot quickly in my mind. I pushed to my feet and walked into the bedroom. He didn’t follow. He was giving me space. That made my heart squeeze tighter. He was splendidly dominant but could just as easily be kind and respectful when the occasion warranted it.
Slipping into a soft cotton skater dress, I peeked back into the loft. Vincenzo had risen and gone to the weight room. I took advantage of that to put my plot into place. On silent feet, I rushed across the room, silently opened the front door, and only managed to grab my phone before scooting out.
I shot off a text as I bolted for the stairwell.
Me: If you catch me, you fuck me.
I made sure to silence the device. Would he take the bait? Or was he too wounded from my shocked initial reaction to play? I leapt the last few steps, going to the landing two floors below ours. I learned the layout of this building over the last few weeks. His men occupied the first three floors. The fourth was dedicated to Vincenzo’s office and a spread of rooms that housed some wicked intelligent tech guys, who were eerie enough to stay away from. But I had the master code to get into any room in the building, and I took advantage of that now.
Pausing just inside the door to the sixth floor, I kept it cracked and listened.
A thrill raced through me when I heard the door above bang open. He was coming. Chasing me. There was nowhere to run that he wouldn’t find me. Holding my breath, I eased the door closed. I dashed to the nearest apartment, punched in the code, and let myself into the space. Like all the other apartments, it was empty. No furniture to hide behind, no exit to escape through. I debated crawling into one of the cabinets under the L counter, but the sight of a dead bug had me slamming the door closed.
I winced at the sound.
In the pause that followed, I listened hard. Seconds turned into minutes. There were a lot of rooms spread over each apartment on every floor to search if he bothered to look in them all. Maybe it wasn’t such a fun idea, sitting around waiting for him to find me.
The click of the lock sent my heart shooting to my throat. I crouched, pressing my knuckles against my teeth. Vincenzo strode into the apartment with sure steps, heading for the room on the far side of the space that would be the master suite.
I scooted from behind the island, intent on making it out the door.
A prickle at the base of my neck warned me before he pounced. As if he’d known where I was all along. I screamed and lunged for the door.
Vincenzo’s fingers grazed my thigh. I twisted away and wrenched open the door. I ran. He didn’t even try to catch me. Stalking after me, with sure, steady steps, he let me escape into the stairwell.
The camera in the corner blinked at me with a red light.
Of course! That was how he knew where I’d gone.
Pumping my arms, I scrambled up the steps and chanced a look behind me. The dark smile on Vincenzo’s face said he was enjoying this twisted game. It made me run all the harder. When he caught me, there would be no mercy.
My muscles burned from the exertion as I ripped open the door to the next floor. I had the mad idea to disable the lock and escape out the window via the fire escape. But as I pushed into the empty apartment, the beast crashed into me. I landed on my stomach, and the weight of the monster knocking the breath from my lungs.
I struggled and writhed, but he pressed his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent.
“Don’t you remember?” he rasped, words gravel, “it turns me on when you fight.”
I bucked and fought harder.
Vincenzo grazed his teeth against my flesh, tasting my fear, drinking in my excitement. “I’ve been starving for this. For you.”
I moaned. A rush of heat soaked me between my legs. I felt it stain my bare skin.
