He slowly nods. “Okay. Grand.” He turns to face Rina as he stands. “You have a deal, my loyalty, and my word. We will help you to remove the Mexicans and The Triad, clean up any leftover mess, and implement a new structure.”
She stands, extending her arm to shake his hand. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. O’Hara. I look forward to working alongside you.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Donna Greco.” Turning to me, he shakes my hand. “You’re a lucky bastard.”
“I know.” I pump his hand a little harder than normal. “Try not to hate me too much.”
ChapterTwenty
Massimo
The privacy screen has only just clicked into place when my wife launches herself across the back seat, catching me completely off guard. Her warm, soft, hungry lips descend on my mouth with fervor, and I’m so startled it takes me a few seconds to kiss her back.
Catarina shoves me down flat on the seat and climbs on top of me, her dress crawling up her thighs as she straddles my hips. I barely have time to draw a breath before her mouth claims mine again, and she’s devouring me like I’m an all-you-can-eat buffet. Grinding on top of my erection, she clenches her toned thighs against my side as she lays siege to my mouth.
I’m not complaining, but things are escalating fast, and this isn’t the way it’s going to go down.
Invoking enormous amounts of self-control from some dormant place, I gently grip her upper arms and force her to move back as I sit up. She’s cradled in my lap, and my spine is resting against the door, and we’re both panting. My dick is rock hard behind my zipper, each throbbing ache a silent scream of frustration.
Her arms snake around my neck, and she presses her sexy body against my chest as her mouth lowers to my lips. “Woah, hold up, sweetheart,” I say, placing my hands on her shoulders to hold her at bay. If she kisses me again, all bets are off, and I need to make a point. My wife turns rigid in my lap, and I brush my thumbs across the lines furrowing her brow. “Not that I didn’t enjoy you attacking me like some sex-crazed femme fatale, but what’s brought this on?”
Her anger flares instantly, and I band my arms around her lower back, keeping her in place as she attempts to scoot away. “Not so fast.” I dart in and dust a kiss over her delectable mouth, hoping to wipe the scowl away. “I want to talk.”
“Talking isnotwhat I had in mind, Massimo.” Her fingers toy with the hair at the nape of my neck, and it’s incredibly difficult to concentrate.
“I can see that.”
“I thought this is what you want? That we’re finally on the same page,” she purrs, batting her eyelashes, tilting her head to one side, and letting her tongue roam her lush lips in a deliberate attempt to bamboozle me.
It’s almost working because I’m struggling to remember why I need to make this point.
I shake the fog from my brain and stick with the program. “I do,mia amata.” I lift her wrist to my mouth, my lips lingering on her sensitive flesh as I peer deep into her eyes. There is no denying the lust I see there, and I’m quite partial to that flushed look on her skin, but I can’t let her call all the shots.
Otherwise, I might as well hand my man card to Fiero and be done with it.
“But I’m also trying to understand you,” I add. “What prompted this now?”
She rolls her eyes in consternation and mutters under her breath. I arch a brow, and she narrows her eyes to slits. “You’re insufferable, you know that? By now, any other man would be writhing underneath me, and talking would be the last thing on his mind.”
“I don’t give a fuck what any other man would do!” Irritation prickles at my skin and I lift her off me, setting her annoying ass down beside me. I can’t keep my resolve if I’m touching her. Swinging my legs around, I plant my feet on the ground and rub the back of my neck as I try to calm down. “I know what you’re doing, Rina. I’m not some random schmuck you can seduce whenever you feel like it or some guileless idiot who’ll lie down and let you trample all over him.”
“I don’t think you are either of those things, and you are completely overreacting. You’re the one who said it’s only sex. Are you always this dramatic?”
Her cool tone seriously pisses me off. “You seem to bring the best out in me, sweetheart.” Sarcasm underscores my words as I grind my teeth to the molars.
“Fuck you, Massimo.” Fire jumps in her eyes.
“I know you’d like that, but it’s not happening this way.” Leather squelches as I turn around and grip her chin. “This is a partnership, Catarina. I’m prepared to succumb to your will in lots of things, but the bedroom will not be one of them. I will not be emasculated by you, and I sure as fuck will not be your submissive.”
“Then we’ll never have sex because the bedroom is the one place I cannot and will not relinquish control.” Vulnerability comingles with hurt and ire on her face before she shuts it down.
“Catarina.” Releasing her chin, I sweep my fingers across her cheeks. “I understand why you feel like that, but it’s the very reason why you should reconsider.” I pierce her with a solemn look. “I will only ever make you feel good, and I would never hurt you. You will still steer the ship while I direct it.”
“Forget it. It’s never going to happen, and you have successfully ruined the mood.” Wrenching away from me, she scoots over to the other side, strapping herself in and staring out the window.
After a few silent tense beats, she turns to face me with a familiar stony expression on her face. “What you did back there went a long way toward earning my trust and my respect. You are a man of your word, Massimo, and I truly appreciate that. You didn’t sneak off to meet O’Hara by yourself, and you made it clear to him that I was calling the shots. That turned me on like you wouldn’t believe. Meattackingyou was completely natural and spontaneous. There was no ulterior motive, and I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to be the one in control. I did it because I wanted to show you how happy you made me and I’m tired of fighting my impulses and staying away from you.” She pauses to draw a breath. “Now, I wish I hadn’t bothered. You don’t need to worry; I won’t be doing that again.”
Fuck. I made a total mess of that. But I’m not sorry I broached the subject. It needs to be discussed. She can’t control every aspect of our relationship and expect me to be happy with it, because I won’t be. That’s not who I am, and it’s not the kind of marriage I want to have. “Catarina, I—”
