Leandro and I both raise a brow at the very fucking same time.I clap Dad on the back.Leandro was right.He may be an ornery old fuck but when push comes to shove, he has our back.
“Thanks, Dad.Now, I need to get back to my wife.I want to be there if she wakes in the night.”
22
Sophia
When the lights of Massimo’s car appear on the shore road, I’m at the window waiting in the great room.I watch them all the way until Jimmy reaches the drive and Massimo gets out and comes into the house.His eyes meet mine the minute he walks in, closing the distance between us swiftly.“You’re awake.How are you?”
I swallow through the emotion of the night.“I couldn’t sleep long.It’s hard to believe he’s gone.I keep thinking I should feel something more but all I feel is completely numb, like it’s not real and tomorrow I’m going to wake up and find out it was all a bad dream.”
Massimo wraps me in his strong arms and rocks me standing up, not saying a word, his strength comforting me in the protection of his embrace.“I called Anna and told her about Dad while you were gone.”
His finger strokes the palm of my hand.“How did she take it?”
“Far better than I expected.She wasn’t surprised, not like her sister who was still holding out for a fairy tale ending that was never going to happen.”My voice cracks at the thought of my sister.“Anna must have been through hell and back and knew they would get what they wanted out of our dad and then kill him.”
He guides me to the couch and settles me into his lap, cradling me and kissing my hair.“It’s going to be okay, kitten.Not today and not tomorrow, but at some time in the future the good memories of your time together will surpass the pain you feel today.”
Tears run down my face.How can a man as powerful as Massimo be everything that I could ever need, taking care of me in every way imaginable.My arms wrap around him, snuggling into the warmth of his chest while the tears of my pain drench the front of his shirt, and not once does he move, just holds me, letting me cry myself out in the safety of his arms until I’m spent.
“I need to have a funeral, Massimo.Your family doesn’t have to attend, but for the sake of mine, at least me and my sister, I have to give him a funeral.You don’t have to be there.”
He tilts my chin so my eyes meet his.“You’re my wife.Of course I’ll be there, Sophia.Where else would I be?Your father may not have earned my respect with how he handled the business with Gallini but in the end, it was clear he suffered a great deal to make things right and ensure you and your sister were safe.That I will honor any day of the week, capisce?”
I nod, sniffing.“Glass of wine?”
“Now that could probably be arranged,” he says, as I scoot off his lap and onto the sofa next to him.He walks across the room, his suit somewhat wrinkled and disheveled.I can’t imagine how exhausted he is after the day we’ve had but if he is, it doesn’t show at all.“Do you think it will be safe for Anna to attend the funeral with everything going on?”I ask him.
Massimo doesn’t answer as he pours me a glass of red and then a glass of his Delmar.When he turns his eyes are dark, serious, and watch me with an intensity that makes me feel like he knows far more about whatever happened between my dad, Gallini, and my sister than he’s said or at least plans to tell me right now.“You will not attend a public funeral without my guards surrounding you, like it or not.And I’d prefer for her sake and yours that she not attend unless we use my soldiers to ensure her safety.”
I start to say something but he’s right.I’m not jeopardizing either of our lives after what we’ve all been through.Massimo knows this world far better than me no matter that I can hold my own.
He hands me a drink as he sits down next to me.“We don’t know all the details of the deals that were made, Sophia.Right now, no one knows she’s alive.We could keep it that way.At least until we know more, and make sure she’s truly better, not just physically but emotionally too.”
My heart constricts.“I don’t know if she’ll want to go.Maybe we should have a private, secret funeral?”
His eyes meet mine.“Whatever you and your sister want, but not without protection.”
I nod.“I’ll talk with Anna in the morning and see what she would like.I’ll do whatever she wants to do, okay?”
“Good, now drink your wine.I’m going to get you something to eat, and then we’re going to get some sleep.Everything will look a little better in the morning.You can talk with your sister, and we can make plans to give your father a proper burial, one way or another.”
I’ve taken a couple sips of my wine when Massimo returns with a cheese, seafood, and cracker platter.“You know the way to my heart, don’t you?”I tell him, picking up a chilled shrimp with the tips of my fingers.
“Well, I certainly hope so, Mrs.Roselli.”
He feeds me another shrimp, and then another, then puts cheese on a cracker for me to eat from his fingers as my center begins to heat with desire.He has the most unique way of getting to me, every single time.He kisses me gently on the lips.“I love you, Sophia.”
My name on his lips.That’s what I want to hear.To make the starkness of the night disappear, to lose myself in Massimo and hear him growl my name.I place the wine glass on the table and stand, removing my blouse, watching his desire grow.
He allows me to be in charge, letting me have my way, and it warms my center right down to my bare painted toes.I unbutton the zipper of my jeans and let them fall to the floor, standing in front of him in nothing but my bra and undies.His eyes are intense, and there’s something different about the way he looks at me tonight.I love teasing Massimo.“Ask me to strip for you?”
His eyebrow arches.I have no doubt that I’ll pay for this power move tonight but he plays the game without hesitation.“Strip for me, Sophia.”It comes across more as instruction than a question, sending a throbbing ache right between my legs.I pull my bra off, stroking my nipples as they harden, watching as he takes it in and his breathing changes.
There is power in making the most handsome and powerful man in the city desire you, no matter what anyone says, and that knowledge brings me to my knees in front of him.He leans back on the couch.Massimo knows what I want, and his hands on the side of his thighs tell me everything that I need to know.I’m his to do with as I need tonight.His gift, allowing me to take charge, for as long as he can allow me control in this power exchange we play.
I slide the zipper of his pants down and draw out his rigid cock, already throbbing with need.My tongue circles his slit, the taste exquisite but more intoxicating as he groans his approval of my tongue’s dance with his sensitive skin.His hips move, and his hands find the back of my neck, helping me take him in all the way to the back of my throat, allowing me this time but not for long.
