Giulio’s hands grip me harder, pulling me down flush against him again and again until I cry out when the bubble bursts and we reach the crescendo. Honey and fire flow into my veins as the release hits in wave after wave of piercing pleasure.
When it finally dwindles, I slump against the hard male chest in front of me, lightly patting the dusting of hair between Giulio’s pecs. “Marriage has its perks,” I say, panting.
Sticky with sweat himself, Giulio laughs and shakes his head. “A year ago, I would’ve said it was a prison.” He keeps his hands on my hips and leans back until he’s flush with the mattress again and I’m draped over him like a blanket.
I rest my chin right over his sternum and look up at him through my lashes. “And now?” I prompt, curious.
Full, masculine lips twitch in amusement. “I think my wife might hog-tie me and throw me out the window if I expressed any dissatisfaction with married life.”
My palm connects with his chest with a loudsmack!“I would not,” I complain.
His chuckle is full of life and humor, and the vibrations are giving me more ideas of how we can continue on the first day of our honeymoon. Another thump from the closet, however, disrupts that plan. Pressing my hands down against Giulio’s chest, I sit up and turn, glaring at the slatted wood door. No amount of Giulio’s comforting strokes along my sides stops me from climbing out of bed and grabbing the nearby resort robe off its hook.
Slipping into it, I grab the sheet and toss it over Giulio’s lap before stomping over to the doors and throwing them wide. The blond-haired, blue-eyed man dressed in khaki slacks and a blue-and-white striped polo shirt jerks back. “What were you expecting with all of that racket?” I snap, annoyed as his eyes bulge.
“Cara…”Giulio’s voice is a warning as I leave the doors openand stride over to where our luggage rests on one of the case stands the resort provided. Flipping the top open, I search through the contents.
“Why are youcara-ing me?” I ask, as if I don’t already know. I find what I’m looking for and pull it out of the larger suitcase, setting the small, solid black carrier on the edge of the bed and unlocking it before tossing the top open.
Rattle. Rattle.The closet door bangs against the wall. I stop moving and know without looking that Richard has started to shift and fight against his bindings.Rattle. Rattle.Giulio looks over, not seeming particularly impressed by the man’s attempts at escape.
“I have a few tours booked this afternoon,” Giulio says. “Would you rather take care of him first?”
I turn and glance over my shoulder, and sure enough, Richard has somehow managed to wiggle himself sideways out of the closet. I take a seat next to the bag, pushing it back as I cross my arms over my chest and watch the man work. “He looks kind of like a worm, doesn’t he?” I ask in lieu of an answer.
Giulio’s hand strokes up my back and then over my shoulder as he shifts on the bed and comes closer until he’s almost sitting with his legs over the end of the mattress next to me. “Heisa worm,” he says, pressing a kiss to my neck again.
Well, doesn’t that just make me fall in love with him all over again?My inner psycho sighs right along with me.
Turning toward him, I offer Giulio my lips, and he takes them without hesitation. The kiss is slow and deliberate, and it turns me on like no other man ever has. “Did I really luck out and get married to you?” I ask when he finally releases me.
Giulio cups my chin and nuzzles his nose against mine. “You did,” he answers.
Karma deserves a thank-you note, along with a lifetime supply of chocolate.
“Yeah,” I say, answering his earlier question. “Let’s take care of him before we go on those tours. Did you schedule one to swim with dolphins?”
Giulio slumps back. “I forgot.”
Smacking his leg, I get off the bed. “Well then, I guess we’ll have to do that tomorrow.”
Sitting back up, Giulio slides to the side of the bed and reaches for the larger robe that was hanging right next to the one I now wear. During our heated kiss, Richard managed to wedge himself a few feet out of the closet and toward the door. The slow movements are made nearly impossible by the duct tape wrapped multiple times around his ankles and his arms, which are bound behind his back.
When I go over to where he is, the man freezes as I crouch down and flick the end of his nose with a nail. “I’m sure you don’t remember me, Dick,” I say, recalling the guy’s nickname from high school. An appropriate name, I do have to say. “But I’m a good friend of Ginny’s.”
His blue eyes cloud with confusion, and I wait with careful patience until he gets it. When the man’s brows shoot up to his already thin hairline and his eyes bulge in recognition, I nod in understanding. “Yeah, that Ginny. You know… the girl you got pregnant and then rejected?”
I hear Giulio finish getting up behind me and then sense him moving toward the carrier. “You see,” I continue, wrappingone arm around my knees, “I didn’t know who she was with back then. She was real protective of you.” I roll my eyes. “I don’t know why; it’s not like you deserved her loyalty.” Metal and hard plastic scrape against each other, and Richard’s eyes dart over my shoulder.
Tsking, I take his chin and move his attention back to me. “But you see, my brother-in-law is supersmart,” I continue. “He can find anyone and hack into their lives. That’s how we found you and knew you were coming on a ‘business trip’ here in the Bahamas.” I release him to lift my fingers and place air quotes around the “business trip” part. Yeah, Richard Rutter doesn’t do business trips. Everything Dante found on the asshole confirmed what I already knew to be true about the man who fucked Ginny, got her pregnant, and then encouraged her to get rid of the baby. He’s nothing but a low-level medical insurance agent, and the poor woman he conned into marrying him last year has no idea that he’s been cheating on her every “business trip” he’s taken.
I hold my hand up over my shoulder when I sense Giulio drawing near. Without a word, he puts something in it. I bring it down and smile. Richard’s ruddy face pales beneath the gag of cotton and duct tape over his mouth. The pale edges where the adhesive pulls taut at his sallow skin is almost gray now.
“My brother-in-law found all sorts of things about your relationship with Ginny,” I say as I put the sharp end of the scissors to the bottom of one pants leg and slice upward. Hairy, pale knees are revealed. I pause over the long diagonal scar that runs up his calf. “You couldn’t continue to play football in college after this injury, huh?” I murmur—another tidbitof information from Dante. Then I shake my head and finish the cut before moving on to the other leg. Richard is trembling now, big, fat tears leaking over his cheeks.
“I might have been convinced to leave you alone,” I say as I continue my work, “but then Dante found all of the other shit—the cyberbullying, the trolling, the pictures you shared with your buddies, not just in high school but in college and even now.” I scoff and shake my head. “How do you have any friends when you’re such a disgusting little pervert? Still getting off on the body of a girl you practically killed.”
Ripping the now-destroyed pants free, I set to work on his shirt, leaving his tighty-whities for last. All the while, Giulio hovers in the background like an ever-present shadow, just letting me exact my own brand of justice.
