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I was going to give her exactly what she wanted.

I drew back and sank into her, pushing her into the hard surface of the desk. I didn’t hold back, thrusting into her wildly. She yanked on my hair, using curse words I had never imagined her uttering, sinking in her nails and biting at my lips and jaw. I left marks on her neck, sucking her nipples red as I rode her. Sweat poured down my back, and our hips crashed together. I was lost in a sea of sensation and emotion. Anger bled into lust. Tension into dominance. Uncertainty into the knowledge this woman was mine. I took her hard and fast. I couldn’t sink inside her deep enough. I couldn’t kiss her lips hard enough or delve my tongue into the honeyed recesses of her mouth far enough. Even with the curses falling from her lips, she was the sweetest thing I had ever tasted. I was more turned on than I could recall ever being, my body desperate for her.

I was disgusted with myself, and yet I couldn’t stop.

But as my orgasm barreled through me, and Effie gripped me so tightly I thought my cock would break off inside her, the only thing I felt was the pleasure. The high of the sensations. The need to keep her close.

And then we stopped.

Panting, dripping, exhausted.

I rested my head on her shoulder, my body shaking with the intensity. The ecstasy I had never experienced with anyone else was powerful. I pressed a kiss to her skin, then stilled in abject horror.

She was crying.

I had fucking hurt her, and she was crying.

“Fuck, no, Effie,” I pleaded.

“Let me up.”

I eased myself from her, reaching out to help her off the desk. She cringed away from my touch, and I dropped my hand. “Effie⁠—”

“I’m fine. You didn’t hurt me.”

“But you don’t want me to touch you.”

“No.” She skirted around me, trying to cover herself. She stopped and looked at me, her expression unreadable. “You said you liked to fuck me. I hope you enjoyed it because that was the first and last time. Ever.”

She disappeared down the hall, leaving me alone. The intensity and passion of the last few moments drained away, making me feel cold and shaken. I walked to Nonna’s suite and used the shower.

Effie was in bed when I went back, curled around the pillow, as close to the edge of the bed as possible. Everything about her screamed to leave her alone.

I turned and went back to the adjoining suite and stretched out on the sofa there. Effie’s scent clung to the pillow from earlier, and I shut my eyes with a frustrated groan.

It was going to be a long night.

I was up and gone by five. I was in a mood all morning, walking the casino, doing an inspection with my managers. Aldo trailed behind me as I pointed out problems and items needing to be addressed.

“That is filthy. Have it cleaned. Now.”

“Who allowed the table to fall into such disrepair?” I snapped, running my finger over a gouge in the wood.

“It happened last night, Mr. Costas. I have already called the repair company,” one of the managers assured me. “Two tables were damaged. A patron was intoxicated and got upset when his luck turned.”

“Bill whoever did it,” I ordered.

“Already taken care of,” Aldo said calmly. “And they have been banned for a month.”

“Any uncollected debt?” I asked, turning around and glaring at the group following me.

“No.”

“Good. I’d fucking fire you all if there were.”

I finished, then headed to the office and went through the numbers. We were so deep in the black we’d never come out. I made some transfers to offshore accounts, worked on a few things for Luca, then saved the files.

Aldo came in, bringing coffee.