Chapter 5 - The Surrender
I stopped pushing against his chest.
Slowly, tentatively, I uncurled my fists. I slid my hands up the crisp white cotton of his tuxedo shirt, feeling the frantic, heavy thud of his heart beneath my palms. I slid my fingers higher, wrapping my arms around his neck, tangling my fingers in the thick, dark hair at the nape of his neck.
Luca went entirely still.
"Mera," he warned, his voice a low, vibrating rumble. "If you touch me like that, there is no going back. I am not a good man. I will not let you go. If you choose this, you are mine. Completely. Forever. There will be no other men. There will be no normal life."
I looked up into his storm-gray eyes. I thought about the safe, quiet, boring life I had lived for twenty-six years. I thought about the cream cardigans. I thought about Thomas the best man, and his leased BMW, and a future that felt as predictable as a spreadsheet.
Then I looked at the shadow king of Chicago, a man who had built a silent fortress around me just to keep me safe.
"I don't want a normal life," I whispered.
A ragged groan tore from Luca's throat.
He didn't hesitate anymore. His mouth crashed down on mine, fierce and punishing, entirely devoid of the restraint he had practiced for a year and a half. The kiss tasted of scotch, expensive coffee, and absolute, unchecked possessiveness.
I opened my mouth for him, leaning into the kiss, letting the wild, consuming heat of it wash over me. His hands moved frantically over my body, pulling me flush against his hard angles. He lifted me off the floor as easily as if I weighed nothing, my heels dangling in the air. I wrapped my legs around his waist, the red satin riding up my thighs.
Luca carried me across the penthouse, his mouth never leaving mine. He backed me into the heavy mahogany desk, knocking the iPad and the blueprints to the floor with a violent crash. I didn't care about the security files anymore. I didn't care about the shadow teams or the danger.
He laid me back against the smooth wood of the desk, hovering over me, his eyes burning with a dark, triumphant fire.
"You wore this dress to make them regret being shy," Luca murmured, his fingers tracing the delicate strap of the red satin, pushing it slowly off my shoulder.
"Did it work?" I breathed, my chest heaving.
Luca smiled, a sharp, predatory curving of his lips that sent a shiver down my spine.
"It made a monster come out of the shadows," Luca whispered, leaning down to press a burning kiss against the exposed skin of my neck. "And now, mia regina, the monster is never letting you go."
May you like
Downstairs, the wedding reception continued. The music played, the champagne flowed, and the best man wondered where the receptionist had gone.
But high above the city, wrapped in the arms of the mafia boss who had always owned my world, I knew the truth. Miss Thornton, the quiet girl in the cream cardigans, was gone forever. And I was exactly where I was meant to be.
