Chapter 10

When I wake the following morning, my dick is already positioned beside its new favourite place. Daisy's fucking pussy. My hand, which is resting against her stomach, moves down her body. And my fingers slide through her lips, circling around her clit.

Bringing my mouth to her neck, I lick and kiss my way up to her ear. "Daisy, baby, wake up," I whisper, while earning myself a small groan of annoyance. I chuckle and press down harder on her clit. Her ass pushes back against me, and I have to move so my cock doesn't enter her. As much as I want to be buried balls-deep inside her right now, I won't do that when she's not conscious. "Daisy, baby, wake up so I can fuck you," I try again, slightly louder this time.

"Argh, seriously, just stick it in," Daisy grunts, her voice husky from a mixture of sleep and tenderness.

"I need you awake to do that, baby. I'm not a fucking creeper," I tell her.

"I'm awake, and if you don't hurry up and stick that cock of yours inside me, I'm getting up and getting on with my day," she huffs before lifting her leg to rest it on top of mine. This position gives me perfect access to line up my cock with her now-slick entrance and glide on in.

"Best fucking way to start the day, inside your pussy," I tell her as I do just that.

"Mmhmm," Daisy moans as I slowly push in and out of her.

My fingers keep circling her clit, and it's not long before she's clamping down around my cock. I pull out just in time to spill my seed all over her bare ass. "Fuck, that cunt of yours is a dangerous addiction."

Daisy rolls over. "You could be addicted to worse things. Like coke, meth, eating your own hair."

"I think I like my addiction to your pussy just fine," I tell her. My arm snakes out and tugs her up against me. "I'm starving. Please tell me you have food in this place."

"Nope, but I've seen that kitchen of yours. You have plenty stocked up there." Daisy pulls out of my hold, climbs off the bed, and disappears into the bathroom.

Forcing myself up, I tug on my pants from yesterday and pad out to her kitchen. Where I open every cupboard. She wasn't lying. There isn't anything here. So I walk back to the bedroom, pick up my phone, and order breakfast to be delivered.

I contemplate joining Daisy in the shower. Something stops me though. If I go in there, I won't hear the door buzz and the food I just ordered will go cold. When the driver finally arrives, I rush downstairs to meet him at the building's entrance. I'm half-expecting Daisy to still be in the shower when I walk back into her apartment with armfuls of takeaway bags. Instead, she's in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"What are you doing? I thought you left," she asks me.

I watch every flick of emotion on her face. She's uncomfortable with me being here. The woman has no issue letting me fuck the shit out of her. But when it comes to actually spending time together, when we have to actually talk, she doesn't want a bar of it.

"I ordered food," I say as I walk past her to set the bags on the counter. I turn around and reach for the cabinet where I know her plates are kept and grab two. "I didn't know what you liked so I got a bit of everything."

"Why?" She's staring at me like I'm some kind of alien from outer space.

"Because I'm hungry, and I know for a fact you didn't eat dinner. Unless you count my cock, but even I know my sperm doesn't have the kind of calories you need to sustain yourself," I tell her.

"Does sperm even have calories?"

"Yep, but no more than twenty-five or so." I pick up the plate I loaded up and hand it to her.

"Why are you doing this? You don't need to get me food," she says.

"You didn't have anything in your cupboard, and we need to eat."

"Yes, but we don't need to do that together," she stresses.

I try to keep my face neutral as I dig through her drawers for spoons, knives, and forks. "Why wouldn't we eat together, Daisy?"

"Because that's not what we are," she tells me.

"We could be. We're already fucking each other exclusively, Daisy. So why not move this thing to the next level and, I don't know, date? Like officially?" I ask her.

"How would you know I'm not fucking anyone else?" She lifts a challenging brow, and I mirror the gesture.

"Are you?" I ask, even though I know the answer to that because I've been tracking her every move.

"No, but that's not the point. I could if I wanted to," she says.

I laugh. It's not a humorous sound though. No, it's dark. Sinister. "You could try."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. By all means, try to fuck someone who's not me, babe. See how far you get. In fact, I'd love to see you try."

"Are you threatening me?" She pops a hip while folding her arms over her chest.

"You? No, I would never hurt you. Can't say the same about the poor asshole you lure back here though."

"This isn't happening. I think you should leave." Daisy takes a step away from the counter. Away from me.

I wish I fucking knew why she keeps pulling away. I can't fix something if I don't know what the goddamn problem is.

"We need to have this conversation," I say. "Why don't you want to be in this with me?"

"I like what we have. Why mess with it if it works? Casual, no strings, nonexclusive is how I do things. If you can't, then we need to stop." She shrugs.

"It's not working for me," I tell her, and watch her face drop. "We can stick to your casual, no-strings bullshit for a bit longer, but the nonexclusive clause has to go. I won't share you with anyone else, Daisy."

She swallows. Her throat moves and her eyes close on a long blink. "Fine, we can be exclusive, no-strings, casual fuck buddies. But no one can find out what we're doing. And this?" She gestures to the benchtop. "Breakfast, dinner, lunch. It's not what we do. We don't need to get to know each other any more than we already do."

"How about we start that no food thing after we eat? Because this is a lot of food to waste." I pick up some tongs and pull bacon from a container before loading up my own plate.

By the time I'm done, Daisy caves. "Fine. I'll eat breakfast with you this once. But this is not a date," she says.

"That's insulting. If I were to take you on a date, it wouldn't be Uber Eats while sitting in your apartment," I tell her. "I'd plan something way better."

"Like what?" Daisy asks before finally digging in to her breakfast.

"McDonald's drive-through," I deadpan.

"Oh, because that's top-tier." She laughs.

"Don't knock the Macca's breakfast, babe." I follow Daisy over to her little two-seater dining table. "What are your plans this weekend?" I ask her.

"Nope, you don't need to know that." She shakes her head.

"I do, actually. I need to know how long it's going to be before I can come back and fuck you again," I tell her.

"Well, in that case, I have no plans." She smirks.

"Good to know."

"What are your plans?"

"No idea yet. Probably putting out fires I didn't start."

"I know I said no questions, but why do you do it?" Daisy asks.

"Do what?"

"Work for the family," she says while using air quotes.

I shrug. "It's what I was raised to do. Some of us don't get a choice when it comes to who we want to be. We become who we need to be."

"That's… sad. If you could do something else, what would you do?"

"I don't know. I've never thought about it," I lie. Then I set my fork on the empty plate, stand up, and walk around the small table, before leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Thanks for breakfast. I have to go." I turn and walk to the door. "Lock it behind me," I call out over a shoulder.

It's not until I'm inside the elevator that I release the breath I was holding. My hands shake.

How the fuck does she do this shit to me?

No one rattles me. It was a simple question. I should have just redirected the conversation; but, for some reason, I found myself wanting to tell her everything. All of my inner thoughts. Things no one else knows.

Instead, I lied, because that's what I'm good at. I told her I've never thought about a different life. When, in reality, I think about it every fucking night I close my eyes to go to sleep and see the nameless faces of the lives I've taken. All to protect my family. Don't get me wrong. I don't regret doing the shit I've done, and I will continue to do whatever it takes to keep my brothers safe.

When I get in my car, I send a message to one of our soldiers, instructing him to follow Daisy's movements, and arrange 24/7 protection and surveillance. I've been careful to not let anyone see me come and go from her apartment. But in this life, you can never be too sure.

Around every corner, there's a different enemy waiting to get the jump on us. It's the curse of being at the top of Melbourne's underground. A legacy my father started and made sure all five of us boys had no choice but to follow. It's a blessing too. To have the kind of power the De Bellis family has in this town. I can get anything at the snap of a finger. Anything except for Daisy fucking Blake to date me. Publicly anyway. But just as easily as I can get the shit I want, it can also be taken from me in the blink of an eye.

I learnt that the hard way. After watching Santo lose his fiancée. Shelli was very much the sister I never had. Her death has affected all of us, but watching my brother struggle with his grief? That's not something I ever want to feel. It's also why I'm going to make sure Daisy is protected.

Even if she won't admit what we are, I know she will… eventually. And I'll be here waiting for her to be ready. I'm not saying I'm in love with her, but I do fucking like her a lot, which is more than I've felt for any other woman before.