2. Luca

I'm working in my home office along the coast of Civitavecchia. Well, I"m trying to work, but my thoughts are filled with Aria and whether or not she'll be on the plane tonight. I check my watch for the umpteenth time.

Just after nine p.m. Doing the math, I know it"s only just after three in New York. Three hours before I know whether she's gotten on the plane. Does she want to get on the plane? And if she doesn"t, is it because she"s changed her mind about me or because Niko has found this out?

The idea that I might have put her in Niko"s already overcontrolling crosshairs doesn"t sit well. But what other choice do I have? As much as I want to be there to meet her at the plane in New York, I can"t leave right now because I have to deal with Enzo Sabini and his fuckup antics.

I'm excited in a way I can't remember ever being except maybe as a kid. It"s an odd feeling to be a ruthless businessman while at the same time feeling giddy about a woman.

Thinking of Aria in my home, in my bed, stirs me up. The arousal is made all the more painful because I haven"t been with a woman in so fucking long. As many times as I've visited New York and seen Aria, I haven't touched her. All that I have available to me are my imagination and my hand.

At first, I found this situation to be embarrassing. I'm a man, after all. And while I was immediately drawn to Aria after a trip to New York four months ago, I began to second-guess her pull on me. Or maybe I was just in need of a good fuck.

So, I went to my club to see Electra, a woman I used to fuck regularly. She sat in my lap, running her nails down my chest, and my dick withered. And so, I've been waiting for this day for a long time. A day when I can make Aria mine in every way.

I consider going to the gym and working out the tension, but I know from experience that it won"t work. This hard-on is here to stay until I jerk it off or Aria shows up.

But even if she"s on that plane, she won"t make it to the villa until tomorrow. And as much as I want her, I have to respect her. If she's not ready to take the relationship to the next level, I'll have to wait.

Wait? Fuck.

I"m no masochist, so I head to my bedroom, stripping off my clothes and stepping into the shower. If the gods are with me, this will be the last time I have to do this. Aria will be on the plane, and when she gets here, I'll be able to give up the fantasy to have the real thing.

The idea of it makes me even harder. I imagine her on her knees, that luscious mouth of hers wrapped around my dick. I stroke myself as I picture her dark eyes looking up at me with a blend of mischief and desire.

Or maybe we'll be in bed, her long, curvaceous legs wrapped around my hips as I sink my cock deep into her sweet pussy. I stroke again, the electric current crackling through my dick. I switch up the scene and she's riding me, bouncing up and down my dick, her round tits bouncing. My hand strokes like there"s no tomorrow. All the images morph into one as my balls contract and my orgasm releases on a yell.

I press both hands against the wall and dunk my head under the shower as my breathing comes back under control.

What am I going to do if she's not on that plane?

I push that worry away. She'll be there. She has to be.

I get out of the shower and put on a robe, resisting the urge to call Bruno to see what"s going on in New York. I"m not even sure she got the note. Maybe I should call my contact to see whether the note has been picked up.

I chastise myself for being such a pussy. The need for this woman is emasculating me. I"m not a man who sits around and waits for what he wants. I ask, and if I don"t get it, I take it. My original plan had been to do just that. I would meet her at the bookstore and get her away from her bodyguards, then bring her here. But I've sent Bruno because Sabini is a fucking pain in my side and because I know Niko is on the lookout for me.

I suppose in some ways, this is a test because I don"t just want Aria. I want her to want me too. I want her to grab life and go after what she wants. And yes, I want her to defy her brother. Oh, how I"d love to see the look on his face when he realizes Aria has left him for me. Assuming that"s what she"s done.

Unable to help myself, I check my watch. It's closing in on ten o"clock. If she"s going to make it to the private airport on time, she"s going to have to leave soon.

I slip on a pair of lounge pants underneath my robe and cross the hall from my room to the guestroom that I"ve asked Roberta, my housekeeper, to make up for Aria. The room is set up exactly as I think Aria will like it. Of course, there"s all the comforts she would need in a bed, sitting area, and a large ensuite bath with an extra-deep tub to soak in. Imagining her wet and slick with soap makes my dick twitch again.

But the decor is also what I believe will fit Aria's style. It has a four-poster bed, and rich, colorful tapestries illustrating the history of my Family in Italy adorn the walls. A plush chaise lounge sits near the window, perfect for a Mafia princess to lounge in. As much as I hope she likes the room, what I really want is for her to move into my room. Small steps.

Determining that everything is set, I exit and head back to my office downstairs. I need to keep myself busy because I"m driving myself crazy with anticipation. I pour myself a finger of Moscatello and grab a biscotti from the jar in the bar I keep in my office.

I sit at my desk, turning on my laptop and forcing myself to look at spreadsheets. My clubs are doing well, even without the propped-up numbers from laundering my illegal funds. But my cash cow, as Americans would say, is my black-market import-export business. I move anything and everything from antiques, art, booze, and even regular commodities like olive oil.

When my father took over as Don, he not only had the mentorship of my grandfather, but he also had a formal education with degrees in business and accounting. My father told me there had once been a time when he thought he would make the Conte family legit, and in doing so he built businesses like the clubs that were very successful.

But there"s something about crime that lures people in. Perhaps it"s living on the edge. Maybe it"s the cunning required to hide all your misdeeds in plain sight. Perhaps it"s living in a world in which the laws are different and justice is delivered quickly.

My father passed down his teachings to me, and I run a well-oiled organization. Most of my men are the sons of the men who worked for my father, grandsons of the men who"d worked for my grandfather. If I have a problem, it doesn't come from within my organization. It comes from outside, either in the form of law enforcement trying to poke its head in my business or rival Families.

Today, it"s Enzo Sabini who's causing me the most headache. The Contes and Sabinis have feuded for generations, but there had been a respect between the Dons. But Enzo is different. While his father operated similarly to my father, starting out with diplomacy and negotiations before reverting to violence, Enzo is an egomaniac hothead, drunk on power. I suppose that wouldn"t be so bad if he wasn"t such a fucking idiot.

For a while, Enzo was smart enough not to take me on directly, but over the last several months, he"s been encroaching into my territories, occasionally causing disruption in the transport of my products. I recently gave him the respect he didn"t deserve by meeting him face-to-face and giving him a warning. Apparently, he's decided not to heed it. In fact, I think by meeting with him, I boosted his ego, making him think he is more powerful than he really is. It won"t be long before I have to kill him. Until that time, I have my men keeping an eye on Enzo and his men.

I look at my watch without even thinking, once again checking the time. Eleven. My plane leaves from New York in an hour. Will Aria be on it?