Chapter Twenty

When I typed my daily email to Dante and Valentina the morning after I’d slept with Anna, I still felt a sense of disbelief over what had happened.

We’d fucked. Twice.

I’d taken Anna’s virginity and had asked her for exclusivity, how she put it. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into me. I’d never cared if any of the women I’d been with had slept with others. Naturally, they’d been married after all. But with Anna? The mere idea that she might be with someone else made me want to kill the person.

Just the thought that she’d be Cliffy’s one day made me want to kill the fucker now.

Part of me considered confessing everything to Dante. Not because I was trying to be noble and come clean with my Capo. I simply hoped he’d decide to cancel Anna’s engagement to Clifford.

Of course, self-preservation and rationality made me opt for lying. When Anna would marry Clifford in a few years, she and I had probably long lost interest in each other. Risking her reputation and my life only because I was obsessed with her now was absolutely idiotic.

I waited in the car for her in front of her fashion school as usual but when she got into the passenger seat this time, our interaction was strained. Usually, she said something provoking and I answered in turn, but this time she only smiled tensely and I couldn’t come up with something witty either. Fuck, this was the first time I acted like an idiot around a woman after sex.

I started the car, glad for the sound of the engine. We didn’t talk the entire car ride. Once back in our apartment, I prepared a strong coffee for us.

Anna cleared her throat. “I don’t like this. I want things to return to how they were before we had sex.”

For a moment I thought she wanted us to return to not having sex, and I was most definitely not in favor of that.

Anna rolled her eyes. I supposed my expression must have given my feelings away. “Our teasing and banter. I don’t want it to become awkward between us just because we’re having sex regularly.”

“Are we having sex regularly?”

“I hope that’ll be the case. Don’t you?”

I pulled her against me. “Do you even have to ask?”

She flashed me a grin. “Then everything’s settled? We act like we used to but with the added bonus of regular sex?”

“Fine with me,” I drawled, slipping my hand up her skirt and into her panties. I began fingering her. “Maybe we should define regular,” I murmured, enjoying the feeling of Anna becoming slick around my fingers.

“Daily,” she said breathlessly.

“Daily,” I agreed before I hoisted her up on the table for easier access to her pussy.

After a round of sex in the kitchen, we had dinner, before we opted for a second round in the bed.

It was almost nine o’clock when we relaxed beside each other, both sweaty and exhausted from a particularly long and intense session of me taking Anna doggy style.

Anna yawned.

“Tired?”

“I didn’t get much sleep last night, did I?”

“I was hoping it would be the same way tonight?”

Anna shook her head with a laugh. “I can’t go another round. I’m too tired, and I need to be fit tomorrow. We’re getting our first semester assignment in resourceful fashion design. It’ll account for a third of our course note.”

“I’m here if you change your mind,” I said as I crossed my arms behind my head.

Anna’s expression shifted but I wasn’t sure why. She sat up and slid to the edge of the mattress.

“What are you doing?”

She laughed as if the answer was obvious. “I’m going to bed.”

I didn’t say anything. I’d thought she’d spend the night and now that she didn’t I felt… disappointed.

“Sleeping in the same bed will only make it awkward, right?” She laughed again.

“Probably.”

“How was it with other women?”

I didn’t particularly like talking about other women with Anna. It felt strangely disrespectful, which was complete bullshit considering Anna had caught me in the act. “They shared their beds with their husbands, so the topic never came up.”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t have a husband yet, so theoretically we could share a bed if that’s something you want.”

“What do you want?”

Neither of us wanted to do the first step.

“I’m fine either way.”

“Me too.”

Anna nodded resolutely then got up. “I suppose then I’ll go to my bed. It’ll make it easier to keep it simple and uncomplicated, right?”

“Right.”

She picked up her bathrobe from the floor and headed for the door.

I growled, fucking tired of our games. “Stop.”

She turned with cocked eyebrows. “What?”

“Get back into bed.”

“Why?”

“Get. The. Fuck. Back. Into. Bed.”

Anna rolled her eyes but hurried back and practically leaped under the covers. “All right. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

I extended my arm and Anna pressed against me.

“Maybe we need to discuss additional rules of our affair.” Calling it an affair didn’t sit well with me at all, but I had absolutely no clue what else to call it. We weren’t in a relationship. You couldn’t go into a relationship with a set end date. And I wasn’t the type for relationships, had never been.

“What rules?” Anna asked in a low voice that I could feel everywhere.

Even if the words hurt, I had to say them. “That we never forget that you’re Clifford’s. Not mine.”

“I won’t forget, don’t worry,” Anna said quietly. “But this can be yours, this moment, and as many nights as we can carve out until I get married.”

“Not just nights, Anna. If I start fucking you, I’ll want to do it every hour of the day.”

She gave me a warning look. “I told you I can’t go again tonight. I don’t know where you take the energy. You’re ten years older. Is this some kind of man thing?”

“It’s a me thing. I’m the perpetuum mobile in human form.”

“Could you be any more conceited?”

She shook her head with a laugh then slapped my chest.

“I can try.”

“We agreed on daily not hourly.”

“I haven’t left a lasting impression.”

She narrowed her eyes in a way I found more amusing every day. “You know that’s not true, but don’t expect me to stroke your ego.”

I sighed. “I’ve found myself a tough girl.”

Anna was silent, and I realized how that must have sounded. “This has to stop once we’re back in Chicago,” she whispered. “No matter when that is. We can’t keep this up behind my family’s back. It’s different while we’re so far away.”

“Yes,” Santino said. “Your father would kill me.”

“So we both agree this can only go on while we’re in Paris?”

“Absolutely.” I didn’t mention that I’d resign as her bodyguard the moment we were back anyway. When I’d asked Dante for this favor it had been for other reasons, but now I was glad I’d have the option to bring distance between Anna and me once we were back.

Anna bit her lower lip in a way that made my cock twitch. I raised one eyebrow.

She leaned forward, whispering, “Maybe I could go for another round if you do what you did the first time we got naughty.”

“You have to be more specific.” She couldn’t possibly mean me fucking her mouth because her reaction after that hadn’t really screamed for a repeat performance, which was why I hadn’t let her go down on me again since then.

Anna stroked my chest then lower, her nails teasing the ridges of my abs and my inner thighs in a very distracting way.

“It was kind of hot, to have you over me like that, taking my mouth, being all dominant and angry.”

Blood shot into my cock as the images from that first night flitted through my brain. “Don’t say something like that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it gives me all kinds of ideas you’re not ready for.”

“I’m more than ready. I told you. I thought it was hot.”

“You disappeared in the bathroom afterward to cry.”

“You don’t know that I cried.”

“Your eyes were red and puffy. I sure as fuck won’t do something that gets that kind of reaction from you, cherie.”

Anna looked surprised. For once I hadn’t said cherie to piss her off. I’d heard the difference too.

“I like it when you call me cherie as if you mean it.”

I meant it. Had meant it before too even if I’d hidden it behind taunting and sarcasm. Anna had annoyed me a lot in the past, and still did most days, but over time I’d realized I kind of liked it.

“I mean it. I thought it was hot. I ran off into the bathroom afterward because I wanted to be more than an angry fuck.”

“You could never be just an angry fuck and you know it.” Our eyes met, and suddenly this felt too intimate. I wouldn’t have put up with as much as I did with anyone else. I cared about Anna, too fucking much, which was the main problem of my existence. Adding sex to the mix was a risk. I’d never fallen for a woman I’d slept with but I had a feeling Anna might change that, and I shouldn’t risk it. Liking her for her spunk was okay, but anything that went beyond that would be fatal.

Anna shrugged. “You’re more than an angry fuck too. I kind of like you, Santino. You give my life the necessary spice.”

I chuckled. “Ditto, cherie. Ditto.”

“So what about a repeat performance of that first naughty night?”

I shook my head with a growl and pulled her toward me for a kiss. “How could I say no?”

Now that Santino and I had stipulated certain rules I felt much better. Of course, no one knew better than me that it was one thing to have rules and another to follow them.

Yet, I was willing to take the risk because being with Santino felt too good to give it up. And not just in the physical sense, though that was absolutely mind-blowing. I still got goose bumps and a pleasant tingling between my legs when I thought of our sex life in the last few weeks. The one time Maurice had tried to contact me, I’d told him that I was no longer on the market. Being with Santino was more than fulfilling. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else at this point.

It was the end of March and the weather had been sunny and warm the entire week, which allowed us to discover more of the city on foot when I wasn’t busy with my studies.

Santino and I strolled past small groups sitting on the grass with the Eiffel Tower rising above their heads. Almost all of them were tourists or exchange students. Most Parisians avoided the area around their city’s landmark.

I hadn’t yet grown tired of taking a stroll down here, but even I often sought the more secluded places of the city.

I had my phone in my hand, seeking inspiration in everything. I rarely took photos of the sights themselves. I’d done that the first time I’d seen them, but now I was looking for the particular in the ordinary.

Movement on the ground near a bush caught my attention. I immediately started taking photos. One of the cities, several pigeons were picking at a fry when a rat poked its head out and attacked, wrangling the piece of food from the befuddled bird and rushed back into its bush. I lowered my finger from my phone screen but remained vigilant in case another oddity happened.

It took me a moment to realize Santino was watching me. “Other people take videos of the Eiffel Tower, you of a rat fighting a pigeon over a piece of baguette,” Santino muttered, but despite his grumpy expression, I could tell he was amused.

“One thing gets you to the most watched TikTok videos, the other not.”

Santino narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re using this useless platform. There are only half-naked teenage girls dancing to shitty rap music on there.” He shrugged with a smirk. “I suppose that’s your crowd.”

“You know, Sonny, TikTok is algorithm-based. It says more about you than TikTok if the only videos that are suggested to you are half-naked girls.”

“I’ll let your dear brother know. It was his TikTok account I checked when I confiscated his phone last time.”

“Sure,” I said, stifling a grin. Our banter gave me life. Despite our frequent, very frequent sexual encounters, we still teased each other without mercy.

“I have the most gorgeous teenage girl flashing her ass cheeks at me every morning and night in a desperate attempt to seduce me, I don’t need TikTok for that.”

“Newsflash, it’s not an attempt if it’s successful.”

His answering sly grin warmed my belly more than the best hot chocolate in the city. I nudged his arm with mine, my smile widening. “I’m starving. Feed me.”

Santino gave me a very dirty look that made me wish for a less public place. “I fed you last night.”

I slapped his arm, my cheeks warming and desire flaming up my belly as I remembered how he’d taken my mouth last night, but I played oblivious. “I think I’m in the mood for a good duck paté and a salad.”

“Not what I’m in the mood for.”

Despite his words, he led me toward a small Parisian restaurant with old glass cabinets with savoy cabbage and chicory made from porcelain as decoration. It had become a favorite of ours. The owner was quirky and a bit confused, but he spoke English—which made Santino happy—and they served the most delicious duck paté with homemade gherkins and rustic bread. We settled on a small table next to the door with a view of the lively neighborhood.

“Two glasses of champagne,” Santino said then raised his brows at the waiter. “If you haven’t drunk it yourself again.”

Last time we had lunch at the place the owner and his crew had drank all the champagne the previous evening while watching soccer so they hadn’t had any for us.

With a sheepish smile, he served us two glasses of champagne.

“Are we celebrating anything?” I asked as I picked up the glass.

“Just that life’s good right now.”

“And that you finally popped my cherry?” I whispered, smiling coyly at him.

“That was weeks ago.”

I pouted. “So it’s old news I suppose.”

He grinned. “I prefer to celebrate giving you three orgasms this morning.”

“Cheers,” I said, clinking glasses with him before I took a sip. Then a thought crossed my mind and I almost choked on laughter. “I’m pretty sure Dad won’t be happy if your expenses include champagne for giving me orgasms.”

Santino’s expression darkened at once. “When I pay for us, then it’s from my own money. That’s what a real man does when he invites a woman.”

“I really like the bad boy you, but gentleman you is pretty cute too.”

Santino grumbled something then took another sip. He didn’t even particularly like champagne and only did it because I hated drinking it alone.

“You know,” I said when we were almost done with dinner. “I have been feeling horny since the Eiffel Tower.”

“The rat did it for you?” Santino said dryly but the lustful gleam in his eyes didn’t go unnoticed.

“Oh yes, that’s my thing. Especially if they feast on fries. That’s what it was by the way, not a piece of baguette.”

“You love being right.”

“I am usually right,” I corrected. “But I love it too.”

Santino waved over the owner to pay but instead of being quick so we could do something about my horniness, he chatted with him as if he didn’t have anything better to do.

I gritted my teeth. Santino was doing this as a form of punishment for all my teasing of the past.

When we left, I let my gaze stray over every halfway attractive man. “Maybe I should pick one of them to scratch my itch. They won’t waste time talking.”

Santino gave me a harsh smile. “I fear that’s not an option anymore.”

His possessive undertone only made me desire him more.

Still I felt like tipping the scale back in my favor so when we arrived back at our apartment, I stalked straight into my room and locked it before I took my favorite little dildo from its place in my drawer and turned it on.

Santino hammered his fist against the door. “Let me in.”

“Maybe later. I have an itch to scratch.”

“I’ll take the door down.”

I walked over to the bed and stretched out on it then slid my soaked panties down. I teased my folds with the vibrating tip of my dildo, moaning softly.

“Anna, you have three more seconds before I’ll kick the door in.”

I bit my lip with a smile and turned up the vibration before I pushed the head of the dildo into my pussy. I moaned. A bang sounded and the door flew open, then slammed against the wall behind it. Wooden splinters and plaster tumbled to the floor.

I cried out in surprise and sat up, my eyes wide.

Santino stepped in. “I warned you.”

His eyes darted to the dildo I was still holding and which was still half buried inside of me.

“Fuck,” he grunted.

I lay back once more. “Let’s see how you explain that to our landlord.”

“You really think I give the slightest fuck about him when I see you fucking your sweet pussy with a dildo?”

I shrugged and eased the dildo slowly deeper. Santino watched me with hunger-darkened eyes. He opened his pants and pulled out his cock, which was eager to join in on the action.

My mouth watered seeing it, but I kept pleasuring myself with my toy as if I wasn’t dying to feel Santino inside of me. When he began stroking himself, I lost it.

I tossed away the dildo. Santino didn’t need another invitation. He charged toward the bed with a smirk and grabbed my ankles, then tugged me toward the edge of the bed before he plunged into me. I cried out and almost came right away.

I wasn’t sure how long we got lost in each other like that when the bell suddenly disrupted us.

Few people rang the bell so I was a bit confused especially when it rang again. Santino slid out of me with a vigilant look. He grabbed his gun and hurried out of the bedroom.

When he returned a short while later, his expression didn’t bode well. I sat up at once, fearing the worst. If my parents visited now, we’d both be doomed. My bedroom probably reeked of sex and my tousled state didn’t really help.

“Who is it?” I asked as I stood, picking up my panties from the floor and righting my dress.

“Your fiancé.”