Chapter Fifteen

Serafino

I allowed my cigar to cool down before I disposed of it into an ashtray. My lungs were tight enough after seeing the woman who had taken up my every thought.

That she was dressed in clothes befitting a lawyer or businesswoman only made my dick harder. Perhaps some role play was in order in our future.

I pushed to my feet, satisfied with the outcome. I'd gotten the woman I craved. I just had to ensure she was completely mine by the month's end.

I held Delilah's gaze. "Let me drive you home. I'm sure you'd like to pick up a few things before coming with me for the month."

She shook her head. "No. Absolutely not. No client ever goes to where I live."

Sinead sent me a simpering smile. "It's true, our girls never entertain men in their own home, for obvious safety issues."

I concealed a flash of irritation. "You and I both know I have all the workers details at hand whenever I need them."

"You do," Sinead conceded, immediately contrite.

Delilah glowered at me. "You might own the agency, but you don't own me."

What she didn't know was that I intended to change that very soon. I wanted to own her, body, mind and soul. Then she'd never want to leave me again.

She was mine. She just didn't know it yet.

I clucked my tongue. "Everyone has a price."

She crossed her arms, her bottom lip trembling. She looked damn well stricken. "And too many know how to make others feel cheap."

That the ice around my cold heart was beginning to crack meant nothing—did it? Even worse, guilt left a sour taste in my mouth when I said, "That was never my intention."

"Wasn't it?" she questioned. Rubbing the back of her neck, she sighed and said, "Whatever. We'll go to my place. There are some things I'd like if I'm going to be living with you for the entire month."

I was intrigued, but managed to keep an impassive face. She didn't need to know just yet how deeply she'd hooked her claws into me—however unwittingly—in just four days. I was desperate to see inside her home to glean some clues about her.

I had a month to make her feel the same about me as I did about her, and I intended to use everything in my arsenal to make that happen.

I stepped toward Delilah, then wrapped my arms around her and drew her against me. My whole body unwound. She belonged with me. I glanced at Sinead. "See that you find three more girls within the week."

She nodded tightly. "It will be done."

Without looking back, I drew Delilah out of the office, then the reception and waiting area. Once we'd stepped out into the corridor, we took the elevator down to where my car waited along with my driver, Emilio.

He nodded and smiled at Delilah, showing his respect as he opened the back passenger door. He knew better now than to incite my anger, especially when it came to my woman.

I settled into the back leather seat beside her, waiting for the car to pull back out into the traffic before I cupped her chin and drew her face up to mine. My mouth settled over her soft lips and I groaned at the rightness of our kiss. It was drugging, intoxicating and addicting.

It wasn't until she kissed me back, her mouth softening even more and her lips parting, that I drove my tongue deep inside, savoring her.

She drew back first, panting as she looked up at me with her plump, wet lips and her dewy eyes. "Why me?" she asked, voice breathless. "What exactly do you want from me?"

"Why not you?" I countered. Didn't she realize she was my perfect match in every way? "And I want all of you," I said with such intensity she shrank back from me.

I smiled. She'd soon change her mindset. That she didn't speak to me for the entire journey to her home meant nothing to me. What did fifteen minutes of silence matter when I had a whole month to convey our solidarity?

Emilio found a park next to an aged apartment building. I hid my surprise. I'd expected her to live in some fancy condo, not a shabby apartment complex with a whole lot of shady neighbors.

I walked with her into the lobby where moldy carpet and faded paint, along with a general feeling of neglect greeted us. Stepping into the elevator and then back out again on the tenth floor, the stale smell was even more pronounced.

Perhaps that was why I was so surprised when I followed her into her apartment, with its clean white lines and splashes of teal and navy colors, the feel of luxury in the white furnishings and the dark floorboards beneath, the faint scent of lavender in the air.

It was all so understated and elegant, just like the woman I admired.

But where were the photos, the memorabilia? Didn't women showoff that kind of stuff like prized medals? There was nothing to hint of her family, nothing to showcase what she'd done in her life.

That she hid that part of herself, even from her own eyes, squeezed at my innards. She was doing her best to forget her past and obviously her present. Little wonder she wanted to leave it all behind.

And yet you've forced her to stay another month in a profession she doesn't want to be in .

I shoved away yet another bout of guilt. One more month wouldn't hurt her, not when she was only seeing me. That I'd ensured no other client would be a part of her future should make her happy...I hoped it did.

"Would you like a drink?" she asked, heading toward a corner bar that reflected the same walnut-stain as her floorboards. Though it featured a built-in wine rack between the doors and the bar-top, it was the whiskey bottles on the glass shelves above that caught my eye.

"A woman after my own heart," I mused aloud.

She snorted. "Not all women drink wine and bubbly."

I accepted my glass with its splash of amber with a nod of thanks. She tipped her glass back and swallowed its contents in one gulp, then placed it back on the bar with a sigh. "I'll go and get my things."

I nodded, taking a small sip of my drink before following her into the bedroom. She dragged a suitcase down from an overhead cupboard and proceeded to stuff it with clothes.

"You still have some things left in my closet at home," I reminded silkily. I didn't know what had been worse, finding her eye mask in my jacket pocket after I'd gotten dressed or seeing her clothes abandoned in my closet.

Definitely the former. When I'd pulled out her eye mask, I'd felt emotions I'd never experienced before. Yearning and need had overwhelmed me all over again, my fluttering stomach and racing pulse reminding me what I must do—everything possible—to reclaim the woman I wanted.

Now I just had to win her over in the coming weeks.

I tossed back the last of my whiskey as she continued packing, my voice a growl thanks to my dark emotions. "I'll supply anything you need, just take essential items."

She looked up, her face flushed. "My clothes are an essential part of me." She frowned. "We are going to your place?"

I shook my head. "No. My don—my brother—has a casino in Vegas. He wants me to oversee things there for a few weeks." I wouldn't tell her it was mostly until things calmed down a bit.

She blinked. "Really? How lovely of him."

Lovely wasn't a word too often associated with Ethan, but I couldn't help but smile at her excitement even as my dick strained. "Really." I stepped toward her and drew her close, clasping her ass and pressing her against my arousal, "But first, I want to make our month together official."