Chapter 27

ALESSIO

A sharp noise pierced the silence, jolting me awake.

My eyes snapped open, my heart thudding against my rib cage as I lay motionless, straining my hearing.

The room was enveloped in an inky blackness, a darkness that only existed at night when even the moon declined to shine.

The cabin creaked and groaned, settling in the stillness of the night. Seconds ticked by, turning into minutes, but the eerie quiet remained unbroken.

Had it been a figment of my imagination?

With care, I reached for the nightstand, my fingers fumbling in the dark until they brushed against the cold metal of my phone.

The screen illuminated, casting a faint blue glow across my face—2:00 a.m .

A sense of unease crept up my spine, sending a shiver through my body despite the warmth of the bed covers.

I rose, untangling myself from Cleo’s legs, and went to the veranda.

That’s when I spotted lights and sirens wailing, their piercing cry carried on the wind, mingling with the distant thrum of helicopter blades.

Headed towards the Contis farm.

I smirked in the dark.

It appeared justice had finally caught up with the fuckers.

A soft rustling sound behind me snagged my attention.

I turned to see Cleo standing in the doorway to the terrace.

The faint moonlight illuminated her silhouette, her lashes casting feathered shadows on her cheeks in the molten light.

Even in the darkness, I tagged the concern on her face.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked, her voice thick from sleep.

Taking a step, her hands slid around my waist. I pulled her tight, loving her scent, the gentle rise and fall of her breath as she nestled her face into the crook of my neck.

‘It’s going down,’ I rasped. ‘Looks like the feds decided to raid their little operation.’

I pulled my woman close, and we stood, eyes on the distant lights flickering and dancing.

Fotto ! This was just the beginning.

The Contis were like cockroaches—they always found a way to survive and come back stronger and more vicious than ever.

They wouldn’t let this transgression slide. They’d come after us, seeking blood for our betrayal. It was inevitable, and how so many desperate souls I’d dealt with in the past operated.

My mind raced with contingency plans forming and discarding themselves in rapid succession.

We had to be ready for whatever came next, whether it was the Contis or the Caputos chasing retribution for the fallout of their criminal hustle.

Those sons of bitches weren’t going to go down without a fight.

No way in hell would I let my back down. I had to protect my woman and do it with ruthlessness while exacting my vengeance.

I turned to Cleo, pulling her close, burying my face in her hair, breathing in her scent. Franco and his progeny may have started this war, but I was damn well going to finish it.

After breakfast, we conducted our usual perimeter check of the fence lines.

We’d just arrived at the main gate when the rumble of an approaching engine caught our attention.

I tensed, turning to catch sight of a battered truck as I instinctively reached for the gun tucked in the waistband of my jeans, ‘

‘Relax, baby,’ my woman murmured. ‘It’s just my neighbor, Mr. Henderson.’

He pulled up in front of the entrance, his weathered face grim as he climbed out of the cab. ‘Morning, Cleo,’ he greeted us, his voice heavy with concern.

‘Hey, Mr Henderson. This is a friend of mine, Alessio,’ she said, introducing me to the silver-haired gentleman.

He nodded absentmindedly, his thoughts elsewhere. ‘You caught the commotion last night?’

I jerked my chin, lips pursing. ‘Hard to miss. What’s the word?’

The old farmer sighed, taking off his hat and running a hand through his thinning hair. ‘It’s bad, real bad. The cops raided the Conti farm and found a goddamn meth lab and enough weed to supply half the state. Franco and his boys managed to slip away, disappearing into the mountains like the slimy bastards they are.’

Cleo’s fingers tightened around mine, her voice tight with worry. ‘They’re still out there? Dio, they might be anywhere.’

Mr. Henderson’s expression darkened. ‘Oh, that’s not the worst of it. Word is, the Caputos are pissed off, seeing as the Conti farm was one of their main sources of raw drugs. The labs got stripped, and the crop of hemp was poisoned in that raid. So if the Caputos decide to go after whoever called the cops on them, it may turn into a bloodbath.’

Cleo glanced at me and found me stoic, calm as fuck. I wasn’t afraid of the local mafia. They were small fry compared to the Calibreses and the Omertà Alliance.

But they didn’t know that, and I suspected they’d soon come sniffing around to initiate their brand of dick-twirling with me.

I squeezed Cleo’s hand, my mind racing. We needed to act fast to shore up our defenses and gather our allies before the Contis and their new friends came knocking. It was going to be a long, bloody fight, but I’d be damned if I let them take what was ours.

‘Thanks for the heads up, sir,’ I said, my voice grim. ‘We’ll keep an eye out if they come knocking.’

He assessed me and the gun at my waist, the rifle in Cleo’s grasp, and nodded. ‘Be careful. Call me as soon as trouble shows up, and I’ll do the same if they’re spotted on my farm.’

With a tip of his hat, the gentlemanly farmer climbed back into his truck and drove off.

‘That’s a man with sizable balls,’ I growled in respect.

My woman’s gaze met mine, and she gave me a slight smile.

Her brow arched even higher. ‘I much prefer yours, honey. Much bigger, too.’

I huffed into her mouth as our lips met in a melting kiss.

Dio, I was fucked.

Gone for her.

CLEO

That evening, Alessio found me in the kitchen, putting away the last dried dishes for the day.

I turned and tagged him, leaning against the counter, eyes molten on me.

‘How do you want it? Tongue or cock between your legs?’

Still unused to his filthy tongue yet secretly loving it, I gasped, then laughed, throwing a dish towel at him.

His lips curled at the edges, and then he moved, prowling toward me.

‘Tits baby, fucking now.’

My man was a dirty talker; despite my blushes, I was here for it.

I reached for the edge of my tee and swept it off my head.

My bra sailed off next, and in seconds, his hot mouth descended over my left nipple.

Suckling, laving, flicking with the rough nob of his tongue.

I keened and curved into him. Hands clutching his back for purchase.

‘She’s so ravenous for it, so needy, so freakin’ insatiable for it,’ he growled, lifting away to kiss me. ‘I had a hard-on all day from being so close to you.’

Our mouths met, so wild for him I lost all breath for a second.

The next thing I knew, my jeans were being tugged down, and my panties ripped away.

Throwing his sinewed arm around me, he hoisted me onto the kitchen bench.

‘Legs spread, cara,’ he growled. ‘I’ll take care of the rest.’

His heated lips lowered and fell on me.

Feasting, lavishing, pleasuring, making me with under him as I flooded his mouth, even as arcs of pure bliss flew through me, thrumming my core.

He lifted for a beat, his dark blonde locks wild about his face from how much I was tugging at them.

‘I can’t decide if your tits or your pussy is more delicious. Give me another taste.’

My right nipple got what it’d been waiting for, and I offered the plumpness of it to him.

The other hand buried in his hair as I moaned, arched back, toes canted off the kitchen counter.

I’d never been so open or vulnerable for any man before.

With a growl, he pushed back and divested himself of his clothes. ‘Revealing his fuckin’ beautiful body.

I heaved both hands, now levering me up, thighs apart and trembling as he came closer, one arm on the bench, the other on my tits.

His cock, thick, long, and crowned with jewelry, pulsated for me.

I reached for him, pumping him, while Alessio’s eyes burned on the connection of my hand on his shaft, the veins in his neck jutting from trying to maintain control.

‘Enough woman,’ he growled, pulling my hand away.

He gave himself a quick squeeze at the root of his penis to hold off from cumming too soon.

‘Ready?’ he grunted, eyes half-mast with need as he stepped in and placed his head between my lips, running it over and over until our seeping desire mixed.

It was so sensual I began feeling my orgasm rising from the base of my ass.

‘Now, baby, fuck me now,’ I begged.

He obliged with a smirk, easing into me, his palms anchored on either side of my hips, our eyes on our joining.

‘Fotto,’ he grated, pushing in, widening me impossibly. ‘You’re so tight, I can’t take it.’

I moaned, levering my pelvis up to take more of him. ‘Honey, the way you feel beneath me is addicting. I can’t get enough.’

His mouth lowered to mine, and we kissed as he began to move inside me.

One of his hands lifted to my tit, squeezing,

I reached for his ass and flicked his balls from behind .

It drove him wild, and his groin bucked.

‘Cleo, you’re not fuckin’ in charge. Stop it, or you’ll make me blow too soon,’ he warned, eyes narrowed in warning.

I did it again, a cheeky smirk on my face.

‘You’ll pay for that,’ he growled.

With a hiss, he pulled out of me.

I was still protesting as he flipped me to my tummy, captured my hands in his, and lowered them to the counter, caging me in.

His thick thigh pushed between my sopping ones, and I gave a half scream as he surged back into me.

This time, there were no slow, sweet, melting thrusts.

He pistoned, hard, fast, wild, into me as I gasped, over and over until, with a roar he muffled into my nape, I felt him cum.

Hot, scorching jets of his ecstasy pulsated into me, even as I convulsed, my entire pelvis in heated release.

Every nerve end flamed as I quaked through one of the best orgasms I’d ever experienced.