Chapter 34

CHIARA

‘ Dio ,’ I gasped as my entire body convulsed under him, mind blown, heart racing, shards of ecstasy cutting through me.

My hips worked, trying to hold onto the bliss, heel hard in his spine as he, too, came with a guttural groan.

Our lips met, mouths grinding as we rode out the delicious sensation for as long as possible.

He tore from me, gazing down at me with those stunning pale aqua eyes, adoration spilling from them.

‘ Leonessa, ti amo ,’ he rasped. ‘I love you so much.’

This man.

I gave him soft—eyes, smile and soul, because he deserved it, and more.

My man, my warrior.

Gripping his hips with my thighs, I kept the slide in and out.

His shaft was still hard, and with a cry, my eyes widened as another shudder of pleasure went through me.

‘She never gets enough of me,’ he growled, dropping his head into my neck as I came, legs shaking.

‘It’s the truth,’ I snarled back at him. ‘You’ve got me sex drunk, cock happy, Calibrese.’

I was insatiable for him.

After a lifetime of loneliness and angst, to have him in my world, on me, in me, was more than my soul could handle.

My grip on his butt eased. I glided hands to the small of his back, tracing circles on his skin as our lips met once more for a lazy, long embrace.

‘ Sei la ragione per cui vivo, per cui ogni giorno sorrido .’

He huffed against my nape. ‘Am I the reason you live and smile every day?’

‘You are,’ I murmured back, nipping his ear.

‘You say the nicest things,’ he growled. ‘Makes me want to keep loving on you.’

‘It’s why I say them,’ I whimpered, cherishing how he thrust his hips into me once more time.

He slid a hand between us to stroke me into a third sharp, fast orgasm as my reward.

When I was done shuddering, he rolled off me with a grunt and strode to the bathroom.

I admired his ass, smiling when he reappeared with a hot towel.

He cleaned me, tossed it into the waste basket, and returned, sinking one muscled knee into the bed behind me.

With a sigh, he sunk in and wrapped those sinewed, bulging limbs around me once more. Burying his nose in my nape, hand under one tit, thumb stroking a nipple, and sending little arcs of delight through me.

‘Claudio was convicted yesterday. The allegations were damning—fraud, wire scams, art trafficking, money laundering,’ Rio murmured. ‘The prosecution is recommending a sentencing of twenty years or more.’

I sighed. I’d blocked my fratello from my realm, phone, and thoughts.

I’d only allowed Rio to give me updates on his court case.

‘His entire web of deceit has unraveled before him, and the financial deceptions he orchestrated were exposed for what they were—elaborate lies built on shifting sand.’

‘Am I -?’

‘You’re clear, belleza , no charges, seeing as there’s plenty of evidence you were being coerced. The records you provided, plus what they found in his books, uncovered a world of schemes.’

‘ Cazzo . I’d always been aware my brother was over his head, but I had no idea how far gone he was.

‘At one point, he was selling a 50% stake in a famous painting to multiple investors, up to twenty, it’s believed.’

‘Classic, his house of cards finally collapsed under the tonnage of his greed,’ I whispered.

‘The judge didn’t blink when he handed down the ruling, too. There was chatter about a life sentence, except that he ratted on his father’s loyal capos, who’d been involved in my parent’s massacre. He also revealed details behind the attack: its full planning, ideation, and execution.’

‘Can we not talk about him anymore?’ I asked my man.

‘Hell yeah, whatever you desire, my queen.’

He squeezed me tight, and I shivered. Loving the scorch of his chest on my back, the hardening thickness of his cock on my ass, the scent of our lovemaking, and the heart beating against my spine.

Heaven .

The conviction train still kept rolling.

As a result of Claudio’s testimony and records found in Olivio’s home, three men - Sal Coppola, Giuseppe Ajello, and Leonardo Provenzano were sentenced to life imprisonment.

It turned out the three Tirone associates were responsible for sourcing the explosives, driving the truck, and conspiring in the bombing of Valerio’s parents.

As for Fabian, his fall was even more significant.

The Mariano family had been using art - genuine and forged alike—to launder their drug money. Billions were uncovered, hidden across a web of counterfeit transactions.

Fabian pled guilty in the end, facing wire fraud, tax evasion, and laundering charges. The once-feared mafia family’s empire crumbled, and Fabian would never see daylight again outside a prison yard.

Neither was Damian, slapped with similar indictments.

With Rio’s help, I planned to sell the various Tirone concerns, cutting them up piece by piece.

The capital I earned from selling my father’s mansion would pay off all the debts and end the illegal criminality that plagued my family for years.

It was over. I was free.

I got Lucia a new start, too.

She’d been caught in the middle of it all, but she was innocent. I helped her land a job with Rio’s art collector friend, whose canvas we’d borrowed.

Lucia would be his assistant, and she would have a much better life than the one she’d had living in the shadow of the Tirone name.

All that was left in the aftermath was Rio and myself.

Clear of the chaos, deceit, and danger surrounding us for so long, we planned to move to Australia, where the sun was brighter, and the future felt wide open.

I had no clue what lay ahead for us, but I knew this: L’amore è un viaggio non una destinazione . Our love was a journey, not a destination. Wherever he was, my heart would be also.

On our last morning in Naples, we sat on the veranda of Villa Tesoro, the warm breeze from the ocean stirring the edges of my mane.

I turned my head to study him.

He wore jeans and a fitted tee that hugged his lean, muscled torso.

His arms, rippling with strength, were bare, marked by the faintest hints of veins under bronzed skin, as if sculpted just for me.

His face was a fierce blend of potency and quiet intensity, which always struck me as beautiful and brutal all at once.

Dark, inky hair swept over his broad brow, framing a face cut with sharp, aquiline features and a jawline just visible beneath the neat trim of his beard.

His eyes were pale aqua and virtually surreal.

They always gave me a lurching sensation, a deep longing that made me ache. I wanted to fall into those eyes, to drown in their impossible shade, lined by lashes so black and thick that they seemed almost unreal.

When he met my gaze, a slow smirk tugged at his lips, and the space between us grew dense and charged.

He took a drag of his cheroot, exhaling smoke that curled toward the ceiling, never breaking eye contact, marking me, taking in my every inch.

His attention lingered, with a possessiveness in his stare, an awareness that prickled my skin and left me breathless.

The scent of the cigarillo mingled with his cologne reached me.

The rich blend of citrus and musk flooded my senses, setting each nerve in me alight, my heart pounding faster as he spoke.

Deep and edged with teasing, his voice hit me like a caress.

‘Seen enough, Chiara?’

The smirk on his face deepened, daring me to answer, to tell him how my love for him was fierce, burning, and forever true.

‘Never. I’ll never see or have enough of you.’

Rio took my hand. ‘ Sei tutto per me , Chiara,’ he rasped, his thumb brushing my knuckles.

I smiled, squeezing his hand. ‘You’re everything to me too. I never thought I’d find this kind of love, ever.’

He gazed out over the water, his expression thoughtful. ‘This is our chance now. To build the life we want. Just us.’

‘Just us,’ I repeated, the words settling into me.

I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder as the waves rolled in.

Soul flying with the promise of what tomorrow would bring.