Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

DARIO

I ’m relieved when Father announces he wants to leave early, affording every Moretti the chance to exit if he wishes. The dinner was filled with awkward conversations about opera, books, and other things I don’t care about. It’s not that I’ve got anything against it. I’m sick of everybody trying to seem clever.

I offer Elena my arm as we get ready to leave. When she takes it, I remind myself for the millionth time that I have to be cold, but there’s too much warmth sparking between us. It’s like she’s waking something long forgotten inside me.

“Can I use the ladies’ room before we go?” she asks.

I think about the Romanos, the threats, the vandalism. What if something happens to her in there? She smiles at me as she places her hand on my chest—all part of the act. “Don’t worry. I’d never dream of running from my dear, devoted lover.”

I grab her hips; I’m conscious people are watching us while pretending not to be. To sell this game, I’ve got to be convincing. The entire city has been talking about us, which is good. Now, I can give them more to talk about.

Pulling her close, I lean down. She moans in that frantic, ball-tingling way that has my head spinning. My thoughts get cloudy as I try to distinguish between acting and reality. “I’d find you anyway,” I growl. “I’d bring you home.”

“Home,” she repeats, wrapping her arms around me. “Is that the townhouse or the cruddy place on the wrong side of the tracks?”

“Home, for you, is wherever I am.”

I kiss her passionately. I should get a damn Oscar. That’s my justification, but summoning this fiery need requires little effort. A voice in the back of my head says this is wrong. By publicly kissing her, I’m announcing to the city that she’s important to me. I’m putting a target on her, hence the increased security.

“I won’t be long,” she says when she pulls back, turning away.

I look at her ass in that dress, the fabric hugging her fine rear tightly. It takes all my effort not to spank her and watch her perfect shape tremble for me. As she walks away, her hips swish from side to side. All part of the act …

“Somebody’s smitten,” Mother says, sidling beside me and leaning on my arm.

“Somebody’s drunk,” I counter.

My father stands nearby, typing angrily into his phone.

“Am I?” Mother giggles. “It doesn’t change anything. I meant what I said. She truly looks wonderful tonight—a real picture!”

“I thought you disapproved.”

“Have I said that?” she snaps harshly.

“You haven’t needed to.”

“So you can read my mind?”

I smirk. “I haven’t needed to.”

“Always so clever, Dario,” she says, slurring slightly. “Ever since you were a little boy who could fit in my hand, you were the most intelligent baby ever. And I’m not talking about the entire future. I’m not talking about Family politics. Here, now, tonight, at this party, Elena looks and has behaved beautifully.”

“We can agree, but don’t worry, I won’t hold you to any of this in the morning.”

When Elena returns, I step away from my mother and take her arm again. Immediately, my rod stiffens in my pants as I make contact with her soft, warm skin. The memory of our kiss reappears, the ghost of her lips telling me to do it again and never stop.

Back in the limo, I sit beside her, knowing I’m failing hard at the promise I made to myself. I’m supposed to be distant, but I wrap my arm around her and pull her into me. When she speaks, her warm breath caresses my neck.

“Nobody’s watching us now, are they?” she murmurs.

“The driver can’t see us,” I tell her.

“So, why are you holding me?”

“I don’t need to analyze every little thing I do.”

“That’s not much of an answer …”

“How’s this for an answer?”

I kiss her again, opening my mouth and tasting her, our tongues caressing in that hot-as-hell way. She moans when I place my hand on her leg, feeling her smooth skin and then slipping under her dress. She gasps and bites my lip. It drives me wild.

Sliding my hand higher, I can feel her heat. My dick presses rock-hard against my zipper, and I know I should stop. I know that none of this was part of the deal, but when I press down on the outside of her underwear, I can’t. She’s soaked for me. Her folds feel full and swollen with pure lust.

She breaks off the kiss, staring at me with wide, innocent eyes. It should remind me of the power difference, the age gap, and why I should stop.

“Why are you doing this?” she whispers.

“You feel so damn good,” I growl.

“But it’s not real.”

“No?” I gently push her underwear aside and stroke my finger over her. Fuck . She shivers like she’s been waiting for this moment. Her mouth opens into an O of shock and lust. “Does this feel real?”

I press my thumb down on the nub of her clit, savoring her moan. She grabs my wrist with both of her. “Are you sure nobody can see us?”

“This limo is used for Mafia needs,” I groan, slowly circling her entrance with my finger, teasing her. “It’s soundproofed, and he can’t see us. I wouldn’t let anybody see my fiancée like this. This is for me. Just me.”

“So we’re still playing a game?” she whimpers.

“Unless you’re the best actor in the world, there’s no way you’ve made yourself so gorgeously wet for me.”

As I push my finger inside of her, she lets my hands go, pressing her face against my chest as if she doesn’t want me watching her when she gives in to the pleasure. I haven’t touched a drop of booze tonight, but it’s like I’m drunk on her.

I slide my finger deep, swirling it in circles, her walls squeezing and pulsing around my hand while I grind my palm against her engorged clit. The combination makes her moan loudly into my chest, almost screaming as the pleasure causes her body to twitch.

“Grab my cock,” I growl. “Feel how hard you’re making me.”

Her hand slides shyly up my leg. She gasps when she wraps her hand around my dick through the fabric of my trousers. Precome leaks hotly out of my tip, and I know, at least for one crystal clear moment, that there’s something real here. I’ve never lost control like this.

I can track how close she is to an orgasm by the way her hand trembles against my dick. My rod is filled with desire for her. I might explode as her stroking gets more frantic in time with my attention on her pussy.

Finally, she begins to tremble all over. Her hand squeezes tightly around my shaft. Then she can’t rub me anymore. Her hand falls away, and she falls back on the seat, her eyes glistening with the sudden rush of pleasure. I watch as her tits jiggle, and she bites down, trying to fight back a scream of release.

Oh. My. Fuck .

Her pussy leaks hot pleasure all over my hand. I push my finger in deeper, moving it faster, as her entrance gifts me with even more wetness. The head of my cock is burning with anticipation of feeling her hot slit.

When her orgasm is over, I grab her hips and pull her into my lap, grinding back and forth. “I need your pussy,” I growl in her ear. “I need to fuck you. I need to own you. Fuck. I need you.”

“Wuh-wait,” she moans. “I can’t. Not like …” Not like this . Is that what she was going to say? “I’m a virgin.”

She says it quickly. I keep grinding her for a second, then pause when I realize what she’s just told me. My hands sink even deeper into her hips.

“What?” I growl.

“A virgin,” she snaps. “V-I-R-G-I-N. There? Is that clear enough?”

“You’re forgetting I enjoy it when you sass me.”

I press my lips against hers. She grasps my face in her hands, her hips rocking like she can’t help it. I know the feeling. My torch is burning hotter than ever. Seed demands to explode as I attempt to control myself.

“This is all an act,” she moans.

“Not this part. I’m not pretending.” I pull her dress up, indulgently caressing her thick ass, sinking my hands deep into her curviness. “And neither are you.”

The first time she tries to slide out of my lap, I stop her, holding onto her delicious-as- fuck ass, but then she pushes her hands against my chest. “We have to stop. I can’t rush into this. This wasn’t supposed to be …”

“Real,” I growl. “You can say it.”

“Saying it would make it real.”

I let her go. She shifts to the other side of the car, adjusting her dress and touching up her hair. I try to get my breathing under control, hoping it will calm the heat in my blood.

She looks out of her window. “It’s like you’re forgetting there are a million reasons this can never work. It’s like you’re forgetting our deal. It’s like you’re forgetting everything, Dario.”

“You have that effect on me.”

“You’ll go back to being cold soon.”

“Is that what you want?” I ask.

She says nothing, leaving me to wonder about her answer. She has a point, though. I’ve been hot and cold like I’m a broke person’s shower. I’m messing with her head—and my own.

After a moment of steely silence, I get a text from Allessio. It’s done. Let’s hope the idiots get the point .

Elena is right. Between my father’s rejection of her, that this is all supposed to be an act, the danger I’m putting her in, and that we can’t trust each other, so much should keep us apart.

She sighs, laying her forehead against the glass. I wonder if she wants me to say something or just lay my hand on her shoulder, but I do neither. Instead, I look out of my window. We’re together, but we’re also apart. That’s beginning to become our theme.