CHAPTER NINETEEN

GIANNA

I let the water slide through my hair, rinsing the conditioner out, when I feel a large body wrap around mine. While my eyes are still closed, Braxton cups the back of my head and kisses me long and deep.

I cannot get enough of this man.

I wasn't joking about his tongue skills when I was talking to Mia but putting it into words is impossible. My body just melts when he touches me—even when I'm thinking about him.

My eyes flick open, and I take in the tall, dark, handsome man standing over me. His fingers pressing into my hips. Deep hunger in his eyes.

"You fucked me only a few hours ago," I say, pressing my lips to his once more.

"Perhaps I need you every hour, on the hour," Braxton says, his cock hardening between us.

"That's going to make dinner tonight awkward." I giggle.

"I can control myself around your family." He grabs one of my breasts and lowers his mouth. "Just."

"Not my family. With Mia and Connor," I say, and his head shoots up in a frown.

"What?"

I'm surprised he doesn't look happier. He seemed so pleased to see her the other night. Now, it's almost the opposite.

"They invited us to dinner. I said we would go."

His hand slides up from my breast to my neck.

"Making plans for us now, are we? I'm not sure how I feel about that," Braxton says, nudging his cock between my legs.

This man makes me forget my own name.

"Please." I beg as my body pulses with fresh arousal.

"Please what?" he rasps.

Actually, I don't know what I'm asking for. My brain has stopped functioning.

I want him. His cock.

All of him.

"Tell me what you want, little girl," he grunts, biting at my lip.

"To be fucked," I say.

"First, for assuming you can make plans for me, get on the floor and suck my cock." He releases my neck and I almost whimper as I go down.

His thick, beautiful cock bobs excitedly as I take it in hand and wrap my mouth around it. It fills me completely as I roll my tongue along his shaft and circle his head. I work him faster, cupping his balls and letting my eyes lift to him.

The way he looks down at me almost takes my breath away. I see dark desire, a man on the edge, and conflict within them.

He wants me.

He doesn't want to want me.

A flicker of hope that is growing within me flares to life.

What if...?

Suddenly, he pulls me to my feet and lifts me onto the shower seat. My legs are parted, and Braxton's fingers slide inside my pussy.

"I could fuck this sweet little cunt forever, Gianna." His eyes roam over my face as he hits my g-spot with his finger.

"Brax," I gasp, arching as I grip his thick biceps.

The way his enormous body surrounds me does something to me, sending butterflies spinning in my tummy.

He slams his hand on the wall next to me and directs his cock toward my entrance.

With a deep moan, he enters me, and my eyes close.

I wrap my arms around his shoulders as he ruts into me fast and rough, crying out at the white-hot pleasure it creates.

"Gia, fuck. Fuck, Gia." Braxton groans, lifting my chin and slamming his mouth on mine.

My orgasm rolls from me. He swells inside me, then abruptly pulls out and strokes his long cock as streams of white come spill onto me.

I shudder at the sight of him with his powerful cock in his hand. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I reach out and run my fingers over his tattoos, then lift my face to his.

Those steel-blue eyes look haunted. I wish I knew what he was thinking, but I have a feeling I know.

Braxton's leaving me.

I don't know when, but I know that he is.

"Take me with you," I whisper quietly and wonder if he will even hear me over the water.

The surprise on his face is subtle, but I don't miss it.

He presses closer and lifts me into his arms. For a moment, his gaze roams my face as if memorizing all of me, then he slowly kisses me.

It's soft and gentle.

No one has kissed me like this before. Like they want me for more than just sexual pleasure. Like they don't want to let me go.

Like I am theirs and the world and all its rules don't matter.

But I know they still do.

I cling to him, holding on to him so tight I'm sure I'm hurting him. Which is impossible. His body is powerfully built and far stronger than I could ever be.

Somehow, we're in my bedroom now and Braxton lowers me to the floor. We're dripping wet and in a bubble of lust and emotions I never dreamed were possible.

I start to shake as he holds me against him, not from the cold, but from all the emotions running through me.

There's no doubt in my mind now.

He is leaving me.

This is the start of his goodbye.

"If I could keep you, Gianna, I would," Braxton rasps as he runs a hand along my wet hair. "I really fucking would."

I swallow and close the last inches between us, wrapping my arms around him and laying my cheek against his solid chest.

There is nothing I can do.

I never belonged to him.

And he has never belonged to me.

brAXTON

M Y FEELINGS FOR Gianna are going to get me killed.

I can sense she feels the same way. I'd be deaf, dumb, and blind if I couldn't. But can I trust her?

The mafia have a belief, a principle if you like, called Omertà . It is an extreme form of loyalty and solidarity between them, imprinted on them from birth or when they become Made Men.

It is deeply demeaning and shameful to betray one another, even to authorities. If they suspect I am not who I say I am, then Gianna's loyalty will be to her family.

Take me with you.

I don't believe many people could fake the way we're feeling. Because it's not just her, I'm feeling it, too.

We made love.

That wasn't fucking.

How do I know? Because I've never done it before in my life.

Take me with you.

Goddamn her. Those four words almost ripped my heart in two. The torment in her eyes makes me question everything.

She wants to leave.

To be with me? Or to get away from this world?

I don't know, and I cannot break cover to find out. The risk is too great for my life and to Amy's.

God, my fucking loyalty is being tested.

I lie wondering how Gianna could know I'm leaving. I haven't said a damn thing. My gut says she wants me.

What an egotistical asshole I am. But I don't think I'm wrong. We've only spent days together, and much of that with me inside her, but I can't explain it.

It's like we belong.

There is something about this dark-haired beauty that makes me want to protect her, kill for her.

Keep her.

But she is literally the one person in this world I cannot have.

Or should want.

Gianna could also be manipulating me. If she's aware she has to marry within the families—and likely she does—then she may see me as a wealthy man capable of taking her from this life.

Much like Mia and Connor.

Well, sorry sweetheart, I'm not a billionaire.

I'm a US Marine.

I'm not poor, although I'll be in some fucking serious debt to Connor after this mission. And I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life once—if—I get Amy home.

I need space to think.

Dinner with Mia and Connor is just what the doctor ordered.