Her Ruthless Owner, page 10
No, Dio, no.
It wasn't just the words from Penelope's bodyguard that made his blood run cold. It was also the noise he heard in the background. The wailing of sirens and law enforcement officers radioing in details of a crime scene. Ambulance doors being thrown open and first responders wheeling out stretchers.
He fucking knew what all of those could mean—-
Please. God. Please.
"Just fucking tell me," Cesare said rawly. "Is she safe? Is my Penelope alive?"
Chapter Fifteen
Penelope
I'M NOT SURE HOW MUCH time has passed since the sound of gunshots had caused guys in suits to come barging into Greg's room. But by that time, it was too late.
I've already taken a man's life...again.
As for everything that's happened after that...it's all pretty much a blur. I vaguely remember those same guys telling me they're my bodyguards and emergency responders checking my vitals. A local law enforcer or two may also have questioned me. Or maybe it was the press. I'm not really sure.
It's just too hard to concentrate, and I can't even remember how it's been since the police escorted me to a vacant room that's right next to the motel's reception.
Right now, the only thing that's stark clear in my mind is...that.
I took a man's life.
Again.
My brain tells me I had no choice. It's self-defense, and unlike before, I know for a fact that Greg was not a good man, and he would've killed me if I hadn't killed him first. Those are the facts...but they mean shit to my heart, which has been shriveling in shame since I made a grab for Greg's gun...and accidentally fired it straight into his heart in the process.
I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry.
It's almost like I have this knack for shooting evil men dead, and I wonder if it's a skill that I may have inherited from the criminal side of my family. Once a sinful famiglia, always a sinful famiglia. Maybe that's just how these things go, and this is a case of an apple never falling far—-
"Penelope?"
I haven't even heard the door open, but one thing I'm heartbreakingly sure of is that voice.
Cesare.
Even though I know it can only be him, a shudder still violently rocks my body as soon as my head jerks up, and my stricken gaze collides with his.
He's standing by the doorway, still dressed in the same clothes I've seen him in earlier, and his too-handsome face still bearing faint evidence of the beating he had endured while in jail. His pallor is unmistakable, but I'm not going to fool myself into thinking it's because he's concerned about me.
My lip starts to tremble as I watch him stride in.
I want to cry.
I want to scream.
I want to run away.
But when he finally reaches me, and he crouches down on one knee—-
God, it hurts.
The pain is just too much, and my heart is aching just too hard, that all I can do is breathe.
"That girl you saw with me—-" He's speaking so damn fast, it's as if he wants to make sure he gets everything out before I can escape him. "It's Gazelle, tesoro. My sister."
His...sister?
"I knew you didn't recognize her, and I deliberately let you think she was someone else."
Because he wanted to hurt me.
"I'm sorry," Cesare says jerkily. "Forgive me. Please."
He speaks as if each and every word is whipping his soul—-but how can I believe him, after everything that he's confessed, and after everything I've found out?
"I n-need you to tell me the truth," I say stiltedly. "G-Greg told me...b-before he...before we started fighting over the gun..."
"Penelope—-"
"I need to know the truth!"
My voice cracks in the end, and the way his face whitens tells me more than I want to know.
God, oh God.
"Perdonami. Forgive me."
But because I'm still so, so damn foolish, there's still the tiniest part of me hoping that I have it all wrong.
"Did you r-really cut a deal with them?" I ask brokenly. "D-Did you agree to end our betrothal—-"
"Ho sbagliato, tesoro. I made a mistake—-"
"So it is true," I say brokenly. "In exchange of h-having the charges dropped, you didn't care that they'd make me marry someone else—-"
He tries to take my hands into his, but I nearly fall out of my seat just to avoid his touch. It wasn't so long ago that I used to crave any kind of contact with him, but now...
"Listen to me, teso—-"
"Stop calling me that," I choke out.
"Then just listen. Per favore. Just please fucking listen. I hurt you. I know that. And I kept hurting you...because I couldn't handle how you made me feel...so fucking needy. My mother...she was sent away in prison. She offered to take the blame for my father. Because she loved him—-like I—-"
No!
The moment I realize what he's about to say, I lose it.
No more, dammit.
I manage to take Cesare by surprise as I shove him away, but God—-
He's always just too fast for me, and I haven't even reached the door when he wraps his arms around mine from behind—-
"I love you, Penelope."
It hurts, oh God. It hurts to hear the words and know that they can't be real.
"I love you so fucking much it reminded me of how my mother desperately loved my father, and how much she begged him to come visit her, but he never fucking did. He told her to fucking deal with the fact that it was over between them, and so she killed herself."
God, no.
I've covered my ears the moment he started speaking, but his words were just too good at piercing my heart—-
"I was terrified I would be like her, tesoro."
So am I, dammit.
Because these words of his are hurting me just as much, with the way they're forcing me to see that the man I used to think as ruthlessly perfect...is as human and flawed as I am.
"I loved you too fucking much, and so I also knew I would not be able to fucking bear it...if they were to succeed in having me sentenced for murder, and I'd be forced to see you gradually get bored of being with me."
Cesare suddenly spins me around, and God, oh God—-
Now, I have no choice but to see the way his haunted gaze reflected the terror in his heart.
"I know I've failed and hurt you too many times," Cesare says rawly. "I know I have done nothing to deserve you, but please...please give me another chance, tesoro."
I never imagined a day would come that a man as proud as Cesare would end up begging—-but that's exactly what he's doing now.
"You don't even have to be mine. You don't have to fucking marry me or sign anything. Just take me back, per favore."
And it hurts.
"Make me yours. Punish me for the rest of my life...just don't fucking go."
It's Cesare's voice this time that cracks, and the sound reminds me for some reason of that one night I've spent in his arms—-
'I don't want another day to pass without making you my wife.'
Those were the very words he whispered, words that I knew even then were simply Cesare's way of indirectly saying he loved me—-because he does.
Cesare loves me.
But imperfect man that he was, he also ended up hurting me because he loved me.
I guess it really is today that everything becomes clear, God.
Cesare's powerful body jerks when I shakily reach up to clasp his face, and my own heart aches when I see him suck his breath at my touch.
Cesare loves me.
I know this is true now, but even though the thought of taking him back and leaving me open again to pain still terrifies me—-
When I think about the people I've loved and lost, and the ones I could've loved but are no longer here—-
It really is so clear now, God.
I think about the lives I've ended without meaning to—-
I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry.
And it drives a simple point home.
Life is short.
And that's when the tears start falling, and a smile wobbles to my lips as I look up.
"Ti amo, Cesare," I whisper.
He hauls me close in the next second—-
"Ti amo, Penelope."
The rawness of his voice tells me I'm not the only one who's crying...because that's just how love is.
Epilogue
THE NEWLYWEDS SAID their goodbyes at the stroke of midnight, and their guests cheered wildly as Cesare swept a blushing Penelope up in his arms before swiftly striding out of the ballroom and carrying her straight into a waiting chopper whose enormous blades were whipping up gusts of wind that had the long train of her gown dancing in the air.
Her cheeks were flushed with excitement as he settled her down on her seat, and Cesare carefully placed a pair of headsets over her ears before taking his place next to her and putting on a pair of his own.
"Try talking," he urged her.
Penelope was visibly startled upon seeing him lips move as he yelled the words out...only to have her headset course the sound to her ear like he hadn't raised his voice at all.
"You yelled, didn't you?"
"I did."
The chopper finally took off, and he saw her entire face glow and her eyes sparkle with excitement when she realized they were airborne.
Ah, fuck.
Even though Cesare was by now well aware of how over-the-fucking-top his need to cherish his wife could get, every time he saw his Penelope looking excited like a kid like this, he just wanted to spoil her rotten and give her the moon and the fucking stars.
Penelope tugged his hand, asking, "Where are we going?"
"I have a place up in the mountains. We'll be there in half an hour. It's very secluded, and our closest neighbor is miles away."
"That sounds lovely."
"Ever skinny-dipped?"
Her eyes widened.
"Inhibitions have no place in one's honeymoon, tesoro..."
Cesare had only meant to tease her when saying this, but before he could take the words back, Penelope surprised him by suddenly looking resolute as she nodded.
"It's a promise then. No inhibitions—-"
His lips twitched at the fierceness of her tone. "You do not have to force yourself—-"
"I'm not! I promise! Because you're right. This is our honeymoon, and...and this once, I don't want to be shy. I want to be...adventurous!"
"In what way?"
Cesare was expecting her to suggest they try the usual outdoor activities such as cliff diving, rock climbing, and paragliding. But instead—-
"I don't just want to skinny-dip," his wife blurted out. "I...also want to have sex in the forest! And I...I want to fuck while we're in the water, and—-" She bit her lip before saying in a rush, "Do you think you can teach me how to stop gagging every time I try to give you a blow job? I...I really love sucking on your cock, but it's just so big, and it always hits the back of my throat, and I hate how I can't seem to make it all the way to the end and have you cum inside of my mouth and—-"
Cesare felt it was time to cover said mouth, and he had a hard time keeping his face expressionless as Penelope looked up at him in confusion.
"As much as I would love to hear about the rest of your, er, goals for our honeymoon..." He inclined his head in the direction of the two men seated in the cockpit, and the moment his wife caught a glimpse of their reddened cheeks—-
An aghast-looking Penelope flung his hand away from her mouth. "D-Don't t-tell me..."
"Sì, tesoro—-it is exactly what you think. Our good pilot and his co-pilot have heard everything you said—-"
"B-But they're not wearing headsets!"
"They are, mia moglie. It is just not as obvious as ours since they are using in-ear headsets—-"
"Oh God."
She tried to cover her face with her hands, but he wouldn't let her, and instead cupped her chin so that he could whisper against her lips—-
"I just had the nicest idea, tesoro. Since our honeymoon has officially begun the moment we left, and you promised to shed your every inhibition during this time—-I want to make you cum. Right here, right now."
"Cesare!"
"I can touch you under your skirt, and no one will see anything."
"D-Don't you dare—-"
"But of course, what they're able to hear is a different story..."
AS PENELOPE INEVITABLY joined another mile-high club with the studious help of her mafia boss, most of the guests they had left behind were practically crying tears of joy now that they were finally free to update their social media feeds.
The no-cellphone-rule had been strictly enforced throughout the evening, but now that the newlyweds had already left for their honeymoon, many were busy competing with each other as to which of them could be the first to upload (and thus gain the most likes) a photo of the groom's spectacular wedding gift for his bride: a declaration of ownership permanently tattooed right above his heart.
PROPERTY OF PENELOPE SORRENTO MILTON MARCHETTI
And as for the few guests whose attention was not firmly on their phones—-
"I still can't believe Penelope promised to get herself a matching tattoo," Sarica exclaimed. "She's crazy scared of needles or just getting pierced in any way—-"
"I wouldn't go as far as saying that," Giancarlo interjected mildly.
Sarica's gaze narrowed. "Is that your way of saying you know something I don't?"
"No, dolcezza. I only mean to remind you that there are more ways than one for a woman to be pierced by her lover."
Ezio and Gazelle did their best to hold back their smiles upon seeing Sarica blush at the innuendo in their eldest brother's words.
Massimo, in the meantime, was ready to call it a night when their grandmother asked to speak with him in private.
"Why do I have a feeling this isn't going to be good?" Massimo teased as he walked her to one of the private balconies circling the ballroom.
"Because you take after me."
"Conscienceless?"
"Intuitive."
A crooked smile touched Massimo's lips as he stepped back from his grandmother. "Since it is not your style to waste time on flattering any of your grandsons—-what you're about to command me to do must be something incredibly important."
Since Potenziana saw no point beating around the bush, she simply met her grandson's gaze and said her piece.
"I have found a bride for you."
A muscle started ticking in Massimo's jaw. He had known this day would come sooner or later, but wasn't this a little too soon?
"Her parents and I expect both of you to be married in a fortnight."
"Am I allowed to know who she is before our wedding?"
"You already know her," La Strega answered with a shrug. "Ynez—-"
Massimo blinked. Seriously?
"She has an older sister, sì? Ysabel—-"
Massimo stared at his grandmother in disbelief. "Are you fucking—-"
"Language, per favore!"
"You can't be serious!"
"I am, very."
"Isn't this is a little too much, even for you, Nonna?"
"Are you saying you will not obey me on this?"
A moment passed...and then Massimo was inclining his head in mocking assent. "Certo che no, Nonna." Of course not. "It will be as you wish, as always."
"If it means anything—-Ynez will get over losing you." But Potenziana could not say the same for Ysabel...if this marriage did not work out.
Massimo politely excused himself soon after, but the older woman stayed in the balcony, needing to be alone with her thoughts.
The two sisters were as different as day and night, and truth be told...
Buon Dio, I have indeed turned into a meddling old woman.
She would never have chosen the older girl for Massimo...if she had not accidentally found out about Ysabel's feelings for him.
Now it is your turn, bambina.
Potenziana could only hope Ysabel would succeed in stealing her grandson's heart...or it was the girl's own heart that Massimo would end up breaking instead.
The End
Dear Reader,
10 APRIL 2023 (MON) 0114h
Manila, Philippines
Happy Easter everyone, and thank you so much for taking the time to read the first book in my newest series, A Bride for the Mafia Boss.
I had a completely different idea on how Cesare and Penelope would fall in love when I first started writing their story, but these two just had minds of their own, and so here we are. > . < I can only hope you guys still enjoyed Her Ruthless Owner, and if you did, please consider leaving even the shortest review or a quick rating. As any indie / self-published author is certain to know, feedback from readers makes a huge difference in helping our books gain more visibility online.
As for the next book in this series, it's obviously Massimo's turn to marry, and I truly hope you're looking forward to reading it, too.
Well, that's it for now...and in case any of you guys need to hear this: Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
Until our next journey,
Marian Tee
P.S. Please consider subscribing to my newsletter if you'd like to receive new release notifications and enjoy exclusive excerpts of upcoming works.
Marian Tee, Her Ruthless Owner
