The Boss: A Dark Mafia Romance, page 18
“Yes. You did. Okay? I said I was sorry.”
“Too bad you don’t mean it. You’re digging into my life and I won’t tolerate it.”
My God. He was so angry I had no clue what to say to him, let alone how I’d calm him down.
“You won’t tell me why I can’t come in here. I wanted to know. You refuse to allow me to lie to you, but all you’ve done is deceive me since this started.”
He took a deep breath and I was certain he would explode. After closing his eyes briefly, he exhaled. The man was attempting to keep the control I sensed him losing around me.
“I gave you free rein of the house, but you do this. This!”
Now I was getting angry. “It’s just a room. A goddamn room!” As soon as I tried to skirt around him, he snapped his hand around my wrist, pulling me onto my toes.
“It’s not just a goddamn room, Willow.”
“Then tell me what it is. A shrine? To the girl? Someone you loved?”
Oh, that pissed him off, but I sensed sadness taking over. “Some things aren’t meant for people to know. They’re too painful.”
“Other than your brother, what pain have you suffered?” I threw back.
He glared at me, his jaw cocked.
“Seriously. What? You grew up with money and all kinds of pretty toys. You’re worth millions if not billions. You could have any woman you want by just snapping your fingers. Hell, you could be a model on some Paris magazine cover. You and your entire family have lived a charmed life.” I wasn’t usually so ugly, but he had the ability to push all my buttons as I did his.
Maybe we’d be better enemies.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Then tell me. Share with me. Dimitrios, please.”
“No.”
“Fine.”
When he jerked me even closer, I decided I wasn’t going to wait around to take the brunt of his anger. I managed to yank my hand free, tumbling toward the door. “Damn you, Dimitrios. You want me to marry you and even though it should be in name only, we crossed a line. I guess I was foolish enough to believe you actually cared about me.”
Before he had time to answer, I fled the room, racing down the stairs as fast as my legs would take me. As soon as I made it outside, I turned away from the house, heading toward the beach. I didn’t stop long enough to see if he was trailing after me.
“Do not run away from me!” he called out.
I ignored him and his command.
Tears burned my eyes and while I knew it was ridiculous to feel this way, I couldn’t stop them from sliding past my eyelashes. How could I feel so close to a man yet not know him at all?
I zigged and zagged my way toward the water, praying I could find some sense of solace because there wouldn’t be any answers. Somehow, I’d managed to keep the towel grasped tightly around me, but I was ready to pitch it away. The thick material was hindering my run.
As soon as I reached the beach, the ache I felt inside was too great. I rubbed my eyes, slowing down from being forced to double over.
He caught my arm and the shock of him doing so, being so close jolted me into squealing. “Let me go.” The towel slipped free, pooling around my ankles.
“I won’t.” He was calmer but the fury remained in his eyes. “I won’t allow you to do this.”
“I did nothing. It’s a room. A photograph. Why can’t you talk to me? Because you really don’t care at all. Do you?”
“That’s not true.” He pushed me back against a tree, keeping the hold while he slammed his hand on the bark over my head.
“Yes, it is. I’m a fool.”
“No, you’re not. Disobedient as hell, yes. Infuriating, you bet.”
“But you still won’t talk to me. You don’t care.”
“I do care. Can’t you see that?”
“No!”
“I don’t want to lose you. I can’t.” His voice was filled with anguish. “You’re the only goddamn woman I want. As far as all those pretty toys you’ve accused me of having. You’re right. I’ve been blessed in my life, Willow, but with every good thing there’s always a bad to counter it. Good versus evil.”
I had no idea what to say to him. I could see by the wild look in his eyes he was on some kind of precipice, ready to fall off the cliff. The moment I touched his face, he softened.
Then he crushed his mouth over mine. As angry as the man could make me, the need to feel him was too severe. I thrust my tongue past his lips, eager to taste him.
Dimitrios released his hold on me, which allowed me to wrap my arm around his neck. Being able to finger his thick hair sent a series of shivers through me. Our desire for each other knew no bounds. He was almost frantic, his kisses rough and demanding.
He rubbed his other hand down my side, the feel more possessive than ever. As he yanked at my bikini bottom, I moaned into the kiss. Our tongues were entwining, battling for domination. It was a fight I knew I wouldn’t win.
With my bikini now around my thighs, I kicked and shifted, yanking it down myself. He broke the moment of heat and fire for a few seconds so he could jerk the wet material the rest of the way off.
We both fumbled for his button and zipper. I reached inside, wrapping my fingers around his stiff cock. Another moan escaped, my heart racing from the longing that continued erupting.
He wasn’t in the mood for wasting time, taking control. As he thrust the entire length of his cock inside, I pulled my lips free. The sounds we were making were completely animalistic, pushing us both to some crazy breaking point.
My muscles came close to spasming as he pulled out, slamming into me again. He hoisted me off the ground and I wrapped my legs around his hips. As the brutal fucking continued, my breath was stolen, stars floating across my sea of vision.
“Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.” It was the only other sound I could make other than moaning. Every time we were together, a fantasy roared to the surface, but this was surreal. We couldn’t stop, both of us panting from exertion. He filled me completely, pushing all the right buttons.
His kiss began again, his wet and hot mouth keeping the fire burning. Every plunge was rougher than the one before and a sudden but explosive climax rushed through me.
My body shook, my pulse skyrocketing. The orgasm was the most powerful yet, driving me straight into the purest ecstasy. With three more savage pumps, he jerked his head away. I sensed he was ready to erupt deep inside of me.
The moment he did, he threw his head back, allowing an intense roar.
I felt free and so alive, the electric current startling in its power.
Nothing with him should be right yet it was. I could sense I was truly meant to be his.
As we both started to come down from the incredible high, he finally dropped his head, staring me in the eyes. “You don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?” I asked, still breathless.
“You’re mine. I want you. No one can have you. It’s all I can think about. Being with you. Kissing you. Fucking you. You drive me crazy, little dove. Insane. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I cupped his face and lowered my legs. They were still shaking like the rest of me was. I couldn’t stand on my own if I tried. “I don’t know what this is, Dimitrios.”
“This is just the beginning, baby. There’s more to come.”
Including danger.
I even sensed it all around us now although nothing strange had occurred.
“But you need to start listening to me, heeding what I tell you that you can and can’t do.”
The question about the woman in the photograph was right on the tip of my tongue, but I stopped myself. He was no more likely to tell me the truth now than he was before. Even after our incredible moment of passion. “You like me bad. That’s how we reconnected.”
He smirked and the anger was once again gone from his gorgeous eyes. “You were afraid of me before.”
“No, I… Well, nervous.”
“As I said, you’re a very bad liar. I will never hurt you. If you can’t see that then this ends right here and now. I won’t have you terrified of me or what I might do. I’m not a great man, but I do have certain morals and beliefs. You’re too precious. Perfect.”
I was hardly perfect, but hearing his words was likely as close to any affirmation of love that I’d ever get. They were words I didn’t take for granted. “I don’t fear you. You don’t hurt me and I doubt you’ll ever allow anyone else to either.”
“Very astute, little dove. You’re correct. If any man lays a hand on you, he’ll lose that hand.” His grin was boyish, acting as if he was simply making a statement.
But I knew better. He would do worse than what he’d just told me.
I touched his chest as he pulled away. He was watching me with more intensity than before as he adjusted his shorts. Meanwhile, I was standing without my bikini bottoms. At least we were alone. “I guess I should get dressed.”
“No, you’re not going to do that.”
“Why?”
“Because I told you no.” He tugged me forward like he’d done before, only this time using my bikini top.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Ensuring you won’t disobey me again.” I hadn’t been completely ready for him to pick me up like he was carrying a huge sack of flour under his arm, but that’s what he did.
“What are you doing?”
“I think you know the answer by now.”
“You’re going to spank me?”
He huffed. “Good answer.”
I started pounding my fists against his leg. “No fair. That’s going to cause pain.”
“Entirely different.”
The gods were obviously in his favor because he found a fallen tree right there on the sand. As he’d done with our hot sex, he didn’t waste any time, easing onto the thick log as if we were just sitting down to dinner.
I wiggled, but he already had his arm firmly wrapped around me. When he brought his hand down a couple of times, I moaned appropriately. I swayed my hips, hoping I could entice him into returning to our former activity. He cracked his hand down two more times, then sighed deeply as only he could do.
“This just won’t do.”
“What do you mean?” I threw my head over my shoulder, watching in a mixture of horror and awe as he jerked off one of his shoes. I jumped the second he smacked the sole down on the decayed tree.
“This is perfect.”
“Oh, come on.” He wasn’t kidding. There was no anger in his actions, but the tension between us remained for a different reason. He was worried I’d be taken from him.
Even as he brought his damn shoe down several times, the pain didn’t register. I was floating on a cloud, reeling from what he’d told me. We barely knew each other as adults yet what was so wrong felt so right.
I closed my eyes, shifting back and forth, but I wasn’t fighting him.
The hard cracks sounded worse, but the thick sole created electric waves of discomfort. He was methodical, covering every inch in a strange rhythm that lulled me into myriad feelings and sensations.
Including my pussy continuing to throb. Every inch of my body felt sensitive, vibrations jolting every nerve ending.
With every snap of his hand, every connection, I was pulled into a strange lull of peace.
“Five more.” His words seemed to come from the sky.
As he issued them my heart responded to the rhythm with precision, and I heard a moan escape from my mouth.
Dimitrios was thorough, but when he slowed down, I sensed his mood changing all over again. He dropped his shoe before gently easing me to a standing position. Everything about him seemed entirely different, not shut down but close.
“Enough,” he murmured. I sensed another moment of sadness in the dark memories as he studied the ocean.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” I asked.
“I can’t begin to say the words at this point. But I can tell you that you’re wrong about my family. We’ve suffered tremendously over the years. More than our share, but that’s the world we were all born into. I don’t think it’s the best world for you. At least not for eternity.”
So we were back to his proclamation of our deal with just that, something we’d concocted that would last for a short timeframe. I had no idea what to say to him about anything any longer.
“Do me a favor, Dimitrios. When you decide what you want from me, let me know. I can’t handle the push and pull any longer. I’m just not programmed that way. I’m the kind of girl who watches romantic movies, for God’s sake, crying every damn time when they do the third act breakup. I can’t do this. I will work with you, but please do me a favor and just keep your distance. Okay?”
He took a deep breath but said nothing.
I’d just poured out my heart to him and he hadn’t given me the courtesy to answer me? I was shocked, enraged even. Mostly, I was heartbroken, which was stupid. Just stupid.
I understood torment, but this was killing me.
As I walked away, I wondered if he’d follow me as he’d done before. I even stopped long enough to glance over my shoulder.
He wasn’t.
Why did I have a feeling he’d already locked away what was left of his heart?
CHAPTER 20
Willow
“I think I’d like to get married right here,” I said quietly. Dimitrios was behind me; I wasn’t certain he heard me at all. He’d been on the phone for over an hour, ensuring everything in his world was as it should be.
He’d been deep in thought most of the time after what had occurred on the beach. He wasn’t angry, acting fairly unemotional. I dared not ask him about the studio again.
But I wanted to.
Another almost two days had passed and they were strangely some of the best I’d ever experienced. The guilt for thinking and feeling that way remained, but I was relaxed, at peace with myself and the world that I’d been brought into.
How was that possible?
He’d acted the part, like the way we’d been the first day, but there was a distinctive chill in the air.
We’d spent hours walking the beach, and had dinners that had seemed to bring us closer together. Yet we were still locked in our own personal prisons. But it was the nights and mornings of passion that had kept me thrilled and eager for the rest of my life.
Yet that wasn’t going to happen. Weeks, I believed. Months, maybe. Not years.
No, I wasn’t entirely prepared for what we were preparing to do, but with Leandro’s funeral the next day, the world Dimitrios had taken over and promised to keep intact would be front and center once again.
Including in the news.
Even his brothers had called, commenting on the pictures they’d seen online of the two of us. Dancing. Walking on the beach near a restaurant. Eating a fucking ice cream cone upon my insistence. Who didn’t know there was a budding romance? What hadn’t been mentioned was our ‘engagement.’ If you could call what we were doing anything traditional.
I glanced at my ring finger, laughing softly to myself. Would there be a glorious diamond the size of a walnut to convince people we were truly in love? I had a feeling there would be. The game. Following through with pretenses. Baiting the lure.
When I heard his footsteps behind me, I stiffened. Why this time when I hadn’t since the first night at dinner?
Dimitrios placed his hands on my shoulders, squeezing gently. “My parents will want a traditional church ceremony.” Sadly, his bland voice didn’t match his gentle gesture.
“Do you always do what your parents tell you?”
He chuckled. “I’m a son of tradition like my father and grandfather before him. We are a very close family. You haven’t met my cousins. They are so damn old school it’s annoying.”
I adored his laugh, the deep baritone always sending sparks throughout my system. “That’s fine. Since I have no one attending I have no real say.”
His exhale was full of anxiety as he turned me around to face him. “You have no friends?”
“A best friend, but she’s not in a position to travel and after paying for the plane tickets for my parents, I’m not sure I can swing it for her and a room.” I hated that. I wanted to work, to have a fulfilling profession and not be some arm candy he used for whatever length of time the contract was in place. I was daydreaming if I thought this was anything more than a temporary arrangement. Still, earning a master’s in business administration didn’t have employers beating down my door.
“I’ll make the arrangements. You can lean on me for anything you need.”
“I pay my own way. I work for everything I get. No big trust fund for this girl and no allowance from a husband either.”
He shook his head. “You are a different woman than any I’ve met.”
“Why? Because I’m not completely enamored by your money or your lifestyle?”
“Yes. That’s part of it, Willow. Women think of me as a great catch first for the money in my bank accounts. As you might imagine, they hold no interest for me.”
Well, I could pat myself on the back. I’d risen to the ranks of being ‘different.’ “When are we leaving?”
“In half an hour. I have one additional phone call to make. We’ll take the scenic route.”
I was surprised when he remained behind me.
“I need to ask you a question, Willow. Did your father always travel with his laptop?”
I stiffened, uncertain what he was getting at. “He hasn’t traveled in years. I don’t know.”
“Do you know why it would be stolen?”
Turning around, I studied his eyes. They were filled with concern. “No. Daddy didn’t talk about his business often. It bored my mother. Why would someone steal engineering plans?”
“So many good questions.”
“You’re being cryptic.”
“Only because I’m a cautious man.”
That he was.
He kissed the top of my head and moved away. He’d been taking his calls in private, as if I couldn’t handle the topic.
