Page 29 of Merciless & Mated

Mine.

He was a dangerous man, but I had proven to him by this point that I wasn’t to be taken lightly. Marco kept his strength leashed, letting me feel his power in the way he held me, in the way he moved, but he wasn’t rough with me like he’d been during the heat. Was he trying to comfort me? Was his own version of softness with me an olive branch extended for all that had occurred between us?

The flow of his hips grew erratic and he pulled out, pumping his cock and decorating my expanse of skin before him. I whined at the aching emptiness he had left behind, and his response was to drop down and bury his face between my thighs. His facial hair scraped against the sensitive skin, his tongue flicking a morse code of desire against my clit that had me arched and begging.

“Marco—fuck. God, please, please don’t stop, don’t?—”

He pressed his fingers into me and my legs shook at the stretch and curl of those digits, my desperate whine seeming to only be fuel for his actions. His lips sealed over my clit and my eyes rolled back. My mouth dropped open in a silent scream as every inch of me tensed and broke apart under his attention.

I lay there, dazed and limp, when he finally pulled away, disappearing briefly and returning with a warm cloth to clean up the white streaks that painted my chest and stomach. Once he was satisfied, he tossed off the top layer on the bed, wrenching it out from under me before gathering me up and under the sheets. My body didn’t react with fear this time when he wrapped his arms around me, his chest pressing against my back.

His purr flared back to life. I was already ridiculously relaxed, but that gentle sound reached deep, assuring every instinct that I was safe. That he would keep me safe.

I had no idea what tomorrow would bring, or any of the days after that, but tonight I was where I belonged.

I was so fucking warm. Satisfied, blissful even. My purr kicked on, the soft buzz filling my ears until I finally drifted away into oblivion with Marco securely tucked against me.

CHAPTER 12

MARCO

Elio slapped the contract down in front of Gianna a week later. Bianca had invited us all to breakfast and we had a lot to go over.

“Once you sign this contract, you’ll be in charge of managing your father’s previous restaurant on behalf of the Gallos,” Elio told Gianna.

She stared at it and then turned to me, confusion pinching her brows. I hadn’t mentioned it to her just in case the plan fell through, and Elio had used one of his legal contacts to slip in what we needed. Bianca wouldn’t bother checking the fine print when she trusted us to do our jobs.

“Managing the restaurant?” Gianna asked. “I’ve only worked there. I’ve never managed it.”

“Learn quickly.” Bianca took a slow sip of her cappuccino. “I don’t want to see any loss of investment.” She moved on almost immediately, turning to Elio. “Remind me how long you’ll be gone?”

“A month. Maybe more. Depends how fast she goes and how long it takes to wrap up the estate.”

Grandmothers were one of the very, very few soft spots Bianca Gallo had. She’d been extremely close to hers growing up and I still remembered her devastation when Nonna Gallo had been ripped out of this world—a bullet meant for her son. Elio’s grandmother back in Italy was about to join Nonna Gallo in the beyond, and Bianca had granted him permission to go.

“Eat a delizia al limone for me while you’re there,” Bianca said. “I haven’t had a decent one in decades. Enzo, where are we with the Cafaros?”

“Still monitoring the situation. The head is gathering ammo, but there’s no movement to use it yet.”

Bianca nodded sharply. “Keep me updated. Marco, I want you to ride the asses of the capos in charge of Rossi intelligence. They’re either incompetent or deliberately withholding information. Find out for me. We’re not going to have another incident like last week.”

I nodded. We had several plants in the Rossi organizations but some had gone silent recently, and the people in charge of finding out why had been next to useless. Santo was combing through the people on our side after we’d uncovered Nerin working with someone in the Rossi organization.

“Santo, have we found out anything about the Romanos? I’m getting impatient.”

“Ludovico has only replied that they have a family emergency and will not be discussing alliances or marriages at this time.”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “That’s a crock of shit.”

“Most likely, yes,” Santo agreed. “I’ll continue pushing for a meeting. I don’t want to go too hard and chase them straight into Rossi arms.”

“Maybe we’ll be lucky and all the stress will give him a heart attack so we can deal with someone more competent.” Bianca held out her hand. “Pass me the contract and someone get me a fucking pen.” I passed her one from my pocket and she scrolled her name at each flagged portion of the contract before pushing it down the table to Gianna. “I don’t have all day. Sign it and get to work.”

My omega chewed her bottom lip but signed her name like she had been told.

“Good. Now everyone get the fuck out of here. I have a meeting with my father.”

We all got up without a word, leaving the remnants of our breakfast and drinks. I made sure to grab the contract and pulled Gianna along with me. Enzo and Santo continued on to begin their day, but Elio paused next to us.

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