Page 17 of Claimed by The Italian

“Lorenzo, I’m close,” she gasps. I growl. As much as I don’t want this to ever end, I can’t hold back either. She’s too fucking hot and my seed is desperate to settle deep inside her, to find her womb and cling to it making my woman pregnant. I’m grunting with the effort of holding back. But as our lips crash together in a heated kiss, I feel her tighten around me and she gasps aloud, shattering with free abandon. Unable to take it anymore, I come inside her, growling with heated desire. In that moment, I’ve not only taken her innocence, but I’ve given her something too. I’ve given her our future.

I’ve given her our baby.Chapter EightLydiaWaking up this morning in Lorenzo’s strong arms makes me feel like I’m in heaven. I snuggle into him, feeling happier than I have in a long time. Less than twenty-four hours ago, I thought I didn’t have a chance in hell with him. I thought he was choosing his lifestyle over me, and I felt like I couldn’t blame him for that. After all, we’ve only known each other for such a short time. How could I expect him to leave everything behind for me?

Except now that’s exactly what he’s planning to do. He’s choosing me above everything else in his life. He’s been in the mafia for over twenty years, but only a few days with me and he’s choosing to leave it all behind. I feel a pang of guilt in my stomach. I hate the idea of him having to make so much sacrifice to be with me. I would never want anyone to leave a whole life behind just to be with me. And yet, as his baby grows inside me and our bodies entwine, I know that this is about more than just me now. It’s about our family.

It still plays on my mind as I lay awake in bed. Lorenzo wakes and when sees my still naked form, he growls, kissing my neck gently.

“Good morning, beautiful.”

I blush. I’ve never had a morning like this before, lying naked with my lover and feeling like I belong. I cuddle closer to him.

“Hey, how do you feel today?”

His brow furrows. “How could I feel anything other than amazing when I’m waking up next to you.”

“I mean...I mean about the things we said last night. About running away together. About leaving all this behind...do you still mean it?”

“Of course I do,” he growls without hesitation. “Why would you ever believe that I’d change my mind?”

I sigh. “I just...I can’t help thinking about everything you’re leaving behind, your family, your livelihood, aren’t you sad about all that you’ll be leaving here?”

Lorenzo’s playfulness disappears now. He can see that I want to have a serious conversation. He props himself on his elbow.

“This life, I never really chose it. It chose me,” Lorenzo tells me. “I was born into it, my family has been in the mafia for generations. I grew up with the assumption that the world was mine for the taking because that’s what my father taught me. He trained me from a young age to be his successor in our line of work, when he died I was still so young. But I took over the family because it was my duty...and I always thought that was enough to make me believe that I wanted this.” He pauses. “But if I stop and think about it too much I question why I’m here. I wonder about the other paths life might have taken me on if I was from a normal family, and I crave that normality.”

“Is that what drew you to me?”

“Everything about you drew me to you,” he growls, cupping my cheeks. “Amore mio, you’re one of a kind. I knew I had to have you from the moment we met. I knew I wanted to fill you with my babies and make a life with you. You gave me a reason to stray from my chosen path. If you hadn’t come along. I think I’d have been stuck here until my dying day. But I don’t want that now. So you’re not stealing anything from me. You’re not robbing me of a future you’re giving me one worth living. Don’t ever doubt my reasons again, okay. You give me every reason to start afresh.”

I can feel tears stinging my eyes. He leans in to kiss me fiercely.

“No tears. I don’t want you to ever be unhappy again,” he growls. “I’m going to give you everything. We’ll take some money, we can go anywhere you want. And then when we’re ready we can settle down and make a life. I’ll get a job. I’ll support us in some way. But I’ll leave all of the bad behind. No more threats. No more violence. No more gangs and powerful families. It’ll just be me and you…” He presses his hand to my stomach. “And our baby.”

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