Page 76 of Twisted Obsession

It was dark outside; the pier was quiet. The only noise I could hear was the footsteps of my guards on top of my boat.

‘Report,’ I demanded as I pressed the intercom next to me.

‘All clear, boss.’

‘Keep your eyes open.’

‘Boss.’

It appeared we would have a little more time together. Once again, I switched the glass to opaque. Unable to keep my eyes off Giovanna for any length of time, I turned back and looked up and down her. She was even more beautiful than the pictures my mind conjured up for me on an almost daily basis. Giovanna had always been tall as a girl, especially for one of Italian descent, but her body had matured over the years. Her hips were wider and her breasts heavier. At that thought, my eyes went back to the bare skin between her unconfined breasts, where the metallic dress she was wearing dipped. I clamped my teeth together fast, releasing an audible noise into the saloon, as my mind wanderedto a day when I’d tasted her skin. I knew it would taste of the moisturiser she would have used before dressing, but also of her, an addictive taste that was all Giovanna, with added hues of the salt her body would have released in the heat of the day.

My mouth felt suddenly parched.

When she moved in her sleep, precariously towards the edge of the settee, I moved back to her. Gently I hoisted her up and into my arms. Instantly, I understood I’d made a mistake. The ridiculous excuse for a dress she had on, being backless, meant that far too much of her bare skin was against mine. My need for her travelled throughout my body, until each one of my senses was honed on her.

Get a fucking grip!

With my feet moving on instinct, I walked sideways down the corridor and finally into the large stateroom that was mine. I placed a gentle kiss to her forehead before positioning her down on the bed.

‘Dante?’ she whispered, as her eyes opened once again as her body connected with the cool of the cotton bedding beneath her.

‘Giovanna,’ I reciprocated, with a tone that let her know instantly how being this close to her affected me.

‘You’re here,’ she voiced her disbelief. ‘I thought maybe I’d dreamt it all.’

‘I’m here,’ I answered, in the small space between the two of us, with my arms still underneath her and, it appeared, unwilling to liberate her from my hold.

‘Thank you,’ she offered.

My eyes flicked between hers and the full lips of her mouth and feeling my cock stir with interest and comprehending that I was walking a very thin line, I pulled my arms out from underneath her abruptly, and stepped away from my bed. Looking around the space, I desperately looked for something else to occupy my thoughts and hands. Finding nothing on anyof the wooden dressers, I pushed my hand into the back pocket of my trousers. Locating what I was looking for, I pulled out a slim, silver cigarette case and flicked open the lid with my thumbnail and took out what I needed. Placing the cigarette into my mouth, I slung the silver case onto a nearby chair, where it bounced just the once before clattering to the floor. Hearing her sharp intake of breath and knowing I’d made her jump, I turned back to face her and sought out her eyes with my own, before sparking up the old Zippo lighter that had once been my grandfather’s. Needing a sense of normality while I smoked, I flicked the Zippo open and closed a few times and subconsciously ran my thumb into the dent in the case. The dent that had apparently been caused when someone had taken a pot shot at my grandfather over fifty years previously, saving his life in the process.

‘How could you risk yourself?’ I asked angrily, preferring anger at this minute over the emotions I knew I was struggling with, before I pulled a long drag on the cigarette between my thumb and forefinger.

‘So, no “how are you feeling, Giovanna?”’ she retorted feistily. ‘You’re the one who told me you were sure I could come up with something to get here this evening and I did.’

Look at my girl, all grown up.

I suppressed a smirk, and raised an eyebrow at her in question, before sitting myself down on the chair the case had bounced off only a few minutes before. Sitting back, I widened the gap between my legs, and relaxed back into the pillows as I tried to give off an air of indifference. Knowing it probably wasn’t coming off that way, I placed my unoccupied hand onto my leg and begun to brush off invisible flecks.

‘I can see you’re feeling better, I don’t need to follow the social pleasantries by asking.’

She sat up suddenly, and one of the slender straps of her dress slipped off her shoulder, revealing more of her sun kissed olive skin than I needed to see.

‘I was willing to do anything to see you. I needed… no, that’s wrong—I wanted to work out what happened between us, before I can move on.’

Move on? Marry again?

I looked, not for the first time, at the obnoxious ruby on her wedding finger. Whereas before I’d seen it and chosen to ignore it. Instead of answering her, I took another drag of my cigarette and exhaled through my nose to try to cover up the fact I hadn’t the words to explain how that made me feel.

‘It seems like we were both tricked that day. But are we still married, Dante?’

‘I am, to you. Only you can answer from your side, but if the answer is yes, then how the fuck are you engaged to someone else?’ I pushed my tongue against my teeth, as I stopped myself from continuing.

Obviously feeling uncomfortable, I watched her tuck her long legs up underneath her, and right the strap I had been fixated on since it had fallen.

‘I wouldn’t be if I’d thought we were… Are we?’ She asked the question with so much emotion in her voice, my heart felt her pain and uncertainty.

Leaning forward, I stubbed out the cigarette on the floor beside me, instantly cursing the unnecessary damage I was making to the beautifully polished wooden floor.

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