Page 78 of Filthy Little Games

“No matter what happens, I’ll never regret stopping him. Izaiah got what he deserved.”

I nod my head because those are not the worrisome thoughts that have been consuming me during the days Creed is out. I have zero regrets about Izaiah’s death.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, poking my bottom lip with his fingertip, so I stop biting it.

“I don’t know, I’ve just been thinking...”

“Never a good thing but do go on.” He grins.

“I’ve just been thinking that I’ve never been a mother to Oriana before, not a real one. What if...what if I’m horrible at it, like my parents were? What if Emilio was right to take her from me because I’m not cut out to raise her?”

“You are going to be an amazing mother.” Creed grasps my chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I know because I canfeelhow much you love your daughter. That’s all that matters. That’s all that it takes to be a good mother. Even if you make a few bad decisions along the way, like my own mother did, it doesn’t make you a bad parent. Not if you make those decisions to try and do what’s best for your daughter.”

“Your mom must have loved you and your brother fiercely to risk her life to try and give you a safer one away from your father.”

“She must have. The day my father killed her in front of us was the day I started hating him. He loved her, but he cared more about his fucking pride than he did about letting her live her life in peace.”

“I’m sorry he killed her and you had to grow up without a mother. You know she would be proud of the man you are today, don’t you?”

“Since I followed in his footsteps and became the don, I highly doubt that.”

“You wouldn’t kill anyone just for your pride, only those who deserve to die. Was your father like Emilio?”

“Yes. They were best friends,” he admits.

“Maybe if your father had lived by the same code as you, your mother would’ve respected him and not left him.”

“I’ve never actually considered that before, if I’m a better man than my father was or not. It never felt that way to me, since I picked things up right where he left off.”

“I didn’t know him, but I know you. You protect the people you care about. There’s nothing wrong with that,” I say. “I would do the same. That’s why I can’t help but worry that the Rovinas have filled Oriana’s head with bullshit about why I’m hardly ever around, making her think I don’t...that I don’twantto be with her, when nothing could be further from the truth.”

“I know,micetta mia.” Creed swipes away one of the tears on my cheeks with his thumb.

“You know that I still don’t have a clue whatmicetta miameans. It’s not like I’ve been allowed near a phone or computer to look it up. I guess I could ask someone…”

Smiling down at me, he says, “It means my...pussycat.”

“Your pussycat?” I repeat, followed by a gasp of understanding. “You mean your pussy, don’t you?”

“Maybe at first that’s how I saw you, wanting every inch of you to be mine, especially that part of your body. But you were alsopretty damn cute and feisty like a feral kitten from the moment we met.”

“You mean I was weak and powerless?”

Lifting my right hand, he places it on his cheek. “You are neither of those things. You’re not weak or powerless. I told you what you are — you’re dangerous. All I’ve wanted since the second you crooked your finger at me, like I was already yours to command, is your claws carving into my skin. Only my skin.”

Shaking my head, I mutter, “Yourpussy. You’re such a dick.”

“Yourdick,” he replies with a grin to match my own.

“Right,” I agree as I slide my palm down his face, over the suit fabric and dress shirt covering his chest and stomach, and stopping when I palm his erection through his soft pants. “I think it’s finally time for me to meet this dick of mine, husband.”

Creed closes his eyes and makes a sound between a grunt and a growl as he covers my hand with his much bigger one. “Zara…I didn’t bring you up here because I expected anything tonight.”

“I know.” I press my palm against his chest, walking him backward until we reach the patio sofa. “Sit down. Let me thank you properly for everything, but especially for all the time you have spent on your knees for me.”

Slowly, Creed lowers himself down onto the cushions.

I lift the skirt of my dress as I kneel in front of him. When I reach to undo the front of his pants, he whispers, “I don’t deserve any pleasure.”

---