Aria Abruzzi, what the hell have you done to me?

I had absolutely no plans to take her there, at least not in the way I did, but when she walked from her chair to mine and leaned over my table, finally giving in to me, with those perfect breasts splayed right in front of me, I had no choice but to damn the consequences. I had to finally claim her.

I return to my chair, inhaling and exhaling to relieve myself of the involuntary hard-on I’m experiencing right now.

I can still remember the outline of her body and its texture against my own skin. The curve of her hips against my hands as I grabbed them to dig into her, her breathless gasps that eventually matured into soft moans, the way she clung to me like she would fall apart if she let go…

No woman had ever roamed her hands passionately along my sordid frame, taking in the smoothness and roughness of my bodily terrain.

As if she wanted to memorize the feel of my body, like knowing me intimately was all that mattered.

I set the glass down and rub a coarse palm over my face. I’ve tried everything I can to ditch this particular memory, even attempted working from my room, but none of it has succeeded in making this memory go away.

Every time I drop my head towards the desk, it’s like her scent still lingers on it, that floral, cherry bloom fragrance that threatens to drive me insane.

And she was a virgin indeed!

Fuck!

All the girls who had ogled over me were experts, ladies who bounced their way on top of my cock, or ladies who were just ready to splay their legs as wide as possible so I could slide into the divide.

None of them, not even one, had been pure. Or innocent.

Not until Aria.

“It’s just…I’ve never done this...”those words can never escape my memory, especially because of how she said it. Her large eyes had grown wider, and her lips were quivering with uncertainty.

Fuck. Aria handed to me what she had kept away from other men on a platter of gold. I can’t understand why she allowed me to do it.

The knowledge that I’m the only man who has ever fucked her sweet pussy has awakened something feral in me, something that should lay dormant. I want her again. I shake my head at the thought of another man holding her slender waist in his hands and pumping his dick into her wet pussy.

The thought alone brings my hands into fists. Something wicked churns in my gut, something that can propel me to tear any man apart, even kill, if he ever dared to go even five steps close to Aria.

No, now she’s mine. Mine to claim, mine to guard, and mine to worship! Even if she doesn’t know it yet.

If Ezra were here, he would have lifted his lips in that rueful smile and shook his head; “Stai giocando con il fuoco, Elio (You’re playing with fire, Elio),” he would say.

I couldn’t understand how he used to say that attachment to people made you weak, and yet he had thrown the power, control, and respect away for that woman.

Right now, I’m starting to understand a glimpse of what it must have felt like for him.

Honestly, I used to think he was a bit irrational, signing off rights to the mafia to me. He had opted for peace. A quieterlife with his wife and kids where he didn’t have to look over his shoulder or plan the next man to murder in cold blood.

Still, I can’t help but question whether his decision was the wisest one.

I chuckle at the irony. The man who once ruled New York with an iron fist is now reduced to a family man playing soccer games and grilling in the backyard.

The chair creaks as I lean back into it, staring at the ceiling. The idea of a life away from the chaos of blood and gunshots seems like a fantasy, something I don’t think I will ever have.

Who am I kidding? I don’t think I would ever be like Ezra. I don’t have it in me to walk away from this life I have now and become a man of peace and quiet.

But then there’s Aria.

I know she has her tough side, which makes it seem like she’s made of steel, but as I get to know her, I know it’s only a façade. The more she tries to defy me, the more she attracts me to her.

Fuck. I don’t want her to become my vulnerability.

Until now, I haven’t had a reason to be scared or to watch my back, but now that Aria is in my life, I’m starting to feel things… feelings I never wanted to have.