Page 51 of Captured Fantasy

It was the sudden, harsh realization that my time was limited. My life was short and if I spent it pining away for Lorenza, I would consider it a life wasted.

By the time we’d pulled out of the rehab facility and gotten back on the highway, I’d made my choice.

I was ready to take my chances.

Not even Lucien could keep me from the woman I wanted.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

LORENZA

It was almost the end of April before I started feeling better. Amadeo left shortly after Lucien’s engagement to spend some time with Carolina’s extended family in Wyoming. I heard a vague rumor that he was back in the state, but Lucien had sent him to some kind of rehab. What it was for, I couldn’t guess, but I found I didn’t want to know. I just wanted him to get better, to see him smile again.

Federico came and went as he usually did, fucking me when it pleased him and leaving when he was bored. He slept in my bed at least once a week. Occasionally he took me out to the club for breakfast after he’d had his fill of me between the sheets.

We had the warmest spring ever recorded in New York. By May it was almost ninety degrees Fahrenheit and I’d already dragged all my summer clothes down from the attic. Mrs. Venetti and I spent several days cleaning out the church basement and donating some old things. Then she helped me ready my house for spring, as I was on the board of St. Bede’s and would be hosting luncheons this summer.

Mrs. Venetti and I hosted the first parish picnic of the year on the grounds of St. Mark’s Chapel. We spent days preparing for it and the night before I lay awake and hoped it wouldn’t rain. The children of St. Bede’s were so excited and we’d put so much work into the event, it would be a shame for it go to waste.

I’d had dinner with Federico earlier and he’d smoked on the porch while I talked about the picnic. Afterward, he fucked me over the bathroom sink and passed out in the bed while I finished myself with the shower head. I lay beside him and said a rosary for good weather in the morning and fell asleep around midnight.

The morning dawned hot and clear. I woke with Federico’s face buried in my neck and his cock hard against my lower back. Pretending not to notice his arousal, I jumped out of the bed and went to shower and dress.

He lounged in the bathroom door and watched me, frowning.

“Will you drive me to St. Mark’s Chapel?” I asked.

“Let me fuck you and I will.”

Annoyed, I did as he asked. I was distracted and not in the mood for sex, but he didn’t care. He could tell I wasn’t interested in being fucked and he had trouble staying hard and that made him angry. In the end, he got what he wanted, but it soured both of our moods.

He drove with his jaw tight and his eyes on the road. I didn’t speak as I got out of the car and left him standing in the parking lot having a smoke with Andrea Venetti.

The parish picnics were usually well attended and this occasion was no exception. I was surprised to see most of the underbosses there, including Lucien. He arrived in his Tesla with Olivia by his side. She wore a skimpy sundress that barely brushed the middle of her thigh and showed off her nice figure. Olivia noticed me looking at her and she smiled nervously. I smiled back and waved even though she didn’t know who I was.

I was so distracted I almost missed Cosimo walking past them with Duran Esposito. I hadn’t talked with him since that night at my house. A rush of arousal and anger hit me at the same time, leaving me breathless. My God, he looked good in his black t-shirt, his aviators covering his dark eyes. I could tell he’d just gotten a fresh haircut because it was cropped close around his ears. My brain filled with the memory of weaving my fingers through his dark waves while he ate me out.

Fuck him for walking out without a word.

“Enza?”

I turned to find Mrs. Venetti holding a bowl of potato salad. “Yes, sorry.”

“Are you alright? You seem a little off,” she said.

I nodded. “Yes, I’m good. Here let me take that.”

I accepted the bowl and she wiped her hands on her apron. We were both sweating in the heat, but I could tell it was getting to her more than me.

“Why don’t you take a break?”

“I have to get the coolers from my car,” she said, gesturing toward the parking lot.

“I’ll do it, just give me your keys,” I said.

She nodded and passed them to me. As I turned to go, she called out, “Make sure to have some fun today too, Enza. You know, there’s lots of nice Catholic men who’ve been looking your way.”

I blushed, shaking my head and went to put the potato salad under the pavilion. As I walked toward the parking lot, I realized she was right. There were a handful of men from St. Bede’s—not outfit men—who kept glancing at me. I smoothed down my short, pink sundress and wondered if I shouldn’t have worn something that covered more.

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