Page 61 of Blood Money

“I’m so sorry. Baby, I didn’t know. I’m so fucking sorry. I swear I didn’t know. Oh my God. I didn’t know.” A warm wetness hit my neck.

As his litany of apologies continued, I knew I believed him. But by believing him, I knew my nonna had lied.

And now I knew what she had done.

We stood there crying together until we both ran out of tears. Ten years of repressed agony on my part and a fresh wound for him. To say I was reeling was the understatement of the year. I completely shut down my nonna’s involvement in everything for the time being. It was too much betrayal to deal with at once.

Then, in the ragged breaths that interrupted the otherwise silent apartment, I began to heal. “Where do we go from here?”

“I’m not letting you go again.” His reply was resolute.

With my eyes squeezed shut and my lips pressed together, I clung to him.

Finally, he gently extricated himself and cradled my face in his hands. Looking me dead in the eye, he said, “I never stopped loving you.”

Before I could start crying again, he captured my mouth in a slow and gentle kiss. I tasted his tears, and I knew he tasted mine. So much for being cried out. When the kiss ended, he dipped his head so our foreheads were pressed together. He nuzzled along the side of my nose with his.

“Through it all, I never stopped loving you either. I tried to hate you. I told myself I hated you. But you had my heart, Vittorio. You’re my other half.”

Lifting to my toes, I pressed my lips to his in a chaste but firm kiss. When I thought of all the years we’d lost, I wanted to start crying again. Yet my heart soared too much for that to happen. It hit me that he was part of the Mafia, but it didn’t matter in that moment. Somehow, I knew we’d figure shit out.

I dropped back on my feet and peppered soft kisses on his neck. Under my lips, I felt the rapid tattoo of his pulse. Then, feeling braver than I had in years, I reached up and loosened his tie. I continued working it until I slipped it from his neck, and then my fingers deftly unfastened the buttons of his shirt. When I reached his waistband, I tugged the shirt free and pushed it open.

The second my hands made contact with the smooth skin of his stomach and trailed up to his chest, he sucked in a hissed breath. It told me he was experiencing that zap of electricity too. Like a current running between us, completing its circuit with us. It was a hum that grew as I pressed my hands up to his shoulders, tugging the jacket and shirt off together.

Because I hadn’t thought it through, he helped me by removing his cuff links and setting them on the counter. I gave a nervous laugh, and he lifted my chin with the edge of his forefinger. “I’ve missed you so damn much.”

“Me too,” I whispered.

He lowered his head to kiss me, and as his tongue slid along mine, he unbuttoned the sleeveless shirt I’d worn. Then he did as I had and pushed it off my shoulders.

I shivered as the silky fabric slid over my arms.

While his palms roamed over my exposed flesh, I unbuckled his belt. It clinked as I moved my hands underneath it to undo his pants. The second I did, the weight of the belt dragged them to his ankles. Immediately, I slid my fingertips into the elastic of his boxer briefs and curled them around his already-hard shaft.

“Fuck,” he moaned, his lips still against mine.

His kiss turned voracious when I gently squeezed and stroked along the silky-smooth length. When I gripped it again, he grunted and pulled away. I barely had time to huff my disappointment before he spun me around and pressed my chest to the island. I heard him kick off his pants.

I could feel him dropping to his haunches behind me before his heated breath fanned over my panties. Then his finger tickled my pussy when he hooked it around the fabric and tugged. They slid over my hips so slowly, I wanted to cry. One at a time, he lifted my feet to remove the thong.

“I always loved when you wore skirts.” Reverently, he circled the globes of my ass before he squeezed them, then pulled them apart to dip his tongue into my dripping slit. He lapped at my wet opening and then reached between my legs and pinched my clit.

It startled me, as I didn’t see it coming, and I jumped. That caused me to jerk away from his mouth, and he immediately stopped.

“Vittorio,” I begged.

“What, Kendall?” he asked as if he had all the time in the world.

“Don’t stop,” I whined as I pressed my forehead to the cool granite and squeezed my eyes closed.

“Then don’t move.”

His softly spoken words sent that hot breath blowing over my now-damp pussy, and a chill raced down my spine, making me shiver. Goose bumps broke out and spread over the surface of my skin. Though nearly a decade had passed since the last time he’d done this to me, I remembered it like yesterday. The heavy anticipation told me it had been entirely too long. Yet I wanted more. I needed him to fill me with what I’d had my hand wrapped around.

“Vittorio, I want to feel you,” I pleaded, my desperation climbing.

He slipped two fingers deep inside my sheath, and I instinctively clenched around him. “Fuck, I love it when you do that,” he whispered, although I wasn’t sure if he meant for me to hear that. Then his other hand worked my clit, and I cried out from the blast of sensation. He groaned and bit my ass. Not hard but rather playfully, like it was so sexy he couldn’t contain himself.

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