Page 28 of Together Again with the Don

“I don’t remember the man’s name. He offered me something, and I stupidly drank it. It was spiked, and he took me out of the club. I had enough sense to fight him, and when he lifted me and threw me into the back of the van, my face slammed into one of the rusted metal bars that was meant to hold a seat in place. I think I went into shock, but they drove away anyways.” My voice began wobbling, and I forced myself to take a deep breath and grab Carlo’s arm for support. He didn’t move, but I felt the stiffness.

“I—I think I went unconscious, because when I woke up, I was tied in a basement, and the person who took me was talking to people upstairs. For days they talked about listing me and how much I’d get. They talked about sewing up the cut and hoping I survived, and a few times they recommended killing me and tossing me into the Bay.” I shook my head, tears coming from my eyes as I remembered everything—every gory detail I’d tried to suppress for years.

“Human traffickers?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything. I realized that if I didn’t get out soon, I’d die. After two days, I was still weak and bleeding, and I felt feverish, so I knew I was getting an infection. Nobody visited me for days. They threw me a bag of bread and a few bottles of water, but that was the only interaction I had, so I squeezed out of my bindings and broke through the basement window to get out. It was hard, but I did it, and I checked myself into the hospital. I couldn’t tell them what had happened. I know it’s stupid, and I should have toldsomeone,but I couldn’t relive it.”

I felt the broken hysterics overtaking my voice as I spoke, and Carlo moved from behind me, shifting his weight so that he leaned over me. I kept my eyes closed. I couldn’t look at him after telling him something so vulnerable about myself. I didn’t know what todo, and I nearly hyperventilated thinking about it. He knew. He kneweverything,and there was no turning back from here.

He didn’t say anything as he stared down at me, and I stiffened as I felt his lips on my forehead, moving down my scar and across my face. He traced the entire jagged thing before stopping at my lips and hovering there. I finally opened my eyes and found his in front of mine. He looked full of grief and concern. I’d never seen him look so utterlydevastated, and my heart lurched at the sight.

“You were in that position because of me,” he said, shaking his head as if trying to shake away the guilt from what had happened. “You were there because I never came back, and then I wasn’t there to protect you. That’s why you’ve hated me for all these years. I was the catalyst that drove you to be in that situation, and I had no idea. You’re terrified of basements because you were held in one for days while you starved and bled, and nobody was there when you needed them.”

I couldn’t bring words up my throat as I nodded and allowed all that information to process. I couldn’t do anything as he collapsed atop me, pressing me down with his body weight and nearly suffocating me with his body.

“Tesora, nothing like that will ever happen again. I would walk through the gates of hell to ensure you never endure something like that again, and I’m so fucking sorry for ever being the cause of it.” My lower lip trembled. “I’m never going to be able to show you exactly how much I care about you and everything you do for me. I’ll never be enough, and I know that. But let me show you how much I need you. Let me show you that I’ll always be here, whether you want me to or not.” I considered shaking my head no, but instead I gave him a small nod.

“I’m going to show you how beautiful you are—every single part of you, including the scar.” Notdespite the scar. He believed I was beautiful with the scar, and something inside of me warmed at the thought. I became pliant beneath him as he trailed his lips all along my face again, finally working down my jawline and to the side of my throat. He licked and kissed so thoroughly that my thoughts almost veered away from what I’d finally told him. Almost. Still, though, it lingered in the back of my mind, even as he tried to distract me with his exploring kisses.

“You were so fucking brave,tesora. You’re my brave, strong and resilient girl, and I can’t imagine ever being more proud of another person for surviving.” My breath caught. “God, you’re perfect.”

I’d expected him to chastise me for keeping it to myself. I expected him to demand names and locations, and maybe that would soon come, but right now, he focused only on the here and now. He focused onme.I knew that what I felt for Carlo was warranted, and I allowed myself to sink into his lingering touches and chasing kisses. I melted beneath him and became his, if only for a little while. It was better than remaining trapped in thoughts of my past that wouldn’t fade, so I threw everything into his kiss, lifting myself on my elbows and becoming one with him in the way we both craved.

21

CARLO

Her words ran through my mind, and the only thing that reminded me she was alive and with me was the small sounds I drew from her lips. I had to focus fully on the way her body felt beneath mine, because if I allowed myself to fold—to consider this situation too much right now—I would leave the room and find the fucker who’d laid his hands on her. I made a habit of keeping my temper in check, but I had no interest in doing that this time. Not now that I knew the truth.

I gave her everything. I allowed her to sense my unspoken words through the movements of my lips on hers. I needed it just as much as she did, because I knew that once we came together, I’d tell her my truth, too. She deserved to know the reason I wasn’t there when it had cost her so much. But first…

“Do you know how beautiful you are?” I asked against her lips. I felt her fingers move to her head to trace over the scar, and I clenched my jaw before grabbing her wrist and pinning it above her head. “The scar means nothing. It shows me how strong and resilient you are. I fucking love it, Sierra. And if there’s a single person who tells you otherwise, I’ll kill them.”

“You can’t just kill people who insult me,” she said, her tears giving way to a small smile. I only stared at her with raised brows, and she huffed, realizing that I would do just that.

My lips found hers again, and she arched into my touches without an ounce of protest. I turned fully, working the buttons of her shirt with one hand as I held up my weight with the other. When her shirt popped open fully, I felt my hardened cock stiffening even more at the sight of her nearly bare before me. The things I fantasized about doing with her were sinful.

“Tesora,” I started, shaking my head. “I want to fuck you right now, and I want to do it because I can’t get enough of you. I canneverget enough of you. I want to claim you in front of the whole fucking world because you’re the most stunning, capable and kind woman I’ve ever known. You don’t even realize how amazing you are, and what you just told me doesn’t make me see you any differently.”

“It doesn’t?”

I chuckled at the way she sounded so uncertain. “Hell no,” I told her, hooking a finger around her pants and drawing them down her legs. “I plan on showing you exactly how much I’m attracted to you.”

I grabbed one of her hands and pressed it into the bulge of my pants, showing her precisely how hard she had me. She gasped, and when I released her wrist, she kept her hand there, running a thumb along the full length of it. Every motion was intentional as I slid the clothes from both our bodies, baring myself and my scars fully to her. I ran a finger through her slick folds enticingly until she oozed her want. Only then did I shift myself between her thighs and meet her eyes. I pressed my forehead into hers. “I want all of you,” I told her. “Just as you are.”

I thrust slowly into her, clenching my teeth at the sweet sensation of being wholly encompassed by her. She tightened around me, gasping and placing both hands on my shoulder to brace herself. I allowed her to adjust beneath me before thrusting again, this time harder. She made a small noise beneath me that sent me reeling. “Don’t treat me like I’m broken, Carlo,” she whispered.

Her words were my undoing. I planted my hands on either side of her head and thrust hard, doing exactly what she wanted. God, her pussy clenched around me so tightly that I knew she had to be close. She cried out beneath me, and I moved a hand beneath her hips, lifting just enough that I could plunge a bit deeper. I groaned at the sensation and rolled my hips deeper still, waiting for her to complain or ask me to stop. I waited, but she didn’t make a single sound of protest.

I bent forward and met her lips again, nipping at the bottom one. She groaned, crying out and bucking her hips into mine as her mouth went wide. “Oh God,” she cried, wrapping her arms around my back and digging her nails into the skin there. The sensation brought a wave of pleasure through me, too. I gasped and release barreled through me at a blinding speed. I pumped into her faster, coming to the final release before she shouted my name and I pulled myself from her, allowing my seed to spill across her stomach. She continued panting and staring at the ceiling for a long moment as I struggled to find my thoughts.

“Did you mean everything you said?” she finally asked.

“More than anything.”

She nodded as I pulled tissues from the box beside her bed and wiped away proof of what we’d just done. I knew what needed to be said next, and I didn’t know how to speak those words—how to tell her my truth.

“You deserve to know the reason I didn’t come back,” I finally said, settling in the bed beside her and staring at the ceiling.

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