High Stakes (22 page)

I whimper suddenly, but he quiets the noise with his finger on my lips.

“My boss doesn’t trust you. If you leave me and the games, you’ll be clipped for sure. I won’t be able to persuade him not to.”

Something flips inside me as I look at his calm face. How dare he look so fucking calm?

“You’re a bastard. If I knew this would happen, I would have never worked for you.”

Anger twists his face. “Did I come knocking down your fucking door? No. You came in
my
life, honey.
You’re
the one who asked me if I had a girlfriend, remember?” He smiles fondly at the memory. “You knew exactly what you were getting into.”

“I thought it was just about loansharking and card games and protection money and—”

He laughs at me, his eyes shining with mirth. “Come on, Adriana. I never lied to you about who I was.”

I’m trembling as I stare at him, knowing that he’s right. I may have not wanted to confront it, but the evidence was there all along, hiding in plain sight. Maria warned me so many times.

“I know you’d be better off with someone else, but I’m too selfish. I want you for myself.”

Hands run up my sides and I hate the desire burning in my belly. Vince smiles as if he understands my dilemma, and I don’t push him away when his face comes closer and closer. Even now, I can’t think of anything but how his lips feel over mine. His hot mouth dazzles me, and when his tongue deftly sweeps inside I shudder in his arms.

“I love you,” he whispers against my mouth.

“You don’t love me.”

Vince pulls back completely. “Oh yes, I do. Otherwise, I’d have gotten rid of you when my boss asked me to.” His face hardens at the horror on my face. “Yeah, he wanted you dead. You’re not one of us. At least, not yet.”

Oh my God. I thought of the man I met at the card game, his fatherly smile, all while trying to convince the man standing next to me to end my life. “Why would he do that?”

A sick feeling burrows into my stomach. His arms snake around my body, pulling me tight against his chest as he sighs into my hair.

“Because he doesn’t trust you. He’s old school. Gets rid of anyone who isn’t part of the family without a second thought.”

So to them, I was disposable? I pull away, looking at his face, which is full of tenderness for me. I’m hurt.

“It’s nothing personal, Adriana. It’s just the way it is. Anyway, I’ll never let that happen. You’re the most important thing in the world to me.”

“Why? Why am I so important?”

“I fell in love with you. I didn’t expect that. Hell, I didn’t even want to settle down before I met you. Something changed inside me. You changed me.”

He says it while he gives me an unsettled look, as though the power I have over him upsets him.

“Why me?”

 “You’re smart, talented, and you do what I want you to do.” He smiles as heat flashes over my face. “Go ahead and deny it, if you want.”

“I’m not your fucking lapdog,” I say heatedly. “I do what I want. Just because we both want the same thing doesn’t mean I take your orders like some slave.”

His smile grows wider. “I know, baby.”

I know he’s just saying that to placate me, and it pisses me off.

“What I love the most about you is that I can be myself around you.”

My heart gives another violent thud.

“How are you supposed to keep me safe when your boss wants me dead?”

He smiles. “Easy.”

There’s a faint rustling as he reaches inside his jacket and pulls out something. A small black box.

My heart stops.

No, it can’t be.

It opens. Inside is a dazzling ring that seems to shine in the darkness. It’s beautiful. My throat is thick with tears as he takes it from the box.

“I didn’t want to do it like this. I wanted to wait for a better time, maybe around Christmas, but it couldn’t wait any longer.” He makes a small frown. “But I love you, Ade. Nothing changes that. If you’re mine, no one will ever touch you again. You’ll get the full protection of the family.”

I’m shaking my head, crying. “No, it’s too much. I can’t—”

“You think I wanted it to be like this?”

Pain momentarily fills his face and I feel a tiny sting of guilt.

“You don’t have a choice. Be smart, Adriana.”

He’s right. I don’t have a choice. He takes my hand, and I don’t offer any resistance when he slips the ring on. I sob all over him, joy and misery swelling in my heart as I admire how beautiful it looks.

I must have pictured this moment a thousand times in my head growing up. Never did I expect to be coerced into marriage. He never was supposed to have blood on his sleeves.

No, I was never supposed to
see
the blood on his sleeves.

It’s madness.

An anxious look furrows his eyebrows. “Do you like it?”

“Oh, Vince. It’s not about that.” I look at the ring. “It is beautiful,” I murmur.

A smile breaks over his face as he leans down, kissing me again. “The first of many things, Adriana,” he says between kisses. “You could have the whole world—just say it and it’s yours. I want to do that for you. I want you to have everything you want.”

He’s saying all these perfect things that burrow deep inside my heart, despite my reluctance. I’ve never known anyone to be so generous, and he really is generous. He gives without a second thought, without expecting anything in return.

“Why me?” I ask again.

He sighs. “Why not you?”

I shrug, struggling with everything inside me. “I’m not much.”

He shakes his head, disbelieving. “You didn’t hear the way the guys used to talk about you. I’m just lucky that I got to you first. You’re one of a kind, Adriana.” He kisses my ear before whispering, “And now you’re mine.”

Chapter 10

A book sits on his stomach as he lounges in his chair. I sit nearby, pretending to watch TV. Every so often, his gaze flicks over his book to check on me.

I know what he’s doing. He sits there day after day, watching me, never letting me out of his sight no matter what. He’s everywhere.

His eyes follow me as I leave the living room. Even when he’s not in sight, I can feel his presence. In desperation, I turn towards the door.

Maybe if I just leave right now.

If I’m really quiet.

Maybe.

I don’t even have shoes on, but I’m grateful for that because I’m much more silent on the floor. I reach out and grab the brass doorknob.

A thick arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back into his chest. I scream, already on edge.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asks, nuzzling my ear.

The scream becomes a shuddering whimper. His lips find the sensitive area right under my ear. I shut my eyes, willing myself not to feel pleasure, not to enjoy it.

But I do.

I’m powerless against the feelings he gives me. Just a graze of his fingers on my neck is enough to make me limp. I’m pushed against the wall gently as his body covers mine. His hot mouth descends over mine.

“I asked you a question.”

The hint of a smile in his voice makes me pause. I don’t know if this is one of his games, or whether he’s serious.

“I wanted to leave. Just for a little bit.”

“Where? I’ll take you.”

“Don’t you trust me?” I ask, gazing into his warm eyes.

He gives me a wry grin, tapping my shoulder with his finger. “Ah, don’t make me tie you up. You won’t be able to handle how much I’d enjoy that.”

Abandoning all pretenses, I shove his chest and walk back towards the living room. There’s no escaping him. No way I can manipulate or trick him.

But my heart feels differently.

“This is your apartment, too. You can do whatever the fuck you want in here. You just can’t leave without me. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

He shoves his hands deep inside his pockets. “The boss doesn’t trust you. What you saw at Nicky’s game—” he shakes his head.

“What about you? Do you trust me?” I edge up to him as he gazes down at me with a mixture of warmth and uncertainty.

“Not yet.” He says it apologetically.

A tiny sting of hurt threatens tears. “This relationship will go nowhere unless there’s trust. I hope you realize that,” I snap.

His palm brushes my face and I see his resolve crumbling. Vince hates doing this to me. “I hate seeing you so upset.”

“That makes two of us,” I say dully.

It still doesn’t change the fact that he’s keeping me in here.

Stalking to the kitchen, I reach up into the cupboards only to find that there are locks on the doors. Revolving on the spot, I glare at Vincent who stands in front of me with his arms crossed.

“What the hell is this?”

“You drink too much. Desperate measures.”

I turn back around and yank on the doors. If I don’t have a drink, how am I supposed to sleep at night? How am I supposed to forget all the things I saw? I scream and pound them with my fists.

“That’s enough!”

He tries to take my shoulder, but I slap his hand away and run to the bedroom. There are no locks in this place. I can’t even keep him out of the room.

I want to seize the lamp on his nightstand and smash the window, but it’s the quadruple-bullet-proof-paned type and it glances off like I just gave it a love tap.

Vince grabs it before I can try again and twists it out of my grasp. All the humor is gone from his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“You’re trying to control me by keeping me in this fucking box!”

“No, I’m not!” he yells. “If you want to get out of this place, let’s go! We can do whatever you want!”

“Only if you allow it,” I spit. “I can’t even get a fucking drink without your approval now.”

Glowering at me, he sets the lamp back down and takes my shoulders in his hands. “If I let you drink whenever you wanted, you would drink yourself to death. That’s what you’re doing—drinking yourself to an early grave. I love you. I want to help you.”

“I didn’t have this fucking problem before!”

But even I know that’s a lie.

“Oh, really? Because I seem to remember you getting wasted after your first day working for me.”

I let out a frustrated scream.

His face softens. “I’m not judging you, Adriana. God knows, I would probably do the same if I were you. I am
trying
to do the right thing here.”

“Because that would be the first fucking time!”

As soon as I’ve said it, I know I’ve crossed over some invisible line. Vince’s eyes narrow as a dangerous smile spreads across his face.

“You have some fucking mouth on you. Sometimes it really pisses me off, but most of the time it makes me want to fuck your brains out.”

He shoves me on the bed. Angrily, I sit up, but he shoves me back down.

The awful sound of his belt slipping from his jeans fills my heart with dread, and at the same time my stomach leaps with excitement.

I scramble away from him on the bed. “No.”

“Those aren’t the magic words,” he grins.

Grabbing my ankle, he yanks me closer to the edge of the bed and makes short work of my clothing. It’s been so long since he’s touched my skin that I can feel my core heating like a furnace just from his fingers sweeping over my skin. A delirious hunger consumes his body as he touches my breasts, fondling them as he kisses me so hard and long I feel like I might pass out. He kisses my stomach as he removes my panties and then he takes the belt, wrapping it around my throat. He pulls hard, tightening with his hand so that it’s uncomfortably snug.

I’m still angry with him, but now I’m a little afraid, too. Maybe I pushed him too far. I keep pushing my luck with this man without even thinking about the consequences.

But I know there won’t be any. No matter how hard I push, I know that he’ll never hurt me. Everything down to his controlling behavior, locking up the alcohol, is just to protect me.

It still pisses me off.

He pulls down his jeans and sits with his knees straddling me. Without meaning to, I reach out and touch him, feeling his hardness behind that thin membrane of cotton. He closes his eyes and sighs as I pull him through the hole in his briefs, and then he positions himself over my face, his hand still holding the belt.

Vince lowers himself and I take him between my lips. The belt around my throat tightens as I suck around him, my tongue dancing underneath. His hips grind against my mouth as he pulses in my throat, making me gag, made even worse with the belt. He loves it.

His groans echo through the bedroom, burrowing in my ears as he stuffs himself in my mouth. Finally, he removes himself and I gasp for air, but my oxygen is cut off when he pulls the belt again. The briefs fly off his legs as he moves down towards the ache between my legs. I hook them around his waist, heart hammering with anticipation.

Both of us let out deep moans as he buries himself. I urge him on, digging my nails in his back as my legs tighten around him. He lets go of the belt for a moment to move my legs over his shoulders, and then I let out a painful gasp as he ruts me hard, going so much deeper than I could’ve imagined.

He pulls out and that amazing fullness disappears. Vince is back straddling my head, his cock aiming towards my face. I open my mouth and taste myself as he yanks the belt hard and stars burst in my vision.

“You look so beautiful with my cock in your mouth. Do you like tasting yourself?”

Vince stops, his cock lodged in my throat as he waits for an answer. He pulls out and smacks my lips with his cock. “Answer me.”

“Yes, I do.”

The devil looks ecstatic at my humiliation. He buries himself back inside my mouth and his other hand nearly rips out my hairs when he curls his fist in my mane. He fucks my face, driving deeper and deeper, even though I gag.

He pulls out finally and I get a brief moment to gasp for hair before he shifts down the bed and parts my legs. Then I’m gasping again as he plows into my slick entrance, pounding ruthlessly hard and making me claw his shoulders. Vince’s body moves over mine with a desperate urgency, even his breathing is harried as he lowers his body over mine.

I grasp his head, twining my fingers through his damp hair as he groans in my ear, almost as if he’s in pain. Usually, when he fucks me, it’s to satisfy the beast inside him, to maximize the pleasure. This is entirely different. He’s completely lost himself.