Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
As I emptied inside her, I knew I was handing over my heart and soul to her. And I wanted to own hers as well. But it was the wrong time and place to talk about emotional shit.
As the last waves of my orgasm passed, my legs felt unsteady, but I had just enough strength to scoop Gabriella into my arms and carry her back to the bedroom.
I pulled back the covers and gently set her in the bed before lying down beside her and wrapping her in my arms.
“I…” I trailed off, unsure what exactly to say. Gabriella owned every part of me. But I wasn’t sure if I could tell her I loved her. Was I even capable of loving someone? Sure, I loved my parents and my brother, but I’d always suspected my heart didn’t work quite right.
Then again…I’d never met someone who had torn down my walls and ripped away the chains that I kept locked around my emotions. But love…? I wasn’t sure. And I refused to lie to her. So I gave her the most honest words I could.
“You are everything to me, Gabriella DeLuca,” I murmured. “You own me.”
12
GABRIELLA
My biggest fear after the sensual fog lifted was that Domenico and I would have to keep our feelings for each other to ourselves for a long time. But that concern was quickly alleviated when he stroked his hand down my spine and murmured, “I don’t want to hide that you're mine. Your brother already figured it out, so there’s no tactical advantage to keeping us a secret.”
“So there’s an us?” I teased, throwing his words from that family dinner when he was still fighting against our attraction back at him with a grin.
“Damn straight.” He slapped my butt just hard enough for me to feel a slight sting. “Don’t worry about Rafa. I’ll get him to come around.”
“You do realize that we’re still a family, even if we’re The Family.” I poked him in the side. “Rafa might be the boss of this DeLuca branch, but he still answers to our mamma when it comes to her girls. And she will be too excited about the idea of planning our wedding to raise any concerns about me getting together with my brother’s best friend.”
“Our wedding, huh?”
I lifted my head to glare at him, but the teasing glint in his dark eyes made butterflies swarm in my belly. I loved that I was one of very few people who got to see this softer side of the stoic man I’d fallen head over heels for.
Wiggling my left hand, I drawled, “If you’re going to talk about putting babies in my belly while you’re deep inside me, then you’re also going to put a ring on it. That’s the way it works in our world, which you very well know.”
Before he could react to my half-joking ultimatum, Domenico’s phone let out a shrill alarm. “Cazzo!”
After gently setting me on the mattress, he slid off the bed to stalk over to the armoire against the wall to our left. When he flung the doors open and revealed four monitors connected to the security system, I gasped.
“Wow, this security system has all the bells and whistles. No wonder you weren’t worried about anyone sneaking up on us when Rafa showed up tonight.”
“I would never have brought you here if it wasn’t.” He quickly tossed on a pair of dark jeans, a black T-shirt, and hiking boots. I followed suit and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and one of his shirts before sliding a pair of running shoes onto my feet.
Then he grabbed his Beretta and Glock, not bothering with their holsters, just shoving a couple of extra magazines into his pockets. The one for his Beretta held fifteen extra rounds, while the Glock’s capacity was six.
“Forty-two bullets? That’s a lot of firepower.”
“I’m not going to fuck around when your safety is on the line.” He yanked open a drawer beneath the monitors and retrieved the suppressors for his pistols. Then he grabbed two stiletto switchblades, following that up with one of the burner phones Dante had mentioned. He tossed the device at me. “It may turn out that your brother’s timing was impeccable because shit’s about to go down. Send him a text to let him know we could use some help.”
I turned on the phone and pulled up the messaging app. Luckily, my brother had made all of us girls memorize his number so I was able to punch it in and send an SOS.
“Done. What else can I do?”
Domenico captured my mouth in a quick, deep kiss that took what remained of my breath away. Then he stroked his thumb over my cheek as he ordered, “You’re going to keep your sweet ass inside while I take care of the problem.”