Hush: Family Secrets (5 page)

“I know I haven’t done the best for you,” my father says gently as we enter the gardens behind the house.

“You did the best you could,” I murmur.

“My best was not enough. I love you, Valentina. I loved your mother and sister very much as well. I should have done a better job protecting you all. To this day I work to right my wrongs,” my father pauses as his voice becomes thick with emotion.

“Have you ever wondered why I did not fight your uncle on teaching you to be like him?” he asks after a moment and clearing his throat.

“I guess,” I say softly.

“A part of me knows your uncle is one of the best at what he does. A part of me believed that if you could protect yourself I would never lose you the way I lost your sister and mother. When he convinced me it was best for you I agreed because I had peace in knowing it wouldn’t be so easy to take from me again,” he said as he stopped to turn and look me in the eyes.

“I think I understand,” I reply with a weak smile.

“I’ve made too many mistakes. This time I plan to do right by you. I have decided on a match for you,” he pauses again and presses his lips. He looks away from me for a moment causing my unease to grow. His words are cutting through me at this point. He can’t be serious. I was supposed to have more time to get myself together and get out of here.

“My first choice would have been Uri. It was Uri, but he is just too unpredictable. Uri does what Uri wants. He has taken off without a word. I need someone more stable for you. Someone that understands family,” he turns to look me in the eye now.

“Raphael has wanted to wed you for a very long time. He has been constant in his intention for you. I will be making it official in three days. You and Raphael are to be engaged,” my father says with all traces of emotion gone.

“No Papa,” I gasp. “No!”

“Tina, this is for the best. If Uri can leave so easily without a word than this was not a serious matter to him,” my father says firmly.

“Then find someone else, anyone else. Don’t do this. You can’t do this. The Giordano family isn’t even at our level for you to be serious. Papa,
please
!” I plead with him.

His face is an unchanging mask. “It will be made official in three days. The engagement party will be after your sister’s wedding. You need stability and someone to care for you,” my father says the last part more gently.

I clamp my mouth shut. I know how important this is to him and the family. Shannon was right neither of us ever really had a choice. I just always liked to think that I did.

My mind is racing. I can’t marry Raphael Giordano. I hate that man. He makes my skin crawl. I am suddenly furious with Uri. How could he just leave? Why did he just leave? Did I do something wrong?

I know I haven’t been the most receptive to having him around but he was growing on me and I have started to let my guard down. I am startled and confused by my sudden heartache. I feel my heart calling for Uri and my mind is screaming to know why he just left.

“Papa,” I whisper. “I think this is wrong. Uri would have been better for me, but if this is what you want,” I turn away quickly as I feel tears building. I haven’t cried in so long I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop once I start.

“If he were the better choice he would have shown it,” my father says before turning and leaving me in the garden.

I don’t know when I started to pace. I am floored with the turn of events. I absolutely loath Raphael, I hate the way he looks at me, I hate his smug way of talking to everyone, I hate that he has been so sure this would happen and I hate that my father doesn’t see all this.

Where the hell is Uri? As that thought sinks in my blood begins to boil. How dare he just walk away? As my mind starts to work overtime a plan locks into place. I am not like Shannon. I won’t take this laying down.

I already live in one prison. I will not be put in another. Uri has some answers for me and I am going to get them. I have three days and three days will have to be enough because there is no way I am marrying Raphael Giordano.

CHAPTER Seven

Uncle Valentine came through once again. He was not only able to give me a full file on Uri but he was able to tell me exactly where to find him. I wasted no time at all packing my bag and jumping on a plane. I have already lost a day, but I won’t let that stop me.

My father will probably be pissed when he realizes I have boarded a flight to London. I just need to hear for myself that Uri left because he doesn’t care. I want him to tell me what was so important that he left without a word.

My sources told me to try Uri’s night club first. He has a number of lofts and homes here. It seems he doesn’t keep to just one of them so here I am sitting in a rented Audi waiting for Uri to show up at his club.

The place looks popular. There is a ridiculous line outside and I can hear the music pumping. It looks like a posh club to get into. I’ll worry about that when the time comes.

Almost two hours go by before a car pulls up and Uri’s large frame steps out of it. I would know it was him from a mile away. My heart leaps in my chest much to my own churning, that is until a leggy blonde steps out of the car and wraps herself around his arm.

Uri places his hand on the small of her back and leans to whisper something in her ear. She is so much taller than I am and much thinner. I am pissed. He left me for this blonde ostrich. My fingers itch for my gun.

How dare he? I have to count backwards to bring my temper under control. Once I have reined it in I check the mirror. I reapply some lip gloss and smooth a hand over my hair.

I grab my clutch, having one more glance at the glove compartment where I stashed a gun earlier just in case. I think better of it and step out of the car leaving the gun behind. I pull my hair over one shoulder, standing to my full height in my six inch heels.

I sashay my way right to the bouncer at the door. I know I am killing in this dress and heels. My makeup is flawless as well. The bouncer gives me the once over, an appreciative look crosses his face as his eyes linger on my breasts and hips.

I don’t even have to say a word. He opens the red rope and ushers me in. People in line fuss wanting to know who I am but I am already inside and on a mission to find that prick Uri.

I push my way through the crowd and spot him in a raised booth seated with the blonde and a few other women. Uri looks distracted as the women pour champagne and fawn over him. I feel the bowel rise in my throat. I should have brought my gun.

~B~

It is done. Toni Vito has seen his last sunset. Right now his eyeballs are gift wrapped in a decorative chrome box heading to Don Caprisi. I made it a slow death. An hour for every year my Bella Donna has gone without her mum and sister.

I placed him in front of a mirror to watch as I tortured him, the way Valentina had to watch her family being taken from her. Only then did I relieve him of his eyes while he still screamed as best he could.

As usual I am wound tight after a kill. A workout or sex is my preferred tension relievers, but I have too much going on in my head to surrender to the burn of a workout. As for the latter, the one woman I want to be buried balls deep in is across a bloody ocean.

I invited Penelope out because I thought she’d be a right distraction. I’ve given her a good shagging in the past and she hasn’t become clingy. Only, the moment she stepped into the car I wanted to drop her back off.

Her voice is like nails to a chalkboard tonight. Funny I don’t remember her being so rail thin. She also needs to lay off the cigarettes. It’s a nasty habit and her breath has been quite rank tonight.

The rest of these birds that have flocked around me are just pushing my fraying nerves to the edge. It has only been three days and I yearn to see Valentina like I have never yearned for a woman before. I would have been on a plane on my way back to her already but the family has made a request that I cannot deny.

I haven’t become a wealthy man from being stupid. I know how and when to play the game. Right now I have to take care of some business and then I will return to the States to collect what is mine.

Penelope tries to whisper something in my ear, which causes me to shift away from her with a frown. She huffs and frowns at me, as I get ready to tell her to go handle her atrocious breath a flash of gold catches my eye. Penelope is forgotten as the unmistakable object of my desires stands in the middle of my club swaying those delectable hips.

She is stunning in a shimmering metallic gold dress that stops at her mid thighs and drapes softly over her body. Forget fuck me heels, the stilts she has on say fuck me hard and deep, just what I plan to do. Her hair is pulled to one side spilling down toward her waist.

When our eyes lock and she knows she has my attention, she sways her hips and turns her back to me. My semi erection turns to a full blown hard on. The dress leaves her sides and back completely bare. The fabric lies dangerously low on her waist.

She goes from swaying her hips to pumping them back and forth making her arse wiggle with the motion. I’m entranced by the shake of her bum and the arch the motion is making in her back. I lick my lips and reach for my brandy without looking away.

I know she is putting a show on for me. My brain has yet to function enough to question why she is here. My dark angel is up to something but I can’t pull my thoughts from what my prick wants long enough to figure out what. She bends at the waist and twerks just as a dead man steps in front of her and reaches for her.

I’m growling and on my feet without a thought.

CHAPTER Eight

I may have left the gun in the car but I have more than one weapon. That is what makes me so lethal. Nine times out of ten the men that have lost their lives to me never saw it coming because their eyes were on my body. My curves have been a gift and a curse since I was seventeen.

I think Uri should know exactly what he has given up on to be here with the skanks surrounding him. I know the moment his eyes are on me. It has taken everything in me not to run over there and snatch that blonde away from him.

But when I have his attention I milk it for every drop. I can feel his eyes over every inch of my body. When I turn my back to him I give it all I’ve got. I’m practically dry humping the air and it has me so turned on that he is watching.

That hot dream I had of him pops in my head and I groan biting my lip. I bend at the waist and twerk knowing my dress is short enough to give him a nice view without showing too much. I can feel my folds moisten with the heat of his stare on me. I moan again locked in my own fantasy where no one else is around but him and I.

That is why I totally miss the douchebag that comes and grabs my waist pulling me into him. Startled from the show I was just giving to Uri I look up to find a tall dark hair guy. He is rough looking and it would take a few drinks before you could really call him handsome. Even that would be a stretch, but I go along with it because I know it will help to serve my purpose.

To piss Uri off and show him what he is missing out on. Yup, I have crossed over into insanity and have no idea when it happened. When Uri left without a word or when I saw him with that ostrich on his arm.

All I know is I am hurting and I want someone else to hurt too. I can’t go home and get married, it will kill me. I resolved on the plane here that if Uri really doesn’t want me than I will be disappearing for good.

I have already hatched a plan to fake my death and everything. I speak several languages. I will just get lost somewhere here over the pond. I hate that I would be tearing my father to pieces but I can’t go back. Not to Raphael.

Creepy mug grunts his appreciation for the gyration of my hips. I place my hand on his biceps and he must take it for an invitation because his hands move down to cup the globes of my ass and he squeezes hard. No sooner than he squeezes me I am moving off my feet and backwards into a hard chest.

A hand shoots over my shoulder and the big brawly guy I had been dancing with is no longer on his feet either. I am shocked to see the massive man dangling in the air. The chest behind me is heaving into my back.

“Don’t ever touch what’s mine,” I hear Uri growl over the music. His Italian accent has thickened in his anger.

He tosses the man backward, while still keeping a tight hold on me. I wiggle and try to land on my feet or turn in his arms but his hold is like steel. We are moving through the crowd as he pulls me along. The crowd parts for him like he is the king.

My eyes dart for the table where he and his bimbos had been sitting. I catch sight of the blonde and she’s sitting with a pout looking confused. I try shouting Uri’s name to get him to put me down but it is to no avail.

Uri cuts left and storms towards an elevator. A bouncer standing beside it pushes for the lift and Uri carries me on without breaking a stride. Once the doors close I wrap my fingers around his wrist.

“Stop this you brat,” he growls in my ear.

My chest is heaving now as well, but I heed the warning in his tone as I curse myself out for not bringing in my gun. I curse out loud as I realize my purse got lost in all the commotion. “Uri, my purse,” I start.

“My security is taking care of that mess down there. They will retrieve the purse and bring it up,” he says with finality.

The doors to the lift open again and Uri strolls out. Another bouncer opens a pair of double doors that lead into an office. Uri storms into the large space and the doors are pulled shut behind us.

My blood begins to boil as I remember why I am really here in the first place. I sag in his arms, losing all fight. I feel so small and vulnerable. Something I haven’t felt in a very long time.

I want him to want me. I need him to want me. I have no other options. I don’t want to have to run away and never see my family again. When the first tear falls I hate it and myself. Why have I chosen now to be weak? Why in this man’s arms?

Uri places me on my feet and buries his face in my hair. I stiffen and can’t hold in the sob that rips from my throat. I don’t know what it is about him that has unleashed these tears but they won’t stop now that they have started.

“Bella,” he breathes into my hair and I shudder. I hate that my body reacts to him even in my anger and agony.

~B~

“Bella,” I breathe into her hair. This is not like the Valentina I have come to know and it unsettles me. My voice is strained as I try to understand what is going on with her. “Valentina.”

I call her name and turn her to face me. I go to cup her face, but she slaps my hand away taking a step back. She glares at me through her tears. I frown at the sight, she shouldn’t have tears streaking her face. I feel almost violent with rage wanting to hurt the person who has caused her to come to this. Only I was not ready for the words that spill from her mouth.

“Why Uri,” she screams at me pounding her forearm into my chest. The blow stings enough to cause me to wince but I am still unmoved, despite her efforts. “Why did you leave me,” she cries.

My brows draw in confusion. Ah, so my little minx missed me enough to follow me. A smile tugs at my lips only to fall as she continues.

“Why Uri, you left me and now my father is going to announce my engagement to Raphael this Saturday. In two days he is giving me to another man,” Valentina cries.

She lifts her arm to deliver another blow but I catch it midair and drag her body to mine. “What did you just say,” I growl as I bend my face down to hers.

She hiccups searching my eyes with her big orbs. “Papa wants to announce my engagement to Raphael because you don’t want me,” she says in almost a whisper.

I slip my fingers in her hair at the nape, holding her in place. I feel the ice fill my veins. I don’t know what Don Vincent thinks he is playing at but he has just pissed off the wrong man. I look Valentina deep in her eyes so that she gets every word I am about to speak.

“You,” I point my free pointer finger between her breasts. “Are mine. Do you understand me? You belong to me.”

Valentina’s eyes drop to my lips and she licks her own. “Then why’d leave me? He thinks you don’t want me,” she starts. It is enough to snap my carefully constructed control.

I tug her the short distance and crush my lips to hers. Her taste explodes on my lips. I wrap my free arm around her waist dragging her body into mine. She fits to me perfectly. Just one taste and I know she will always be mine. Everything has just changed.

~B~

He has just stolen my breath away. When my brain processes that Uri is kissing me I melt into him. He groans and I open my mouth in startled surprise. I am really kissing Uri and damn it is better than that dream I had. His tongue plunges into my mouth causing the taste of the brandy he had been drinking to assault my senses.

His arm wrapped around my waist has sealed my body to his and I can feel my nipples straining against the fabric of my dress. My arms go around his neck and I lift on my toes wanting to be closer to him. He is taking over all my senses. I can feel his cock throbbing against my thighs as it is swells, trapped down his pant leg. I wiggle in his hold, shifting my leg between his thighs to press it against his trapped member.

He growls into my mouth, before trapping my bottom lip between his teeth hissing as I rub my leg against his cock. His hands go to my ass, cupping my cheeks. I tremble in his arms.

I knew this man would be my ruining. I am going up in flames but I could care less. I don’t want him to let me go. I claw at the short hairs at his nape. He frees my lip from his nibbling and sucking and starts a trail of kisses down my neck.

His beard teases and tickles my skin. When he moves to place a kiss behind my ear I shake violently within his arms. I had no idea I was so sensitive there. He takes advantage of the new found knowledge, swirling his tongue and flicking the sensitive flesh.

“You taste so sweet,” he murmurs against my flesh tickling me with his facial hair.

“Uri,” I moan.

“Yes, Love,” he pulls his face from my neck, looking me in my eyes.

“I don’t want to marry Raphael,” I pout. Yes, I pout. It is so not like me but right now I don’t know who I am. This man just does something to me.

His hands haven’t left my backside. He kneads my globes and starts to walk me backward. He places a soft kiss to my swollen lips.

“What did I just tell you Valentina?” he growls in contrast to his soft kiss.

I bite my lip looking up at him through my lashes. “I belong to you,” I reply and he nods. “But Uri the engagement will be announced.”

“Bella, a married woman cannot be engaged,” Uri says pointedly. I furrow my brows in confusion. “I will handle everything from here. Trust me. I will make this go away.”

I go to protest when I get his meaning but he captures my lips once more. My thoughts scatter. I panic when I feel him lifting the fabric of my dress. My cheeks blush as I know what he will find there.

Uri releases my lips and he narrows his eyes at me as his hands meet my bare flesh. He lifts a brow as his fingers glide across my skin to find my bare wet center. Intensely his eyes blaze with the fire of desire.

“No panties, Valentina. You were shaking and wiggling this bum, my bum without knickers,” he growls.

I give him a mischievous grin and bob my head in answer. My lids flutter as his fingers gently glide over my wet sex. When his touch disappears I open my eyes and whimper. I am air born again, for the second time tonight as he lifts me on to the desk he has backed me into.

“I want to taste you,” he groans dropping to his knees in front of me.

He grabs ahold of my hips and drags me to the edge of the desk. My dress is still up around my waist, now exposing my pussy to his view. His hands grip my inner thighs pushing me further open for him. He is on his knee staring into my pussy and I am in awe.

How have I brought
this
man to his knees? Uri is a powerful man that men cower before and here he is on his knees before me. To see his usually carefully combed hair spilling in his face in a dishevel mess and his eyes wild with desire is almost too much.

His hair is so much longer than it looks when combed into place. My hands itch to run my fingers through it. I watch him lick his lower lip as he watches my juices gush forward from my own excitement and anticipation for him. He is staring so hard I start to become self-conscious and move to squeeze my legs shut.

Uri’s eyes shoot up to mine. He firmly pushes my legs back open as if daring me to close them again, not taking his eyes off mine. I open my mouth to complain, but my words die in my throat.

He bends his head forward, still holding eye contact. My breath is stolen at the first feel of his tongue lapping at my center. The flat of his tongue licks me from bottom to top, before he places pressure on my clit. My thighs and belly tremble as his name tumbles from my lips.

“Uri,” I cry repeatedly.

He just dives in with vigor, never looking away from me. My hands are clutching the desk so hard I swear I am going to snap the edges. When his arms curl around my thighs I throw my head back. He hums in satisfaction and I feel it throughout my core. He starts to rock my hips encouraging me to take over the motion and I snap.

My fingers plunge into his dark golden locks and I ride his face like a rodeo champion. He growls into me as his fingers bite into my flesh, leaving bruises even on my dark skin.

“Uri, baby,” my voice cracks through the office. This man’s mouth is amazing.

~B~

Valentina taste so good I think I am losing my mind, as I sit on my knees in my office eating her sweet pussy like a starved man. She smells amazing and I am so turned on by the fact that she hasn’t had knickers on this whole time. At the same time I want to go back and kill that fuck for having his hands on her.

The amount of inappropriate thoughts going through my mind right now is ludicrous. I feel her first orgasm bearing down and I need it just as much as she does. I spear her folds with my tongue with more vigor. She shatters right in my arms, hard. I release one of her legs to reach down and squeeze my cock.

I need inside her and fast but I’m not done tasting and teasing her. I want her to know how frustrated I have been with playing this game with her. She should have been in my arms weeks ago.

I lap at her juices before she comes all the way down. Valentina is wrung out but she will take more. I look up at her now lying flat on her back heaving to catch her breath. She is so beautiful when she comes. I release my grip on my cock, pushing one finger into her tight sex and freeze.

Valentina lifts up biting those lush lips looking at me with wide blue eyes. My mouth falls open. For the second time since I have met this woman I am speechless. My cock is now hard as steel. I pull my finger from her body and lift to my feet.