Chained by the Don (Contarini Crime Family Book 2) Read online

  He couldn’t blame her, really. The Contarini Estate was an impressive piece of architecture. It looked almost like a modern palace, the broad crimson front door flanked by three-story-high Roman-style pillars. Every door and window was decked out in exquisite, aristocratic trim. The house exuded old money and affluence, even before they pulled into the ten-car garage.

  Sharon got out of the Mercedes. “Man, you really like cars, huh?” her voice echoed around the cavernous garage. Her eyes bugged out as she took in all the diligently maintained classic cars that were tucked away in the garage.

  “I do,” Vittorio admitted. “Most of these belonged to my grandfather though.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Sharon gushed.

  Vittorio led her inside, trailing their suitcase behind him. The next room off the garage was the kitchen. Sharon walked around the traditional-farmhouse-with-a-twist styled kitchen, her delicate fingers tracing the red tile counters while her eyes traced the antique wood floors. Gleaming copper pots of all shapes and sizes dangled from a matching rack mounted in the ceiling.

  “Can I get you anything?” Vittorio asked, pulling open the stainless-steel fridge. He grabbed a mineral water for himself.

  Sharon nodded at the bottle in his hand. “I’ll take one of those, please.”

  Vittorio tossed her a bottle and opened his own, slurping down the water with its tingly bubbles. Sharon followed him through the house, clearly doing her best not to gasp and gawk at everything in Vittorio’s opulent ancestral home. He figured he probably took a lot of the luxury for granted. He had grown up in it so it was just ‘home’ to him, but he tried to look at it through fresh eyes. Just the ornate, antique chandelier in the living room was probably worth more than the average American worker made in a decade. The furniture was all plush and crafted by the best of the best to last for centuries.

  He led Sharon up a sweeping marble staircase. Once on the second floor, he took her to his favorite bedroom in the gigantic house. Through the double doors it was wide open and airy. The mahogany bed had four tall posts, reaching high to support a peach-colored canopy. The far wall opened onto a deck that overlooked a soft, lovely meadow. Sharon hurried to the sliding glass door, pulled it open and stepped out into the afternoon sunshine. The light caught on her wild, ungroomed blonde hair as she took a heaving breath of fresh, country air.

  “This is amazing!” Sharon gushed when Vittorio followed her outside. “Man, it makes me miss home.”

  “This?” Vittorio said, cocking his head towards the open space. “This makes you miss Kansas?”

  Sharon opened her arms wide, gesturing to the long grasses waving gently in the chilly breeze. “This is basically all Kansas is!” she joked.

  “Really?” Vittorio asked. He’d never been to Kansas, had actually never even considered it. He pictured it as flat and boring, a trash state he’d rather fly over than suffer through.

  “Yeah,” Sharon smiled nostalgically. “It’s actually really pretty there. And when the towns are that small everyone knows everyone and they all really care, ya know? It’s just nice.”

  He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was already so beautiful, but when she talked about home her pretty face lit up in a special way. Suddenly, Vittorio cared more about Kansas than he’d ever intended to.

  “It sounds nice,” he told Sharon honestly. “I’m from the city. I’m pretty sure the only time anyone there actually cares about you is if you’re paying them.”

  “I don’t think that’s true.” Sharon countered. “I think there are good people everywhere, they’re just harder to spot when you have millions of others to compare them to.”

  “Fair enough,” Vittorio nodded.

  Sharon leaned against the banister, basking in the sunlight. “So, why’d you have to bring me out here?” she asked lightly.

  “It’s complicated,” Vittorio told her.

  “I can handle complicated,” she retorted.

  Vittorio didn’t want to scare Sharon; but she did ask, and he figured she was right, she could handle it. She’d already handled her transition into a completely foreign life beautifully. He might as well share.

  “Remember that guy from the Auction? The older one that was trying to buy you other than me?”

  Sharon knitted her brows in concern. “Yeah. Rocco Ana-something, right?”

  “Anafesto, yeah,” Vittorio confirmed. “Well it turns out he’s not particularly happy that you went home with me instead of him.”

  “Why does he care?” Sharon asked, baffled.

  “Well, you’re young, beautiful, inexperienced… You’re totally his type.” Vittorio started. “But the biggest issue really has very little to do with you. Rocco just doesn’t like losing. He doesn’t like to lose to anyone, but especially not to me. He and I have what you might call a ‘history’.”

  “What kind of history?”

  Vittorio sighed. “Our families haven’t gotten along for decades, really. Being a Contarini would’ve been enough to put me in his bad book on its own, but I was a real punk when I was growing up. A few of my buddies and I used to ransack a warehouse he thought nobody knew about in Queens. We’d nab drugs, money… whatever we could find. Eventually he found out it was us, which we should’ve expected…” he trailed off.

  “What did he do when he found out it was you?” Sharon asked carefully.

  “Nothing big at first,” Vittorio told her. “After a few lootings, some vandalism on our properties, dumb shit like that, it all just started building into this big... tension. He sat down with my father at some point and confronted him about it, but my dad stood up for me. Denied it all, swore I had nothing to do with it.”

  “That was nice of him,” Sharon said hesitantly.

  “It was. But Rocco knew he was lying, so…” Vittorio heaved a great sigh. “He killed Lara.”

  Sharon’s jaw dropped open in shock. Vittorio could practically see the gears turning in her head, no doubt working out just exactly how much danger that put her in, especially if Rocco was already bitter about losing her.

  Vittorio continued. “She was… Shot. Broad daylight. We were walking to brunch with her parents, actually. Got her once in the gut, once in the chest. She was gone by the time first responders got there. I didn’t have my gun on me, ’cause she didn’t really like them and…”

  Vittorio cut himself off, realized he was rambling. He did his best to shut the memories of Lara’s final few moments out of his mind. The shock, the pain, the fear that contorted her flawless face, until she had faded into Vittorio’s arms. Her blood had stained his shirt and his skin; he could still feel the hot, sticky wetness on his hands whenever he thought about it all too hard.

  Sharon took a step closer and began to rub Vittorio’s back. He hadn’t realized how long it had been since he’d shared Lara’s story with anyone, especially a woman he was sleeping with.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Not your fault,” Vittorio said flatly, looking out over the grassy space. “It was a long time ago.”

  “Doesn’t make it hurt any less, I would imagine.” Sharon said.

  “No, it sure doesn’t.” Vittorio agreed.

  He turned to Sharon and her aqua blue eyes looked right up at him.

  “You’ll be safe up here,” he ensured her. “I promise.”

  “As long as I’m with you, I’m not worried,” she replied with a smile.

  Chapter 14

  Vittorio

  Vittorio leaned down to kiss her, her eager lips pressing against his own. He savored this beautiful moment he was sharing with this beautiful little soul. He released her and she blushed, sweeping her gaze back out into nature.

  Sharon was just as fierce as she was soft, just as silly as she was smart, just as playful as she was wise. If he wasn’t careful, Vittorio knew he would end up falling hard for this girl. Despite the fact she was the one beam of light in his otherwise dark and lonely life, Vittorio didn’t want to risk the dist
raction or the liability of getting serious with a woman. The idea of calling anyone his ‘wife’ besides Lara still made him want to vomit, too.

  Still, Sharon tempted him to at least give it a try.

  A bird sang out from somewhere in the trees. Though it was hidden, it’s song rang out clear over the meadow.

  Sharon whistled back at the bird, mimicking the three notes of its call.

  Much to her apparent delight, the bird sang back to her again. Her whole face lit up with unabashed joy.

  “Very cool,” Vittorio told her, scooting himself closer to her. He put a hand on her lower back, which he slid down to her plump ass, hidden as it was under his giant sweatshirt. He quite liked the way she looked in his clothes.

  Sharon turned back towards Vittorio, a twinkle of lust in her shiny blue eyes. She ran her tongue over her pink lips, wetting them. He wanted nothing more than to claim her sultry little mouth with his own, to captivate her insatiable body and make her shiver with glee.

  When he kissed her again, he could feel the heat. She rubbed her body up against his while he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She moaned gently, then yelped in surprise as Vittorio scooped her up off her feet. He kept his mouth against hers as he carried her back inside and laid her tiny body delicately on the bed. Vittorio pulled his roomy sweatshirt over her head, revealing the purple negligee she wore beneath. Sharon fussed with the button on her pants and kicked them off to show her matching lacy panties. He devoured her with his eyes, every sweet curve covered in taut, porcelain skin. She was flawless.

  He noticed the increased confidence in the way she moved, the way she sat. She carried no shame in her body anymore. At least, not that Vittorio could see. He put his hands on her hips and slowly dragged his fingers down her thick, creamy thighs. She hummed, a happy little sound, at his touch. He brushed his fingertips back up, the gentle touch causing her to shiver. On the way back down a second time, Vittorio hooked the edge of her thong and dragged it away from her perfect pink slit. He continued to slide her panties down till they dropped off the edge of the bed. He pushed her legs apart. He inhaled deeply, drawing in the intoxicating scent of her arousal and felt a pinprick of desire between his own legs.

  Vittorio coaxed Sharon onto her back and lowered his mouth to her excitable cunt. He licked her clit and delighted in her excited shiver. He worked his mouth against her, gently lapping at her clit and sensitive lips with his warm, wet tongue. He put a firm hand on each of Sharon’s strong thighs to hold her in place while he intensified his oral tease. He pushed his tongue inside her and felt Sharon’s entire body go rigid. He continued to lick her, inside and out, while she moaned gently. She continued to get wetter and Vittorio released one thigh so that he could slip a finger into her. He worked his finger in and out of her while he licked, teased and sucked on her swollen clit.

  “I-I think I’m gonna cum,” Sharon stuttered breathlessly.

  Vittorio pushed a second finger into her, feeling as deep inside her greedy cunt as he could, and sucked harder than ever on her magic button until she spasmed and came loudly. She rewarded him with a fresh wave of warm pussy juices right on his tongue. Vittorio could feel himself rock hard and ready to go.

  He dropped his pants and situated himself between Sharon’s legs, teasing her slit with his hard head. Usually, when he had sex, Vittorio was only really excited by the kink. For some reason, though, he just couldn’t bring himself to defile Sharon that day. He pushed into her gently, savoring the tightness as she slowly swallowed up his impressive length.

  Sharon sighed contentedly, as if she had been waiting to feel Vittorio inside her. Vittorio rocked his body slowly against hers. Her tight cunt squeezed hard around him and he resisted the animal urge to tear her petite body apart. He continued to push and pull himself in and out of her slowly. Her blue eyes watched him while he fucked her. The naughty little glint he saw there inspired some pride in him. He’d turned this sweet little virgin into a glorified fuck monster. She was probably better in bed, and more eager, than most of the other women he’d ever met.

  Something about the entanglement of their bodies felt different this time though. It wasn’t just a fuck… it was something more.

  Vittorio pinned Sharon to the bed by both her hands, lacing her fingers with his own. She squeezed his hands affectionately and he felt a wake of pleasure roll through him. This pleasure was different, less carnal and more emotional.

  Sharon squeezed harder on his hands and he could feel her cunt contracting around him. Vittorio knew Sharon was nearing her orgasm and his sole goal became fulfilling her. He began making love to her quicker.

  “I-I love you!” Sharon cried out, uninhibited. Her eyes popped open a moment later as she seemed to register what she had said.

  Vittorio was so shocked he had to stop for a moment. He waited for the racks of ecstasy to cease and Sharon met his eye.

  More timidly, she said a second time, “I love you, Vittorio.”

  “I love you too,” Vittorio replied, without even thinking about it. The inevitable complicated future could wait for them. But right here, right now, he wanted nothing more than to share in the euphoria of new love with this incredible woman.

  Sharon sighed in relief and delight. Vittorio continued to push himself as deep into her as her tight slit would allow, but he could feel himself getting closer and closer to his own climax. Though he didn’t want this moment of intimacy to end, Vittorio saw stars behind his eyelids when he finally burst inside her. Sharon moaned heartily, clearly enjoying the sensation of being filled with his seed.

  Once he was finished and the aftershocks of sheer bliss had dulled, Vittorio collapsed in a heap on top of Sharon. Her arms wrapped around him and, despite her tiny stature, he finally felt safe for the first time in years. So closely knit with her kind spirit, her warmth, her nurturing heart, Vittorio had no desire to be anywhere else. He kissed the side of her neck, loving the salty-sweet taste of her sweat.

  “I really do love you,” Sharon whispered. “Is that crazy?”

  Vittorio laughed. “Only if it’s crazy that I really do love you too.”

  Chapter 15

  Sharon

  Sharon and Vittorio watched the sunset through the wide open double doors from their peach-dressed bed. The chilly breeze drifted in, but they hardly noticed, wrapped up as they were in blankets and in each other. One of the mansion’s staff members had brought them a tray laden with cold cuts of meat, cheese, crackers and fruit, then politely dismissed himself.

  “I still can’t believe you grew up this way,” Sharon joked, popping a fat, purple grape into her mouth.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Vittorio asked.

  “Well,” Sharon explained as she chewed, “you just don’t… I don’t know… seem like the type I guess.”

  “Like what type?”

  “The super-rich, fancy-boy type,” she teased. “The first time I saw you, I just wouldn’t have pegged you as the type to have servants.”

  “Technically, they’re staff. I pay them.” Vittorio argued.

  Sharon rolled her eyes at him playfully. “You know what I mean. Just accept the compliment.”

  “I will, thank you. Not because you told me to, though,” Vittorio smarted, tearing into a piece of meat. He was ravenous. He hadn’t had a chance to eat anything since that morning when he’d left with Sharon, then he’s spent the afternoon making love to her. Not that he’d change a single detail. He just had that sensation of raw, gnawing hunger creeping up his gut.

  Sharon laughed and shook her head. Vittorio was really starting to love the sound of her musical little laugh.

  Love, he thought to himself. He was still reeling from Sharon’s mid-sex confession that she loved him and even more so from his reciprocation of her love. Vittorio couldn’t believe that in just two short weeks he’d begun to truly experience love again, after spending years as an unfeeling ghost. Sharon really was turning his life around for the better, to an extent tha
t she probably didn’t even realize.

  Vittorio reached over to Sharon a squeezed her ticklish thigh, just to hear her laugh again. She giggled and kicked at him, squealing, “Stop it!”

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” Vittorio joked, squeezing her even more. “I own you, remember? I can do whatever I want to you.”

  “Whatever you want, huh?” Sharon teased him, breathlessly. “You can do whatever you want and you’re choosing just to tickle me?”

  Between her laughs and desperate attempts to push him off, Vittorio heard a tentative voice call out, “Sir?”

  Vittorio looked up, the member of his kitchen staff stood professionally and stoically in the doorway. “Yeah?” he asked.