Indebted to the Mafia King

Eleni

I blink awake, not remembering falling asleep or the slick leather under my cheek. Music still pounds into my hazy skull, but much softer now. The last thing I'm certain of is dancing at Piacere, and then...Dante?

"I know you're awake," he says from somewhere in the room.

I sit up, and the room blurs like I'm in a cartoon until I'm upright. Mostly upright. My eyes catch on a wall clock that says it's one in the morning. Then, I see Dante behind a crisp, modernist, black-glass desk. I blink a few times. Nope, he doesn't look happy.

"So?" I lever myself to my feet. Gianna convinced me to wear one of her dresses and a pair of her heels, so standing is even more of a challenge than it otherwise might be. She also convinced me not all alcohol tastes like the crap Dante drinks, and boy was she right about that.

"So," he repeats. "So, Luca Lombardi is still out there. You're in danger, Eleni. Do you get that?"

"Yes," I say with total confidence. I recognize enough of those words to be completely confident that once the room stops spinning, I will absolutely get that. "Can we go dance now?"

He scrubs his hands over his face. "No! We can go home, where you're fucking safe."

"Safe this, safe that." I lean on the front of his desk and watch his gaze fall to the front of my very tight dress. "I want to have fun for once."

"You can have fun when Luca Lombardi is dead." He grits his teeth and forces his gaze away from me.

The haziness in my head gives way to the clarity of anger. "And who are you to make that decision for me? I haven't even seen you in two days."

"Your boss." He smirks at me. "Remember?"

"Uh-uh." I shake my head, despite the way that makes the room shift like a boat. "Nope. If that's the deal, I want out. Because I've lost my whole family to this life"-I circle around his desk and poke him in the chest-"my whole family, now that Mama's gone, and if I can't have them back, then I deserve a few frickin' drinks."

He grabs my wrist. "Since when do you say words like 'frickin?""

"Since " Never. But I couldn't let him know that. "Forever! Because I'm living my own frickin' life now, not just trying to make people happy."novelbin

He exhales sharply through his nose. "Do you want me to treat you like a prisoner, El?"

His grip on my wrist tightens, and the whole argument tumbles out of my brain. He's so close, and his eyes are burning, and it turns out anger and desire look pretty much the same through however many pretty pink drinks I've had. I lick my lips and lean in.

Dante swallows. "I could force you to do whatever I said. I could use you however I saw fit. And if you insist on breaking my rules and putting yourself in danger like this, I just might have to." His voice descends to something between a growl and a purr.

I sit on his lap, bracketing his legs with mine. "Promise?"

He groans. "You're "

"Trouble." I pull my wrist out of his grasp and put his hands on my breasts.

He runs his thumbs over the fabric, and my nipples harden instantly. None of my bras "worked" with the dress, according to Gianna, so she loaned me a stretchy, lacy bralette. Between that and the thin dress, I can almost feel his hands on my skin already. I rock my hips against his lap and feel his hardening erection.

"Please," I whisper. "I'm done waiting. F-fuck me."

His gaze goes dark and liquid, but he says, "You're drunk."

"I haven't been this clear-headed in...maybe ever." I stabilize myself on the arm of his chair so I don't disprove my point by toppling over. It doesn't really matter if I'm a little drunk. Or mad at him. I wanted him when I was sober and happy. I want him now.

Before he can say anything, I kiss him. Like a spark on tinder, he's instantly alive underneath me. He presses his tongue into my mouth, exploring every crevice and tangling with my own. I moan and rock against his lap, against the length of him between us. I didn't get to feel him last time, and his size strikes fear and desire into my heart in equal measures. Dante groans into my mouth, and I swallow up every note. Someday, I'll make him yell. Maybe tonight. Roughly, he pulls the top of the dress down, and my breasts bounce free. The bralette Gianna loaned me is stretchy, but the lacy triangles still leave most of my skin exposed. Dante stares for a long moment.

"We're getting more of these," he mutters.

I like the sound of "we."

He twists and flicks one of my nipples, sparks of pleasure-pain clouding my vision more than any alcohol, and drops kisses along the line of my neck. When I tilt my head back and moan, he sucks a dark bruise into the skin there. Another sweet sting. My thighs are parted over Dante's legs, but in the few places they touch, I can feel them starting to slide. I'm more than wet enough.

I grab Dante's free hand, braced on the arm of his chair, and guide it between my legs. "I'm ready."

He pulls my underwear aside and slides a finger through my wetness with a smile. "So you are."

His fingers find that hot, bright point of want, my clit, and circle it. I collapse my weight against him. Sensation pours through me, near overwhelming, and supporting myself is too much. He chuckles and doesn't stop. When the fire in my gut starts to build to that breaking point again, from nothing but his fingers, I struggle for the words to tell him what I want. When they don't come fast enough, I twist my head and bite his earlobe.

He laughs. "Hungry?"

I nod. "Please."

His fingers slow, and I roll my hips to hold onto the pleasure.

"You're a virgin." He shakes his head. "I don't-"

"I do," I say. "I don't need rose petals or candles or whatever. I just want you."

I struggle to sit up and look into his dark eyes, but even as my orgasm drains away, my balance is still off. I end up with my forehead pressed against his, breathing in the same air he's breathing out. "I want you to be my first," I whisper.

Taut silence hangs between us, and I begin to hope. He's not saying no.

"El "

A high-pitched trill interrupts him. He glances around for a moment, then grabs his cellphone off the desk.

"Cattaneo," he says, his voice suddenly brusque like it wasn't a moment ago. "Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay, I'll be there soon."