Page 58 of Under His Watch

“Oh, he does. And he is. But I feel like needing the instruction makes me less-than.”

Nina blew a raspberry. “Nah. If he’s a control freak like I think he is, he’d take pleasure from ‘teaching’ you.”

“He does.”

“You’ve read books,” Nina said with a wink. “Including one-hand romances.”

“There you go.” Eva nodded and finished her wine. “Watch some porn and learn a little more.”

I leaned over in my seat, resting my elbows on my knees. I was intrigued and excited. The thrill of doing something so naughty like watching porn… I grinned. “Like what, though?”

“Hmm. Anal?” Eva guessed. “That’s pretty basic and a common kink.”

I refrained from wincing. I wasn’t sure I could adjust to that.

“Bondage. Maybe some flogging and stuff. Romeo’s never gottenthatinvolved with the club scene, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his tastes still veered toward the dark side.”

“Thanks, Eva.” I smiled at Nina, too. “This helps. I was trying not to feel insecure, being so new to this and so soon after being…” I exhaled a long, hard breath. Voicing it out loud was simply something that would take more time.

“Glad to help,” Eva said. “However, no more details are necessary. Got it?”

“Got it.” I smiled, shifting into more general talk about how Nina’s pregnancy was going and how Eva was sick of some of the Mafia men who “wasted her time”. As intelligent and wise as she was, she sure seemed impervious to considering a love life of her own.

It wasn’t my place to ask her about why she wasn’t seeing anyone. I was hardly an expert myself, only a couple of weeks in with the man I assumed it was safe to call my first boyfriend.

I couldn’t help but feel like I was sheltered. My parents had never encouraged me to be a feminist or to date boys. They’d had it in their heads from so early on that I should be with Elliot.

Now, though, as I embraced being Romeo’s woman, I fell deeper under the spell of curiosity, wondering what it would be like to look into the kinkier stuff that would please Romeo.

Because already, this soon, I knew that when I gave my submission to him and he led me with control, he made me soar so high with bliss that I doubted I’d ever want it to stop.

I wasn’t sure what I ever did in my life to deserve him or how he treated me, but I didn’t want to consider it ever ending.

No more stress about having to work nonstop, only to give my money to my parents. No more wondering how I could have a semblance of independence. No more dreading a call or text from Elliot that I’d need to reply to while not giving him any encouragement or hope.

All I had to do was enjoy Romeo treating me like a queen.

And pray that he got the same soul-deep satisfaction being with me that I did with him.

23

ROMEO

The more that I healed from being shot, the busier I became. Not only with Tessa and her eagerness to have sex with me on my terms, but also with the family.

It was too easy to assume it was just me and her, the two of us, and that nothing else mattered. In the penthouse so high in the sky, it sometimes felt like it was just us alone, on top of the world and untouched by any outside influences.

Meeting with my father and Franco proved otherwise.

“That motherfucker is going to regret the day he ever dared to set foot on our turf,” my father growled, pacing near the table out near the pool that was already being serviced for the fall closing procedure.

Stefan Giovanni was ramping up his attacks. Just this morning, he had his goons set fire to one of our businesses. It was “just” a bakery and deli. That was what it would look like in the news. To all who knew what was what, Stefan had tried to take out one of our well-operated drug packaging sites. The entire basementlevel of that building was where we had drugs packaged for dealers.

Fortunately, no one was in there when the fire was lit. No deaths. And with a transitional step between deliveries, not much product was lost in the fire, either. Still, it was a pain in the ass to deal with. Paying off the fire marshal to look the other way about evidence. Reducing the rumors spread about what happened. All of it.

Franco groaned and rubbed his face. “But we still won’t handle it if they attack from two sides. Stefan’s well versed on how to cause trouble for us, but those goddamn bikers are a whole other issue. They won’t play by the same rules, and we risk being outnumbered.”

My father paced again, shaking his head. “I know. But it’s fucking bullshit.”

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