Page 53 of Ti Amo

“Ti amo, Giovanni,” she said.

“Ti amo alla follia.” I’m crazy in love with you, he answered.

****

Catalina lie in bed with her back to Franco. She felt bereft and desolate with him so close. When he returned home he barely said two words at the dinner table. Mira asked about Arturo in front of the few men who joined them at the table. Franco mumbled an excuse to explain Arturo’s absence. Catalina and Mira made small talk but the rest of dinner was eaten in silence except for the sporadic baby chatter from Eve. Giovanni didn’t arrive in time for the family meal, and she could tell Franco was relieved. Thinking back to their lovemaking in contrast to the ways Dominic made love to her, she began to see the truth. From day one it had always been awkward and hurried. No foreplay and no whispers of passion. She thought it was her because she just wanted it over, but now she knew differently. He was a fraud and so was their marriage.

He disgusted her.

She wished she’d never laid eyes on him.

Pulling back the covers she eased out of bed as gently as she could. Franco either pretended to be sleep or remained unaware. Going over to a chair in the room, she slipped on her robe. She looked back at him and wanted to smother him with a pillow. Catalina went to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth. It came to her in the middle of the night what had to be done. She knew there was no other way to gain her freedom. Lifting her gaze to the woman in the mirror, she studied the bruise that had somewhat faded. There was still dark raised skin under her eye, but the concealer did a good job of covering it. Tonight she made sure not a trace of makeup remained on her face. Combing her hair forward to her face on the left side she hid the bruise under her thick locks.

Catalina crept from her room. She remained in the shadows grateful that she didn’t see any of the guards. It was a risk, however. Lorenzo’s room was next-door to Dominic’s, and she didn’t know if he was still atMelanzanaor back in Milan.

She slipped silently inside. Dominic was home. He slept with his arm thrown over his eyes. In the dark she admired how handsome her hero was. His body, fit and trim, and his loins and stamina had made a woman of her when she was only seventeen. She remembered their first night, how hard he tried to resist and how desperate she felt to have him. He was gentle at first, eased her into lovemaking. And when she sexually matured in their affair he introduced her to passion that smoldered inside of her even when they were apart. This was why she could never turn away. Catalina slowly untied her robe and let it drop from her arms and then removed her nightdress. She wore nothing underneath. She combed through her hair with her fingers to make sure that the left side of her face was concealed under her long locks before crawling in a feline like maneuver across the bed to her lover. Dominic’s arm lowered. He squinted at her. Catalina eased over him kissing his lips before he fully woke. He kissed her back, and then pushed her shoulders to halt their passion. “No.”

Catalina’s hands ran up and down his chest. She avoided his eyes. “Please, Domi, don’t push me away, I so desperately need you.”

“What’s wrong?”

Avoiding the question she pulled back the sheets. She reached through the opening of his boxers and drew his dick out of the slit as she lowered her head to run her tongue across his bare chest. Dominic ran his hand over her hair and cupped the back of her head. “I’ve missed you so muchcara,” he said softly.

She massaged his erection while circling his nipple with the tip of her tongue. He closed his eyes giving in to his weakness for her. Catalina ripped away the rest of the covers and straddled him. She positioned herself over his penis and slid down on his upturned dick effortlessly. Catalina rocked back and forth. Below, pleasure rippled through her pelvis from the stiff thickness stretching and filling her. Rubbing her hands over his muscled chest she let her fingers play with the soft curls dusting his pecks. Having him vacated the void of desperation she wallowed in.

He arched his back and fisted the sheets on either side of him as she rotated her hips in a way that enslaved him. Her touch was always gentle and sweet. No woman completed him as she did. She then leaned over, placing the palms of her hands on either side of his head so she could bounce on his cock, taking him in and releasing him repeatedly. Her lovely extended nipples hung in his face, and he opened his eyes and flicked his tongue upward toward her rose pink nipples that felt at home in his mouth. “Oh yes, Domi,” she moaned, quickening her bounce and gripping the pillow.

“Ti amo,” he said releasing her nipple and pulling her face down to kiss her. He found her mouth as feverish as the inner walls of her clenching pussy. Her tongue moved in and out of his mouth teasing him. Grabbing her rounded butt cheeks he thrust his hips upward to match her rhythm as he neared the orgasm that she brought from him with little effort.

“Not yet,” she whispered slowing down her rotating hips the way he liked.She didn’t want it to end?Good. Neither did he. He’d missed her so desperately the past few days. He’d sell his soul to the devil for this moment, and more of them.

“I want to make love to you all night. Let me,” she groaned as she grooved on top of him. Neither of them could stand it any longer. He flipped her over to her back and she turned her head to the left immediately showing only the right side of her face. Dominic licked the side of her neck pounding his need into her. Catalina tightened her thighs to receive him, scratching his back as she fought to hold on. He whispered his love for her again in her ear, and she felt a sense of peace overcome her. Letting go of her inhibitions, she joined him and climaxed.

Exhausted he fell upon her, sweaty, his thick black curly locks pressed flat against his head. “We shouldn’t have done this,” he said lifting his head to look at her. Catalina’s hair fell free revealing her bruise. Tears in her eyes she looked at him sadly. “I have no one else but you, Domi.”

Dominic reached over to the lamp and switched it on to be sure his eyes didn’t deceive him. He turned her chin to get a good look at the ugly scar. “What the fuck is this?”

“He beats me, Domi.”

He touched the side of her face as if the bruise would magically disappear. She stared into his dark brown eyes and rubbed his sweaty shoulders. “I didn’t want you to know.”

Dominic sat up slowly. Air barely escaped him. He was breathless with rage. “Non ci credo!I’ll kill… I’ll fucking kill that motherfucker!” he yanked off the covers. Catalina flung herself on him to keep him in bed.

“No! Domi, look at me. Listen to me!” She grabbed his face and forced him to connect with her. Maybe it was the shock that made his reflexes slow. The room was spinning and his chest felt like it was weighed down with bricks. He hadn’t seen what he saw. She hadn’t said what she said. None of it could be true on his watch. The motherfucker would dare touch her?

“I’m so ashamed. If you go down there and wake the house then the truth will come out. Franco knows about us.”

Dominic blinked out of his stupor and focused on Catalina. She nodded, tears dropped and landed on his face. “He knows sweetheart. He says I’m a whore. He beats me because he says he’s ashamed of what I am. That I lied to him when I said I was a virgin.” Catalina dropped her head on his chest and wept. Dominic held her and closed his eyes. It was his fault. He should have never touched her. “Giovanni can’t know about us, Domi. You know he can’t. You have to kill Franco before he finds out.”

Her head lifted from his chest. Domi opened his eyes. “Don’t you worry he will never touch you again. He’ll be dead before sunset.”

Catalina hugged Domi and hid her smile.

****

Carlo took a bite of his sandwich. He sat next to Lorenzo with his chair turned backwards straddling the seat. “Is this the best you could do?”

Lorenzo’s gaze tilted up. “You think you could have done better?”

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