Page 82 of Claimed By the Possessive Mafia Prince
He suddenly takes my shoulders. When he grabs me, there’s no fear. It’s not like, holy hell, this mafia guy is going to hurt me. It’s just… Dario.
“I swear, Siena, I will not lie to you. Never again. You can ask me anything.” He leans closer. “Anything…”
The kiss is magnetic, a hunger inside us both, beyond reason, beyond common sense. I slip my hands around his naked torso and feel the taut, hard ridges of his solid body.
I don’t let it last long. It’s just a taste, but my body is hot all over, scorching with his closeness, wanting more. Tickles tease my sex, and a warm glow moves through me.
“What do you do in the mob, then?” I demand as we keep walking.
“I’m a business manager. I claim territory the legal way–through the acquisition of legitimate businesses. When I claim an area, I try to clean it up as much as possible, so that the price of the real estate and the success of the business increase. This cleaning up…”
“It can get nasty?” I guess.
“If a bunch of drug-dealing gangbangers don’t want to move off a corner they think they own, that’s when I have to let it out.”
“Letitout?”
“Me–the other side.”
“Like you did on the phone.”
“Yes,” he snarls, taking my hand.
“But how do you get the money from the businesses? Drugs? Prostitution? Trafficking?”
“No,” he says, sounding disgusted.
Our walking naturally takes us closer to the tree line, the leaves whispering in the wind above us.
“How then?” I demand.
“In the early days, before my time, there were protection rackets, intimidation, shakedowns. But then the Family built up enoughof a surplus of cash that we could move into what we do now. Blackmailing rich bastards who can take the hit, political connections, and, mainly, legitimate businesses… backed with the threat of violence if need be.”
We stop walking again. He leans against a palm tree, smoothing his hand through his hair. In the moonlight, the silver threads are more obvious and alluring.
“I’m not saying it’s good, Siena. But as far as Families go, we’re the best of the bunch. I’m able to sleep every night knowing that if it weren’t for the Bianchis, someone far worse would run things. They’d deal hard drugs, hurt women, kids, civilians. They’d cross the line.”
“But not with you in charge,” I mutter.
“I don’t expect you to take this all in now. You don’t have to decide.”
“About what?”
“If you still want to speak to me. Be with me.”
“Be with you,” I repeat.
“Don’t say it,” he growls, kicking away from the tree, grabbing my hips in that addictive, body-tingling way. He sinks his hands hungrily, like he can’t get enough of my body. “We were never going to be together. It was just a fling. Blah blah blah. Don’t say it–you don’t mean it.”
“Oh, really?” I mutter.
“Really,” he says fiercely. “There’s something here. You feel it too.”
“Is this the part where you fall to one knee and propose to me after a few days?”
“You sass me like you’ve forgotten I like when you do that.”
I wrap my arms around him again. “It’s a fair point, Dario.”
