Page 32 of Claimed By the Werewolf Boss
Assuming my dress still fits.
“Are you giving a speech or anything?”
“Yeah, Andrea said if I didn’t, he’d have the boys destroy my house,” he scoffs.
“The boys?”
“Just friends back home,” he says quickly. “Speaking of which, what are your plans when we get back?”
Butterflies erupt in my stomach. I try to school my features, to keep the smile on my face soft, but I’m barely containing myself. “Why you asking?”
“I know a spot, and I wanna take you to it.” He kisses my leg, dragging his teeth across my inner thigh.
“What kind of spot?” I breathe heavily.
“One of my favourites, has the second-best view in Tolson.” Valentino’s so close to my pussy now, the heat of his breath making me ache for him. “After the view of you inmy bed.”
“Who says I’m going to be in your bed?”
It’s just a tease, a playful little taunt, but just like this morning, a growl rips through Valentino. His hands wrap tighter around me and drag me to the edge of the rock. It cuts into my ass but puts me at the perfect angle for his face.
“I think you need a little reminder, dirty girl, that you belong to me. This ain’t just some vacation fling, this is the start of you and me.” He pulls my swimsuit to the side, revealing my wet pussy. My heart pounds in my chest as his words circle around me like a spell, bringing out all the feelings I try so hard to keep tamped down. “Nothingis going to keep me from you. You are mine,forever.”
Those words stick with me through every kiss and orgasm he gives me on that rock.Forever, forever and ever. Every possessive thought I’ve ever written into a book has manifested into this man, and I’m falling for it. He’s all those red flags, and the obsession lurking in the depths of his eyes makes my heart ache for more. He drinks from my body until I’m too weak to swim back to the pier.
But he carries me, holds me tight as we lounge in the shade of the umbrella, feeds me little pieces of fruit until the sun starts to set. There isn’t a moment today when I am not surrounded by Valentino Benetti.
It’s not until dinner at the villa, seeing everyone surrounding the table and laughing like one big happy family, that I wonder if this could really be my new life. I’m wearing the same dress from our first date, the gingham having the exact same effect on Valentino tonight. He can’t keep his hands to himself. It reminds me of how Andrea was when I first met him. It had been so blatantly obvious he was obsessed with Junelle that I nearly wrote a whole book about them.
Is that what’s happening to me now?
Valentino and I are seated right next to each other, and I know that wasn’t the original plan based on the empty setting nearer the middle of the table. Rather than being closer to Junelle, I’m seated right next to the head of the table like this is actually some kind of mafia-type shit. This isn’tThe Sopranosthough, right?
Right?
Based on everything I know, based on everything I have seen these past few days, based on Valentino, I can’t stop thinking that maybe “shipping” isn’t their only business. It’s not like I could find Andrea on ConnectIn when I first met him.
Junelle would tell me though. She wouldn’t keep a secret like that from me. It might not be something she could outright say, but I think she’d drop hints for me to put the pieces together.
If this were something dangerous, she wouldn’t put me in harm’s way. Just like I would never do that to her either. I can’t stop the panic though that I’m in over my head all of a sudden. The weight of this trip, of everything with Valentino, comes rushing back to me. All those years of learning to hold myself back are now colliding with the realisation that I might actually be falling for a mafia boss.
“You alright, sweetheart?” Valentino asks in a hushed tone as dessert is cleared away.
Am I? Shouldn’t I feel bad for the thoughts that have been volleying in my head? Shouldn’t I be scared that I’m growing attached to a man clearly capable of immense violence?
Fuck it, I’m not growing attached. I am at full-on level nine clinging. He would have killed for me after barely knowing me. Valentino has seen all that I am, listened to my boring stories about work and writing, and still he can’t keep his eyes off me. He wants to keep me near him now and forever.
“Would you ever hurt me? Even if I upset you?” I ask softly. My gut says no. The moment the words are out of my mouth, disgust roils in my belly. The room around us grows quiet and tense, but I keep staring at Valentino, watching his facial features.Would he lie to me?
“I would never let anyone, myself included, live for raising a hand to you.”
“The man the other day is still alive,” I argue, trying to point out the absurdity in that statement because a normal person doesn’t talk like this.
“For now,” he hedges around an answer before going back to my original question. “But no matter what, we will solve our disputes with words and respect. How I am with the outside world has nothing to do with how I am with my family or with you, Cheyenne. Do you trust me?”
His emotions are written across his face. Valentino is scared.
All this time, I thought I was the one who would grow too attached too quickly. That my clinginess would turn him off. But if anything, he needs me to spell it out for him. Just like I would do anything for Junelle, I would do anything for Valentino. He still has his secrets. He could be a serial killer, but my head and heart are aligned.
