Page 53 of Blood Money
“Well, maybe I’d be flattered,” I replied with a coy flutter of my lashes, playing it up.
“And if I asked you to dinner?”
“What time?” I replied.
The sound of a chair roughly scraping against the floor filled the bakery, followed by the stomp of expensive Italian loafers on the tile. The bathroom door slammed. I didn’t need to so much as glance at the table to know exactly who it was. Now that he was out of earshot, I deflated.
“How about if I pick you up around six-thirty? Does that give you time to close up?” Konstantin tilted his head as he waited for an answer.
“As long as you don’t mind me smelling like a donut and looking like this.” I waved over myself top to bottom and gave him a weak smile.
Guilt flooded me, and I felt horrible. Konstantin was good-looking, but I really wasn’t interested. I’d put on that performance strictly to get under Vittorio’s skin, and that was a shitty thing to do to Konstantin.
He leaned both elbows on the counter and folded his hands together, bringing him closer to me. The scent of his crisp cologne and the peppermint on his breath floated around me, but unlike when I wanted to swoon at Vittorio’s scent, I was unaffected. “I think you smell delicious.”
I was pretty sure I heard a grumbled “Oh, for fuck’s sake” right before Vittorio returned to his table.
“Then I’ll see you at six-thirty,” I announced, doing my best to sound excited.
He laid his hand over mine as he stood up again. “Until later.”
When he turned to leave, his gaze met Vittorio’s stormy one. He gave Vittorio a polite nod as he exited the building, to which Vittorio squinted. That muscle clenched repeatedly in his jaw.
The second Konstantin was out of sight, Vittorio angrily stood. I gasped when he stalked my way. Then I took a step back when he passed through the Employees Only opening. As he drew closer, I retreated until my back was pressed to the wall.
He was inches from me. With each breath I took, my nipples brushed his chest.
“That’s what you want?”
“W-What?” I stuttered.
“A sweet-talking meathead,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Is that all it would take? For me to go to the gym, wear a cheaper suit?”
He was being ridiculous, because Konstantin’s suit was likely just as expensive as his. And while he might not be as bulky as Konstantin, Vittorio was… built. He may have been a lot of things I couldn’t stand, but the man was fine as fuck.
“What the fuck is your problem?” I snapped, my chest rising and falling rapidly. I couldn’t be this close to him. I wasn’t strong enough.
“You. You’re my problem,” he replied with a guttural groan before he wrapped his big hand around the front of my throat and crashed his lips to mine.
Oh God. I whimpered. But I couldn’t help it. My bodyknewhis. Ten fuckingyears, and I still craved him. It wasn’t fair.
My lips parted, and his tongue dove in. Lost in the feel of his fingers curled around my throat and the powerful sweep of his tongue against mine, I pressed against him. I couldn’t get close enough. I needed him so badly that I wanted to crawl inside him and exist there forever.
His free hand slowly skimmed my waist and traveled over my hip. When he dropped lower and dug his fingers into my thigh, he lifted my leg and pressed that hard, thick shaft into my aching and heated core. He was so goddamn good at that. He still knew exactly how much pressure to apply, how to rotate his hips, and how hard to grind against my clit to drive me crazy.
If he kept up that pressure, I was going to come.
Suddenly, he ripped his mouth away. We were both fighting for air. The seconds ticked by as we stared at each other, and I realized I had one hand clinging to the arm that held my neck and the other clutching the lapel of his suit jacket. I let go as if he’d scorched me.
He dropped his hand and smoothed his suit. Then he leaned in, and I shivered as his lips teased my ear and a thumb feathered over my bounding pulse.
“When you’re havingdinnertonight, I want you to remember how you just responded to me. I want you to think about how my face used to fit perfectly between your legs. I want you to remember how my cock tasted in your mouth and how it filled your tight little pussy. You might’ve gotten away once, but make no mistake, Kendall. We have unfinished business.”
His nose trailed slowly across my cheek, and his lips followed as he pulled away.
A shiver of longing shot through me. I should’ve slapped him, but my arms refused to work.
“And Kendall? If he touches you? I’ll break his arm. If he fucks you? I’ll kill him.” The heat in his icy gaze was the biggest contradiction known to man.