“Fuck, Enzo,” Roarke growled. “Play with her clit again. I need her to come before I do. Hurry the fuck up.”

  I didn’t hesitate to do as I was told and slid my hand down and between our bodies. My fingers slipped through her wetness and brushed against Roarke’s hard cock. He stilled for a second before fisting her hair and roughly slamming back into her.

  “Hurry,” he gritted out.

  I circled Valentina’s clit how she showed me, moving faster and faster, making her body tremble.

  “Shit, yeah,” Roarke praised. “That’s it. She’s close, I can feel it.”

  I pinched her clit, and Valentina screamed. Her body shook violently before she collapsed on my chest, giving me her upper body weight.

  Roarke’s hand slid out of her hair and smoothed down the curve of her spine. He gripped her hips and thrust into her one last time before he stilled and a long, throaty groan escaped him.

  I cupped the back of Valentina’s head and held her to my chest. She rubbed her cheek across my pec, and her warm breath ghosted over my chest.

  For reasons I didn’t even want to dig into, my chest tightened, and I never wanted to let her go. I belonged here with her and Roarke, it felt right.

  The only person I’d ever felt normal and right with before this moment was my brother, and that said everything to me. I felt calm, and for once, I just enjoyed being still.

  The blowjob definitely helped.

  “Don’t move, either of you,” Roarke ordered as he moved off of the bed and strolled naked to the bathroom.

  I got my first eyeful of his ass and it didn’t disappoint. Tight and muscular, I could tell he worked out, and I wanted to sink my teeth into one of those cheeks.

  “Told you he was bossy,” Valentina murmured sleepily as she blatantly disobeyed him and threw her thigh over mine and snuggled into my side. She wrapped her arm around my hips and was careful to stay far away from my bandage.

  I closed my eyes as my body shook with silent laughter. I didn’t think she even realized that with her bare pussy pressed right up to my hip like that, she was leaking not only her cum but Roarke’s as well all over me.

  Anybody else, and I would have told her to get off of me, but with Valentina, everything was different, and her being sweet but gross didn’t bother me. Instead I found it endearing.

  “Jesus Christ,” Roarke muttered under his breath as he appeared beside me with a washcloth in his hands. He leaned over me and lifted her leg off my hip.

  “Hmm,” Valentina hummed sleepily as he wiped her down with the cloth.

  When he was done with her, the warm wet cloth was used on my hip. I’d never had a lover take care of me like Roarke took care of Vallie and me. This was no one-night stand or slam bam thank you ma’am happening here.

  No, it was so much more.

  As Roarke leaned in to kiss me on the lips before heading back into the bathroom, it hit me just how much more this actually was.

  It was the beginning of something.

  The beginning of us.

  The three of us.

  That thing inside my chest tightened again, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before these two people meant everything to me, and I wouldn’t be able to survive without them.

  I was well and truly fucked.

  Roarke came back from the bathroom and climbed into bed on the other side of Vallie. He snuggled into her back and pulled the sheet up, covering all three of us. He wrapped himself around her protectively, then his arm went underneath hers and his fingers curled around my hip bone possessively.

  “Sleep,” he murmured, and I knew he was talking to me because Valentina was already out and snoring softly.

  An hour ago, I’d been wide awake and knew that I had to keep myself busy until exhaustion took over so that I’d be able to sleep.

  Now with just one word from Roarke, plus the warmth of their bodies beside mine, I closed my eyes, tucked my face into Vallie’s hair, and did as I was told.

  It took me less than a minute to drift off.

  And I slept like that the whole night, with my girl tucked up to my chest and our man at her back.

  When I woke up the next morning, I got to teach my girl how to give a blowjob. She wasn’t as good as Roarke, but I planned on giving her every opportunity to practice.

  And I knew I wouldn’t be the only one.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Whoops, My Bad

  Valentina

  I rummaged through Roarke’s chest of goodies, looking for absolutely nothing in particular, but my leather jacket had empty pockets and this chest had so many fun toys to pick through.

  He’d never let me take things from it before, and I hadn’t actually been invited to rummage around in it. What Roarke didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

  I pulled out a pair of handcuffs and held them up with my finger to inspect them. Hmm... I could think of many great uses for them, and every single one made me blush. I tucked them away inside my jacket. They could definitely come in useful later.

  I dug around some more and pulled out a can of mace and inspected it. It could be cool, but then again, I could aim, spray, and then a gust of wind could come along from the wrong direction, and I could accidentally blast myself in the face.

  I cringed. It sounded painful but could potentially be fun on a calm, non-windy day... or indoors.

  I stuck it in one of my pockets.

  Maybe there was a guard willing to let me try it out on them for practice. Maybe if I offered them a bonus or a raise. Definitely something to look into.

  I pushed a box of cigars aside—weird, because I’d never seen Roarke smoke anything before—and an unmarked black box caught my attention. I pulled it out and opened the top.

  “Holy shit!” I whispered in excitement as my eyes bulged.

  I pulled the grenade out as I quickly glanced around the room, making sure I was alone and none of the guys were going to pop out and rip my newfound treasure out of my hands and hide it from me.

  I had seen people in movies pull the pin and give it a good ole toss. Then it went BOOM. That was easy enough to operate.

  I hid it in one of my inner pockets, because I didn’t want anyone else to accidentally find it and take it away from me. No fucking way was I about to let that shit go down.

  I found a few more special pieces of treasure in Roarke’s chest and tucked them into pockets of my jacket, just knowing they might eventually come in handy one day given this new life I’d been thrust into.

  I put my leather jacket on with all its new hidden goodness, and I was ready to roll.

  Alessio had given me my own cell phone early in the morning, and I’d wasted no time in texting Hawk with my new number since at the time he’d yet to have either phoned or texted Roarke’s phone. It took him a few hours to get back to me, but when he did, we set up a meeting, and now showtime was quickly approaching.

  Per Roarke’s request, I had my shoulder holster on with my gun in place and my knives in their usual spots, even the one in my high heeled boot.

  I was dressed in skintight black jeans I’d found in my closet, a long black tank top, and a thin black pullover hoodie. My hair was pulled back into a high ponytail at the back of my head, and I’d applied some of the makeup I’d found on the counter in the bathroom attached to my bedroom. The boots I’d found in the closet and immediately fell in love with.

  The only thing I had on that actually belonged to me was my bra, underwear, and tank top. I wasn’t questioning the appearance of the other things—and there had been a lot more than I had put on—because I assumed they had to have come from one of the guys. The guards weren’t allowed in my personal space anymore, and given Samuel’s sudden death, I thought they were all taking their orders very seriously. Either that, or Alessio had done something else to scare the shit out of them because they were on their best behavior and barely even made eye contact with anyone.

  At first it had made me slightly uncomfortable, but then I just decided it actually made my life a whole lot easier. I didn’t need to be friends with them in order for them to do their jobs. Though, maybe if I was all buddy-buddy with them, there’d be less of them who’d attempt to attack me and potentially take my life. Perhaps if you actually liked your boss, then maybe you would think twice before plotting against them.

  It was a sore spot for me.

  Alessio had found two different guards who’d been affiliated with that giant of a guard who’d attacked me in the pool house apartment. I didn’t ask what had become of them.

  I flicked the light off and left my bedroom. I might have spent last night in Enzo’s room down in the medical area, but I’d spent the day up here. I’d had a meeting with that nasty bitch Maria, who’d set up absolutely everything for my father’s funeral. I had to do nothing except show up in my funeral attire three days from now.

  It was impressive, and she’d been remarkably civil. If I didn’t know she was so damn evil, I might have offered her a job, because she clearly knew how to get shit done. The thought of working with her on the regular made my skin crawl, and just looking at her beat to shit husband made me cringe in disgust. She was a gross abuser, and I wanted nothing to do with her. I was a firm believer that violence had a time and a place, but it never belonged in a marriage or a relationship.

  After spending time with Enzo, I couldn’t believe that woman was his mother. Then again, look at who my father had been. We weren’t our parents, that was for damn sure.

  Louis waited outside the door for me, and he walked down the stairs at my side. It must be noted that he didn’t make eye contact with me once and never spoke a word. I liked it, it was a good change from before.

  There were guards at the door and lined up along the hallway. I had a feeling none of them were very happy about this outing and they were pissed because only Louis was allowed to tag along. During the last outing I went on, not everyone came back. It never occurred to me that we’d lost more than just my father, several of the guards had died too.

  And now here I was telling them they had to stay home like naughty children. Fingers crossed they didn’t burn the house down while Mom and Dad were away at work.

  The sound of raised voices down the hallway had me practically running. It sounded a lot like Enzo, and he might need me.

  I turned the corner and stopped dead. There they all were out in the hallway before Enzo’s recovery room. Enzo and Tito faced off against one another while Alessio and Roman stood back and watched. Roarke, however, stood at Enzo’s back with his arms crossed over his chest and a scary look on his face. He looked about two seconds away from lunging forward and putting Tito into a headlock and maybe wrestling around with him on the floor.

  Hmm... that gave me many happy thoughts. I might actually enjoy watching that. Only if neither of them got too injured.

  “You’ve lost your goddamn mind,” Tito snapped at his brother, and I eased a little bit closer, but not too close as I’d be caught in the crossfire when shit got hairy. Which it looked like it was about to, if that throbbing vein in Tito’s forehead was anything to go by.

  “Sorry, brother,” Enzo retorted sarcastically. “I must have missed the memo where you became the boss of me and could tell me what the fuck I can and cannot do. Thanks for filling me in though. I feel like it’s only fair now that I return the favor and inform you that you’re wrong, you’re not my parent or my significant other. You’re my brother, and it’s not up to you. But thanks for showing me you care by being an overbearing dick.”

  Tito’s eyes slid to me, and they grew calculating. He held his arm out in my direction, and all eyes swung to me. “Well now, considering you and our girl’s bodyguard both have hickeys today, I’m going to assume you either got them from each other or they came from Vallie here. What if she says no? Would that be good enough for you? Because that’d be good enough for me.”

  “Same here,” Roman muttered as he watched my every step toward them.

  Nobody had ever given me a nickname before except for Roarke calling me little one, and I thought it was adorable that some of them were now calling me Vallie. Though I didn’t think now was the appropriate time to bring that up or point that out to them, if ever.

  I stepped up beside Enzo, and Roarke and discreetly placed my palm on Enzo’s lower back. Roarke shifted to the side and pressed his shoulder into mine as his large palm went to the small of my back. We were both there for Enzo, but this was Roarke’s way of letting me know he was there for me too. I greatly appreciated the gesture, and I liked how quickly and without hesitation he moved right in to take Enzo’s back. For the longest time, it’d just been me with my paid bodyguard. Now that our relationship had changed, it was awesome to know that I fully had him and it felt even better knowing we both had Enzo now too.

  It must be noted that Louis wasted no time getting close to me on the side that Enzo and Roarke weren’t on. Close but definitely not touching. I wasn’t down for him touching me in any way, and thankfully, he was wise enough to know it. Props to him, he was already my favorite guard, and I hadn’t even made him work for it.

  I looked Tito right in the eyes, ignored the other two, and asked, “What’s going on and why do you feel the need to involve me in it?”

  Not that I wasn’t going to insert myself right into their argument, because that was exactly what I’d planned on doing from the moment I’d heard their raised voices. But nobody needed to know that.

  “What’s going on is that my brother heard about your little outing tonight and decided that if you’re going, then he is too. Which brings us to now. I need you to tell him he can’t go and that he needs to stay here with the guards behind the gate where it’s safe for him. And that’s where he needs to stay until he’s a hundred percent healed.”

  I didn’t hesitate in my response. “Right, because it’s actually safe here with the guards when one of them just attacked me not days ago.”

  Tito flinched, and his entire face softened as an incredibly sweet look overcame him. “That was awful, honey. There’s no denying that, and I’m not trying to downplay what happened to you in the slightest, but you’re you and Enzo is Enzo. There’d be zero reason for any of the guards to ever want to attack myself or my brother, so he’d be perfectly safe staying here.”

  Maybe because everyone in this entire household knew that I spent the night in bed with his brother last night and potentially might have thought it could hurt me to hurt him?

  Caring about other people was new to me, but I figured if I hurt either myself or Enzo, it would certainly hurt and upset Roarke.

  How could Tito not see that?

  An idea came to mind, and I grinned at him, immediately loving it. I actually agreed with Tito that perhaps Enzo shouldn’t be out of bed and going out on my adventure today. Our last outing had gotten him shot, and until he healed from that, I didn’t think I’d be ready to take him with me on my excursions.

  I nodded my head as I shifted closer to Enzo, hoping he wouldn’t hate me for this, but it needed to be done. “You’re right,” I told Tito and watched as his eyes filled with triumph.

  Too quick on the draw, buddy. Sorry, not so sorry.

  “Vallie,” Enzo grumbled under his breath, and I almost winced at the hurt I caught in his voice.

  Shit on a stick.

  That had not been my intention. I hated the thought of hurting Enzo. I pressed my palm harder against the small of his back, hoping he could take a hint and maybe learn how to read my mind. That would be fantastic.

  He sighed dramatically as he shifted slightly. The warmth of his palm landed on the small of my back right beside Roarke’s hand. It was a very sweet show of support, and I knew he wouldn’t be offended by my wanting him to stay home right now. I was simply trying to look out for him.

  Thank goodness.

  “I think Enzo should stay here until he’s physically able to protect himself. And, since I don’t trust the guards just yet, I think you’re the perfect person to stay behind with him and make sure he’s doing alright. Hell, you can even send me texts every so often to keep me updated on how things are going. Besides, both your parents are here, and this would be the perfect time for both of you to spend some quality time with them.”

  That last one made me feel a little bad, but whatever, I’d had to visit with their awful mother today, so maybe they should as well.

  “I think that’s actually a great idea.” Roarke was quick to have my back. “I would definitely feel better knowing he had someone we trusted here with him. Perfect thinking, little one.”

  I beamed a smile in Roarke’s direction as I clapped my hands decisively. “Perfect! Glad that’s settled. Now, it’s time to go. Can’t be late for my date.”

  I winked at Tito, and Roman laughed loudly.

  I turned and stepped into Enzo’s body. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around me. Thankfully he didn’t look upset with me as his lips came down on mine. We kissed like it might be the last time we’d ever get a chance to do it again, and it just might have been the single best kiss of my life.

  Sorry, Roarke, but it was the honest truth.

  We broke apart, and he stared down at me with bright eyes. “Jesus, baby, I love the way you fucking kiss me. It makes my dick instantly hard.” He ran the backs of his knuckles down the side of my face. “Promise me you’ll be safe.”

  “She’ll be safe,” Roarke promised for me.

  At least one of us was willing to lie to Enzo, because there was no guarantee of safety in this life. He probably lied like that to me all the damn time, and I just never knew it.

  Roarke gripped Enzo’s chin and turned his face toward him. “I’ll keep her safe, promise.”

  His eyes flashed before his mouth crashed down on Enzo’s. He kissed him quick and fast before pulling back and walking away, leaving Enzo wide-eyed and frozen.

  Roarke grabbed hold of my hand and pulled me along behind him. Tito watched us walk by with his mouth hanging open. I reached out and tapped his chin, closing his mouth for him.

 

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