Teeth sink into my shoulder and I cry out, contracting and squeezing him through the next several thrusts. My knees are quivering and so are his arms—the veins bulging in his massive biceps. Our combined sweat drips down my back and if I don’t come soon, I know he will beat me to the punch.
I slide my right hand down to my swollen clit and rub against it furiously—needing to come more than I need air right now. He grunts in my ear and stills behind me just as my body begins pulsing with pleasure.
“Dani…” He gasps my name as he comes.
My head falls to the pillow and his name comes from my lips, garbled. I collapse onto the bed, his cock slipping free. He moves his hands down off the headboard and slides behind me, pulling me onto my side and up against him.
His panting breath tickles my ear and he presses his lips to sensitive skin just below it. “God, I fucking love you.”
I manage to catch my breath and turn in his arms until I can look up at his face. “I love you, too, Savage.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up before he leans in and presses a gentle kiss to my lips. I hold his face in my hands and pull away, making sure he keeps his eyes on mine.
It’s terrifying how much I love this man, how much he has come to mean to me and my life.
I can’t lose him…ever. I can’t let whatever goes on in his head ever get between us again.
“Don’t ever forget, I’m not going anywhere. This is where I belong…where we belong.”
Sitting across from Abello at the back booth of Angelo’s, I wonder what the fuck I was thinking when I decided this was a good idea. There are probably ten guns on me right now and another ten ready and willing if they are needed.
Abello glares at me, his hands folded together on the table in front of him. He’s absolutely still—nothing moves, not even his chest. The man is a fucking statue. I can’t even tell if he’s breathing.
He’s been like this for five minutes, or at least it feels like five minutes. Gabe sits next to me stoically. I don’t dare turn my head to check on him. Breaking eye contact with Abello is tantamount to admitting defeat. His cold, brown eyes continue to bore into me as I fight the urge to shift in my seat under his scrutiny.
Finally, a ghost of a smile crosses his lips and he clears his throat. “I have to hand it to you, Savage. I didn’t think you had it in you. When I learned of your connection to Ms. Eriksson, I never imagined you would come out swinging in her defense. You never did have your father’s fight in you.”
I smirk and reach out to grab my glass of Scotch, taking a long sip and savoring it, giving me a chance to compose myself. “If it surprises you I would do anything to protect the woman I love, then you haven’t been paying much attention to me the last thirty years.”
He returns my smirk and leans on his forearms toward me across the table. “Oh, I know all about you, Savage, more than you could ever imagine. I just never thought you would stoop to blackmail. Your mother raised you better than that.”
“You didn’t give him much fucking choice, did you?” Gabe interjects, his voice vibrating with his effort to maintain self-control. Undoubtedly, he’s just itching to lunge across the table and strangle the life from Abello with his bare hands.
Abello laughs—a cold, empty sound that can’t camouflage the darkness and hatred in his eyes. “Everyone has choices, Mr. Anderson, or should I call you Mr. Dunne?”
Shit.
Of course Abello knows Gabe’s real identity. They were both around our house all the time when I was growing up, but hearing him actually say it is something else. It’s an unspoken threat to out Gabe. It’s the least of our worries, but it’s a very personal attack.
“Fuck you,” Gabe spits back at him, his hands balling into fists on the tabletop. I move my hand over onto his wrist in warning. This is not the time, the place, or the person, to antagonize. He will not hesitate to kill us, all three of us, unless he believes what I just got done telling him.
Abello returns his attention to me, and I release Gabe when I feel him relax slightly. “Let’s just end this now, Dom. Do we, or do we not, have an understanding?”
He grabs the manila envelope off the table. It contains a copy of Danika’s notes, our only bargaining hip. He reclines in the booth, shaking the envelope in his hand. “I’m expected to believe you, your little girlfriend, and Mr. Dunne here are going to keep your mouths shut, indefinitely?”
“We have no reason to talk, Dom, not unless any unfortunate accidents befall any of us. Like I said, we keep our mouths shut, you agree not to move against any of us, and, if you do, the original notes go to the FBI and the two other copies to the local police, and the media.”
I know there isn’t enough there to actually arrest him. Most of it is stories and speculations, but it could lead to new sources of information, and ultimately, maybe a legit prosecution. My hope is that he doesn’t want to risk that.