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He sits up and exhales sharply. “I know. He has the best leverage in terms of Jackson and Tyrone. He knows it's his only shot at making me do the one thing I swore I never would.”
He visibly swallows. “I didn't want to bring this up tonight, but I guess there's no point in not saying it. The more I think about it. I'm convinced that something's off, Lou-Lou. Really off.”
I fight off a shiver with those words. “What do you mean?”
“I'm saying I think he wanted us or rather, me to figure out that his plan was to have you come here to seduce them. He wanted me to keep you away from them and he knew I would. Just like he knew it would be insanely easy for me to figure out that his plan was to cause a rift in my friendship with them.”
“You're saying his plan was too simple?”
“I'm saying his plan was too stupid. And DeLuca's many things...but stupid isn't one of them.”
His entire body tenses. “There's no way it was the real plan.”
“What exactly are you saying, Ricardo?”
“Think about it, Lou-Lou. If you had the only leverage at your disposal that could make the son who hates you do the one thing you'll eventually need him to do...why would you go out of your way to destroy that? DeLuca should be wanting me to get even closer to Tyrone and Jackson...not pushing me away from them.”
I gasp and my hands fly over my mouth. “He said the first plan didn't work out the way he wanted it to.”
He turns his head and his eyes flash. “What? When did he say this? Why didn't you tell me?”
“Don't get mad at me,” I say. “I couldn't tell you about our last conversation because he had me bugged, remember?”
I rub my temples. “You're right, he would never give up his leverage...and he didn't. Because he told me not to seduce them anymore. Right before he told me that the first plan didn't work out. Then he told me that he wasn't displeased by the turn of events and that he was happy with my loyalty to him. Then he said that he knew without a shadow of a doubt that we're meant to be. And finally, he told me that he didn't believe your 'good son' act and that's why he needs me to spy on you...to make sure it's genuine. I know it sounds crazy, but I don't think his plan is nearly as complex as you think it is. I think he was just using Jackson and Tyrone to get you to bend to his will. I think involving them was a cry for your attention because he wants you to be closer to him. You're all he has, Ricardo.”
His brows draw together. “Yeah, you could be right. He...our conversations lately have been more father and son and less mob boss and employee.”
He holds out his arms and I fall into them. “I am right, Ricardo. His face lit up when he told me about how you started calling him 'Babbo' again. He said it meant a lot to him that I went out of my way to sing his praises to you. You're the most important person in the world to him. You're protected.”
I squeeze my eyes shut when I realize that I, however, am not.
In fact, I know the real reason DeLuca brought me here.
He wasn't testing Ricardo at all. He was testing me.
He was going to kill me if I slept with them.
But I didn't...that's why he told me the plan had changed and he was happy about my loyalty to him.
That's why he's so convinced we're meant to be now. I passed the test.
I should be feeling relieved, but instead, I feel the opposite.
I'm scared shitless...because I royally fucked up.
There's no doubt in my mind that DeLuca knows I have feelings for his son.
He was right...he knows everything about me.
And he caught my slip-up. “Because I can't take having your hands on me when I'm supposed to be seducing Tyrone and Jackson.”
I was supposed to be seducing Ricardo as well.
But I never said Ricardo's name...because I couldn't bring myself to seduce him.
I never said anything about Ricardo to DeLuca, only when prompted. However, Ricardo talked about me.
And DeLuca knows I've never told anyone about my father...only him.
That means DeLuca knows I trust Ricardo...and I can't trust anyone.
And that's why he bugged me...this way he could catch me in the act. He wants to catch me sleeping with Ricardo so he can kill me.
It's the only thing that makes sense.
“You're shaking, Lou-Lou,” Ricardo whispers. “You okay?”
No...I'm not okay. I'm a girl on death row.
“I love your father,” I say, more to convince myself than him.
His fingers dig into my shoulders and he spins me around to face him.“You keep tossing that around but I don't believe it for a second.”
“Well, you have to believe it because it's the truth.”
His eyes search my face. “No, it's not, Lou-Lou. And I'll prove it to you.”
He moves and shifts us so that my back is pressed against his front. I can feel his eyes on me with his next statement. “Truth—I hate the thought of you being with him.”
“Truth—you need to get over it because I want DeLuca.”
He leans in, his nose grazing my neck. “You're right...you do want DeLuca.”
I close my eyes because the only thing worse than hearing the words come out of my own mouth are hearing them come out of his.
“Just not the DeLuca you're trying to convince yourself you do,” he says.
I feel that electric shift between us and my nerves explode when his fingertips brush across my legs, stopping at the end of my shorts which are mid-thigh.
I want to beg him to go higher and yet I know I have to be smart and beg him to stop.
I close my eyes and try to breathe. I know he'll end this once I tell him to...that's what makes it near impossible for me to tell him to stop in the first place. Knowing he's the only person I can trust with my body.
Knowing he's the only man who will ever be capable of igniting these feelings and desires within me.
He draws slow and teasing circles along my i
“You want to know how I know you want me and not him?” he rasps.
My mouth opens in protest, but I still can't bring myself to say the words to make him stop.
He takes the opportunity to continue. “Remember the morning I caught you touching yourself?”
“Yes,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
He presses into me harder and I feel his erection against my backside. It only brings this crushing need for what I can't have to the surface.
My traitorous body arches against him and he groans. “Do you know what I discovered after I thrust my cock against your pussy?”
I shake my head and he moves my shorts up my thighs. “I found a wet spot on my boxers caused by your juices. Hottest morning of my life.”
He nips at my neck hard, it's sudden and predatory. Then his tongue is over the spot, soothing the sting out. And I'm gone, losing myself in him.
“I dare you to tell me you want him and not me again, Lou-Lou. I fucking dare you.”
My mouth goes dry and all I can do is whimper.
He moves his hand away and I want to scream in frustration. “You have one of two choices,” he says. “ You can tell me to stop touching you and I will. Or, you can place my hands exactly where you want them.” His breath tickles my ear. “But you should know when that happens...I'm going to take over and make you come all over my fingers.”