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“But you took my virginity.”
“Since you mentioned you were a virgin, that’s all I’ve thought about.” He fists my hair and pulls, forcing me to look up at him. Blue eyes search my face. “What’s with the beating around the bush? Ask what you want to ask and go to sleep.”
“Did you get caught up in the moment the way I did?”
For a second there, I think he’ll deny it or just tell me he didn’t. I’m starting to regret asking this question, but Severio is no cowardly man. Not with actions. Not with feelings. Not with anything at all.
“You are asking me if I lost control.” He’s searching for something in my eyes. His gaze penetrates inside, and I think he’s searching for confirmation that he can trust me with his truth.
I think he finds out that he can. Or that the risk is worth taking.
“Briefly,” he answers with a sigh as if it pains him to admit it. “Your body responds to me as if it’s made for me. You are a beautiful woman, Cristina Mancini. You hold more power than you know what to do with. Now, go to bed.”
“I’m in bed. Do you want me to go to my bed?” I tease.
Severio spanks me.
It’s not painful. It’s playful, but shocking. I go to soothe the slap, and he captures my wrist and spanks me again, but this time, he grips my bottom and squeezes. His blue eyes flare with excitement, but Severio doesn’t spank me again. Instead, he presses his soft lips against my forehead. “Sleep.” He tucks my body into his, and somehow, I feel dainty again.
“Hey, I’m not a Mancini,” I tell him before I start to drift off to sleep.
“You are,” I think I hear him say.
21
NOT MY GIRLFRIEND
SEVERIO
One week later
After a year in the military, I found the rhythm of civilian life too chaotic for my tastes. I enlisted for three more years and might’ve stayed even longer had Corrado not joined as well. Unless necessary, the two of us don’t stay in the same place at the same time.
This is why Corrado is in Switzerland while I’ve remained behind on the island.
But we speak daily, mostly in the mornings while I work out. I can’t use the treadmill the way I used to yet, but I’m getting there. My physical therapy exercises and walking on the sand will help me make a full recovery. I’d forgotten how quiet mornings at the shore bring peace and clarity of thought.
My niece, Rosa, another early riser like me, is “talking” while I stretch after my workout. Her cute face, smeared in pureed carrots, is on the television in the living room. When I’m working out and talking to my family, it’s easier to connect with them on the big TV screen than on the smaller one offered by my phone.
“You’re healing well,” Corrado says as he tries to shove mashed carrots into his baby’s mouth. She turns her head away.
“Drago brought the flesh glue.”
“Whatever that means.” Corrado sighs loudly. “Pudding?”
My niece’s eyes light up.
“Don’t tell Mommy.”
His wife seizes the spoon. “Mommy’s here.”
Corrado grabs his phone, and I wave at my niece before he walks into his office.
He props the phone on his desk, giving me a view of the Swiss Alps.
He grabs a thick file, then spins his chair around once, twice. “I’m going through the Order records Gio provided you and cross-referencing the properties I found in the book from Capone’s office. How is Cristina, by the way?”
I woke up alone after the night we returned from Frenchy’s. She’s avoided me for a week. Work, charity, friends, etc. I let her. I want to know how long she can keep it up. We don’t even eat dinner together. “She’s fine.”
