Page 98 of Wrong Pawn. Right Capo.

ANNORA: Another day, another audit. Miss you, boss lady! Tell Lucia that Auntie Nora says hi! xo

I smile, but it soon turns thin as the texts stare back at me. She’d left for Vegas six months ago, citing a fantastic transfer at her place of work and the opportunity to work on big projects. I couldn’t help but feel something was off.

In the months leading up to her transfer, she’d become really evasive, meeting my questions with a wall of deflection. She replied even more vaguely to my questions about her sick mother, and quickly changed the subject to my love life whenever I probed further.

“I just hope she’s doing okay.” My shoulders sag as I lean my head on Adriano’s chest.

Adriano understands that I’m talking about Annora.

“I’m sure she’ll let you know if anything’s going drastically wrong in her life,” he mutters in my hair, kissing my forehead.

I make a mental note to call her later today and see if I’d get an actual answer for once.

I’m pulled right back into the moment when Adriano slaps my ass. Before I can say anything, he seals my lips with a fierce kiss.

“You’ll pay for making me wait so long,” he groans against my lips. His eyes are already dark, glinting with promises of wild pleasure. The anticipation in my core returns, and I stand on my tiptoes, licking his earlobe as I whisper, “I’d like to pay in kind, please.”

He stares at me for a moment, desire flashing in his eyes. Then he releases a rough growl that buckles my knees. “Best believe I’ll take every cent.”

After making sure that Kristina, now our nanny, is watching Lucia, I let Adriano carry me back to our room.

He gently places me on the bed, as if I’m some kind of fragile china, staring at me with those same lovestruck eyes that make my heart skip a beat. Even after all this time, I can’t get used to the way Adriano looks at me... like I hung the stars in the sky.

“You’re so fucking beautiful...” His gaze travels from my face down my throat and over the swell of my chest. When he looks back up, his eyes are dilated, “...and you drive me fucking insane...”

A huge grin appears on my face when I see the way the pulse on his neck thrashes erratically. The fact that I have the ability to make him lose every bit of self-control makes me feel powerful. My legs wrap around his thighs, pulling him closer until I feel his thick, hard length.

Grinding my hips on him, my voice comes out desperate with need. “You drive me insane, too...”

“Damn it, woman... You’ll be the death of me.”

The last word barely leaves his mouth before it crashes onto mine. I part my lips eagerly as his tongue slides in.

Home! It’s all I can describe when Adriano kisses me. No matter how long we’ve been married, or how many times I’ve felt his lips on mine... every single time feels like the first.

One of his hands finds its way to my hair, angling my head back to deepen the kiss until I’m breathless, while his other hand lifts my nightgown over my head, making my sensitive nipples harden immediately as his fingers rub over them. My back arches, electricity shooting straight to the pit of my stomach.

Adriano breaks the kiss, replacing his thumb immediately with his mouth. The feeling goes straight to my pussy, and a high-pitched moan escapes from my lips.

When he’s content with my breasts, his tongue moves down my chest, and then slowly further down toward my core.

“Oh… God… Fuck…” I pant. My head hits the pillow as the pressure in my pelvis becomes too much to bear. “Adriano…”

Pushing my panties aside, he just stares for a moment. “Fucking hell... Look at all that juice... You’re so damn wet for your husband.”

Then, he coats his fingers with my wetness, licking them one after the other. “And you taste so fucking divine, my Principessa. Sweet like fucking candy.”

A small whimper slips past my lips while I watch, wishing his mouth were on my pussy instead. No, I wish we were doing this in our special room—the Red Room, as he calls it—but I’ll take this for now.

As if he reads my mind, he teases, “Patience... The main course shouldn’t be rushed.”

I groan, trying to press my thighs together to build friction, but it’s impossible with his body pinning me in place.

“Relax. I’ll give you what you want.”

But I need to cum like right now... and I’m not above begging for release. “Please… I need you inside me now...”

He finally pushes two fingers into me at once, and my muscles clench around them, desperate for more.