Vow to Me: A Mafia Arranged Marriage (The Romano Empire Book 1)

Chapter Fourteen

The days pass in a blur of work and narrowly avoiding my husband and whenever it’s been impossible to avoid him, we either sit in silence or make small talk. It isn’t exactly awkward, but things could definitely be better. I’m sure he thinks he’s done something wrong to make me avoid him—but, if I’m being honest—I can’t even fucking be in the same room as him wondering what it’d feel like to have his body on top of mine while he fucks me six ways to Sunday. Focus Izzy, you have work to do.

I’ve spent today working from the kitchen island, needing a change from the dining room. I’m tracking a lead of a buyer who posted on a site known to be frequented by traffickers. I was tipped off by the creator of the organization, Hurricane. They contacted me two years ago when they started Freethem. They’re a good hacker and had the basics for the site down, but they needed help to set the algorithms right. I’m good at what I do, it was only supposed to be a one-off contract, but once I saw what they were doing I wanted to help, growing up in the Mafia, you see a lot of shit.

Before I agreed to the job, I did a little research, wanting to make sure that they were legit. It turns out that he’s a big shot CEO here in New York, and I’m pretty sure I saw him in an article for New York’s most eligible bachelors.

Luckily, my father doesn’t deal in sex trafficking, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening in and around Chicago. I felt like my family takes enough lives and spills enough blood, this could be my way of giving back and doing something good, I’d like to think I’m making a difference.

I haven’t seen Luca since last night, which is probably a good thing as all I’ve thought about all day is how I got myself off last week to thoughts of him fucking me on the kitchen counter and I don’t think I’d be able to look at him without blushing. I need to get a hold on myself, the longer I go on like this, the more likely I am to end up begging him for his dick.

For fuck”s sake Izzy just stop, you need to fucking focus! I reprimand myself and busy myself with work, I’ll try fucking anything to keep my mind from spiraling to dirty thoughts of my handsome husband.

I hear the elevator ping and out walks Luca. Think of the devil and he shall appear. I shake my head and chuckle to myself before focusing back on my laptop.

“Something funny?” he asks from the other side of the island and my head snaps up. His eyes darken as he takes in what I’m wearing. Shit, I didn’t think earlier when I changed. I’m wearing a flimsy camisole with no bra and to make matters worse, the longer he stares at me the harder my nipples get.

Realizing he’s still waiting for an answer, I clear my throat. “Uh, no. Just busy with work, what are you doing here? Your back earlier than usual,” I state, and he nods.

“What is it you do on that thing all day, anyway? Are you an influencer or something?” He asks.

I roll my lips to hide my smile, he really needs to let go of that Mafia princess mentality he has going on.

“I’m a software engineer and I work with a company creating software for their operations while I also help them find their missing… shipments,” I say dryly.

I’m not entirely sure why I don’t just tell him what I’m doing, I know his family don’t deal with sex traffickers so he’d probably try and help where he could, but I’ve always kept what I do a secret from the world. I guess old habits die hard. The look on his face is hilarious, he’s completely stunned, it’s like he expected me to be some ditzy little girl and instead he’s left with one of the world’s highest skilled computer nerds.

He seems as though he’s about to say something, but his phone buzzes. After checking the text, he says, “Needed to come back and get ready, we’re hitting Novikov tonight,” before disappearing into his room.

Thirty minutes later, I’m still working at the island when he comes out of his room dressed in full tactical gear. Fuck, now I’ll be having fantasies of him wearing that get-up and keeping me prisoner.

“I’m texting you a list of take-out places that are good in the area in case you want to order something for dinner. I won’t be back until late, so I’ll grab something when I get in,” he says while typing away on his phone.

“Thank you,” I whisper before clearing my throat and wishing him good luck tonight. He thanks me and walks towards the elevator. He makes it a few steps before stilling, seemingly lost in thought.

He turns around and gazes at me through darkened eyes for a beat. “Fuck it,” he murmurs and quickly stalks towards me, I’m so shocked and confused and don’t know what the fuck is happening or how to react that the next thing I know his hands are cradling my face and he’s slamming his lips on mine.

I freeze for a second before I can gather myself and kiss him back, his tongue teases my bottom lip with a languid stroke and I open for him, letting him take the kiss deeper as I wrap my arms around his neck. The world fades away and we lose ourselves in each other. I open my legs where I’m sitting on the stool tug on his hair, he steps closer and his hard body presses into to mine, making us both groan in unison.

“Fuck baby, you’re my new favorite flavor,” he rasps between kisses, making me whimper into his mouth.

All I can feel is his body heating mine, he tastes like cold winter nights and smells like cedarwood and citrus. His hands roam from my face down my body to where he stops at my hips and squeezes them. I’m so lost in his kiss that when he finally steps back were both panting. I have to take a moment to gather myself before I open my eyes. I feel dizzy, I’m a shaking mess of hormones and lust. His kisses are like a shock to the system, and I need a moment to reboot.

By the time I steady my breathing and pry my eyes open, he’s gone.