Becoming Mrs DeLuca novel Chapter 27

VALENTINA

1 froze, caught off guard by his sudden closeness. How could he kiss me when he was angry?

He turned around with a sharp exhale and stalked a few steps away before he threw me a cautious look. “You don’t have to be scared. I won’t force myself on you. Last night was necessary, but I won’t seek you out again until you want me to.”

He sounded tired again and as if he were certain I’d never want him to. What had happened between his wife and him? I pushed the thought of her to the back of my mind, and with it the accompanying uneasiness.

–

I should have said something, but I was overwhelmed by the situation, by the kiss that still echoed in my lips, by the look in Adrian’s eyes. I felt like I was caught up in a current, which spun faster and faster, leaving me disoriented. Yesterday morning I’d been me, a twenty one year girl who loved art and rain and shopping. Now I was a wife, a stepmother, the society lady at an Underboss’s side. With all my new roles, was there still room for me to be me?

Adrian looked at me, nodding slowly, as if my expression gave him an answer to a question he hadn’t even uttered. He walked over to the bed and sank down. His broad shoulders and back were covered by long, thin vertical scars that I hadn’t noticed before. There were a lot of them.

I approached him to get a better look. Adrian didn’t say anything, he only looked at me. I pointed at one of the scars then lightly touched it but pulled my hand away after a moment.

“You can touch them,” he said calmly, but his voice had an edgier note to it. I brushed my fingertips over the scars on his shoulder blades and back.

Some fathers tortured their sons to make them strong. Adrian was strong and brutal. Was his father the reason for it? “Who did this? Your father?”

Adrian shook his head. The way he was watching me made me blush. I wasn’t even sure why. “When I was around your age, a few of my men and I got captured by a rival brotherhood. They whipped me before they moved on to other torture methods.”

My mouth ran dry at his clinical tone. “My God, that’s horrible.” I sank down beside him on the edge of the bed. His musky scent made me want to lean closer, to run my nose along his skin and taste it. What a ridiculous thought.

“Why did you think my father did it?”

“Because that’s how many Made Man make their sons strong. You know my uncles… abusing their children is their favorite sport.”

Adrian’s eyes lingered on the small scar on my knee then moved up to the one on my outer thigh and one on my upper arm. They weren’t prominent, but sitting as close as we did, they couldn’t be missed.

“I have one on my shoulder too,” I said, twisting to show him the scar there. “Four scars. Not much in comparison to yours.”

Something in his gaze made my pulse pick up, something dark lurking in its depth. “Those scars,” he murmured. “Did your father create them?”

Oh. Now I understood the look. “No,” I said quickly and without thinking, I put my hand on his. His eyes cut down to our hands then back up to me. “He never hit me. He wouldn’t. He adores me.” That sounded vain. but it was the truth. My father was certainly a violent man, but not at home, not to my mother and me.

Adrian chuckled. “I can see why he does.”

I bit my lip, surprised by his words.

“Who gave you those scars then?”

“When I was young. I loved to climb trees. We had a few old tall trees in our garden. I loved to climb them. I wasn’t supposed to, but I snuck out all the time. One time I didn’t pay enough attention and fell down. I broke a few bones and got cut up by a thorn bush beneath the tree. That’s it. Dad cut down all the trees after that.”

“You make it sound as if Paul is a good father, which contradicts the opinion I’ve gathered on him as a human being in general.”

I wasn’t offended by his words. Dad didn’t have the respect of his fellow Underbosses. Marco had complained about it more than once. “He doesn’t like you very much either.”

Adrian laughed, a deep belly laugh, which made me grin. “He gave you to me. What a strange way to show me his disdain.”

Our arms brushed lightly. He was so warm, so tall, so strong. With his stubble and the square jaw and sharp cheekbones, he was the epitome of manliness. I’d always considered myself a girl who’d go for the ballet dancer type, the nerd with glasses, the sophisticated chess player. I had been so very wrong because Adrian’s body hit all the right buttons. My eyes lingered on the brotherhood tattoo on his chest, right over his heart.

Born in Blood, Sworn in Blood

I enter alive and leave dead.

I traced the intricate letters, not even thinking about it. His chest hair tickled my fingertips and sent a thrill into every nerve ending of my body. Adrian stilled under my touch, but his eyes burned me. I wanted him, I wanted to feel his strong body on top of me again, his stubble scratching my inner thighs, his lips hot between my legs.

Heat flooded me.

I looked up. Adrian’s chest heaved. He didn’t move. He was waiting for me to say something, do something, but I didn’t know how. Again, this sense of being overwhelmed hit me.

I dropped my hand.

Adrian cleared his throat. “I have an early morning. We should go to bed.”

“Yeah,” I said quickly then got onto all fours to crawl to my side of the bed.

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Adrian’s sharp exhale made me cringe, realizing my thoughtless move. I’d practically jutted my butt out and knelt on all fours right beside him. I could practically see his restraint snapping. With a groan, he slung an arm around my hip and pressed a kiss right on my ass cheek before he pulled me on top of him. My lips were already parted with surprise when his tongue plunged into my mouth. His big hand covered the back of my head, holding me in place.

My pulse throbbed right between my legs at the fiery heat of his kiss, at the feel of his muscular thighs under my ass and the growing pressure of his desire for me.

A shrill cry suddenly burst through our bubble. We jerked apart. Adrian glanced at the baby monitor.

“Sofia.”

I pushed off his lap. My legs felt like rubber and my panties clung to my center.

My arousal evaporated the moment I realized that it was my job to console the crying baby and to do whatever else was required in a situation like that.

AD