I Saved the Mafia Boss—Now I'm His Obsession. novel Chapter 31

Madeleine

𓎢𓎠𑄻𑄾𓎠𓎡

Then, a sudden thud broke the silence between us followed by a woman’s scream tearing through the night.

I jerked, my hand flying to my chest.

“Oh my God, what was that?” I gasped, heart knocking against my ribs like it wanted out.

Adriano didn’t even flinch. Instead, he let out this low, rumbling laugh. His eyes dropped to the ground as he bit down on his bottom lip, that kind of slow, wicked bite that looked like it belonged in a movie not real life. He shook his head, eyes gleaming, then tilted his face to the sky like the stars were in on the joke with him.

“Adriano.” I looked around, eyes wide, “Seriously. What was that?”

He just glanced at me from the corner of his eye, too relaxed for someone who’d just heard a woman scream.

Then it came again, “Ah! AH—yes, yes, yes, oh fuck—yes!” her voice echoed from somewhere downstairs.

I froze.

My mouth parted slightly, “Oh,” I said softly, blinking, “Oh,” the tips of my ears went hot, “That... wasn’t, like... murder-y screaming.”

Adriano lost it, full-bodied, unbothered laughter shaking his chest. He dragged a hand through his hair and tossed me this grin that made me feel funny in my stomach.

“No, sunshine,” he said, “not murder-y.”

“AHH—fuck—yes! Don’t stop—right there—right there! Oh my God, yes—YES!”

Adriano just casually lifted a finger and pointed downward. “That,” he said, like he was giving me directions to the nearest coffee shop, “is my brother Dante’s wing. Specifically—” he flicked his hand toward a slightly cracked window a few feet below us— “his bedroom.”

I blinked, “Oh,” I breathed. “Right.”

I wasn’t sure where to look, at the window? At him? At the moon and pretend I was deaf? I hovered awkwardly in place, brain buffering like a glitchy Wi-Fi connection, “That’s... wow. Okay. She’s—um. Very expressive.”

He raised an eyebrow, “You think she’s faking it?”

I opened my mouth to answer and promptly choked on air.

Of course she was faking it. Sex didn’t sound like that. It didn’t feel like that either. It had always been this weird, awkward thing, like trying to do origami in the dark with sandpaper. Something I did because I thought I was supposed to, not because it ever made me scream God’s name like I was being exorcised.

But I couldn’t say that, not to him.

“I—I didn’t say that,” I stammered, letting out an awkward laugh that sounded a little too close to a squeak.

His grin widened, wolfish and lazy, the kind that made you feel like you were the meal, “Sounds pretty real to me,” he murmured. “I’ve heard fake. That? That’s a woman seeing God.”

My whole face went up in flames. I could feel the heat crawling down my neck, “Okay,” I said, hands flailing a little, “wow. That’s, um. Good for her. Great. Girl power.”

“Girl powdered,” he quipped.

“Adriano!” I gasped, “You can’t just—!”

“Say what we’re all hearing?” he asked innocently. He tilted his head, listening again as another scream rang out.

“YES—YES—OH GOD—I’M GONNA—DANTE—FUCK ME LIKE I'M YOUR WHORE, DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING STOP!”

I gasped. I instinctively covered my mouth like that would stop the heat rushing to my cheeks.

“I think—” I squeaked, barely forming words, “I think we should maybe just head back down—”

But I didn’t get to finish my words, because Adriano moved. He shifted behind me, a little sideways scoot on the stone ledge, and suddenly my back hit the solid wall of his chest. I forgot how to breathe for a solid minute, the slow burn of his body pressed flush against mine.

“Madeleine,” he murmured, and I swear my name had never sounded like that before.

His mouth was too close that warmth of his breath kissed the shell of my ear. I blinked uselessly as everything I knew about human behavior broke down.

“Have you,” he said, “ever made a sound like that?”

My eyes fluttered shut. My hands curled into fists on either side of me, “Wh-what?” I croaked, because clearly my body had forgotten how to speak English.

Another scream broke the night, “Yes, oh my god, I'm gonna cum again!”

My whole soul left my body. Adriano laughed just an inch from my ear, not touching but somehow everywhere.

“I asked,” he repeated, “if you’ve ever sounded like that.”

My brain was screaming RUN, but my body? My body stayed frozen in place, every nerve cell tuned only to him.

“I—I don’t know what you mean,” I lied, poorly.

He hummed, and I felt it in my spine.

“Sure you don’t,” he added, “You’ve never lost yourself like that, sunshine? Never been touched so right, so deep, you forgot your own name?”

I sucked in a breath.

I hadn’t.

Not even close.

Sex, for me, wasn’t about... me. I don't even know if I was even capable of enjoying it.

But now... now my body was buzzing in a strange way. Because I felt things. Heat pooling between my legs, pulse skipping, breath shortening. My thighs clenched instinctively.

Not because of the woman’s screams but because of him. Because of the way his voice wrapped around my neck like a noose and dared me to fall.

I bit my lip. Hard. I didn’t know what this was, this ache curling low in my belly but I knew one thing: I had never felt it before.

“Don’t you want to know how that would feel?” he asked, “You’re not some little girl, Madeleine. You’ve had a boyfriend. Don’t tell me you’ve never come so hard you forgot your own name.”

His eyes were dark, glowing with something feral but he didn’t reach for me again. He didn’t try to convince me, he just watched.

My breath came in shaky bursts, my cheeks flushed, heart hammering against my ribs. I expected disappointment in his face or annoyance but there was none of that.

Just this look that said... I’ll wait.

Something fluttered in my chest.

And before I could stop it, I felt my lips curve, just a little. Just enough to feel how strange and good it was to smile in a moment like this.

He made me feel... safe. I could say stop, and he wouldn’t just listen, he’d respect it.

I looked away quickly, cheeks burning, hugging my knees to my chest to hide the smile that was now threatening to take over my whole face.

God, what was happening to me?

Sitting there next to him, his warmth still lingering where he’d touched me, I felt something gentle bloom deep in my belly.

And I didn’t know what it was but I liked it.

I let out a shaky laugh before I could stop it then clamped my hand over my mouth.

“Something funny, Sunshine?” he murmured.

My blush deepened. Sunshine. He kept calling me that.

I shook my head quickly. “No. Just...” I hugged my knees tighter, “Thank you.”

He tilted his head, “For what?”

“For listening.”

There was more in it than just those two words. So much more.

I cleared my throat, my cheeks still hot. “I should, um…” I stood up quickly, smoothing my sweatshirt even though it didn’t need it, “I’m gonna head to bed.”

“Bed...” he said, “Need someone to tuck you in, Sunshine?”

I rolled my eyes, but the smile betrayed me. I could feel it stretching across my face even as I tried to fight it, “Goodnight, Adriano.”

He hummed, eyes dragging over me slowly, not in a gross way, “Night, Madelaine.”

I turned to go but paused at the door, glancing back. He still hadn’t moved and his eyes were still following me.

And I don’t know why that made my heart race the way it did. I gave him one last smile. My footsteps were quiet against the marble as I padded down the staircase, hands gripping the banister.

When I reached the guest room, I eased the door shut behind me with a soft click... and just stood there for a second, leaning back against the wood, eyes closed, chest rising and falling.