I don’t blame her. It’s in her blood. Hell, it’s how she was raised. The Russo family gets what they want by force or manipulation. I expected this tactic next, because she thinks she can seduce me.
“Oh yeah? Will we?” Her eyes have gone all coy again.
I bring my hand to her ass and give her a good, hard squeeze, to remind her of what happened and what will happen again. She winces and her eyes water.
“We will.”
She swallows hard. “Like what?”
“You’ll report to me. Every morning before school. What your plans are for the day and where you’re going.”
She frowns. “But you already track me. You already know all that.”
I shake my head, and take her chin in my hand, holding her gaze with mine.
“It isn’t about my knowing. It’s about you telling.”
She furrows her brows. “Any dick can track someone with software and cameras,” I tell her. “I want you to own it. Be accountable to where you’re going and when.”
“That’s very controlling.”
“You have no idea.”
I imagine her on my bed, chest down and ass up, metal clamps dangling from her pretty pink nipples, a jeweled butt plug nestled between her cheeks. Gagged. Blindfolded. Cuffed. On the cusp of orgasm, just waiting for permission to come.
That would be control.
I clear my throat. “Report. Every morning, or I’ll punish you before your day begins.”
She draws in a deep breath then lets it out again. “Okay. What else?”
“No more drinking without permission.”
“What? You can’t do that. I told you, in Italy, I’m—”
I yank her chin so her eyes come back to mine. “We aren’t in Italy any more, Mia. If you’re caught with alcohol here, you could get expelled.”
“That’s bullshit,” she mutters.
“No alcohol.”
She purses her lips and sighs. “Fine.”
“Say, yes, sir.”
A look of shyness passes over her features. She swallows hard and whispers, “Yes, sir.”
“And third,” I say, ignoring the way my balls ache and my cock presses up against the heat of her ass on my lap. “No. Drugs.”
She winces. “Ooh, ouch,” she says. “But you… I can’t….” She sighs. “My friends.”
I know what she’s thinking. Who will she be left with, when the “friends” that use her for drugs evaporate?
She’s setting herself up for a lifetime of shallow relationships, quick fixes, cheap joy, and utter ruin. I won’t let it happen. I’m supposed to take care of her, and hell, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
She takes in a deep breath and lets it out again, staring into my eyes.
“Yes, sir. Okay, sir.”
“It won’t be easy, I know, but you won’t be alone.”
She places her hand on my cheek and leans in.
Danger.
I should run. I should get on the next plane to Italy. God, I have to get away from her. If I don’t, I’m liable to get sucked into this, to let her beauty and innocence seduce me. But Christ, I’m already in too deep.
She won’t take this kiss from me, and I know that’s exactly what she’s planning, when she draws closer, her eyes fluttering closed.
But I don’t work that way.
I place a finger to her lips. She opens her eyes and stares at me, then kisses my finger.
“I want to kiss you,” she whispers.
I want to do more than fucking kiss her, but this girl has gotten her way for far too long. I’m not giving her what she wants even if I want that, too.
I shake my head. “Not tonight. Tonight isn’t about romance and flowers, Mia.”
Her lower lip sticks out in an adorable pout. I want to bite that lip and make her groan. I swallow hard. Jesus, this is hard.
“Tonight, you’re going to flush every pill down the drain where I can see them. You’ll delete asshole junkie boy’s number from your phone. You’ll dump the alcohol down the drain.”
She blinks, then frowns. “You’re pretty hardcore.”
“Mia,” I warn.
She sighs. I gently push her off my lap and stand her in front of me. “Go, young lady. Now.”
She looks at me pleadingly, but I stand up with my arms crossed on my chest. “Now.”
“You’re no fun,” she mutters, maybe in a voice so soft she thinks I won’t hear, but I think the neighbors hear her squeal and yelp when I slam my palm against her pert little ass and send her scurrying.
Her head hung low, she brings the alcohol and the little tablets and packets, and obediently flushes everything down the sink and toilet.
“Wow,” she says when she’s done. “Okay, so that weirdly felt good.”
My chest swells with pride.
I smile. “Did it? Good girl.”
She lowers her eyes and bites her lip. “And that felt even better.”
God, her need to please me’s the call of a fucking siren. Fucking hell, what I could do with that. But no. No. I’m here to pay for my sins, not compound them.
She yawns widely.
“Have you finished your homework tonight?”