Frantically, I kick my feet and flap my arms, but panic rises as nothing happens. My lungs are burning, and I blow bubbles out, pushing off the bottom but only rising a few feet before settling back down where I started.
As I look up, a black figure plunges into the water. Hands reach for me, grabbing my own and pulling me upward until we break the surface and I gasp for air.
“You okay?” Vito’s voice is thick with worry as I nod and spit water, pushing wet hair out of my eyes.
He drags me up onto him, holding me like a clinging child on his hip, his hand under my ass and my arms around his shoulders as he takes the steps up out of the pool onto the patio, both of us soaked and dripping onto the stone below.
With his free hand, he reaches into his drenched suit jacket and to my shock pulls out a gun, pointing it at the bloodied, smiling man still standing on the side of the pool next to the toppled furniture.
“Get the fuck out before your brains ruin my lawn.”
The man raises his hands as blood drips down his nose, his eyes wild. “I’ll tell the boss we had a nice chat. I’ll also tell him you have a new distraction. Something I’m sure he’ll want to know.” He laughs as he turns away.
“Out.” Vito flicks the gun toward the driveway, and we follow the man as he begins to walk toward the front of the house.
Vito holds me until the man’s car exits the driveway and the gates close behind him. His hold on me tightens as he leans his head next to mine and draws a deep breath.
“You okay, Bambina?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I can’t swim, is all.” I calm as he holds me, walking us back toward the house. “What just happened?”
“I’ll explain everything soon. Just for now, I’ve got some business dealings that have become tense. Know I’ll never let anyone hurt you.”
My heart is pounding; the rage and violence Vito unleashed on that man is something I never want to see again. An inner madness leapt out of him like he was possessed, evaporating the man that’s been so gentle and caring toward me.
It reminds me how much I do not know and how I am very likely making some poor life choices getting involved with him.
Vito lowers me to the ground, strips his jacket and puts it around my shoulders, tucking me under his arm as we walk. Despite what just happened and my misgivings, with him next to me I feel safe. I don’t know what’s going on here, how this will all turn out, but I’m just going to follow my feelings for now.
When we get to the house, several workers are wandering outside, drifting our way.
“Too late, guys,” Vito announces. “Show’s over.”
I notice some of them glancing at me, then just as quickly looking away as Vito ushers me into the house, his heavy arm keeping me next to him. We walk in silence up the stairs, and he leads me to a massive bedroom. Then he closes the door behind us, and my belly starts doing backflips.
I open my mouth to speak, but Vito’s lips are on mine. The kiss is demanding, hard, and without apology. I know he wants me. There’s desperation in his touch, and against some of my more practical tendencies, I want to give him what he needs.
“We need to get out of these wet clothes,” he whispers against my lips, and his hands drop down and strip me of the jacket and dress, leaving me standing naked. The cool air of the room raises goose bumps over my flesh.
There’s an enormous bed against one wall, with burgundy velvet pillows and fabric covering it. There’s an entire living room suite in leather and more velvet in the center of the room near a limestone fireplace, and the windows overlook the pool and grounds behind.
I could fit five of my apartment into this one room, and I see shining white marble through a door and imagine the master bath is like a spa rather than the small, functional rooms I'm accustomed to.
He strips off his shirt and tie, leaving him wearing only his trousers, through which I see the shadow of his enormous erection. It makes my pussy tingle.
He backs us up until my rear end hits the soft fabric covering the bed, then he lays me down, pulling me up onto the pillows as he climbs on after me on his knees, his hands moving to spread my legs.
He leans to close his lips around one of my nipples, sucking it hard into his mouth and making me moan as my hands go to his wet hair, holding on tight.
As he sucks and licks, moving from one side to the other, my nipples harden at the touch of his hands, his fingers pinching and squeezing. I arch upward, my moans filling the silence of the room, and close my eyes, pressing my head back into the pillows as he works lower, his hands spreading my legs as wide as they will go.