They always said most girls wanted a man just like their father. Well, she’d definitely done that. Only she had a feeling he was much worse than her father ever was. When he spoke, her knees weakened.
“So, how much of my conversation did you actually hear?”
Chapter 12
Rhys stepped into Hyacinth’s space. He could tell she was nervous, but he needed to understand the real reason she was on edge. Was it because she’d overheard some of his conversation, or was it because of the change in their relationship?
He wouldn’t accept her being afraid of him for any reason, so he needed to be smart about how he responded. No one had ever accused him of being a nice guy. Yes, Mannetti’s was his family’s legitimate business and something he loved to do. It felt good to have a place where he could build a legacy. His father had passed down the restaurants to him and his brother, while his other brother was practicing law in Providence. It never hurt to have a lawyer in the family. You never knew when that skill may come in handy.
But the legitimate business interests were separate from how the family had initially built its wealth. It wasn’t something he would apologize for. Some would call it immoral and illegal. He would just call it the family business.
Tristan Lucarelli was a childhood friend for a reason. Their fathers had done business together when they were younger. Tristan’s wife was the daughter of another associate of his father and Tristan’s father. If his long-term friend called and said he needed help to expand his business on the west coast, then Rhys would help. Although Rhys’s father, the elder Mannetti, wasn’t actively involved in the original family business anymore, Rhys and his brother, Leonardo, were. Leo was Tristan’s right-hand man in Providence. He had no interest in running the family, but he was damn good at what he did.
If Rhys ever needed him, he knew Leo would come running. And behind him would be their other brother, Marco. And coming in a close third would be their cousins Arturo and Angelo Sabatino, from Boston. They also had a restaurant that was doing well. Food was what their family was good at, so that’s where they put their efforts.
Plus, having a business that could give cover for some of their shadier dealings was a smart move.
That Hyacinth heard part of his conversation was something that could be handled. He never would have gotten involved with her if he didn’t think she could deal with who he was. Not that he would tell her this, at least not yet, but he’d looked into her family. He knew who her father was and the way she’d grown up. His family had quite a few dealings in Las Vegas. It was Sin City, after all. Any vice you had could be fed in that city. Drugs. Sex work. Crime. Underground fights. Her father had been small time compared to his family, but he was doing enough to be noticed by some of the smaller crews.
When her father had married and gone clean, he kept his connections tight. Everyone understood his reasons. He never turned his back on the people who helped him, but he fought to stay on the straight and narrow. Her father didn’t know enough about the business to be a threat, so while they let him go be a family man, they still watched him. When they needed some intel, her father was on the call list. And he always answered.
When Rhys had discovered this little tidbit of information about a week after Hyacinth entered his life, he initially questioned how they met. But after having his people scrub every area of her background, he realized it truly had been a fluke moment. She’d fallen into his life as if fate had a hand at pushing them together.
Of course, she did not know he knew so much about her family. He also knew about her ex-boyfriend, Kenny Richards. Now that fucker was as slippery as a snake. On paper, his family was low-class trash. He, on the other hand, had worked his way up to become a half-ass junior executive. After the tire incident, Rhys had his men out looking for the man. He just wanted to have a conversation with him. No one was going to kill him. Yet.
“Sweetheart, are you okay?” He leaned down and kissed Hyacinth on the forehead. “How long were you waiting outside my door? I didn’t hear you knock.”
Her wide gaze looked at him. They both waited for her to decide how she would respond. Would she run from him screaming or would she accept him as is? Believing that he was involved in something potentially illegal, would she be strong enough to stay by his side?
“Sweetheart?” he prompted her to respond.
“Oh! Um, I’ve only been here a little bit. I didn’t hear much. I’d only walked up right when Mateo called my name. Is everything okay?”
Rhys knew she was lying. From her earlier response, he knew she had been out there much longer than that. For her to claim otherwise… well, he’d just have to wait and see. Hyacinth was still the woman for him and even if she needed some time to come to grips with who he was, the other part of him, he knew she would get there. Until then, he would follow her lead. But he would also be more careful about his phone conversations here at the restaurant. Before Hyacinth, he had no reason to watch his words. None of his staff ever came back to his office. They waited for him to come out front. It wasn’t something he’d asked for, but it was the respect they gave him. If they needed him urgently, they could call him on his office phone. Now that Hyacinth was with him, he liked that she felt comfortable coming to get him.
“How are you feeling?” Last night, he’d been a bit rough on her. He knew it was because he’d wanted her from day one. Knew that she was made for him. The animal inside him wanted to make sure Hyacinth knew exactly who she belonged to. No one else would get to tap into the gold between her legs and taste her essence. He would be the last man in her life and only he would sink inside her tight pussy as it welcomed him home. That overwhelming need for her had come out last night as he took her over and over again.
She smiled up at him. “I’m feeling fine.”
“You’re not too sore?” he asked, using one finger to tilt her head to the side. Bending his head, he brushed a kiss on her neck, just under her ear. His tongue slipped out, tasting her skin. When he pulled back, he looked into her face, a smile lifting his lips. “I know I was rough on you, but I want to make sure you’re okay. You were so good to me last night. My dick is begging to be let out so we can do it again. Right here. Right now. I want to tattoo my name on your beautiful, fat pussy so that every time you look at your body in the mirror, you know that you belong to me.” Her beautiful light-brown skin flushed with a deep burgundy color. Was his baby blushing?
“Rhys,” she whimpered in response to his words.
“Don’t you want me to lift you on top of my desk and spread those sexy brown legs open, so I can give that pretty kitty a hello kiss? You came back here for a reason, baby. I think you want me to pull my dick out of my pants so I can slide right inside your tightness. You want me to come inside you? Was I all you could think about at work? Did you think about all the times you moaned my name last night? Were you thinking about how it felt when I filled you?”
His length hardened inside his pants. All he needed was one word from her and he would close and lock his office door and fuck her right now. He didn’t care if other people heard them. The only thing that mattered was being inside his woman. Claiming her again and again. Fuck. He needed to get them out of here. If he had to watch her all night as she walked around his place, ass switching in front of other men, her enticing scent wafting in the air, he would lose his mind.
Once she fell asleep last night, he spent hours inhaling her scent. He couldn’t get enough of her. He wanted to be inside her 24x7 but knew that was irrational. Was that how Tristan felt when he met his wife, Camille? Maybe he’d give Max a call to see if this need to fuck and protect was part of falling in love. Max would probably tell him to fuck off, but he would eventually answer the question, because he was out of his mind in love with his wife, Kiana.
This feeling of wanting to be around a woman constantly, of wanting to wrap his arms around her, holding her close, was new to Rhys. He wasn’t sure if he liked it, but he also knew he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
She finally found her tongue and answered him. “I don’t want to do that here. You may be okay with letting everyone hear me scream your name, but I’m not. And stop talking like that. You’re making me all wet and I still have to go back out there and work.”
Rhys stepped back and smiled. “Good. Every time you take a step, I want the thought of me between your legs on your mind. I want your pussy weeping for me, calling out for me to come make her feel better. By the way, you’re off this weekend.”
That caught her off guard. As far as Hyacinth knew, she was scheduled to work on Saturday. “I’m scheduled to work on Saturday. I need the money, Rhys.”
He shook his head. “I took you off the schedule. Baby, you know I can take care of anything you need. All you need to do is accept what I want to give you.”