and slapped her hand over it. “What did you do that for?”
“You told me not to play.” I moved her hand away from it and gently touched it with a fingertip. “I told you to tell me to stop. You didn't. I wasn't playing, and I told you that. And I don't care if I have to cover your whole damn body in bite marks, from your neck right down your stomach to your sweet, tight cunt.” I pulled her against me and squeezed her ass, and she inhaled sharply. “I belong to you, Adriana. Absolutely. More ways than you know. But you sure as fuck belong to me, because you always have, and because you know that if you have to belong to anyone, it's to me.”
She stayed against me for a moment before she flattened her hands against my chest and stared up at me. Resilience shone in her eyes, and she swallowed hard before she spoke. “If that's true, then you'll do what I want you to.”
“If I haven't already made that clear, then I should probably fuck you again, because I'm running out of words.”
She pressed one finger against my mouth. “Take me to New York.”
My shoulders tightened. “And?”
“Take me to my house so I can kill my father. I want my empire back.”
Fuck—she really wanted to do it. I thought before that she was joking, or that it was nothing more than a pipeline dream. But now... I believed her. The determination that colored her irises bright blue was practically screaming out for revenge.
She looked exactly like her mother, I realized, looking at her then.
There wasn't a single bit of Enzio inside her body. She was all Alexandria. From the fiery temper to the stone-cold manner she could adopt at the drop of a hat. Both of them mixed sometimes, and when that happened, you didn't fuck with her.
I had no intention of fucking with Adriana right in that moment.
She looked as though she'd truly make good on her threat to my balls.
My phone rang on the island, and I glanced at it. It rang four times before cutting off, then it immediately started back up.
I let go of Adriana and grabbed my phone. “Talk of the devil, and he'll call. Don't make a sound.” I answered the phone with her eyes hot on me. “Boss.”
“Is she dead yet?” Enzio snapped. “I'm losing my patience, Carlo.”
“I'll get it done,” I responded firmly. “She's more social than Kim fucking Kardashian. She's like a human magnet. I can't get her alone—even at night she has company.”
“Excellent. She's alive and she's a slut.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Isaiah is getting on a plane tonight. He'll meet you at your hotel at eleven. If you don't have the job done tomorrow, he's going to do it, and then he's bringing me back your fucking head.” Something slammed, probably a door. “So it's her, or both of you. Get a fucking move on, assassino. I'm not paying you to get your dick wet with some Californian wannabe sluts.”
The line cut out. I pinched the bridge of my nose and put the phone down. I guessed I had to be thankful for him sending Isaiah and not someone else. If what Darien had said earlier was true, then Isaiah would be an asset to us, and Adriana would be safe. Enzio might question me—and he was—but he wouldn't question Isaiah.
Like Darien told me; he trusted Isaiah implicitly.
Maybe that would work in our favor.
“What did he want?” Adriana asked, breaking through my inner thoughts.
I met her eyes. “The usual. Are you dead yet?”
She rolled her eyes. “Great. Let me guess, he's getting angry?”
“He's sending Isaiah to Los Angeles tonight.”
She stilled, and worry skated over her features. “He's sending... Oh, no.”
I crossed back over to her and took her face in my hands. “Trust me,” I said softly, locking my gaze onto hers. “I'll greet Isaiah at my hotel. You need to call Darien. But trust me.”
“What about Armo? He was pissed about you being here—never mind my father's consigliere.”
“It isn't about Armo. The man's on an ego trip longer than Route 66.” My lips curved into a small smile. “This is about you.”
She slowly nodded. “But you didn't answer my question.”
“I'll take you to New York. But I won't let you kill him.”
Adriana stepped back from me, forcing my hands to drop. “Why?”
“Because I won't let you lose that innocence.” I noticed a strand of hair had worked itself free from her braid, so