Molly had been perfect for Luca because she was dedicated not only to him but to the business, as well. He’d been lucky enough to find someone uniquely suited to both.
Anyone we started a relationship with must offer their allegiance, and I just didn’t see that happening with a woman like Kelly Carr. Not because she wasn’t trustworthy but because she was. But her loyalty would likely extend to the right side of the law rather than to our side.
Her brother might try to create some issues with us, but two attributes our family had long ago honed into a fine science were bribery and coercion. Many high up officials within the local police and government were on our payroll, and since we paid them so well, they didn’t tend to turn on us, mostly because they couldn’t afford to.
Then, there was the constant collecting of data and information we used to control those we needed to. Illicit affairs, a night with a hooker, drug addictions, drunkenness, skimming money off the top, and other less than exemplary behaviors could be a death knell to anyone in a position of power if ever brought to light.
So, if the threat to their paychecks weren’t enough to keep them in line, the threat to their careers and reputations would usually do the trick. And if not, that person would simply disappear without a trace.
Problem solved.
And then there’d been the procedure I’d followed with Organic Eats. I’d been careful to keep certain
aspects of what I did here away from Kelly’s eyes. Therefore, if she was ever called upon to testify, the only things she could share would be circumstantial at best and not enough to convict.
Learning to cover your tracks and cover them well was part and parcel of being a Varasso.
This lesson had been hard earned. One of my father’s most dedicated friends had gotten entangled in a murder case a couple of decades ago, and it’d landed him in prison. He remained loyal to us even now, but it’d bothered Angelo that the prosecution had tracked down enough irrefutable evidence to put him away.
My father had changed the way he conducted various aspects of our business after that, and Luca and the rest of us had followed his example. We hadn’t had to face a serious threat against us since.
Yet once again, the fact that I was a Varasso had inflicted pain on someone who didn’t deserve it, and this time the victim was Kelly. She sat there in my chair, her eyes down on her lap, tears continuing to course down her cheeks.
I couldn’t stand it when women cried. I’d never been able to. I always felt the need to fix things, to make whatever had upset them go away. And now, as Kelly’s silent tears escalated into full-on sobs, something deep inside of me twisted past its breaking point.
“Don’t cry, Kelly,” I said desperately, framing her face with my hands and wiping away her tears with my thumbs. “Please don’t.”
“But David will come after you. Come after your family,” she stuttered out. “And now, he knows I’ve been lying to him, holding things back. I just wanted to take care of my mom and dad, get them out of debt, you know? That’s all I meant to do. But...”
“Shhhh,” I shushed her, pulling her out of the seat so I could sit there and put her in my lap. I laced my arms around her, and she buried her face in my chest. “Don’t worry about that. It’ll be okay.”
“I don’t think it will.” She shook her head, then looked up at me. Tear droplets ringed her eyelashes, and her eyelids had grown red and puffy. Even still, she was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen.
This was the first time we’d been in such intimate contact with one another, and her light flowery fragrance encapsulated me. Even though she’d been the one to dictate that we should stay professional, it was her who reached up and threaded her fingers into my hair, tugging my lips down onto hers. For a moment, I let myself indulge in the feeling of her lips against mine, but then for the sake of my sanity, I pulled away.
“No,” she whimpered, dragging me back down.
She kissed me again, this time suckling my bottom lip, and I let her. For another long glorious moment, I let her. But while my body shrieked at me not to, I knew I had to stop. She tasted of the whiskey she’d drank, the rich flavor distinct and welcoming, and though it couldn’t be enough to inebriate her, I knew we couldn’t go any further.
“Kelly…” I said as I retreated again, my testosterone-riddled brain attempting to come up with some logical excuse to fend her off, but it was difficult to think. All my blood had drained south the second her lips had touched mine, and that wasn’t helping. Not one bit. Especially when she switched tactics and started to lick and nibble my neck. Holy Christ! “Kelly…”
Her name came out as a groan, and suddenly I couldn’t remember why I thought I should fight this. The part of my mind that could still think clearly was objecting vociferously, but it had been overruled.
“Please, Marco. Please…” she whispered, her hands yanking off my suit jacket and unbuttoning the top buttons of my dress shirt.
Foot totally off the brake now, I shifted her enough to tug her sweater over her head, revealing a simple black cotton bra that contrasted sublimely with her alabaster skin. It had a front closure which I immediately popped open, revealing pale breasts with pink nipples which pebbled before my eyes.
I put my mouth on one, laving my tongue over the tight peak. She whimpered again, this time in encouragement. I switched to the other, giving it the same attention before suckling the tip, making her breathing accelerate violently.
Needing to see more of her, to touch more of her, I brought her to her feet for long enough to remove the thick woolen leggings she wore, her slip-on flats falling off as I did. Then, I took off the last item she wore, a pair of black cotton panties that matched her bra.
And then she was there before me, breathtakingly nude and a feast for the eyes. I allowed myself to stare at her, to memorize every inch of her, one part of my lower anatomy straining against my zipper so hard I wasn’t sure how long I could last. Although I’d stripped her, I remained nearly fully clothed, my shirt partially open but my scars still unexposed.
Which was precisely how I intended to keep it.
I refocused on her face, and the look I found there made me swallow and push back from her. While she was no longer crying at all now, her expression had become scared, nervous. Fuck. I took a couple of deep breaths and swallowed again. “We can stop,” I told her, my voice tense and about an octave lower than usual.
As nervous as she appeared, she didn’t cover herself. Instead, with her gaze averted, she sat back on my lap. “Can you…” she trailed off, her voice a whisper.