Toxic Love: A Dark Enemies To Lovers Mafia Romance
Toxic Love: Chapter 19

“I’ll be right out here when you’re finished, Mrs. Sartorre.”

I sigh heavily as my eyes raise to Lorenzo’s in the rearview mirror. “Can we please just stick with Tempest?”

“’Fraid not, Mrs. Sartorre.”

His face stays utterly neutral. In the few times I’ve interacted with Dante’s head of security slash right-hand man, it’s become clear that he’s a man of few words. Not exactly big on showing emotions, either.

Honestly, the guy’s a brick wall.

“Okay, but, Mrs. Sartorre isn’t my name. It’s Tempest Black. So if you’re dead set on formality, can you use Ms. Black?”

Lorenzo doesn’t reply verbally, but the look on his face speaks volumes.

I step out of the Range Rover and look up at the unassuming narrow building on West Seventy-Third Street: Ginevra’s shop and showroom, where apparently I’m getting fitted for new clothes I don’t need or want.

Whatever. Dante’s paying for it. At least, he’d better be.

“Mio Dio! Sei così bella!”

The voice surprises me as I step into the small but elegant front room. I spin to see an older Italian woman probably in her late seventies with silvered hair come bustling out of a side room. A tape measure hangs around her neck, as well as a pair of shears in a little holder dangling from a thin chain. She smiles warmly at me, and before I know it, she’s coming over and throwing her arms around me.

Okay?

I awkwardly hug her back before she pulls back to beam at me.

“I…I’m sorry,” I say slowly. “I don’t speak Italian⁠—”

“Honey, I’ve lived in New York for sixty years,” she chuckles in an almost-cliche Brooklyn accent. “I think I did okay picking up the language. What do you think?”

I look down. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. “She grins widely, stepping back to let her eyes drag up and down my frame. “Such a beauty!”

I blush even deeper as she chuckles and shakes her head.

“If only Dante’s father had lived to see the day his boy married a girl like you.” She makes a clucking sound with her teeth. “He’d be pleased as punch.”

I smile weakly back. “Thank you. But⁠—”

“C’mon, sweetheart,” Ginevra chuckles. “I’m not blind or stupid. I know why you’re married to him.” She winks. “I even heard how you married him.” She swings open a doorway to a much larger room and ushers me inside. “I’ve worked with made men my entire life, dear. I know how that world works. Still, even if it is just business, Dante’s a lucky man to have you at his side.”

“Thank you,” I mumble awkwardly.

She leads me into the larger room that has a small platform surrounded on three sides with walls of mirrors.

“Now, the yoga pants you can keep on. But I’ll need you to lose the sweatshirt.”

I nod, blushing slightly as I turn away and pull off my hoodie. I only have a bra on underneath.

“Here, hon.”

Ginevra hands me a thin tank top. I blush as I take it. “Sorry, I get…shy.”

She smiles warmly and genuinely as I slip on the top. “No problem, dear. Now, let’s get you up there and I’ll start measuring you. Or maybe coffee first?”

Turns out Ginevra is awesome. We do end up having an espresso before doing the measurements. While she takes them, she chats away to me about Dante’s father, Bruno, who she apparently knew for years and years.

“Lovely man, and a fantastic tailor. Almost as good as me,” she winks with a grin.

“So you’ve known Dante for a long time?”

“Since he was born. Which is why I can say, even though he’s lucky to have you on his arm, you’re not so hard up yourself to be on his.”

My brows furrow, but she ignores my look. “Oh, I know it’s just pretend, hon. But he’s a good boy. Always was. And after all he’s been through? Can’t have been easy. First his parents when they were all so young, then poor Claudia when he was still a teenager?”

“His older sister?”

She nods. “Terrible, that was.”

My brow furrows slightly. I knew that Dante and Bianca had an older sister who died young. I just never heard how.

Now feels like not the time to ask, though.

After she’s got my measurements, Ginevra brings out an array of stunning gowns and dresses. They might not be my usual somewhat gothy style. But still, they’re gorgeous.

“These are close to your size. Try a few on, see which ones you like. And if there are even aspects you like, a neckline, a color, let me know that, too. Sound good?”

I nod.

“Good,” she grins. “I have to run down the street to the bank. You stay here and take your time.”

When she’s gone, I strip off my yoga pants and the borrowed tank top. Most of the dresses are definitely not meant to be worn with a bra, so that goes, too.

Ginevra’s right: there are some things about some of the dresses I like, and others I don’t. But they’re all equally stunning. Finally I shimmy my way into a light blue gown with especially tight quarter sleeves and very narrow shoulders. As I’m trying to get out of it again, I tense.

Oh shit.

It’s stuck.

“Damn it!” I hiss, trying to move my arms and shoulders in ways they don’t usually go, attempting to slip the dress up over my shoulders. I peel it up even higher, but all that does is trap it even tighter, and now my arms are up and stuck like that.

Crap. At least Ginevra will be back at some⁠—

The door opens behind me. I laugh awkwardly. “Well, this is embarrassing, I think I’m stuck⁠—”

“Personally, I like the look.”

I jolt, whirling with my hands up in the air and the gown bunched up at my armpits. I gasp sharply when I see Dante standing in the doorway with a hungry, wolfish smile on his face.

Oh my God.

I’m only wearing panties, and with my arms over my head like this, I’m giving him a fucking show.

“What the fuck!” I blurt, turning.

“Oh, yeah, much more modest now.”

I groan. I might have pulled my tits away from his gaze. But now my bare back is to him, with just a thong splitting my ass. I squirm and shimmy, trying to get my arms and the dress back down, but it’s not budging.

“Can you please replace Ginevra?!” I blurt.

“I could, but I’d hate to interrupt her lunch.”

I scowl. “What lunch? She said she was going to the bank⁠—”

“Which is exactly where I bumped into her. And I thought, that woman works so hard, she deserves some ‘her’ time. So I bundled her into a cab and sent her off to Jean Georges for a lunch on me.”

“What?!”

“I wouldn’t expect her back soon. I called and ordered her the full Chef’s tasting menu with wine pairings.”

“Dante—”

“I think you need some help with that.”

My face explodes with heat as I hear him walk up behind me.

But here’s the terrible part. What I should be feeling—trapped, exposed, vulnerable, and now alone with this man—is terror. I should be having a goddamn panic attack.

Instead, my pulse turns to liquid fire. My skin tingles as I feel his eyes drag over my bare back and ass. And I tremble when I inhale the clean, spicy scent of him.

“I—I can do it myself⁠—”

“Sure, you can.”

My gasp hangs in the air as his hands wrap around my wrists above my head. He shoves, and my heart lurches as I bend at the waist, my hands flattening against the mirrors in front of me.

With my history, this should be the very last scenario that turns me on. But apparently, my body never got the memo from corporate. Because it does. Horribly so. When I feel him pin my hands to the glass, and feel the hard, muscled heat of his body at my back and against my ass, my legs tremble.

My pulse sizzles through my veins.

Desire pools between my thighs, dampening my panties.

One of his big hands keeps mine pinned to the mirror. The other slips down my arm, his knuckles brushing my cheek on the way. His hand drops lower over the bunched-up dress until I feel his fingertips against my bare skin at the middle of my back.

A shiver ripples up my spine, followed by his hand. His fingers slip underneath the bunched fabric, sliding it higher…

And then abruptly stopping, just as the gown binds me even tighter, and now blinding my vision.

“If…if you keep tugging, it’ll come off.”

“Yes, probably.”

I whimper as he growls the word right into my ear.

“But where’s the fun in that?”

“Dante—”

“Is this why you’ve been acting like such a brat?”

My entire core begins to melt as his rumbling voice purrs in my ear.

“Because you just need to get fucked?”

His palm smacks one ass cheek, hard, as he says it. I yelp, biting back a whimpered moan as desire explodes over my skin and floods my panties.

Holy shit.

He does the same thing to the other cheek, and this time, I can’t stop the moan from tumbling from my lips. Instantly, my face turns red-hot.

This is…new. It’s not something I’ve ever explored before, either with porn or in my imagination. But I like it.

A lot.

“Dante,” I mumble, my voice shaking. “I… Let me go⁠—”

“No.”

I gasp sharply as his hand spanks me again, sending bolts of fire and lightning exploding through me.

“Because the thing is, my little hurricane,” he growls. “I think you like being bound like this. I think you like having your bratty ass smacked to teach you some fucking manners.”

I moan, my fingers clawing at the glass as he spanks me again.

“N-no,” I stammer, shaking my head. “No, I don’t. So take your hands off me and let me⁠—”

“Let’s replace out.”

I don’t even realize he’s yanking them down until my panties are at my knees. His hand slides up my inner thigh and then boldly cups my slick, swollen pussy from behind.

Dante chuckles quietly in my ear.

“For someone who doesn’t like this, you are awfully fucking wet.”

My face fills with heat, and my body jerks as his fingertip drags lazily through my lips, spreading my wetness all over my pussy.

“You’re coating my fucking hand, you greedy little thing,” he growls. “Making a fucking mess of your thighs with your eager, drippy cunt.”

I gasp sharply as his teeth graze my earlobe through the bunched gown.

“You do like it when I make a mess of you like this.”

Shame, desire, and pure heat explodes through me.

He’s right.

It’s not just the way he’s touching me and growling dirty things into my ear. It’s the utter loss of control. It’s being pinned down with the promise of being used. Which, again, should be sending me into a panic attack, or worse.

Instead, I’m so turned on that I’m shaking, and it’s taking everything I have not to shamelessly and wantonly beg him to fuck me.

Because I like this loss of control. I like how he makes me helpless and at his mercy. And I’m sure that’s a red flag for any therapist in the world. But that’s another concern for another day.

Right now, all I want is this.

Him, his touch.

My release.

His palm slaps my ass again, making me whimper eagerly. Then he suddenly grabs the gown, yanks it off over my head, and tosses it away. Before I can even move or turn, he grabs my wrists and yanks them behind my back.

“Grab your ass, little hurricane,” Dante rasps into my ear.

I look up into the mirror, and our eyes lock.

“Spread yourself wide for me.”

I watch in real time as my pupils dilate. As my face suffuses red as it presses against the mirror. My hands grip my ass, lewdly spreading myself open as Dante suddenly drops to his knees behind me.

Oh fuck…

The second his tongue touches me, I jolt as if I’ve been electrocuted. Dante groans into my pussy, pushing his tongue deep as I cry out in pleasure. The mirror fogs with my breath as he drags his tongue up and down my pussy lips, curling it around my clit and sucking as I start to shake.

His hands skim up and down the inside and backs of my thighs, teasing me higher and higher as he tongue-fucks my eager pussy. He drags his tongue up further, and when the tip swirls over my asshole, I choke out a whine of ecstasy.

“Something else for me to claim,” he growls. “Another tight little hole for me to take for the first time.”

My eyes start from my head, my breath becoming ragged as he tongues my ass and then brings his mouth back to my clit. His fingers sink into my pussy, curling against my g-spot as he sucks on my button. My nails dig into my skin, bruising my own ass as I moan wildly against the mirror.

I’m so close. Then, with no warning, Dante suddenly pulls back and stands. I’m about to whine in frustration when I hear the jangle of his belt and the sound of his zipper yanking down. His thick, swollen cock slips between my thighs, his knee pushing my legs wider apart. My eyes hood as the thick head eases between my lips and his hand grasps my hip.

“Keep your hands right where they are,” he growls against my neck. “Don’t fucking move.”

Again, this really should be a trigger that sends me spiraling. Instead, it’s like detonating a bomb. The second he says it, he rams into me hard. My eyes stare as every inch of his thick cock sinks deep into my slippery heat.

And suddenly, I’m coming. Hard.

I cry out, choking against the mirror as Dante thrusts into me. The orgasm explodes through me as he slides out and then back in, fucking me hard and deep. The wet sounds of my pussy clinging to his thick dick fill the room, and the fog of my breath against the mirror clouds my vision as I moan desperately.

Dante grabs my hands away from my ass, pinning them both to the small of my back. His other hand grabs a fistful of my hair, tugging it hard, making my back arch as I scream for more.

He fucks me relentlessly, sending me reeling as his grooved abs smack against my ass over and over.

“Don’t stop now, little hurricane,” he groans, nipping my ear as I whine for more. He lets go of my wrists to spank my ass as he fucks me. “I want more of that sweet pussy coating my cock. I want your wetness dripping down my balls before I’m done with you.”

I cry out as he fucks into me harder, pinning my whole body to the mirror, my panties still around my knees as his gorgeous cock fills me to the hilt. His hand keeps spanking me, and his god-like dick keeps fucking me, until suddenly, everything explodes.

With loud, guttural moan, I shatter for him, screaming my release as my entire body shudders and quivers. Dante groans, ramming his cock deep inside of me as I feel it swell and pulse. His hot cum spills into me, making my vision go blurry as the aftershocks ripple through me.

He stays like that, still pinning me to the mirror. His hand in my hair twists my head around, and before I know it, his mouth is on mine and stealing my very breath away.

I whimper when he slowly pulls out. He reaches down and pulls my panties up tight against my well-fucked pussy. I flush, squirming as I feel his cum dripping out of me and filling them.

Fuck, why is that so hot?

My throat bobs as I try to catch my breath and slow my pulse.

Why was any of that so hot?

“I’m excited to see what Ginevra ends up putting together for you.”

But before I can form a response, he’s grabbed my jaw, pulled me close, and is searing his mouth to mine again.

Then, leaving me blinking and gasping for air, he turns and strides for the door. His hand is already on the knob when I think of what I want to say. Or rather, what I want to ask him, even if I know it’s not the appropriate time by a mile.

“Why did you marry her?”

Dante stiffens instantly, his hand still on the doorknob. His head twists slightly.

“Excuse me?”

“Layla. At the hospital that night. You weren’t together or anything.”

His mouth thins. His eyes narrow.

“Weren’t we?”

Something vicious and thorny twists in my chest as I glare back at the man who just fucked me like an animal until I exploded for him.

“No. She’d have told me.”

“Maybe.”

My brow furrows even deeper.

Asshole.

“I’ve told you the most private secret I have,” I hiss. “The least you can do is tell me why you married my sister on her fucking deathbed!”

The room goes silent. Dante draws in a slow breath.

“No, little hurricane,” he finally grunts quietly. “The least I can do is leave. Which is what I’m doing. We’re done here.” He yanks open the door. “Lorenzo will drive you home when you’re finished.”

“You took a girl you weren’t even friends with to the hospital and then married her ten fucking minutes before she died from an overdose of a drug she’d never taken before!” I blurt. “And then you threw up the Great Wall of China between you and her whole family and told us jack shit about what the fuck happened!”

He pauses halfway out the door, his back to me. Slowly, his head swivels, and those piercing blue eyes bore right into me.

“What we do in the shadows of the past rarely looks the same in the light of the present.”

Then he’s gone.