Page 25 of Corso DeLuca

How can I give Corso an answer? Choosing to be with him… how would it impact my future? Not just with the bureau… but what I’ve fought for, good verses the world’s evil. If I surrender to his demands to more than my body. If I succumb to the desire pulling me to this one man, who will I betray… Greg or myself?

TEN

Corso

The mafia isn’t like the world everyone sees, the day in and day out of work, fuck, and eat. Here, there are levels of danger, the ones involving weapons, easier to navigate than those where feelings are involved. Sharing her body with me, even for one night, will open Jessie up to the blue pill alternate reality of the DeLuca crime family. For all intents and purposes, the outside world will count her as one of us.

By now, word has spread she’s under my protection. In the morning, they will suspect she’s been underneath me. With Gregorio, she could’ve walked away, ending the relationship amicably. With me, she has to know this won’t happen. Once she’s privy to my family’s truths, once I’ve used my tongue to explore every inch of her delicious brown skin, she’ll always be mine. I’ll come for her… always. Jessie glances at my face, understanding dawning, then quickly looks at her hand. She’s searching for a reason to justify the sacrifice, but I can’t help her with this decision. The choice has to be hers. Am I worth the explosion that is sure to happen in her life? She tilts her head up. I meet her gaze.

“Can I ask you another question, Corso?”

Her forehead crinkles, and I use the pad of my thumb to smooth away the lines. The temptation to kiss her lurks beneath the surface, but I resist.

“No,” I deadpan. “Answer mine.”

She snuggles deeper into my lap, her ass nuzzling my cock. I suppress a groan. She know being this close is begging for me to toss her onto the bed and enter her in one smooth stroke.

“I will… but why did you ask me if I was in love with Greg?”

Because I’m a jealous bastard who wants all her attention for myself. She edges her bottom lip between her teeth. There’re two little indentations with a space below the slight gap. I trail my fingers down to her lush mouth, tugging till she lets go. She releases the bruised flesh. I don’t like the trepidation radiating from her. I can tell she’s not sure she really wants to hear my answer.

“We were friends then family. If your heart belongs with him. I’ll respect your decision. Doesn’t mean I’ll like it.”

This time, she lifts her chin, rallying her courage. My brave and reckless woman. The purity of her pursuit to honor Gregorio humbles me. Will I garner the same intensity of devotion?

“So, you and Greg were related?”

“If I tell you what you want to know… it’s a decision to stay, Jessie. Is this what you want?” I kiss her mouth. “Am I the man you want?”

“Yes,” she whispers, leans in, nipping my lip.

For a second, I’m dumbfounded. I study her features, looking for any sign that the gift she’s given is an empty box to be crushed once I accept it. But her gaze is steady, her eyes focused, clear.

I don’t hesitate. “Gregorio is my half-brother.”

Jessie’s complexion pales; her expression blanks.

“Bro-brothers. Not play cousins? Like blood brothers via finger stick?”

I chuckle. “Carmen Luciano, Gregorio’s mother, was a nurse employed by the DeLuca family and my father’s mistress.”

Her eyes widen at my directness.

“Whoa. If it were a train,” she mutters. The next part is more difficult to retell, the moment my entire world was plunged into darkness. “There’s more, isn’t there?”

I’m having second thoughts about disclosing the next part of the story. The part I wish Gregorio could have prepared her to hear.

“Mattia Esposito,” I began. Jessie tenses at the mention of his name, “It’s okay,” I coax, running a soothing caress down her spine to her ass. “I’ve got you.”

She looks to me, her gaze softening, the tension ebbing from her limbs. “Keep going. I can take it.”

With me, she’ll never have to bear the weight alone again.

“Mattia wanted my father to broker an alliance between his family and the DeLucas. My father refused, believing the Esposito way of handling business would result in an ongoing street war with hundreds of lives lost. In retaliation, Mattia ambushed me and my mother, Antonella, on Mother’s Day. He beat her within an inch of her life. When I defended her and shielded her broken body, he shot me twice in the back.”

Jessie gasps. “Dear heavens. Mattia is a monster. How old were you?”

Running a hand over my back, she fingers the two bullet holes. Her heartbreak on my behalf is as tangible as her touch.