“I won’t tell him either. He doesn’t want to know, and I respect his wish.”

“Then don’t tell him now. One day he’ll find out. It’s bound to happen. At least, make sure Cassio will have an heir by then. Give him a baby. Don’t you want your own child, Giulia?”

Simona and Daniele giggled when Loulou and her dog friend had a tug of war over a long branch. “I can’t do anything.”

Mansueto touched my hand. “Cassio won’t be angry if you forget to take the pill and get pregnant by accident. You’re young and got a lot on your plate.”

I couldn’t believe what he was suggesting. “No,” I said firmly. “I won’t trick Cassio like that. Please don’t ask me for something like that ever again. Let Cassio believe Daniele and Simona’s are his, if that’s what he wants. He loves them.”

Mansueto let out a gravelly sigh. “No wonder he’s infatuated with you.”

Daniele spotted his grandpa and rushed over to us, throwing his tiny arms around him. Mansueto stroked Daniele’s head. “You’re fast, sweet child.”

Daniele smiled up at him and began telling him about Loulou and her dog friends. I stood and caught Simona, who’d stumbled twice in her haste to follow her brother and was bawling. Mansueto lifted Daniele on his lap and pointed at a Great Dane. Slowly, I returned to them.

Simona beamed at her grandfather, and he stroked her chubby cheek with a kind smile. He treated them like his grandkids.

Before he left for home, I cornered him alone. “Please promise me you won’t let anything slip to Daniele and Simona. Daniele’s getting better. He speaks. He loved his first day of preschool. I don’t want old wounds to open because blood is more important to you than anything else.”

“You should remember who you are talking to.”

“I’m not someone to show disrespect. But I’ll protect these children, even against their own grandfather if necessary.”

Mansueto let out a croaky laugh then patted my shoulder. “Cassio’s a lucky man.”

He turned around and limped back toward the black limousine with his bodyguards.

“Everything okay?” Elia inquired.

“Yeah.” I hoped I’d convinced Mansueto.

Cassio worked late and I fell asleep beside Daniele. When I woke past midnight, I followed the trickle of light downstairs and into the cigar lounge.

Cassio sat in his armchair in front of the fireplace, a tumbler with whisky in his hand, his brows drawn together as he stared into the flames. His jacket and tie were thrown hazardously over the second chair. He was still in his vest, but the top buttons of his shirt were undone and so were his cuffs. He rubbed his stubble with his palm, looking as if he’d been set up like that for an aftershave or whisky commercial.

“You’re brooding,” I said as I stepped into the room.

“I’m not.”

I locked the door. Cassio’s eyebrows rose as I strode toward him. “Yes, you are. You keep worrying too much.”

He shook his head. “There’s too much to worry about.”

“Talk to me about it.”

I stopped in front of him. He looked weary and tired. He was working too much, worrying too much. “It’s business, Giulia.”

“Is it because of my brother?”

“It’s part of it. Luca’s stirred up a lot of shit with his brutal attacks these last few months. It’s only a matter of time before the Bratva and the bikers will retaliate. But you shouldn’t worry about it. You can’t do anything about it.”

“I can make you feel better.”

He shook his head but stopped when I knelt down between his legs. He breathed out as he set the glass down on the table. Smiling up at him, I pulled down his zipper and massaged him through his boxers until he was hot and hard under my palm. Cassio’s breathing had deepened and desire swam in his eyes. I freed his cock from his boxers and took only the tip into my mouth. My gaze found the glass on the side table. I reached for it and slipped the ice cube into my mouth. Cassio watched with parted lips, his chest heaving. I sucked the ice for a couple of seconds before I let it slide back into the glass, then I closed my now cold lips around Cassio’s tip again.

“Oh fuck,” he rasped, his head falling back. After a moment, he tilted it back down so he could watch me through half-closed eyes.

I took him deeper into my mouth, inch by inch, using my tongue to tease the sensitive tip, really taking my time, savoring his heat and taste. Cassio kept his hands, palm flat, on the armrest and let me pleasure him. For once, he let me be in control. I wanted to show him that I took care of him because I cared for him… because I loved him.

I loved the sounds he made when he was close, the low moans and sharp breaths. I loved the way his fingers flexed against the leather armrest, how his muscular thighs quivered under the expensive fabric of his Brioni pants. But most of all, I loved the possessive gleam in his eyes a second before he let loose.

“Yes, honey,” he rasped. He tensed and came with a small shudder, his eyes falling shut. My own lust was hot and heavy between my legs, but I ignored it for now.

I swallowed and kept working him with my tongue and mouth as he twitched with the last aftershocks of his orgasm. I stroked his balls lightly and kept him in my mouth, only gently sucking. When he stilled and looked at me, he cupped my cheek. I let his cock slowly glide out of my mouth, causing him to moan low in his throat again. I kissed his thigh. “Better?”

He let out a raw chuckle. “Yeah.” He leaned forward and grasped my hips. “Now it’s my turn.”

“This was about you.”

“I know.” He hoisted me to my feet then slipped his head under my nightgown. Hooking a finger under my panties, he moved them aside, revealing my swollen flesh. He slipped his tongue between my lips and I gasped. He grasped my thigh and lifted one of my legs so my foot was on the armrest, opening me up for him. Like I had done, he took the ice cube and sucked it in his mouth before he dropped it in his hand and slid his cold tongue through my folds. The coldness thrilled me, making my back arch in pleasure. He thrust his tongue into me, and I gripped his head for better leverage so I could move my hips and drive it even deeper into me. He pulled back and then his fingers touched the ice cube to my pussy. I cried out at the sensation. Cassio rubbed the cube over my folds slowly until I was coated with the cold liquid, and then he leaned forward again and gently sucked the moisture from my sensitive skin. I shook from the force of pleasure, but I held back. Cassio pushed two fingers into me, ice-cold from holding onto the cube.

I rocked my hips, needing more, desperate for more. One of his fingers found my ass and pushed in. “Oh God,” I gasped. Two fingers in my pussy, the tip of one in my ass and Cassio’s mouth on my clit, I fell apart with a violent shudder. He pressed me closer to his face and as he did, he slid deeper into my back entrance. The force of my orgasm dulled the pain. I sank down on his lap, sated and exhausted.

“What was that?” I finally managed.

“I wanted to do more than just slap your pretty ass.”

I huffed.

“Did you like it?”

“I’m undecided, but I’m leaning toward no.”