Sera froze as she stared into my eyes for the first time. I knew what she was seeing. Anger. Determination. Lust. Desperation. Fear. Things I wished I could hide because knowing she could see these things within me made me feel vulnerable. Exposed. With a growl of frustration and need, I lowered my head and took her mouth with mine, tasting the salty copper of my blood on my tongue as I forced it between her lips. Moving my hand from her face to her throat, I held her against the door as I took what I needed from her, swallowing the little noises of protest she made. I'd offered her a way to come to me of her own free will as she'd done once before, but she chose to refuse me.
That was her choice.
And this was mine.
She tried to push me off, and I slowly tightened my grip, cutting off her air supply until she stopped fighting me. I moaned when she went still beneath me, taking my time as I tasted her, the tip of my tongue curling to play with the gap between her teeth before I filled her sweet mouth again, just like I would fill her pussy that I knew would be just as sweet.
Her teeth bit into my lower lip and I tasted more blood as I jerked back in surprise with a curse, losing my grip on her. Sera suddenly dropped down in front of me and I automatically took a step back, giving her room to bolt to the side and run into the room. As she did, she grabbed my gun from its holster. By the time I turned around, she was in the middle of the room with her feet braced apart and my gun pointed at the center of my chest. "What the fuck are you doing, Sera?"
"You need to let me leave," she said. Her voice was hoarse from the grip I'd had on her throat. "I want to leave."
Hands low on my hips, I watched her, taking in all of her tells. Her throat was red from my hand and her chest and cheeks were flushed. From anger? Adrenaline? Or lust? "What are you going to do if I don't? Are you going to shoot me?"
"Yes," she told me. But the tremor in her voice and the unsteady hold she had on the weapon told me a different story.
"No. You won't."
"I will," she insisted. "Let me leave, Enzo."
A little girl in pigtails was threatening me with my own weapon. I smiled, enjoying the way her eyes widened when she saw it. Slowly, I advanced on her. "Put the gun down, Sera."
"No."
I tilted my head to one side and saw that she had, indeed, taken the safety off. And her finger was on the trigger. Perhaps she wasn't as new at this as I first thought. It made sense if she was the daughter of a man in the mafia. "Did your father teach you to shoot?" I asked as I paced slowly back and forth in front of her so she would have to keep adjusting her aim. While I
walked, I unrolled my sleeves, inching my way closer.
She barked out a laugh, but it was an ugly sound. "No," she said.
I waited for more information, but she didn't seem willing to give it to me. "Who taught you to shoot?"
"No one you would know," was her only answer.
"So I guess your father wasn't quite as strict as you let on." I wanted to keep her talking. Keep her distracted. Until I could get close enough to get the gun away from her.
"I didn't get locked down until I got to childbearing age," she clarified.
Which told me she hadn't handled a weapon for quite a few years. It explained how she seemed to know what she was doing and yet lacked the confidence needed to actually pull the trigger. I was only about two feet from the weapon now. All I had to do was wait for the exact moment her arms were a second behind my movements and I could grab her wrists and pull her forward while I twisted around until my back was to her. Then I could get the weapon away from her without getting shot.
"Sera." I picked up my pace just slightly.
"What?" she gritted out.
"Don't make me hurt you." Those were my last words before I rushed her. Two seconds later, the gun was in my hands, and she was backing toward the bedroom with her hands held out in front of her.
"I'm sorry," she told me. Her voice was thick with tears. "I just want to leave. Do what you think you need to, Enzo. But please, just give me a head start. That's all I ask."
"I've already told you. It's too late for that. The choice I gave you was just me being nice." She'd been mine since the moment I first opened the door and saw her standing on the other side. She was always meant to be mine.
Alessandra's face floated before me, her eyes accusing. I shook my head, chasing it away. This wasn't the same. I'd loved Alessandra with everything in me. And that love had cost me the lives of my wife and son. Sera was just a passing fascination. I'd tire of her just like I'd tired of every other woman I'd been with. Nothing would happen to her. She'd go back to her father and live the life of a mafia wife with someone else.
I emptied the clip and set both that and the gun on the table behind me beside my watch, not taking my eyes from her the entire time. The backs of her knees hit the bed, and she glanced over her shoulder to see what had stopped her retreat.
Perfect.
Just where I wanted her.