He grunted and downed his drink in a gulp. Wave upon wave of jealousy flooded him as he gulped another stiff drink, seething with rage. Damn, the woman. Did she have to parade herself before his associates?
The crowd he moved about with didn't hesitate in switching partners, hell, he thought, scratching his hair-roughened chest, he had done it so many times, himself.
His club was infamous for such trysts, he smiled cynically; it was one source of sure revenue. But while in the past, he would never have hesitated to talk about a woman freely or think twice before sharing her with his friends, something about Proserpina brought out the devil in him: he wanted to keep her only for himself. There was an innocence in her, an unspoiled freshness that had attracted him the instant he had seen her. She was so unlike the jaded women he met in his circles, with their pouts and come-hither looks and antics, ever eager to get into his pants if it meant furthering their lives.
Young Proserpina had never met his acquaintances before, he had made sure of that. Lucien Delano had made sure of that, keeping her hidden away, just for himself. He didn't like the fact that he had exposed her to them now and that was an unfamiliar sensation for him, this feeling of protectiveness, the jealousy that flooded him when he saw the admiring, lascivious looks on the faces of the men in the room.
He swore silently. he should never have held the meeting in his house. But it had been too late to shift the venue. Besides, he had given strict orders to his staff; no one was supposed to be anywhere near his study when he was at home.
How dare that slip of a girl ignore his rules?
Again, the thought of how he had used her in bed the previous night made his manhood harden uncomfortably, straining to be released and to lose itself in her soft, sweet wetness.
There had been a number of women in his bed but when he took her, it was something out of this world. Her tight pus*y squeezing his full manhood, her gasps, the way she was wet, so soaking wet for him... A now familiar stirring in his groin confirmed his thoughts.
Was it the total trust in her eyes when she breathed his name in the midst of their torrid lovemaking? Her innocence?
Or the fact that she had borne his children...?
Lucien had no doubts regarding the parentage of the twins.
They looked exactly like he had at their age. The little girl even scowled the way he did, he thought with a twist of his lips.
He scowled and reached for another drink, oblivious to the speculative look on his companion's face.
James Schwartz glanced at his friend and mentor thoughtfully. Something was disturbing the Boss. He had never seen the Mafia Don get so furious over a woman and God knows, he must have bedded a million women by now! Because women found him irresistible, with his bad boy reputation, and then again, he was like an Alpha, dominating his partner in bed, but women seemed to love grovelling before the Mafia Don.
Yet there was something different about the fresh-faced girl he had seen, who had looked to be almost twenty years younger than the Mafia Don. Schwartz gulped down his drink and turned to look at the older man as a sudden thought struck him. Who was that mysterious young woman...?
***
Proserpina
I felt wretched as I fed the twins their cereal after their romp in the garden. The maids fussed around but I was hardly aware of their presence...
I knew I must have angered Lucien in some way but how?
I was clueless.
Beatrice later told me in a hushed tone that the Master forbade anyone from hovering around his study when he was in a high-level meeting. Apparently, that afternoon, some biggies had been present. And had taken offense to our innocent merry-making in the sun. As the shadows of the evening lengthened, I was consumed by despair.
***
It was evening when Lucien finally summoned me.
One of his staff members, a young man who looked like a bouncer, all bulging muscles and tattoos, appeared at the nursery door.
" Ma'am, you are wanted in the study," he announced, without meeting my eyes.
I stood up, disentangling myself from my baby's arms.
Wiping my sweaty palms, I glanced at myself in the mirror, smoothing my hair before walking slowly, reluctantly after him. In my shirt, faded and old, with a pair of yoga pants, I thought I looked reasonably decent.
***
I entered the large study which occupied an entire side of the house with some trepidation. Although it was dark, only the lamps around the enormous table had been lit, falling on the head of the man who sat, surrounded by papers. And the inevitable tumbler of whiskey which was half-full.
Feeling like a truant child summoned to the Principal's office for a hiding, I walked forward slowly, rubbing my moist palms on the pockets of my old jeans.
Lucien sat back, watching me approach, his hooded eyes watching every step. Why did this man have such an effect on me? I wondered. Although I had spent so many hours of passion with him, he still made me feel breathless.
I stopped a few feet away from the desk and waited. Lucien looked breathtakingly attractive. He had opened the buttons of his shirt, exposing his deep chest and I licked my dry lips as I thought back to the early hours of the morning when he had made such fierce love to me.
And I had submitted to his domination willingly.
Almost as though my body had been waiting to be claimed by him again.
I felt the heat rise up in my cheeks and unconsciously worried my lower lip, waiting to get away from his hard gaze. For a long moment, he said nothing, only sliding his eyes over my body.
It was a game, I realized but it was affecting me.
Breathing faster, I said, haltingly, "You called me...?"
Raking his eyes over my body in a taunting way, he drawled, eyes narrowed,
'So how many men did you f*ck after you ran away from me, little sl*t?'