Caught In The Crossfires - Spinoff

22

Chapter 22

Cristiano

I knew it would serve her well to sit in there and calm down. I couldn't tell if she would actually be able to decompress or if she was coming up with every snide comment in the book to throw at me when I got back into the room. She was the definition of a brat, and I didn't pay them any mind, but there was something different about Lorella. Forbidden. That had to be it—she was the forbidden fruit in the garden of my city. She was unpredictable. She could be dangerous, but not in the same sense that I was.

I rounded the corner into the kitchen to get the little brat something to eat. She would need fuel to replenish her energy, especially by the time I was done with her. I sat out a bowl onto the counter so I could divvy her a full helping of Minestra d'orzo. My brows pulled together after I removed the soup pot from the refrigerator. I had made this last night for dinner, and between my two siblings and myself, I had made a larger pot than I normally would. I had expected it to at least last for another day or so, but it didn't matter. There was enough for a full serving, so I ladled the remnants into the bowl for Lorella.

It would only take about two minutes to heat up, but that was plenty of time to toast a piece of garlic bread and scrounge up a couple of water bottles. I didn't think this would be enough or the best option, but the carbs would be good enough for now. She wasn't a sub of mine, so I didn't have any regimens or instructions set in place for her to follow. Hell, that was a thing of the past in my case.

I passed through the living room with her food resting on a tray and noticed Elise was passed out on the couch. I worried about her sometimes. I didn't want her to follow Alessandro and myself into the family business.

Clearing my head, Lorella came back to the front of my mind. She needed my undivided attention for however long this little lesson took, whether she wanted it or not. As a Dominant, I had to hold myself to a higher standard, and she would be the target of my focus. The time it took me to walk back to the room allowed my mask to fall back into place. Being a Dominant was being myself. Truly, but it took a specific state of mind and demeanor.

Once I strode back into the room, I was pleasantly surprised to see Lorella was still sitting in the place I had left her in. Pride dusted over me at the sight of her obeying an order. I didn't show her how this glimpse of obedience affected me.

"Eat," I instructed and kept my voice firm. I placed the tray of food onto a small table next to the chair she was sitting in. Surely we would get more acquainted with each other in here, but I needed her to be comfortable—somewhat compliant for the time being.

I turned away to bring a chair over. It was a simple wooden chair I kept tucked away in the corner, but I needed to sit in front of her. I needed to hold her attention. Of course, she couldn't keep her feisty mouth shut, and a slight smirk turned the corner of my mouth up.

"You think you can just lock me up in your little sex dungeon for hours, then come in here barking orders."

"For once in your life, Lorella, cut the fucking brat act and do as your told."

"Oh, fuck off, Cristiano. Your whole Dom thing isn't going to work on me this time."

Dom, thing? Running my tongue over the front of my teeth, I fought the urge to smirk down at the fiery woman I couldn't seem to break myself away from despite knowing better. "You're angry. I understand. What you found today must have been unsettling for you, and we will discuss it further once you've eaten your dinner." I gently nudged the bowl in her direction. "And for the record, when has my Dom thing ever worked on you?"

"Fine, old man. I'll eat, but then we talk," she glanced up, a ghost of a smile on her lips. Looking down at the food and pulling the tray onto her lap, she brought the spoon to her perfect mouth. I twitched in my slacks, watching her wrap her full pink lips around it. I couldn't stop from letting myself imagine how they'd look tightly fastened to my cock while I bent the little brat to my will. Cursing myself, my jaw ticked as my eyes followed the movement of the warm liquid making its way down the front of her pale creamy throat begging for me to wrap my hand around it—my fingers jerked with need at the thought. NO. Control yourself, Cristiano.

Clearing my throat, I stood and put some distance between myself and Lorella. I needed to keep my wits about me, and I was soon coming to realize around this woman, my restraint was often tested. "Why are you here?" I asked. Was she here with my brother? The thought immediately infuriated me.

"Because you locked me in here," her heated blue eyes cut to mine, and I could see the fury still burning inside them. Dropping the spoon that was in her hand back into the bowl of soup with a clang, she tilted her head to the side, "don't tell me the dementia is setting in already."

Snorting, I sucked on my teeth, ready to show her just how old I really was. This woman was incorrigible. "Eat, then we talk." Never in a million years did I think I'd be the one to tell her the truth. Would she freak out knowing what her precious family was into? Did I really want to be the one to knock her absentee brothers off the pedestal she so clearly held them upon? I knew why they stayed away from her though it didn't make it any less difficult to watch her skate through life alone. In all honesty, that was why I could never find the strength to stay away.

She ate the rest of her soup, clearly eager to get it over with so we could talk. "Mmm," she groaned as she swallowed the last bite, and my slacks tightened again. I walked around the chair so that I could sit down. It would be easier to hide the bulge growing in my slacks that way. "This was even better than the first time I had it." She licked her pouty lips and put the tray back onto the end table. Ah. So that's what happened to it. Knowing that she was the one to eat my cooking earlier and enjoyed it so much pleased me. It was a shame she wouldn't get the chance to eat something I made again because she couldn't stay. Lorella would only bring me trouble.

She leaned back in her chair and kicked her tiny feet up into my lap. Really? I looked down at her shiny blue nail polish and then back up at her. Arrogance and impatience was rolling off of her in waves. It wouldn't be hard to mistake her for a female copy of Alessandro. Both of them were brats—both in a race on who was the biggest pain in my arse.

"I need you to think about this very hard, Lorella," I spoke to her in the manner you would a child who needed to make a decision. "The information I have on you and your brothers could very well change your perception of them." I trailed the tip of my index finger along the top of her foot before setting her feet to the floor. She needed to focus and be completely honest.

Her brows pinched together, and I waited. She seemed to think about it hard while she nibbled on her bottom lip. I wanted to pluck it from her mouth, but I kept my hands to myself.

"Yes." She nodded. "I need to know. You don't know me, yet you had a file on me? My birth certificate, transcripts, parking tickets? What are you, a PI? That's not normal, Cristiano." She shook her head, and she looked hurt. I wanted to feel guilty, but I didn't. I owed no obligation to her, and I had to keep track of how much territory her brothers were expanding to. 

"No," I chuckled, "I can assure you that I am not a private investigator. I'll ask you one more time. Are you sure you want to know what the information I have is and why I have it?" My expression was serious, but I wished she would say no. Things weren't anywhere near simple with her, but perhaps easier before she found out about this.

"Yes, old man. Tell me already, dammit!"

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