Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess (6 page)

“I have men in the Salerno Organization who work for me for reasons all of you are far too young to know about,” she said, looking directly into Nathan’s eyes.

“You have men in our organization?” Nathan asked, shocked and confused as to how that was possible.

“Yes I do, but you do not have to worry. They are men who are loyal to you and your father, Nathan. I would never harm either of you, even if your father does hate me,” she said, frowning.

Nathan studied her eyes, searching for something to help him understand her. She was Carter’s mother, and Nathan still couldn’t believe she was here. “When did you find out Carter was in New York?” He needed to make sense of her sudden appearance.

“My men told me that she had been found by you and was coming back with you to New York. We later heard that she was living with the Russian, which we knew was you. I rushed here to see if it was actually my little girl, and it was.” Anastacia smiled. A smile that reminded Nathan of Carter. “I saw her with you, and I was happy that she was alive and that you two had found each other again after nineteen years.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “You know about that?”

Anastacia laughed softly “Of course, I do. Leaving my baby girl wasn’t a choice, dear boy. I never wanted to be a ghost in her life. I … I just had to,” she said sadly, then smiled again and held out her hand. “Give me your hand, dear.”

Nathan obediently gave her his hand.

“We will wait for her together, like this. Hand in hand.” She gave him a shaky smile and finally allowed him to see the many emotions in her hazel eyes. “I’m scared, too, sweetheart. But we will be strong for her. All of us will. She told you she would come back to you, Nathan. My baby has never broken a promise.”

***

Nathan hadn’t let go of Anastacia’s hand until the doctor came through the doors and told him he could go back to Carter. He hadn’t even broken the hold when his father arrived and stared in shock at Anastacia. Nathan hadn’t been able to do anything during that time in the waiting room but pray, stare at those doors, and hold Anastacia’s hand. He had needed her strength and her words, and he was grateful for her presence. Not only had she helped Nathan get through one of the hardest hours of his life, she had also saved both his and Carter’s life. Nathan knew of the stories about Anastacia Stone, but the woman who sat in the waiting room with him, the woman who had been helping to take care of Carter, was not the woman who had been described to him at all. The Anastacia Stone Nathan had been getting to know for the past few days was a mother, a mother who loved her daughter more than life itself.

“Nathan,” Carter said softly.

Nathan looked into the sad eyes of his beautiful rose. “Yes, baby?” He softly wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I’m sorry for everything …”

“Hey, hey. Don’t do that,” Nathan said quickly. He caressed her face. “You have nothing to apologize for. None of it was your fault.”

Carter sat up and turned to straddle Nathan’s lap. “It wasn’t your fault, either.” Nathan frowned and shook his head. He didn’t want her to continue, but she did. “Please don’t, Nathan,” Carter pleaded.

“Don’t what?” Nathan asked, the frown still on his face. He didn’t think he was ready for the conversation that was about to come. He didn’t want Carter to tell him that this wasn’t his fault— because it was. Nathan had put Carter in that dangerous situation, and it had almost gotten both of them killed.

“Don’t blame yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault,” she said, and Nathan looked away from her. The shame he felt over this made it impossible for him to look her in the eye.

Carter tried to get Nathan to look at her, but Nathan resisted. “Carter, baby, I don’t want you to—”

“To what? Tell the truth? But it is the truth. It wasn’t your fault. What happened was fucked up, but neither of us could have predicted it. It just happened.”

Nathan frowned and shook his head “You don’t understand, Carter,” Nathan said firmly.

“Yes, I do. You think you should have done more to protect me, that you failed me. But you didn’t, Nathan.”

“Yes … I … did,” Nathan said, looking into her eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat and fought against his emotions as he met her eyes. He placed his hands on each side her face as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. “You almost died. Carter. Do you understand that? I held you in my arms with my face close to yours just so I could make sure you were still breathing. And there was blood … everywhere. You lost so much blood … and I didn’t know what to do for you! I was helpless, and I was the one who had put you in that situation! Mitchell was never out for you— you were innocent. You had everything taken from you, and you didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve any of this,” Nathan said, trying to make her understand.

She understood, but didn’t agree. Frowning, she shook her head. “Nathan, it’s not the same,” she said firmly.

“Yes, it is, Carter.”

“You saved me, Nathan.”

Nathan moved to stand up, but Carter quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. “No, Nathan. Just listen to me, please,” she pleaded desperately through her tears.

After a moment of hesitation, he obliged. He didn’t want to listen. He didn’t deserve to have Carter try to make him feel better about this when he knew the truth. Nathan had spent the last thirteen years blaming his father for the death of his mother, for putting his mother’s life in danger, for not protecting her. And he had done the exact same thing to the woman he loved, the woman he was about to marry. No, Nathan deserved this pain, and he wasn’t going to let Carter try and ease it. “There isn’t anything to say, Carter.”

“Yes, there is!”

“No, Carter, there isn’t.”

“But you saved me, Nathan!”

“No, I didn’t,” he said sharply. He couldn’t hear this anymore— it was too hard.

“Just listen,” she said firmly, and Nathan gave up and sat back on the bed. But he was still unable to meet her eyes. “Nathan, look at me and listen to me. I’m your fiancée. You have to do what I say.” She said it softly, and Nathan felt like a bitch when a fucking tear escaped his eye, but he met her eyes as she asked. She gave him a sad smile and wiped his single tear. “You saved me, Nathan Salerno, long before the day that Mitchell tried to take our lives. I had lost everyone I loved, and I was alone, pretending to be someone I wasn’t. I was unhappy and lonely. I thought I was going to die without ever experiencing life or real love. I thought I would have to hide forever, which is something I never wanted to do. Not even when I was a little girl. You have given me more than I ever thought I would have, Nathan. I would never ever regret the day you found me in Hope Beach. I will never regret the day you kissed me, the night we spent on that beach, the first time you told me you loved me, the first time we made love, the arguments we’ve had— or the day you asked me to be your wife.” She kissed his lips softly. “I would live through that one day a million times more if it meant I’d still have you when I woke up,” she whispered against his lips. “What happened to us was not your fault. Mitchell was filled with jealousy, greed, and hatred for us and our parents. What makes you think you deserved what he wanted to do to you? Nathan, we were both targeted because we were born. It’s as simple as that. He didn’t like the fact that we existed, and that you earned the power he wanted. This was neither of our faults. He wanted us dead for reasons we couldn’t control, so stop. Stop blaming yourself for this, and I won’t blame myself, either.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “We’re still here, Bubby, you and me. We’ll always be stronger than those who try to hurt us,” she whispered.

Nathan stared at her, unable to speak. He felt like he was going to burst. It couldn’t be possible to love a person as much as he loved Carter. It hurt to love someone so much, but it was the type of hurt that Nathan wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. He had no idea what he had done in this life or a past one to deserve a woman like Carter, but he would never question it. Because he would go back and do it all again just to get right back here, right back to this moment when he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Carter was the love of his life. This woman was everything to him. She was his beating heart and the air he breathed. And right about now, he could only think of one thing to say to her—

“Marry me.”

“Yes,” Carter whispered without hesitation.

He pressed his forehead against hers. “I don’t want to wait,” he said honestly.

“We don’t have to,” she said, kissing the side of his mouth.

As if they had a mind of their own, Nathan’s hands began to roam Carter’s body. Trying to restrain himself, he stopped right before reaching her full breasts. Nathan silently reminded himself that Carter had just recovered from a head injury. The doctor clearly said her energy level was low, and she shouldn’t overexert herself.

“We should go down stairs now, Carter. I’m sure everyone wants to know you’re okay,” he said. It had been too damn long since he’d been able to enjoy Carter’s perfect body. Being in a room alone with her and feeling all of these emotions was definitely not safe, especially with her legs wrapped around him like this. A few moves, and he’d be inside that warm, tight pussy of hers. Nathan bit back a groan.

“No,” she whispered and ran her velvety tongue across his bottom lip, kissing him again.

Dammit!
Was he the only one trying to be responsible here? “Carter—”

“I want you, Nathan. Now,” she said and slammed her mouth against his in a fervent kiss.

Nathan groaned and wrapped his arms around her body, pressing her close to him as her hands entered his hair.
Oh, no! No, no, no, no!

She gripped a handful of his hair as their kiss deepened and became more passionate. A growl erupted from Nathan’s chest when Carter pressed closer to him. Her body began to grind against him and she moaned into his mouth.

Shit!
They needed to stop. He didn’t want to take it too far. There was no way she was ready for this.

Reluctantly— very reluctantly— Nathan did something that he would bang his head against the wall for later. He pulled back from their kiss. He had hoped that would be enough, but it seemed his fiancée was too far gone. As soon as he broke their kiss, her soft, full lips moved to his face and then down to that spot on his neck she knew he loved.

Nathan groaned loudly. “Carter.” Her name came out in a breathless whisper.
God, it felt so good.

Nathan needed to put a halt to this before he lost control, but Carter was relentless, showing no mercy! She moved so perfectly against him. He wanted to grab her hips and speed up her damn movements. But he couldn’t. They needed to stop. “Carter, we have to stop.” She didn’t listen. “Carter,” he pleaded. He needed her to stop because there was no way he was going to stop her. He was only a man for God’s sake! There was only so much he could do at this point.

“I’m fine, Nathan,” she whispered as she continued her assault on his neck. Her hands moved from his hair to the buttons on his shirt.

Nathan bit his lip hard. Visions of all the things he wanted to do to her right then assailed him. She wasn’t playing fair. “Carter, this isn’t the right time,” he said through clenched teeth. He didn’t want to say this shit because he wanted exactly what she wanted.

“It
is
the right time.”

“No, it’s not,” he said as firmly as he could.

Carter stopped unbuttoning his shirt and looked him in the eyes. “Nathan,” she said in an exasperated tone. “If this were a movie, this would be the perfect time for you to fuck me.”

Those two words almost did it—
almost
. Nathan closed his eyes and prayed for strength. He bit down on his bottom lip and gripped the bed hard.
Don’t fuck her. Don’t fuck her. Don’t fuck her!

She rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.
Good
, Nathan thought. Maybe she would get mad at him and walk away. He needed her to because there was no way in hell he could walk away from her. He was so fucking hard right now, he was pretty sure he couldn’t walk anyway.

“You really don’t want to have sex?” she asked, disbelief in her voice.

Nathan’s jaw clenched and he swallowed. Unable to speak because he was afraid the wrong words would come out of his mouth, Nathan shook his head no. He silently pleaded with her to have mercy on him.

Carter laughed. It was the sexiest fucking laugh Nathan had ever heard in his life. He gripped the bed tighter.

“I’m sorry, honey, but— did you mention that to
him
?” Carter asked, pointing to the large erection pressing against his pants.

Nathan looked down, disappointed in his body’s betrayal. “Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t understand right from wrong.
Mmm … Shit!”
Nathan exclaimed when Carter gripped his dick and squeezed. His hips jerked forward as her hand began to rub him through his pants in the most amazing way.

Carter chuckled softly, “Mmm … I think he knows what you want better than you do, Nathan.” She pressed her forehead against his. “Somebody in this room will come in the next sixty seconds, and since I have to wait …” Her words trailed off, and she shrugged as a mischievous smile appeared on her face. She sped up the motion of her hand.

Nathan. Was. Lost. He ran his hand down his face and groaned as his head fell back in ecstasy, and a string of Russian curses fell from his lips. There was no way he was going to stop her now— it felt too amazing. Why the hell did it have to feel so amazing?

Carter used her other hand to grip his hair and bring his face back to hers. Her eyes were wild with desire and lust, and it took everything Nathan had not to rip her clothes off at that moment. “You’re so sexy, Nathan.” Her hand sped up, and she pressed against him.

Nathan gripped the bed harder. “Carter,” he growled. “Just like that, baby. Fuck!”

Carter leaned forward and pressed her lips against his ear. “I swear to God, as soon as that doctor says you can, I want you to pin me to the nearest wall and fuck me.”