ATONEMENT | MAFIA ROMANCE | SMUT

CHAPTER FIVE

I placed the Salvatore Ferragamo shoes alongside the Dormeuil Vanquish bespoke suit on the cushioned chair, ready for dry-cleaning. It's a non-smoking room, but I am not one to heed instruction. Tossing essentials onto the wooden dresser, I built a deck, licked the rizla seam and rolled a blunt. Popping open the window, I drew the heavy curtain aside, parked the roach to my lips and matched the end. Pungent fumes gyrated around me, calmative haze soon catalysed.

In ruminative musings, I watched guests interact from the bay windows. I had been ultra-civilised, approachable and gregarious for an auspicious outcome. With diligent forethought and punctilious consideration, I planned a paradisal wedding for Alexa. She deserved the best from me. After everything I put her through at the beginning of our relationship, she more than warranted an unforgettable occasion. I hope I delivered.

I heard the bathroom door unlock and Alexa's light footsteps as she strode across the room. "Leave your wedding dress on the chair." I blow a slew of smoke through the cracked window. "Nate will take it to the dry cleaners."

Alexa came to my side, and what I saw almost cinched aloofness. Acting as though her brazen nakedness wasn't a distraction, she avoided my questioning stare and peered through the Venetian blind. Her feigned indifference failed to hide unsteady breathing, though. I let my eyes forage, admire, outline her small mounds, taut, dusty nipples and flat stomach. Delicate white lace fringed her waistline, and a satin bow adorned her ass. Her skin looked soft and delectable. Dark hair knotted and dishevelled.

Fucking beautiful.

I get to own every inch of that desirable body tonight.

Concealing unbearable ravenousness, I forced myself to look away and inhaled another drag. Alexa had barricaded herself in the bathroom for nearly fifteen-minutes. Ergo, I presumed needless beautification commenced; wild, loose hair, retouched lips, suspenders and six-inch heels. Instead, she emerged as herself sans hideous knee-high socks, in the eyes of the beholder, perfection.

Alexa's arms crossed. "May I try some?"

I coughed mid-drag. "What?"

"You glamorise it." She eyed the blunt. "I feel left out."

"No," I said resolutely, expelling a long veil. "It's not happening."

Her expression hardened. "Why not?"

"It's not you." Snaking an arm around her lower body, I drew her closer and ran my nose along her neck. "I refuse to corrupt you."

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I just married a criminal. Corruption is my middle name now." Her hand closed around my wrist. "Liam?" she whispered, and our eyes aligned. My heavy-lidded to her hazel hues. "I'm not a fragile wall-flower. I love your protectiveness, but please don't cage me. I can fly as high as the best of them."

I hate that Alexa's right. Where she's concerned, it's hard for me to let go. From the very beginning, right from the moment she barged into my life, I had an unexplainable urge to protect her. But she's not the same timid girl I once knew. Alexa can hold her own, keep her head above water and tackle life and its predicaments, yet I refuse to acknowledge her capabilities. In the wake of my ignorance, I allowed other people, Jace being one of them, to unclip her wings, to help her breathe freely and channel her inner deviousness.