Levi

I paced back and forth in front of the office windows, phone pressed to my ear. Technically, it wasn't my office—it belonged to Alonzo Levine. But now that he was gone, I was running his entire empire.


Taking over his responsibilities wasn't a drastic change from what I'd been doing before his passing last week, but it certainly felt different. I had been his consigliere, but our bond went much deeper than that.

My father had been consigliere to Alonzo's father before me, so Alonzo and I practically grew up together in this very house. We spent every day side by side, knowing that one day, we would lead this family together.

I paced restlessly in Alonzo Levine's office, now mine by default since his passing. He was just a year older than me, and now he was gone.


He had died suddenly from a massive stroke in his sleep. One day he was in control of most of New York's operations; the next day, it all fell to me.

Turning away from the windows, I paced back towards the center of the room, still on the phone. "I understand, Peter, but you need to realize the situation I'm in. I need a minimum of two hundred men by tomorrow—no questions asked. Offer them double pay if necessary."


I spun around as the office door swung open behind me. My heart sank when Geneva walked in.

Geneva had inadvertently made my job much harder in her own gentle way. She had always been sweet, and I loved her like a niece. However, ever since her father's death, she had been even more touchy-feely with me, leaning on me for comfort. She had grown into one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen, and here she was in front of me—completely off-limits.

I barely registered the voice on the phone. "Yeah, okay, Peter. Thanks. I appreciate it," I blurted out, ending the call.

"Is everything alright?" Geneva approached cautiously. "Did you just order another two hundred men?"

"Yeah," I said, struggling to collect my thoughts. "We need to beef up security around the estate. I'll use regular security to free up our men in other parts of the city."

I moved towards my desk, keeping it between us to avoid any unwanted impulses.

"Is the situation really that dire? I thought our assets were well-covered."

"They are, but it's not enough if the Navaros keep catching us off guard. Besides, I want to reinforce security around the estate, which means pulling our men back from their current posts. We simply don't have enough manpower. We need more."

She stepped closer, leaning over my open laptop on the desk. "How will this impact our budget? Can we afford so many new hires after losing the bowling alley?"

"We'll have to pay more regardless if a full-scale war breaks out with the Navaros. Expense isn't my primary concern right now."

She halted beside me, looking up with concern in her eyes. "Do you really think the Navaros will push us into a war?"

I met her gaze, her eyes still red from crying over her father—my closest friend and employer for over forty years.

I needed to step away. She was my best friend's daughter, destined to marry a boss within the family. I was just her consigliere, but I couldn't help seeing her in any other way. She was stunning, incredibly kind, and more perceptive about her father's business than most of his advisors.

But that was the issue. She kept showing up in the office to "help" manage the organization, proving to be invaluable. She supported me more than I supported her, but it only brought us closer. She became more affectionate, more my confidante, more of the woman I desired more than anything.

Yet nothing could ever happen between us. I was over two decades older, and she could never see me as anything more than a guardian and advisor. It was my duty to ensure she married appropriately to preserve her father's legacy—a legacy that could only be upheld by marrying another boss, something I could never be.

Struggling to break away from her gaze, I managed, "I should get back to work."

"Isn't this work?" She pressed on. "When will the new men arrive? Do we need to arrange training, or are they already trained? Someone should inform Nico about all this."

"He just returned from the funeral. He's out there now, overseeing the men we already have on perimeter duty. Give him a chance, Princess. You saw how he conducted himself at the funeral—he's devoted to this family. He worshipped your father."

She shrugged and looked away. "He's still brash. Maybe you should assign him to guard the new warehouse."

"No, not after Ryder caused a scene at the funeral. The Navaros are clearly trying to provoke us. It's only a matter of time before they escalate things."

"Can we not talk about Nico again?" She sat on the edge of my desk, rotating my laptop towards her. "I want to review the security budget. If we're doubling the pay for new hires, we should consider the same for our own men."

I snorted and tried to wave that away. 'Does that include Nico?"

She ignored my crack. 'If someone is going to be rewarded for pulling double duty and running extra risk, our guys come first. If the budget allows anything above and beyond that, these civilian security guards come second."

I laughed. 'Okay, Princess. You're the boss.

She beamed at me. 'I'm glad we cleared that up."

'I have something to tell you—something that I hope will take your mind off Nico—maybe forever."

She brightened up. 'Really? Great! Let me hear it."

'Charles Terranova is coming to stay at the estate for a while. This is your chance to get reacquainted with each other and see if you have a future together. If you play your cards right, you could come out of this with an engagement."

She hopped off the desk, jumped up and down on the spot, and clapped her hands. 'Goody! Yeee! When is he coming? Which room is he staying in? How long is he staying? I want to make sure everything is perfect. This is great!"

My heart plummeted all over again. I knew she'd be happy about Charles coming to stay. I didn't realize she would be as delighted as this.

Everybody saw the way they acted at the funeral. They acted like they were kids again and no time had passed since they loved each other so much.

I should have been happy that she was going to marry someone she really liked, but I couldn't be happy about this. A flash of fantasy blinked across my mind, and I pictured myself killing Charles, dumping his body in the East River, and marrying Geneva myself.

She never needed me, and she would never love me as anything but an uncle. I was just a cardboard cutout filling a spot until her real prince stepped in. Whoever it was would push me aside, and Geneva would forget all about me.

That was as it should be, but it still stung. I did my best to smile at her reaction and looked down to pull the laptop back to my side of the desk.

I waited for her to run off and start preparing for Charles's arrival, but without warning, she charged me and wrapped her arms around my waist. She hugged me tight and rested her head against my heart.

I gulped down rising anguish. Every minute I spent in her presence was turning into an excruciating agony. She hugged me a thousand times over the years, but now it just hurt because I could never take it any further.

Her arms around me meant the world to me, but they didn't mean anything to her. She would forget all about me as soon as she started thinking about Charles again.

I put my arm around her shoulders and hugged her back. My mind went into a tailspin imagining all the things I'd like to do right now—slide my fingers into her hair, guide her lips to mine, feel her melt in my arms as her breath quickened, wrap my fingers around her curvy ass…

I tried to push those thoughts out of my head. This was my niece, my precious little princess… but she wasn't. She wasn't related to me at all. She was a beautiful, voluptuous, intelligent, sensitive woman pressing her body against mine. I could even feel her breathing through her blouse.

She straightened up and shook her hair back from her face. She looked up at me… and froze when our eyes met.

There she was, right in front of me. Her eyes caught me in their undertow all over again. I couldn't stop thinking about her as so, so much more than just a girl in need of my guidance and protection.

She looked up at me, and then she glanced down at my mouth. Her pupils dilated. Was she…? Her nostrils flared, and the faintest blush colored her cheeks. Was she thinking about me the same way?

Before I could think to stop her, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed me—and not on the cheek. She kissed me on the mouth—for real.

She sank down and stared up at me with something like a challenge. Did that just happen? Did I just imagine Geneva Levine kissing me? Maybe my own fantasy ran away with me.

She still had her arms around my waist, and a sudden reckless daring seized me. I bent down and kissed her back. I meant to just give her a peck the way she did to me, but before I could think twice, she slipped one arm around my neck and pulled me down into her mouth.

My head exploded as her lips parted and her tongue darted between my lips. I was kissing her, and she was kissing me back.

All my fantasies erupted to life. I couldn't keep my hands off her. I was kissing her the way I always dreamed—but not like I always dreamed. This was real—very, very real. Fuck, her mouth tasted so hot and sweet!

My hands slipped behind her back, and her body sagged in my embrace. She melted against me in such delicious waves that I couldn't stop myself. I didn't even try to stop it.

Scorching hot blood rushed to my crotch, and I crushed her against my hard prick. She whimpered in my mouth, and that sound set me off as never before.

I tightened my grip on her and started kissing her harder. My tongue swirled around hers, and then I pushed her tongue back into her mouth. She gasped, and her lips went slack for a minute when I dug my package between her legs.

I lifted her off the floor, and she dissolved in my arms so perfectly. I glided my hand down to her ass and ground her sweet body into my throbbing prick. I wanted her right now, right here on my desk.

I didn't give myself a second to doubt. If this all came to an end in a few minutes, I didn't want to walk away with any regrets. If she wanted this, I would give her everything she wanted.

I swiveled her around and sat her down on the desk. She kept sighing and yelping in my mouth. I tore off her lips and attacked her shirt buttons. She still wore the tight pencil skirt she had on at the funeral. It stopped her from spreading her knees, but I didn't care.

I tore her blouse open and panted through bared teeth, squeezing her breasts and shoving her skirt up with my other hand. I pushed it high enough that she pried her legs apart. She really did want it.

She attacked my shirt and fumbled the buttons open. Her delicate hands slid up my chest, and every nerve erupted in flames. I had to have her. I had to take her right here on my desk. To hell with everything else.

This woman was not my niece. She was smoking hot, and she wanted me as much as I wanted her. I would risk the whole world to feel her hands on me.

Her hands found their way behind my back, and she pulled me toward her. She scratched her fingertips down my stomach and yanked my belt open. She raked her fingernails up my thighs and drove me wild.

I dove in and kissed her hard and deep and fast. She kept gasping and forgetting to kiss me while I slipped my fingers inside her bra. She squealed when I pinched and rolled her tight, hard nipples.

I leaned over her, tilting her back on the desk, and she wrapped her legs around my waist to pull me in. My cock ached to feel her, and I groaned in agony when she lowered her hand between my legs and started massaging me through my pants. I couldn't stand this.

I crammed her skirt the rest of the way up and grabbed both sides of her panties. She stared up at me with drunk, wild eyes while I slid them down and dropped them on the floor. Now nothing stood between me and her.

She glided my zipper down, and her maddening little hand darted into my boxers. My prick pulsated in her hand, and she started stroking me. Fuck, she turned me on like nothing else!

She pushed my pants down, and my naked cock lay exposed and hard as a rock in her hand. She leaned back and guided me between her legs.

Her glistening crimson slit opened for me, and she fell back, supporting herself on her arms. Her sex-intoxicated eyes drown me in madness, and I propped myself over her.

I started kissing her more slowly and deliberately, and the whole scene slowed to a standstill. Her mouth told me she wanted this. Her body seethed beneath me and opened for me to take her.