Hustle: Men of Inked: Southside #4

by Chelle Bliss

  “Rudy!” he yells and peers over my shoulder.

  “What’s up?” Rudy, the defensive line coach, asks from the hallway.

  “Tell Mr. Turner I want to see him immediately.”

  “I’m on it,” Rudy replies before leaving us alone again.

  Coach steps around me and closes the door. “Sit down. He’ll be here in a few minutes. I just saw him down the hallway talking to the press.”

  I do as he says, but I’m not relaxed. I run my hands up and down my legs, trying to calm myself before I have a complete and utter meltdown, ruining any chance at a pro career with any team in the league. The coach sits down across from me, not saying anything, but busying himself with some papers.

  Moments later, Mr. Turner walks in. “You wanted to see me?”

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath, knowing this is a make-it-or-break-it moment. I’ve worked my entire life to get to this point. I worked my ass off with two-a-days, endless hours in the gym, and perfecting my skills to make it to the big leagues. Now I’m here, and I may very well have to throw it all away because they can’t seem to control one woman.

  “Close the door, please,” Coach tells Mr. Turner. “We have a situation.”

  Mr. Turner closes the door and makes his way across the room with very heavy footsteps. He glances at me and back to the coach. “What happened?”

  Coach dips his head in my direction. “Show him.”

  I lift my phone, and Turner takes it from my hand, studying the photo. “What’s she doing?”

  “She’s spray-painting the word ‘whore’ on my girlfriend’s car in our parking garage.”

  He opens his mouth to say something but closes it again.

  Coach motions toward me as he leans back in his chair. “Gallo wants to be traded.”

  “Absolutely not,” Turner says, suddenly finding his words. “I won’t allow it.”

  “Then I quit,” I say and stand quickly. “I can’t allow Tracie to threaten my girl. As of this moment, I’m no longer with the team and will be pressing charges against her immediately.”

  “She’s gone too far this time.” Turner rubs his forehead and grimaces. “I’ll send her away. She needs medical help, son. It’s hard to love someone so much when they’re this self-destructive, but she’s my blood. I’ll send her out of the country for treatment at a clinic in Switzerland. Don’t quit. I beg you. You’re the future of this organization.”

  “Sir, with all due respect, you’ve promised me she’d be taken care of before.”

  “She’ll be on my private jet tomorrow. It’s a one-year treatment program. She won’t be a problem since she’ll be halfway around the world. Just please don’t leave the team.”

  I have to admit, but only to myself, I like that he’s almost begging me to stay. The starting quarterback position is mine, which is a nice feeling, but only if Tracie is completely out of the picture.

  “May I speak with Bianca first?”

  Mr. Turner lets out a heavy sigh and nods. “Either way, Tracie will be gone immediately.”

  Knowing she’ll be out of the country for at least a year lifts an invisible burden off my shoulders I didn’t entirely realize was there. She’s been making surprise appearances wherever I’ve been for so long now, I just learned to ignore her. But what happened today, to Bianca’s car, has gone too far. It’s one thing to mess with my life, but Tracie bringing her craziness to my home, Bianca’s home, is too much for me to deal with.

  BIANCA’S on the couch next to me with her mouth hanging open. “You did what?”

  “I told them I quit.” I run my thumb across the soft skin on the back of her arm.

  She shakes her head. “Why would you do that?”

  “I had to. I told them if they weren’t going to deal with Tracie, I was done playing for their team.”

  She rocks backward after hearing me say the words a second time. “What did they say?”

  “Mr. Turner said he’d have her on a plane tomorrow and out of the country for at least a year in some swanky treatment center in Switzerland.”

  She scoots closer until our knees are touching. “Did you tell them you still want your job, then?”

  “I told them I’d have to talk it over with you first.”

  Her lips form a little O before she blows out a loud breath. “You’d quit for me?”

  I nod.

  It’s insanity, I know, but it was the only thing that seemed to make sense. I can’t have Bianca feeling threatened, and I need her to be okay with everything and how Tracie is going to be handled for me to move forward. For us to continue.

  “You can’t quit.” She intertwines our fingers. “I love that you would for me, but I can’t allow you to do that.”

  “So, you’re okay with me staying as long as she’s gone?”

  “Vinnie, a little spray paint isn’t enough to scare me away—or for you to quit the team.”

  I spend the next twenty minutes explaining all the messed-up things Tracie has done in a little less than twelve months. From her showing up at my family’s hotel suite in Vegas with no clothing, right up until she spray-painted Bianca’s car. Bianca sits there in stunned silence the entire time, soaking in the insanity that’s been my life since the day Tracie decided I was her next target.

  “Do you understand why I had to give them an ultimatum?”

  Bianca climbs into my lap, and I grab on to her hips. “I do. It’s kind of sexy that you’d give it all up for me, but it’s not what I want.” She places her hands on my chest, and her pussy presses against my cock in just the right way to give me an instant hard-on. “This is your dream. You’ve worked your entire life for this opportunity. You need to call them and tell them you’re not leaving.”

  I dig my fingers into her hips as I move her lower half forward and back, rubbing our bodies together like the first time we were together. “I’ll call them in the morning. I have more important things to attend to.” I smirk and lean forward to kiss my girl. “They can wait. This can’t.”

  Before she can argue with me, I cover her mouth with mine, sealing away her words and the entire day. Nothing else matters but the girl in my lap and the way she moans deep in the back of her throat as I sweep my tongue between her luscious lips.

  25

  BIANCA

  I WAKE before dawn and lie in bed, staring at Vinnie in the faint glow of the city lights that surround our building. His massive frame takes up more than half of the bed, but he’s peaceful in his sleep. It’s my moment to study the features of his face and the dips and ridges of his chiseled body without being distracted.

  Ever since I met with Susan, I’ve been going through a million different scenarios, trying to figure out how to end my novel. Vinnie’s actions tonight and his willingness to end his entire career for me was a huge gesture. One a hero would typically make in my novels for the love of his life.

  I never thought I’d be so content again. Opening my heart to someone else, especially a playboy like Vinnie, isn’t something I thought would be possible or smart. But here I am, lying next to this beautiful man, completely and totally falling for him.

  I slide out of bed and tiptoe across the room, grabbing my clothes off the floor as I make my way to the door. Thankfully, Vinnie doesn’t wake. My muse is speaking to me, and I want a few uninterrupted hours to hash out the final chapter of my novel before it’s due to my editor, along with all the changes I still have to make.

  The words are pouring out of me, and I’m so engrossed in the ending, I don’t hear Vinnie wake or notice him standing in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee, until I turn around, going for another cup myself.

  “Did I wake you?”

  His lips move but I can’t hear anything he’s saying, and I realize I’m still wearing my noise-canceling headphones I use to block out the city noise. I remove them, placing them on the center island as Vinnie laughs behind his coffee mug.

  “You didn’t wake me. I have an early practice, an
d I have to talk with Coach and Mr. Turner before I take the field. I want to know Tracie is gone before I tell them yes.”

  I rake my gaze over his bare chest. “Is there ever a day you don’t work out?”

  He shakes his head and places his coffee cup on the counter. “I never miss a workout unless I’m on vacation.” He reaches out and grabs me around the waist. “If I didn’t, I would be sore after some of those moves from last night.”

  “You went above and beyond.”

  He nuzzles his face in my neck. “I’m just beginning, baby. I have a whole lot of moves I’ve never even tried yet.”

  I melt against him as his teeth graze my neck. “I look forward to seeing what you still have up your sleeve.”

  I’m riding high, floating on cloud nine in the arms of a man I never would’ve imagined myself with. “You better go before we both get sidetracked.”

  I want to fall back into bed, spending hours exploring each other’s bodies, but my novel and his team are waiting.

  “What are you doing today?”

  “I have lunch with my mother.”

  I’m not overly excited by the idea. While I love her, my mother’s ideas about my future and my own are very different. She’s still not sold on Vinnie, and the last time I talked with her, I wasn’t either.

  “You’ll need a car,” he says and reaches for his phone on the counter.

  I grab his arm, stopping him from whatever call he is about to make. “I’ll take a taxi.”

  His beautiful green eyes roam across my face. “You sure?”

  Moving onto my tiptoes, I kiss him quickly and nod. “Entirely sure. I wouldn’t have taken my car anyway. Parking is murder downtown.”

  He wraps his arms around my middle and presses my body flush against his. “What are you doing Sunday?”

  “Working, probably.”

  “Come to dinner with me at my parents’.”

  “Again?”

  I had fun the first time, although it was a bit overwhelming. They were so much more relaxed compared to my family.

  “Yes, again. It’s a Sunday tradition, and Ma already told me to bring you. It’s a requirement, and unless you want Betty banging on your door, I’d advise you to come.”

  I laugh, picturing his mother with her red hair, pounding on my door. “I like your family.”

  “Well,” he says, brushing the hair away from my face, “they like you too.”

  He moves in for a kiss, but I squeeze my lips together tightly because I haven’t brushed my teeth and I’ve already consumed a half a pot of coffee.

  “I’ll call you later.”

  I nod, still holding my lips together, and smile.

  He’s gone a few minutes later, and I’m left with my words and my characters who are just at the point in the novel where they realize they can’t live without each other.

  The hours breeze by as page after page pours out of me. I'm so engrossed in the story, I almost forget about my mother. When the one-hour notification pops up on my screen, I tear off my headphones and run to the shower. The meal is already going to be trying, but if I show up late, she’ll have a frown on her face and chide me like I’m a little girl again.

  MY MOTHER LOOKS DOWN at the menu, sitting with the most perfect posture. “I had Uncle Mateo do a little digging,” she says nonchalantly. “He found some interesting things.”

  I drop the menu on top of my bread plate, not giving a single fuck about the clatter as the silverware bounces underneath. “I never asked you to do a little digging, and I certainly don’t care about the interesting things he found.”

  My mother’s lips pinch together like she’s sucking on something sour. “He’s not the man for you, Bianca.”

  There’s no man on the planet, besides a chosen few, who my mother would deem good enough for me. Not one of them interests me even a little bit. They’re stuffed suits who snub their noses at my career. That’s a hard limit for me. My words are my lifeline, keeping me sane and happy since I was a little girl making up fairy tales.

  I lean back with my hands flat on the fancy ivory tablecloth, trying to keep my voice low and not draw the attention of those nearby. “It’s not your call.”

  “You’re still my daughter.”

  “I’m completely happy for the first time in a long time, and you’re going to shit all over everything.”

  Her smile tightens, always wanting to put on a good face in case anyone else is watching. “Watch your language, young lady, and your tone.”

  I laugh, but there’s nothing happy about the way I sound. “I thought we were going to have a nice lunch. I guess you had other plans.”

  “His father is a felon and a mobster, Bianca. Is that the type of people you want to associate with?”

  I narrow my eyes. “Do we really want to compare families?”

  Although my mother likes to think we’re a fine, upstanding family, we have some pretty shady people in our tree. She’s no one to talk or make judgments about a man because of the sins of his father.

  “If I recall, your father wasn’t the most honorable citizen,” I tell her, reminding her she doesn’t come from the well-to-do side of the family like she claims.

  “My father made dumb mistakes when he was young. He paid for his crimes and turned his life around.”

  “Imagine if Daddy didn’t want to be with you because of your father’s illustrious past. How would you feel?”

  I refuse to allow her to punish Vinnie because of something his father did in his past. It’s not fair. No matter how upset my mother is about our relationship, she has no say in my future.

  “His parents didn’t like me.”

  “So, you’re into repeating the pattern? We’re not very close to Daddy’s side because his mother never accepted you, given your family’s history.”

  My mother places her menu down in front of her and shoos away the waiter when he approaches. “There were other reasons I never got along with his side of the family.”

  “Is that how you want it to be with me? You want to push me away because I’ve fallen in love with someone you don’t feel is good enough?”

  “You’ve only known him for a short time. Don’t be dramatic. He’s not good for you or your career.”

  “He’s perfect for me and my career, Mom. He understands the long hours I need to work. He doesn’t whine about me not spending enough time with him. He’s the first man I’ve ever been with who doesn’t pressure me to put my work aside to spend time with him.”

  “You barely know each other.”

  “Neither did you and Daddy before you ran off and eloped. But wait, you were knocked up with Luis, weren’t you?”

  I know my words sting her. My mother has always tried to convince us that she became pregnant right after they married, but we always knew better. She liked to play the I-was-a-virgin-until-I-got-married card on us kids.

  “He’s a playboy, Bianca. You’re just another notch on his bedpost. Everyone knows how athletes are. Don’t be childish and naïve.”

  “I’m well aware of his past.” I stand and push back my chair. “If you can’t accept us as a couple or Vinnie as my other half, then we can’t have lunch anymore. You either accept him or lose me.”

  I don’t wait for her to answer before I stalk off. I’m going to let her stew on my words and whine to my father about my disrespectful behavior. He’ll set her ass straight. He always does. She’s too quick to overreact and try to get everyone to do what she wants without thinking of our happiness first.

  I refuse to let her talk poorly about Vinnie or his family. I’m well versed in the Gallo family after a quick Google search. I won’t let Vinnie pay for the sins of his father, a man I actually like and who has, indeed, changed.

  I’m halfway down the block, weaving in and out of the people wandering on the sidewalk when I realize I told my mother I was falling in love with Vinnie.

  I hadn’t been entirely honest with myself before that moment. I told myself I
liked him or we were probably just a fling. But when he asked me to be his girl, and after our time away, I knew there was no one else I wanted to be with.

  The man was about to give up a huge professional football career for me. Who does that? Only him.

  “Bianca.” I hear my mother’s voice above the chatter on the streets. “Stop!”

  I turn, finding my mother running in her high heels, waving her hands in the air. I almost keep walking. I’m sure she’s chasing me down, ready to twist the dagger in my heart a little deeper.

  “Baby,” she says, trying to catch her breath when she finally makes it to me. “Forgive me. I was wrong. You were right.”

  This may be the first time in my entire life that my mother has ever said those words. “About all of it?”

  She nods. “It’s wrong of me to judge him on his father’s past or his own. I can see you’re happy. Happier than I’ve seen you in a long time.” She reaches out and cups my cheeks in her hands. “All I want is for you to be happy.”

  “I am happy, Mom. Vinnie isn’t who you think he is. He’s kind, caring, selfless. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner.”

  Her eyes water, but she shakes away her tears. “Come back to the restaurant and tell me about him.”

  I almost say no, worried it’s a trap, but I know this is my one shot to explain everything to my mother and get her to back off for good. “Fine, but you’re not allowed to say anything negative.”

  She takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. “I promise I’ll listen with an open mind. Please, baby. You’re my only daughter, and I want to know what’s happening in your life.”

  “Okay, Mom. I’ll go back with you, but if you say something again, I’m done.”

  She nods. “Okay. I can’t imagine you not being in my life, sweetheart. If you love him, I love him. The last thing I want is for our relationship to be strained like your father’s was with his parents.”

  “That’ll be entirely up to you.”

  She grabs my hand, lacing our fingers together. “Let’s start over. Tell me about your trip,” she says as we walk back toward the restaurant.