Stolen Kisses

by Gray, Khardine

  Well hell. Vague as I tried to be, I think I just got a clue that might help.

  From what he’d said I thought it was reasonable to assume that Christina met the guy we were looking for here.

  Here at work while organizing an event, and not at Crowthorne’s.

  It was more plausible to assume that. Such a shame though that I couldn’t narrow it down further because she worked with all of them.

  “Thank you Mr. Chase. We’ll definitely be in touch.” Better not to ask anything else.

  Hopefully I’d get somewhere with the list Jerry had printed of. When I got home I’d go over it and separate out the political figures from everyone else. Then see if the names matched up with initials on the documents Vinny sent. It would almost seem too easy if it actually worked, but it was worth a shot.

  “Thanks again for coming, everything we do helps.” Jerry nodded.

  “I agree.”

  Gio and I left him.

  “I’ll contact you later when I go through this.” I said to Gio as we took our descent down the stairs.

  “Good, then we can match up stuff. Alex and I did a lot of work with Gibbs yesterday. Would be good if you could get a name or two, or a lead.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  We walked down the stairs and I got that weird sensation again. This time I stopped and turned.

  “What?” Gio asked.

  I didn’t answer I continued looking around and finally saw him.

  It was a guy on the second floor, on the opposite side to where we’d been in Jerry’s office. He’d been watching and the minute I looked up he’d looked away and started walking across to the atrium.

  I continued watching him as he walked and I realized I’d seen this fucker before.

  Short black hair, long pointed nose I wasn’t likely to forget, a limp like he’s had a bad leg for a long time and had gotten used to walking that way. He had a thin stature with no muscle at all, and those eyes—big and bulbous.

  He was the kind of person you remembered, because of the peculiarity in the way he looked and how he carried himself.

  Yes, I’d seen him before. It was him.

  Years ago, I’d seen him before with Christina at the Crowthorne society. That had been the first time I’d seen him.

  The thought made me move back up the steps we’d just come from. Gio followed me. Gio followed not needing to ask any more questions, he just came with me, backing me up.

  I kept my gaze trained on the guy, but fuck as we got around to that section he turned off somewhere. I didn’t know which fucking way he went.

  I stopped and balled my fists growling.

  I’d seen that fucker with Christina. He was the driver I saw in the Bentley that had carried Christina and Donny Manello. He drove them to the Crowthorne. Then I saw him here again on the same day I argued with Christina.

  That was four days before she was murdered.

  Chapter 19

  Dante

  10 years ago …

  Fucking bike. I clenched my fists and tried to keep calm.

  Gio cast a glance at me and frowned.

  I was fixing the engine on Claudius’ bike. He wanted to make the bike faster and heard I was the best at doing anything like that.

  I just wasn’t when I was pissed.

  “Hey kid, don’t you dare mess up my Harley.” Claudius frowned.

  I looked at him and blinked.

  Normally I would know my place around a guy like Claudius and wouldn’t be as bold as to even look at him the wrong way. Today though, fucking hell I was mad as fuck and I didn’t appreciate a guy who wasn’t that much older than me calling me kid.

  Gio intensified his glare on me and shook his head warning me to calm down. I just ignored him.

  “Who the fuck you calling kid?” I straightened up and zoned in on Claudius who practically flew over to me. His hair billowing out behind him like a cape.

  I wished I could say he looked like some weirdo with his long hair and funny eyes, but he didn’t.

  The whole package was just one part of the reason that all the women loved him. The other was that he was one of the capos to the Rossi family. He was a guy a grunt like me, looking to work his way up, should respect. I definitely shouldn’t have spoken to him like that.

  “You have some death wish?” Claudius snarled.

  Maybe I did. Maybe I lost my fucking mind. It was the kind of thing that happened when a guy saw his little sister associating with one of the worst crime families and practically rolling around in the lions’ den.

  My little sister was getting out of some posh car with Donny Manello, of all the people and they were going into the Crowthorne Society, Antonella property.

  Barabbas Antonella was the devil.

  It didn’t get much worse than that and I couldn’t do anything about it.

  So yes, I had lost my mind and I was ready to either die or fight.

  “Try it! You fucking L.A. punk.” I balked, Claudius snarled and pulled out his gun at me.

  I simply pulled my two on him. I may have been a grunt, but nobody was a quicker shot than me. The only other person that could claim to be better was Pa and he was dead.

  I held out my twin Berettas at king Claudius who looked from one gun to the other, then back at me.

  “Guys please, this is shit. This is our garage where we work on the stuff we like, remember?” Gio called out from the corner.

  “L.A. punk?” Claudius asked me. “New York punk, I’m from here you idiot.”

  “I didn’t see you here this whole time. Think because you’re up Raphael’s ass everyone’s scared of you.” I was an idiot; everyone was fucking scared of him.

  There was Gio over in the corner for a reason.

  Claudius looked at me like I had lost my mind. He sneered, almost sounding like a growl and lowered his gun.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Claudius asked.

  I still held out my guns just in case this was some trick to get me to think he’d eased off. “Nothing, your fucking Harley will be ready in the morning.”

  “You said it would be good tonight.”

  “Plans changed up. It’s delayed, now beat it.”

  Claudius laughed. Laughed at me and my attitude. “You know what Dante, you have some fucking balls. You totally do. I think as much as I want to kill you, you just earned my respect. Is this about Maria?”

  Maria …

  Fucking hell. That woman was either going to get me killed or … something.

  The answer to my problems with her was simple. I needed to forget her, end of story. It was a case of me being the grunt of a guy with nothing and my stupid old bike as she called it riding around town like a fool trying to climb up the ladder of life and impress her.

  “No, it’s not about her.”

  “Looks like it is, if so your guns should be on Luc, not me.” He laughed again.

  I lowered my guns. “It’s not about her.”

  Anxiety was eating away at my insides. I had to see Christina now. I had Claudius’ bike to do and another guy wanted me to change the back wheel on his Kawasaki, but it all had to wait.

  Claudius and Gio continued to stare at me as I started packing up my toolbox.

  Claudius moved closer and tapped the work table to get my attention.

  “Dante, if this isn’t about her then what is it about?”

  I stopped packing and returned my focus to him. “My sister ... I saw her hanging around the Crowthorne with a Manello.”

  For Claudius to look shocked it showed the depth of how bad what I just said was.

  “You didn’t tell me that,” Gio stated coming closer.

  “I’ve been too worked up man.” I replied.

  “Need me to go with you somewhere?” Claudius asked to my surprise.

  We just hung out here in this garage with our bikes. We’d done that for the last two years, but he didn’t really rate us until about five months ago when I fixed up a Harley for F
at Tony one of Raphael’s bodyguards.

  Him offering to go anywhere with me meant a lot. Meant business and no one would mess with me if they saw us together. More than anything if he was thinking I was heading to Antonella territory it meant he was willing to go with me.

  “No, but thank you. I just have to go see my sister.” I looked from him to Gio hopped on my bike and rode away.

  I headed to Christina’s workplace. I’d been trying to see her and speak to her for the last two days, but she’d avoided me like the damn plague.

  I wasn’t one to go to her workplace and cause a scene, but this was all getting to me in a way I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t good, it was shit. All of it and if I embarrassed her at work I didn’t care. I didn’t fucking care, because I had this bad feeling that something was going to happen to her if I didn’t act in some way.

  I rode like a demon on my Harley. Maria could call my bike old all she wanted, but I knew I had a priceless work of art that could get me through rush hour traffic in record time and it handled like a dream.

  I parked up and headed to Christina’s office. She shared it with two other people who organized the fundraising events. Her door was open and it sounded like she was arguing with someone.

  I didn’t bother to knock. I just walked in and looked at the guy.

  I looked at him and narrowed my gaze at him, staring him down.

  He was with her and Donny a few days ago. He was the driver of the car.

  He looked at me, and didn’t say anything. His gaze snapped back to Christina, then he straightened up and walked out.

  I watched him the whole time, him with his peculiar features. With a nose that made him look like a cross between a penguin and the child catcher, and that creepy vibe.

  Why would he be driving Christina and Donny? And what was he doing here?

  “Dante,” Christina stood up, folded her arms and looked at me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have to talk to you.” I answered, really trying to keep my voice calm and not fly off the handle. “You’ve been avoiding me for the last couple of days. Why the fuck don’t you answer your fucking phone to me?”

  “Because you are acting like a crazy person.” She fumed shaking her head. Her dark locks flowed down her elbows.

  “Me a crazy person? Christina I saw you with Donny Manello at the Crowthorne. Is that the kind of bastard you’ve been seeing?”

  “You followed me?” Her eyes blazed.

  “Yes, of course I followed you. You’ve been dating all these guys that are dangerous Christina. They’re dangerous. You could get hurt, or worse.”

  “No, and you have no right to follow me around like that. You have no right whatsoever. It’s my life and you think you own me or something. I can see whoever the hell I want.”

  “No, you can’t. I’m telling you Donny is a bad person.”

  “Dante you’re a complete asshole. You just get on your high horse and cast your judgement and your law. You forget I’m not some kid anymore who needs her fucking annoying big brother breathing down her neck.”

  I couldn’t believe she thought that. “I keep us safe. My job is to keep you safe.”

  “Well you need to stop. I don’t want you to anymore. I hate your complete disrespect of me and my privacy. You can stop doing this job you think you have.”

  “Christina, I’m begging you. Don’t associate with any one from the Manello or Antonella family. Please. Men like that aren’t good. They won’t treat you right. Are you seeing Donny? Is that what this is?” I had to know what was happening.

  “It’s none of your business. But if you must know, I’m not seeing him.”

  “You’re seeing somebody though,” I retorted.

  “We’re done with this conversation Dante. It’s my life and I will keep private what I wish. Fuck off out of my business.” She shook her head at me, eyes filled with hurt.

  I didn’t think I’d ever felt so hurt myself. I’d taken care of her since she was little. I had to grow up so fast when Pa died and be a man.

  This was how she spoke to me and treated me.

  “Yeah, sure. How about I do you a favor and butt right the fuck out. I’m done with you.”

  The sting of my words gripped me. A tear ran down her cheek, but I ignored it, walking away. Hoping she’d come to her senses and next time when we spoke it could be the way we used to be and she’d hear me out.

  Chapter 20

  Dante

  Present day …

  I went home with that memory heavy on my mind. It was one of the pieces of the puzzle that I’d missed.

  Parts that I had never saw fitting together, because my sight was turned to something else.

  That man …

  He knew who Christina had been seeing. There was something in the way that he was speaking to her that said something. They were arguing about something and he’d stopped and looked at me before walking out of the room.

  Today when I saw him, it was the same piercing stare. It was the look of someone who was hiding something.

  Hiding and watching me. If there was nothing my instincts told me he wouldn’t have been watching me. He knew me the same way I knew him And had recognized him.

  I had the squad looking into it.

  They’d sent over the layout details for Crowthorne hall, so our plans were ready for tomorrow.

  Tonight I just had to deal with my own demons, until tomorrow when I was pushed even deeper down this rabbit hole.

  Who I saw standing by the window in my bedroom made me feel a fuck of a lot better.

  Maria.

  Standing by the long French windows, gazing outside she stood there with her golden hair flowing all the way down to the small of her back.

  She wore a silk negligee that hugged her curves and wiped my mind clean of everything.

  Flynn had the room upstairs, while I just moved her into my bed.

  If this was the vision of what lay at home for me after a long day, I’d happily take it, any day.

  She turned when I walked in and her face broke out into a warm smile.

  I backed off my jacket allowing it to fall to the floor as I strode my way to her.

  She walked to me too, looking like she was floating. Floating on some cloud straight from God and his angelic hosts.

  I was reminded of the day I had first met her. The white blonde hair was the first thing I saw, and then those eyes—so beautiful. Then she changed into more than that.

  We didn’t speak, I just reached for her and kissed her. Kissed her the way I’d always wanted to and more.

  This was the girl who’d made a guy like me jump from A-Z without thought. I just did it, because I wanted her. I made big life decisions because I wanted her.

  Big life decisions that honestly could get me killed. It wouldn’t be the first time I lost my mind over this woman, over all the kisses that were stolen from me.

  Stolen kisses.

  Stolen moments.

  I wanted them all back.

  I kissed her like we were made for each other. Our mouths alive with wet heat. Heat, and the rawness of my need for her and hers for me.

  Her responding to my touch eagerly as I caressed the contours of her perfection, her perfect body.

  She stepped back out of the kiss and looked at me.

  “Don’t tell me to stop.” I warned, because I had no intention of listening if she did.

  “No, I just want to look at you. I just want to forget everything and look at you.” she smiled.

  “Look all you want later.”

  She giggled when I reached for her again, cupping her face as our lips met in a hot slide.

  Instantly I wanted to take her and claim her perfect body, renewing my possession of this angelic beauty.

  Each kiss sent electricity through my veins. Merciless and hungry.

  I picked her up and carried her over to the bed, stripping her naked so I could kiss every inch of her.

  Then I had to loo
k at her too, her naked in the center of my bed bathed in the soft glow of the amber nightlight mixed with the moonlight.

  From where I was looking, my eyes scanning over the flat, taut plane of her stomach, the delicious mounds of her breasts and the perfection of her, I’d never seen a woman sexier than her.

  My damn ass was in love with her from the very first time I saw her and I hadn’t even known.

  That was it. I thought of myself as this guy who knew so much and yet I didn’t know the reason why I could decide so effortlessly when it came to her. It was because I loved her.

  I loved every inch of her inside and out—that hair, those eyes, those lips, her tight, pert nipples, flawless beauty.

  Everything. Body, mind, and soul.

  Now she was mine.

  All mine.

  Mine to hold and protect. Franco could send the whole fucking cartel after me.

  Let him come. He hadn’t met me yet and God help him when he did.

  She watched in delight as I backed off the bed and shrugged out of my clothes. She reached for me too when I returned to her.

  No woman had ever felt so perfect to me and as I continued my feasting of her; I knew no woman ever would.

  I tasted every inch of her. Tasting and deepening my intoxication of her wild beauty.

  I pulled her closer so she was right in the center of the bed.

  Her body welcomed me as I slid into her sweet pussy, wet and ready for me to take her.

  I tried for slow like I always did. I tried for slow so I could enjoy her, but just like always my need took over and consumed me.

  The minute I thrust into her I knew. I felt that rush of wanting her fill me and take over. It guided my hips to thrust deeper. Deeper and faster until we found that rhythm that only we had together.

  Her walls stretched allowing even more access to fuck her the way I wanted to.

  Hard and fast, plunging deeper still into her until the pressure started to build inside me.

  Fucking hell, she felt so good. So damn good. I never, ever wanted to stop.