She shakes her head. “My father won’t allow her to leave New York. She rarely gets to go to Vegas.”
Fucker!
“Boys?”
A blush fills her cheeks. “Oh, no.”
This woman is so innocent. “Have you ever been on a date?”
She shakes her head and laughs. “No.”
“Oh, you like someone, though,” I observe. I know the look a girl has when she’s got a crush. “Who is it?” I know it’s no one I would know, but again, this is just me being nosy. And plus, it’s felt like forever since I’ve had some girl talk. “Tell me all about him.”
“Well …” She bites her bottom lip. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I’ve always liked Oliver.”
My eyes widen. “You have a crush on Nite?”
“Shh.” She laughs softly, her eyes darting around the large kitchen, but we’re all alone. “He would never like me, though.”
What? “Mia. You’re absolutely gorgeous. Not that looks have everything to do with it, but he’d be lucky to be with you.”
She averts her eyes to the kitchen island. “You’re lucky, you know? With Luca. That he got to pick you.”
“What do you mean?”
“In our world, our father chooses who their children will marry and what families will be connected. Luca has loved you for a long time, and while he was here, he spent the entire time looking for a way to make you his wife.”
“Here?” My eyes widen, and I release a long breath. “That’s why he came to Italy? It was to be with you.” I answer my own question.
She gives me a sad smile. “He was a total grouch the whole time. I called him sour tart.”
I laugh, trying to imagine Luca allowing anyone to call him that. “Sour tart?”
She nods. “You know those sour candies that makes your face twist? He walked around like that all the time. He hated leaving you. He hated lying to you even more.”
My chest tightens.
“He was on a mission.”
“To what?”
“To find out what leverage he needed to get you.” My heart beats faster. “Father had a woman chosen for him, but Luca wasn’t having it.” Her lips pull back. “Thank God. Maria wasn’t right for him.”
I totally ignore the fact that she just said their father wanted him to marry someone else because that doesn’t matter. Obviously, Luca got what he wanted—me. “Do you know what he found?”
She shakes her head. “No. But I knew the moment he found what he was looking for because he no longer wore that sour look. He wasn’t smiling and bouncing around the house or anything, but he was determined. He packed up his stuff and left weeks later.”
I sit back in my seat, my chest heavy.
“Hey, I’m sorry I upset you.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m sorry I took him from you.”
She gives me a soft smile. “Luca was always supposed to be where you were.”
LUCA
I feel the bed dip, and then the covers are yanked away. “Haven …” My voice trails off as she straddles my hips. “What are you doing?” I ask roughly, starting to fully wake from my sleep. The room is pitch black, so I know it’s not morning yet. After she stormed out of the room, I didn’t bother to go after her. I got into bed and passed the fuck out.
Her small hands make their way up my sides and over my chest. Then she drags her nails down over my skin. I hiss in a breath at the sharpness.
“Haven … what are you—”
“Shh,” she interrupts me. Then I feel her chest on top of mine.
I lift my hands, and they tangle in her hair before her lips softly touch mine. “Don’t ruin this,” she whispers.
“Ruin what?” I ask, wondering where this is going.
“You. Me. Us,” she answers, trailing her lips down my jawline and to my neck. She kisses my skin, and I push her head downward with my hands still in her hair. My cock is hard. Has been since I felt her on top of me.
She gets the hint and moves lower. Her hand grips the base of my cock, and I feel her tongue circle my head, but I change my mind.
I push her off me and onto her back. She doesn’t protest. She knows I’m not in the mood for foreplay.
Grabbing her thighs, I shove them to her chest and stomach. I take my cock in my hand and rub it against her pussy. She’s wet, just as I knew she would be. I push into her, and she whimpers. I reach around and grab her arms, pulling them across her legs and pin them down parallel.
I can hear her panting. The room fills with soft noises of her struggle at this angle. I have her caged in. Tilting her ass a little bit, I start to fuck her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
HAVEN
I LIE NEXT to him, my heart still pounding, and my body covered in sweat. I turn onto my side and watch him. He has his eyes shut, lips parted, and hand on his chest. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness, allowing me to see better.
“What did you do?” I find myself unable to hold it in any longer. I need to know.
He opens his eyes, then turns his head to look at me. “You’re gonna have to be more specific.”
I sit up and push my wild hair from my sweaty face. “What did you do in order to get my father to agree to force me to marry you?”
He closes his eyes and sighs. “Haven—”
“I won’t be mad at you,” I interrupt him, trying to assure him that he can tell me. “Please?” He looks back up at me, and I straddle his hips, shoving my hair behind my ear. “I want to know. I think I deserve that.” I go another route. Anything to get him to open up to me.
He places his hands on my hips and releases a sigh. His dark eyes roam my face before they meet mine. “I blackmailed him.”
I keep my face blank of emotion. He’s being very vague. “Who gave you the information that you needed in order to do that?”
“Your mother.”
My mouth falls open. “What?”
He gently runs his hands up and down my bare thighs. “Your mother called and informed me that your father was in debt. That he had been skimming from the bank for years. She wanted to protect you. Said that you weren’t the same since I left, and that she knew a way I could get you back.”
“She set me up?” I whisper.
He sits up, and I go to pull away, but he wraps his arm around my waist to hold me in place. “She knew I wouldn’t walk away from you, and she knew you needed me.”
“But you did walk away from me. And I was doing just fine without you,” I add with bite. He frowns at me. “It all makes sense. Why my stuff was packed … why she never tried to reach out to me …” My voice trails off as my jaw tightens.
“Haven, she did this …”
“For her!” I growl. “She didn’t want Dad to lose her precious house. Her cars. Money. She wanted to make sure she had a backup plan.”
“Haven …”
“How do you know she wasn’t screwing the banks either?”
“Haven …?”
“Does my dad know?” I demand. “That she snitched on him?”
He shakes his head. “He knows that I know he’s in debt and he needed an escape plan, but he has no idea who gave me the intel. I’m not even sure he knows she’s aware of what is going on with the banks.”
“So … what? You gave him five million, and all is good now?” I cross my arms over my chest.
His jaw sharpens, and he looks away from me.
“Luca …”
“I gave him the money in exchange for you and control over all fifteen locations.”
I nod my head once. “To launder money through.” It’s what the Mafia does. So much of their income comes from drugs and other illegal activities. Cash. They have to hide it from the government, and my father’s misfortune was Luca’s ticket.
“What do you expect?” He growls. “For me to live on the straight and narrow?” He cups my face with his free hand. “I love you, Haven. Always have. Always will. I won’t sit here and apologize for findin
g a way to get you. And if that means I get to make a little money in the meantime, then so be it.”
I bite my bottom lip. “Why five million?”
He gives me a smile. The one I never could tell no. “Because that’s how deep he was.” He grabs my left hand and looks at my ring. “But I would have paid a billion if it meant you were going to be mine forever.”
I fall down onto the bed next to him, and he pulls me into his side. “What about Mia?” I ask. She’s at risk. I’m just not sure from what yet.
He stiffens. “What about her?”
“Why does your father hide her here?”
He lets out a long sigh. “A player never shows his hand.”
The same thing Mia had told me. I close my eyes, hating those words because I know exactly what they mean. “He’s going to use her. Just like my father used me.” Women are handed over like poker chips. She’ll be married off to a man to benefit his father. They’re always trying to climb the ranks. Doesn’t matter how much money they have or how big their mansions are, they always want more. And they use others to profit from it.
He doesn’t say anything, but what is there to say? It wasn’t a question. And I vow to myself that whatever ends up happening to her, I’ll be there. I may not be able to stop it, but I will not let her feel helpless or lost. I’ll make sure she knows she will always have someone she can call. Who she can run to. I’ll protect her when no one else will. I’ll be the best damn sister since Lord knows her brothers are shit.
I push off the bed, trying to sit up, but he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me down. His hand runs up and down my stomach, and a thought hits me. “Why don’t we use a condom?” We never were careful, but the fact that the paperwork mentioned heirs makes me think he wants me to get pregnant now. I don’t remember it saying when I had to produce children. I would think a shotgun wedding would look bad for him and the Bianchi family. But even if I was already knocked up, the wedding is in less than two weeks, so I wouldn’t be showing that fast. And they could always lie and say I had the baby earlier than my delivery date. Happens all the time.
“Because I know you’re on the shot.” He yawns.
“What? How?” Not the answer I was expecting.
“I know that you see Dr. Nelson every three months. Have been since … well, you know.”
I’m not sure what to say to that. I lay my head on his chest and listen to his breathing even out until he slightly snores. And I let out a long sigh. He’s right. I’ve been on the shot for four years now.
“Haven, what’s wrong?” Emilee asks, her heels clanking on the floor while she tries to keep up with me.
“I need the bathroom,” I answer, hurrying.
“Are you gonna get sick?”
We round the corner and come to a quick stop when we see one the Kings leaning up against the men’s bathroom door, holding it closed.
Titan has his arms crossed over his chest, left foot planted on the floor while his right knee is bent, and his black boot is resting on the door behind him. And he has a sucker in his mouth. The moment he sees us, he reaches up and pulls it out with a pop. “What are you two doing out of class?” he questions.
I don’t answer and neither does Emilee because she doesn’t know why I dragged her down the hallway. I picked the least busy hall this early in the morning. College students still roam the halls, but it’s dead right now.
His eyes move from mine to hers. He looks her up and down, lingering on her chest and thighs for a few extra seconds. When they reach her lips, he licks his.
I look at her with raised brows. What have I missed? She turns her head but not before I see the blush on her face.
A noise from inside the bathroom has me taking a step toward him. “What’s going on in there?”
“Nothing. Move along.” Then he winks at Emilee. “You can stay. Need a reminder …?”
“Titan …” She growls but there’s a blush again.
What the hell?
The door opens a tad, but Titan holds it shut with his weight. And I finally understand. The Kings must be in there, beating the shit out of some unlucky soul. It happens. Often. The Dark Kings are bullies. They will make you bleed. No matter if it’s with their fists or a knife. I once heard that Cross burned a guy on the face with a cigarette.
Without caring what’s going on, I reach over and grab E’s hand, yanking her into the women’s bathroom. I rush into a stall. “What was that about?” I ask, undoing my jeans.
She sighs. “Well, you know last weekend when we fucked the guys in the game room at the party?”
“Yeah,” I answer slowly, wondering where she’s going with that.
“That wasn’t the first time I’ve had an audience.”
I nod to myself. “I remember you and Bones mentioning that.” I unzip my backpack and pull out a tampon before I finish up in the stall.
“Yeah, well …” She pauses when I exit. “Before that, I let Bones fuck me in the men’s locker room after school hours.”
I remember that too. It was when I was mad at Luca and thought he was texting me, but it was her phone going off. “That’s nothing new.” I snort washing my hands.
“Yeah, but Titan was in there and watched us.”
“What?”
She bites her bottom lip. “At the time, I didn’t think Bones knew, but what he said in the game room last weekend confirmed that he knew Titan was in there watching us.”
I stare at her wide-eyed. “Well … Are you mad at Bones?”
“No. Should I be?”
I chuckle, yanking towels out of the dispenser.
“I … uh, I …”
“What?” I turn to face her. “Spit it out.” She knows she can tell me anything. The girls and I don’t keep secrets from one another.
“I wanted him to join us,” she admits.
My eyes bug out. I was not expecting that to come out of her mouth.
“I know.” She places her hands over her face. “I’m such a slut.”
“Hey.” I pull them away. “You are not a slut. You’ve only ever slept with Bones. It’s totally understandable to want to try out another dick.”
She laughs.
“There’s nothing wrong with being sexually hungry, E.”
She looks down at the floor and nods once.
“And Bones obviously seems okay with it. Maybe you should offer—”
“Absolutely not!” she interrupts me, turning to face the mirror. She slides her hand down her white Gucci dress. “Enough about me. Let’s talk about you.”
“I’ve never had a three-way,” I admit. And although I was one hundred percent turned on when I watched Bones fuck her, I have no interest in a threesome.
She rolls her eyes. “No, I mean why did we have to skip class to rush in here? Did you pee your pants?” She chuckles softly. “Or were you afraid you were going to shit yourself?”
“Oh. I had started my period.”
She frowns. “I’m not on.”
We’ve been on the same cycle for almost a year now. Poor Jasmine has never had one the same time each month. “I know. I’ve been sweating bullets, thinking I was pregnant.”
“What?” She gasps.
“It was a false alarm.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, but I’ve been nervous as fuck. We don’t always use condoms, and I also don’t take my pills religiously. Plus, I was drinking at the party. I didn’t realize I was late until a few days after.
“Why didn’t you tell me? And what would you have done?” she asks wide-eyed.
I shrug. “I hadn’t thought that far.”
Throwing her head back, she sighs. “See, this is why I can’t afford a threesome. What if I got pregnant and didn’t know who the dad was? Bones and I don’t use condoms. Well, we did in the beginning but not anymore.”
I don’t say anything. It sounds so irresponsible when she puts it that way.
“Come on, let’s go to class,” she orders.
We walk out
of the women’s bathroom, but my upper arm is grabbed, and I’m pulled to a stop.
“Haven.” Luca stands there in the busy hall, his dark eyes boring down on mine. “May I speak to you?”
“I’m late …”
“It’ll only take a minute.” He yanks me back into the bathroom, then locks the door behind us, shutting Emilee out.
“I’ll see you in class,” she calls out through the door.
“I’m on my period,” I tell him. “We can’t have bathroom sex.”
“I know. We heard you girls.”
“You heard …?” My voice trails off when I realize what he means. Narrowing my eyes, I demand. “Were you in the men’s bathroom with the Kings?”
The rooms share a wall. I didn’t hear them, but I wasn’t really listening either. Now I know it’s because after they were beating the shit out of some guy, they were spying on us.
He doesn’t answer. But he doesn’t have to. I already know that answer. “You had no right …”
“You should have told me you thought you were pregnant,” he snaps.
“Why? To push you away?”
He lets out a long sigh and steps into me. Cupping my cheeks, he frowns. “You think I’d leave you?”
“The thought crossed my mind,” I admit softly. I’ve taken five pregnancy tests, and they all said negative, but none of them helped ease my fear. What my mom would say. How I would tell him. It has consumed my every thought. I think to the point that I was convincing my body I was growing a baby. The stress alone probably kept me from starting.
“Haven, I’m never going to leave you.” He pulls me into him. “I just wish you would have told me. My job is to take care of you. And if we get pregnant, then I’ll take care of both of you.”
“If we get pregnant?” I arch a brow.
“Of course. You’re not alone in this relationship, Haven.”
I went that very next day to get on the shot. I told my mother about my pregnancy scare and that I had missed some pills, so I chose the shot instead. I wonder how long I’ll be able to keep getting them. “I didn’t read the contract,” I blurt out. I need him to understand that I don’t know all that is required of me.
Code of Silence Page 13
