Honor (Made Book 1)

by Melissa Ellen

  She was angry with me. I could tell by her subtle dismissal. I saw it in the light flare of her nostrils and the way her full, red lips formed into a tight smile.

  She’d thought she was telling me a final goodbye today in that dressing room. She was wrong. And now, she was pissed.

  “Never been better,” I replied airily, playing the game we were forced into with present company. “And yes, but things didn’t work out. I’ve recently moved back.” I casually pushed a hand into my front pocket, the greedy fucker itching to reach out and touch her.

  “A shame, having to leave behind all those beaches filled with beautiful women,” Lorenzo cut in, pulling Lena snug against him, a cunning smile on his face as he kissed her neck with his filthy fucking mouth. She shied away, pretending to playfully shove him with an annoyed grin.

  She was miserable. I could see it clearly behind her false smile. I blamed myself. I shouldn’t have waited so long to come home.

  Fuck that.

  I should’ve never left.

  I tightened the balled fist in my pocket, my nails digging deeper into my palm to the point of almost drawing the blood boiling below my skin. It was all I could do to keep my cool façade from faltering. “Not really. It wasn’t for me. This is where I belong. In New York.” I redirected my stare toward Moretti. “With family.”

  Moretti smiled. If he’d noticed any tension, he wasn’t showing it. Raising his brandy glass, he arrogantly replied, “To family,” before taking a drink. Turning to Ariana, he spoke low into her ear, “Why don’t you and Lena grab some fresh drinks at the bar?”

  Lorenzo stood from his seat, puffing out his chest as he waited for Lena and Ariana to slide from their places. Lena’s gaze flicked from her father to me then back to her father. “I’m good. My drink is still full.”

  “It wasn’t a request, mi cara.” Lorenzo offered his hand to help her up, his tone filled with a cold menace.

  Not budging an inch, she glanced at it, then to her father, whose face was stern. He expected her to fall in line. He gripped his brandy glass a little tighter, his knuckles whitening.

  My jaw ached from my clenched teeth as I watched it all play out. Remaining impassive was imperative. And the hardest damn thing I’d ever had to do. While Matteo wasn’t my favorite human being, Lorenzo was even less so. He was only four years older than me and grew up with the rest of us mafia-bred offspring.

  Unlike my father, his father had groomed him to be the sick bastard that he was. Some may say Lorenzo was even more deranged than Moretti himself. Moretti had some morals, at least, even if they were driven by a sense of obligation to tradition.

  Before Lorenzo became Underboss to Moretti, his dad had held the position. After his father was killed on the docks a few years ago during a deal gone bad with the Irish mob, Lorenzo had quickly stepped into his place. Lorenzo had shown no emotion at his father’s funeral. Avenging the death of his father had been all at Moretti’s insistence. That didn’t mean Lorenzo didn’t take pleasure in dismantling each man supposedly responsible, limb by limb.

  Ignoring Lorenzo’s hand, Lena slid from the bench seat, eyes blazing. She brushed past him in a huff, leaving Ariana scurrying after her.

  “Please.” Moretti waved his hand to the seat across from him, his welcoming expression back in place. “Join me.”

  I nodded, filling the spot Lorenzo had vacated as he moved to stand at Moretti’s side.

  “Would you like a drink?” Moretti asked.

  “No. I’m not much of a drinker,” I lied. I wasn’t here to be social. I needed to keep my wits about me and my head on straight.

  “A shame. They have some of the best grappa here. Are you sure?”

  “Maybe another time.” I sat back, my eyes quickly scanning the room, catching a glimpse of a fuming Lena at the bar before returning my gaze to Moretti.

  “All business. Just like your father,” he said with a reminiscent smile. “I always liked that about him.” He took another drink before setting his glass down. Relaxing into the seat, he draped his arm over the backrest. “Let’s get down to business then… Your uncle tells me you’re having some money issues.”

  I nodded.

  “If it’s money that you need, I’m more than happy to give it to you.”

  “I appreciate your generosity, sir, but I’m not looking for a handout. And I’m not looking to owe anyone else money. I would rather work for it and pay the assholes off, knowing I have no more dues.”

  His offer hadn’t surprised me. I knew it would be his first response once my uncle passed on my reason for wanting to work for the family to earn some fast cash. The story I gave my uncle was a plausible one. I needed to make some money to pay off some debts in California that I racked up by gambling too much in an underground ring. It was also my excuse for coming home unexpectedly: to buy some time and hopefully make the cash to pay them back before they came looking for me.

  “And you’re sure they’ll come all the way to New York to collect?”

  “Two hundred grand isn’t exactly a small amount of money, even for you.”

  A low chuckle shook his chest as he lifted his glass to his grinning mouth. “Touché.” He drank, then set his glass back down, pressing his forearms against the table as he held my stare, his face tightening, his tone more serious. “And what would you be willing to do for this money?”

  “Whatever you need. Whatever gets me the money the quickest.”

  “Whatever I need?” he repeated my words back to me.

  I affirmed with a single nod.

  Remaining in an eye lock, he contemplated my answer.

  “I’ll tell you what, Mario,” he finally spoke after assessing me. “Out of respect for your father and uncle, I’m going to help you. Your family has always been honorable and your story checks out. You, yourself looked after my daughter for many years. I appreciate that and would like to repay the Leoni family for your loyalty all this time.”

  “Thank you.”

  “We’ll be in touch.”

  I stood, shook Moretti’s hand, and gave Lorenzo an obligatory parting glance before walking away. Ariana and Lena were already making their way back to the table. As they neared, I gave Ariana a friendly smile, then brushed my shoulder against Lena’s as I passed, whispering low near her ear, “My place. Tonight,” while keeping my stride toward the exit.

  The sharp intake of her breath was the only confirmation I needed to know she’d heard me. I had no doubt she’d show, angry with me or not; her curiosity wouldn’t allow her to stay away. She’d want answers.

  The cab pulled to a stop near the curb in front of my apartment building. I thanked the cabbie, then opened the door, stepping onto the dimly lit sidewalk, the streetlamp buzzing overhead. I exaggerated my sigh at the sight of the woman waiting outside, leaning against the black iron railing that lined the landscape at the sidewalk. “Agent Rhodes.” I raised an eyebrow as she straightened to her full five-foot four-inch height. “It’s late. What could you possibly need that couldn’t wait for the morning?” Uninterested in her actual answer, I strode past her, pulling open the lobby door.

  “You can start by explaining what you were doing meeting with Moretti tonight,” she demanded at my back.

  “I was doing what you asked,” I replied dully. She followed me inside without an invitation. Fucking brilliant. The last thing I needed was Lena showing up here with Agent Over-achiever hanging around.

  “Nobody asked you to meet with Matteo Moretti before we talked further, had a chance to form a plan or plant a wire on you,” she spat, perching her hands on her sides, drawing attention to the gun and badge on her right hip.

  Fuck. Was she trying to get us both killed?

  “You see, that right there is exactly why I didn’t discuss it with you first.” I pried at her wrist, forcing it to fall and her cheap blazer to conceal them once again.

  She glared at me, her whole face pinching with unattractive rage. I pressed the button to call the e
levator, wishing the metallic hum of the old machine could drown out her grating voice.

  “If you want this to work, it’s done my way,” I tossed over my shoulder before staring at the slowly decreasing numbers overhead.

  “It’s my case. And the deal only stands if you play by my rules. Otherwise, none of this works and Moretti and Lorenzo walk.”

  “Wrong. Again. The deal only works if I agree to be a part of it. And I promise you, they won’t be walking at the end of all this.”

  Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits. Her arms crossed, drawing my attention momentarily to her cleavage that heaved upward in the tight white tee she wore.

  Sue me. I was a fucking man. And despite her being like an annoying fly that wouldn’t go away, she was still an attractive woman.

  Keeping my mind where it belonged, I looked back at her face. Her eyebrow perked. It’d been a quick glance, one most wouldn’t have noticed, but she’d caught it nonetheless, making me respect her a little more for her perceptiveness.

  “Look, I’m not trying to step on your toes, Rhodes.” I smirked. She frowned, not finding me the least bit humorous. I swore she wanted to smite me with a bolt of lightning in that moment, or maybe just shoot me. “But if you want this to happen, I have to gain their trust first. They weren’t just going to welcome me, arms open wide, despite my family’s history.”

  “Okay. I can understand that, but it doesn’t explain why you didn’t at least give me the heads up before meeting with them. What if they check out whatever story you gave them?”

  “They did. And I already had it covered. Believe it or not, Agent Rhodes, I have my own connections. I thought you understood that when you asked for my help.”

  Thanks to Eric and the Blackwoods, along with a few friends I made while in California, I was able to make certain my story checked out if Moretti’s guys went sniffing around.

  “As far as not giving you the heads up, I needed to know if I could trust you first,” I admitted.

  This was partially true. There were as many moles in the FBI as there were in the mafia. It’s how the families continued to do business and evade arrests for the most part.

  “Which begs the question, how did you know I was meeting with them?” I stalled some more before she started asking me real questions about my meeting.

  “You know that I’m running ’round-the-clock surveillance on them,” she said through clenched teeth, her annoyance growing by the second.

  The metal doors finally screeched open. I stepped inside, blocking her path, my arms stretched wide, pressing against the sliding panels. “Huh… I do vaguely recall that. You’ll understand my need to make some calls to see if your story checks out. Until then, I guess you’ll have to trust me to do what I need to.”

  “It works both ways, Leoni. You can’t keep me in the dark from here on,” she insisted.

  “Sure thing, special agent,” I agreed mockingly, taking a step back with a grin on my face as the doors began to slowly squeak closed. I was rewarded by her irritated eye roll just before they sealed her off completely.

  I dropped my smile and dragged my palms over my face with a sigh. Working with Agent Rhodes was either going to work in my favor or get us both killed. I just wasn’t sure which one, yet.

  I closed the door to my apartment, setting my keys and phone on the side table before checking the time on my watch. I shrugged out of my jacket, then unbuttoned my shirt, stripping out of it as I made my way to the bedroom. I flung the shirt and jacket onto the chair I kept in the corner of the room. I removed my shoes and socks before heading into the bathroom to finish undressing.

  I waited for the water to heat up and for steam to start to rise before stepping into the hot spray of the shower. Hanging my head under the steady stream, I closed my eyes, losing myself in thoughts of Lena.

  “Hey, man”—Gabe DeLuca smacked my shoulder a few times with the back of his hand—“isn’t that Lena Moretti?” He jutted his chin toward the front door.

  I shifted my eyes from the cute blonde I’d been chatting up for the last thirty minutes to look over my shoulder. My smile fell as I caught sight of her walking into the bar. She was with a woman I didn’t recognize, heading for an empty table near the dance floor.

  “Yeah,” I finally said, clearing my throat and turning my attention back to the blonde. I stared at her hazel eyes and couldn’t even remember the name she’d told me earlier, now that my thoughts were overwhelmed with Lena.

  “Damn. She looks good. I still can’t believe you never hit that.”

  My molars ground together at Gabe’s words as I tried to remember blondie’s name. Her flirty smile was fading quickly the more Gabe spoke. He didn’t mean anything by it. Didn’t mean I liked the fact he was checking her out.

  “Yeah, well she’s always been more like a sister,” I lied. I stopped viewing Lena as a little sister years ago. But besides our one kiss at my senior prom nearly ten years ago, I’d never acted on my feelings. I knew better than to let myself go down that road.

  She was off-limits for many reasons. Mainly, because despite how I felt about her and knew she likely felt about me, we could never be together for the long term. And long term is exactly what I knew I’d want with Lena Moretti if I ever gave in to temptation.

  She wasn’t like the one-night stands I typically filled my lonely nights with. She was a forever type of woman. Unfortunately, her forever would never belong to me. As the only child and daughter of a widely feared mafia boss, her destiny had always been to marry a made man of her father’s choosing.

  The only thing Lena and I could ever be was friends, something that was getting harder and harder to be as time continued to roll by. I’d tried putting some space between us, especially after returning from the military and taking a job with a private security firm. The type of work I did took most of my time, making the task slightly easier. But now that the Blackwood family I was hired to protect moved across the country, I had more time on my hands, leaving more opportunities for trouble until I got assigned to a new account. Lena, on the other hand, seemed to always find a way to be near me, taunting me with her beauty, and making me smile with the way she flustered from my chronic childish teasing.

  “I could use another drink,” the blonde said.

  Normally, I’d have offered to get her one. Instead, I said nothing as she stared at me expectantly. My attention was once again drawn to Lena and the two guys approaching her and her friend.

  “Unbelievable,” the nameless blonde huffed as she snatched her phone from our table top and stomped away. I felt only slightly bad for the ass I’d just been, the rest of me couldn’t care less. That was the thing about Lena. She always had a way of stealing my attention from any and everyone.

  Barely waiting for the woman to move away, Gabe slid into the spot she vacated and leaned forward on his elbows. With his head turned, he stared with me. “Shit, looks like we’re too late. I was just about to ask if you wanted to go over there. Figured you could take the friend, and I could talk to Lena.”

  Yeah. That wasn’t fucking happening. My stare flicked to Gabe as I narrowed my eyes. Gabe wasn’t a bad guy. He was one of the few I kept in touch with from the old neighborhood after returning home from my stint in the service. I enjoyed hanging out with him, having a few drinks, and picking up girls with him every now and then, but that was only when they weren’t Lena.

  “Stay away from Lena.” I didn’t leave any room for argument in my warning. I knew he’d take it as me being the protective brother type, versus the jealous boyfriend type, which was perfect. He’d get the message either way.

  Gabe slowly stood upright, holding his palms out. “Got it, man. It’s still a shame, though. Her friend is hot, too.”

  I picked up my glass, throwing back the rest of my whiskey and stood. They were headed to the dance floor, most likely to ditch the two guys who were still lingering at the girls’ table, their eyes glued to Lena and her friend’s swaying hips as they walke
d away.

  I wasn’t going to wait for one of the douchebags to make their move again. I could see it in their eyes. They were only waiting a moment before joining them.

  “Let’s go. You can have the friend,” I ordered.

  Gabe smiled, not bothering to put up a fight. I barely noticed him following behind me as I zeroed in on Lena’s body, watching it rock in rhythm to the loud music playing through the bar. Her dark green dress that melded to her curves perfectly, left little to the imagination. I’d made the mistake years ago of telling her that it was my favorite color on her. I was pretty sure she only wore it to torture me.

  Side-stepping between all the bodies, I pressed in behind her. Her movements stalled for a second when she felt me. Without looking back, she continued to gyrate, her ass pushing deeper into my stiffening dick. I dug my fingers firmly into her hips, inhaling a breath through my teeth. Her hands glided up her own body seductively, her arms raising over her head and then dropping onto my shoulders, where she linked her fingers at the base of my neck.

  Her head fell back against me as our bodies moved together effortlessly. Turning her cheek to my chest with her eyes closed, as if losing herself in the music, she smiled. Her smile had always been spectacular, one that made every person lucky enough to witness it, stop and take notice of her. But this smile was different. There was intent behind it, a smile that told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me.

  “It’s about time you came to say hello.” Her voice was like Viagra to my ears. Even if she hadn’t before, she had my full attention now.

  Angling my head, I lowered my lips to her ear. “What are you doing here, Lena? This isn’t your scene.” I ran a hand over the curve of her waist and up her arms, slowly brushing the tips of my fingers over the goosebumps that pebbled her skin. Latching onto one of her hands, I broke them apart, spinning her to face me.

  She gasped, her front slamming into mine in one swift move and I held her flush against me. Tilting her head back, she looked at me in a dare.