Bound for Life (Bound to the Bad Boy Book 1)

by Alexis Abbott

  I feel warmth spreading through my chest, and I can’t help but smile in pride. I wrap my arms around her waist, holding her protectively as the scent of her hair fills my nostrils. “You know how naive that sounds, passerotta mia,” I say, only half-seriously, and she looks up at me with a challenging smile.

  “Don’t give me that,” she says, her Italian blood showing, “you and I both know how well we work together.”

  I feel a chuckle escaping me, and I bring my face close to hers as I rumble, “All too well, Serena.”

  Our lips meet.

  All the world seems to melt away as I hold her there. We’re not standing in a public place, we’re off in our own world, far away from all our troubles, all our danger. A place we’ve visited before when things got too heated. A place we went when we both were young and naive. Things haven’t changed so much after all.

  Just the world around us has.

  But I eventually feel her soft lips leaving mine, and she looks up at me, her smiling eyes proud of the thickening shaft growing between my legs. But I can’t let everything go unspoken between us. Looking at her evenly, our eyes locked, I level with her.

  “You’re in danger, Serena,” I say softly yet firmly. “I won’t lie to you.” I watch the ghost of fear wash over her face briefly, but she swallows.

  “You mean...those guys you fought with.”

  “The Cleaners.”

  She gives me a puzzled look, and I turn back to the aquarium tank with her in my arm, hugged to my side. “There have always been a lot of gangs fighting for dominance down in Spanish Harlem. There’s always been a small Italian presence, but they’ve kept to themselves for a long time. Now, Spanish Harlem is changing, and they got pushed out with nowhere else to go. A group of them calling themselves the Abruzzi family showed up in the south side of the Bronx a while back. They earned a reputation, and the nickname stuck. They’ve been pushing into our territory.

  “That’s who was at my shop?” she says, her eyes widening. I squeeze her side. “Is that why they were there? Why would anyone bother with my shop if-”

  “The Cleaners don’t play by any rules, Serena,” I say. My voice is low, both to keep our conversation quiet and keep her calm. “The man harassing you, Lorenzo—he’s the so-called Don’s son. He’s a spoiled man in a family of upstarts,” I say, not hiding the edge of disgust in my voice. I don’t like mafia politics on a good day, and the Cleaners are the worst of the worst. I’ve been...tactful in how I describe the situation, though. The last thing I want is to scare her too much.

  “Oh God,” she breathes, leaning into me. “The mark on the window today...this isn’t going to go away, is it?”

  “I’ve been assigned to protect you, Serena,” I say, looking down at her, and I can practically feel her heart flutter as she looks up at me. “I don’t want the rest of my associates getting involved unless I’m the one calling the shots. I’m going to keep you safe and out of all that business.”

  I know old memories are getting dredged up, and I see the shining hint of tears welling up in her eyes. I squeeze her, and she opens her mouth silently before saying, “Do you think that’s going to be a problem? That the m- that your associates are going to start caring about my shop?”

  “No,” I say firmly, squeezing her hand. “I’ve made sure of that. And if that changes, Serena,” I say, leaning in to whisper into her ear, “then the mafia can go fuck themselves. You and I are the only ones I care about, carina. I’ll be right here, at your side, watching over you. As long as this heart of mine is beating, I swear, nothing will touch you unless you want it to.”

  Her lip is quivering, and I meet her embrace as she hugs me, sinking into my arms, and I feel a tear stain the shoulder of my shirt.

  Growing up with families like ours, you don’t escape the shadow of the mafia. But maybe together, we can keep just one light aflame to see us through the dark.

  Sometime later, I walk her through the rest of the aquarium to ease her mind off of such heavy things. She’s spacey at first, but soon, the play of the dolphins and the gentle, hypnotic floating of the jellyfish we pass help her smile, and by the time we get a bite to eat, she’s chatting about some biology class she took in college as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  It’s the little things that give me some hope for the future. But even so, as the day winds down and we make our way out to the parking lot and look up at the dark sky, I know we can’t escape our troubles that easily. I hold her tight to me as we make our way down the parking lot that’s not lit up by nothing but street lights.

  While Serena has a spring to her step, I’m already expecting what makes her freeze in her tracks when my car comes into view.

  “Bruno-”

  “I know,” I say, my eyes darting around the lot as my gun hand twitches.

  Parked next to my car is the black sedan that was tailing us earlier today.

  BRUNO

  “Be casual, follow my lead,” I say as I guide her to the side, walking away from my parked car.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Just stay close to me,” I say as softly as if I were teaching her how to drive a car. “Do what I say, and be ready to run if I tell you to.”

  “You know I won’t,” she says, tenacious even in a tense situation, and I can’t help but smile. That’s my girl.

  “Then just be ready,” I say, my hand on the small of her back as I guide her.

  There’s going to be trouble tonight. That much is unavoidable. I know we have eyes on us now, and it won’t be long before they close in. But if we’re going to have a fight, I will pick the battleground. We’ll do things on my terms.

  The boardwalk is next to the aquarium. It’s still only as well-lit as the street lights will let it be, but there are less surprises in an open space than in a parking lot. I guide us onto the wooden planks, empty for a long way on either side by this time of the evening. Most people are either heading home or know better than to hang around the waterfront at night.

  It’s mostly empty, anyway. My eyes have been scanning the area as I guide Serena out, and by the time we step onto the boardwalk, I’ve spotted the men following us out there. There are three of them. I size them up. They’re big, one of them almost as big as me.

  “Bruno?” Serena whispers.

  “Remember what I said,” I assure her as I guide her to the nearest light, watching the shadowy figures present themselves about ten paces away from us. The looks on their faces tell me they’re about as ready to drop the pretense as I am. Riegelmann Boardwalk is basically a straight line—two of them are up ahead of us, and the big guy is behind us.

  “You boys lost?” I say to them, looking between both of them. “This area can be a little dangerous at night.”

  “Shut the fuck up, Lomaglio,” the big one addresses me by my last name, his deep voice rumbling from a mouth with a missing front tooth. “You know what this is about.”

  “Oh, Lorenzo wants his teeth back? Sorry, didn’t bring ‘em with me,” I say, rolling my shoulders back as they take steps forward. “Tell him to meet me himself if he wants ‘em. I’d say you could bring back some of your own and tell him they’re his, but it looks like you tried that already.”

  As he makes a snarling face, I notice his hand twitch as if for a gun, but he stops himself. The NYPD station is just a block away. I have no doubt the cops have been paid off to turn a blind eye to the area for the next hour or so. That kind of thing happens all the time, even by my own associates. But even so, I’m guessing they didn’t give a bribe big enough to ignore gunshots in the police’s back yard.

  Instead, I see the big guy’s fist glimmer in the lamplight with a pair of brass knuckles.

  “Fuck him up, boys, and take the girl,” he orders, and he moves forward while the two in front charge.

  I turn in time to see the two of them, the flash of a knife in the hand of each. Serena hunches down on instinct, and I step forward to put myself between her an
d them.

  One lunges, but I turn with his strike and simply grab his wrist to pull him along, using his own momentum to throw him off-balance while I deal with the other guy.

  The second knife swings from below, but I can see it coming from a mile away, and I simply catch him by the fist and squeeze. The muscles of my thick forearms ripple as he throws a wild punch with his other hand, but by the time it strikes my jaw, he’s already screaming in agony as his wrist crunches with a sickening noise in my grip.

  I hear Serena gasp from behind me. It makes me all the more furious that these fuckers are spoiling our date.

  I answer his weak punch by seizing his other wrist, leaving him totally open, and my knee shoots up to the dead-center of his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. His knife falls to the ground as he doubles over and crumples to the ground. I kick the knife far away.

  It might be useful, but it’s not worth bending over to pick up.

  Especially not as I hear a grunt from behind me, and the squirrelly man I threw off-balance a moment ago throws his arms around my neck. I catch his fist just in time to see the point of the blade aimed at my throat.

  My jaw clenches as I hold the man’s weapon away from me, both of us twisting as we struggle against each other. He’s stronger than he looks, but not strong enough to overcome me.

  “Turn him around!” the big guy commands, and I hear Serena’s yelp with the sound of flesh striking flesh.

  My anger burns in me like a flame, and I see red.

  Adrenaline surges through every corner of my body. I twist the man’s knife away and crouch down to hurl him over my shoulder, hearing him thump solidly on the ground before my fist comes down on his face. There’s the sound of cracking bone, and I know I’ve broken more than his nose when the force turns his head and puts him out cold.

  An angry roar behind me makes me jump up to face the big guy, but what I see surprises me. He has Serena by the wrist, trying to hold her up and keep her off-guard—him grabbing her must have been the sound I heard. But in Serena’s right hand is a little black cylinder.

  She turns her head and shuts her eyes as the little can of pepper spray unleashes on him, and the man shouts out in pain and drops Serena, who scurries back while he wipes his eyes.

  “Fucking brat! I’ll kill you both!” he shouts, opening bloodshot eyes that fall squarely on me. His heavy footsteps carry him toward me, giving me enough time to square up and anticipate the jab he comes in with.

  By his build and the way he carries himself, even with eyes full of pepper spray, I can tell this guy must be a boxer. A lot of them trickle down into the mob’s ranks, and I know what to expect when this gorilla of a man comes swinging.

  A jab and a cross first, brass knuckles humming through the air as if they were blades. A basic combo. With simple, quick movements, I dodge the blows, just like when I play-fought with the guys behind Uncle Carlo’s shop. But instead of the hook I’m expecting, he surprises me with a left uppercut. I move fast, and it glances off the side of my face, leaving my ears ringing for a moment.

  I see him getting ready for another onslaught—it’s going to be hard to get this guy close enough to grapple. He lunges in for another jab, but I’m faster this time and catch him on the nose. He blinks in confusion, and then I see his face contort in pain after the sound of a thud from behind him. He reaches over his shoulder with his teeth gritted…

  And I see Serena backing away from him in shock at what she’s done, moments before the big guy turns enough for me to see the switchblade she just sunk into his back.

  I take the opening. In half a second, I side-step him to get behind him, and in the instant that he rips Serena’s blade out, I wrap my arms around him in a sleeper hold. He snarls—it’s astounding he’s even still standing—and he starts stabbing blindly behind him with the switchblade, trying to sink it into my leg. I hold my grip, an expert at controlling my foes this close up, and I feel the man’s bulk start to get heavier as his strength leaves him.

  Finally, the sound of the switchblade hitting the ground tells me it’s over. I let the man collapse to the pavement awkwardly, and I step back, surveying our work. But I only do so long enough to make sure nobody’s moving.

  As soon as I have, I turn and embrace Serena, who’s shaking in my arms as I hug her close to me, tears staining my shirt.

  “O-o-oh my God, did I kill him?!” she stammers in a panic, and I can’t help but smile as I rock her gently, stroking her hair to calm her down.

  “No, no, Serena, everything’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

  “Bruno, I-I’ve never used that knife before, I just had it and thought-”

  “You were wonderful,” I say, holding her shoulders and pulling her back enough to look her in those shining eyes, beaming at her.

  And with adrenaline still pumping through my body, she’s never looked more attractive to me. Her slender frame feels so right in these hands of mine, fresh from protecting her without a weapon on hand. And as her panicked form stops shaking while she looks up at me, I see a glint of the same in her eyes.

  As if we had the same thought, we dive at each other in a deep kiss, and my hand goes to her ass when I feel my manhood growing between my legs.

  But after a second that felt like an eternity, I break the kiss and whisper, “Come on, we need to get out of here.”

  “I ’m staying the night,” I say firmly once we’re through the front door of her place and I lock it. I used one of the men’s knives to slash their car tires before I drove us off. After that beating, those men would be lucky if they were awake by morning, much less able to track us down with their battered bodies.

  Still, I’m not going anywhere. For more than one reason.

  “Are you sure they didn’t follow us?” Serena gasps, almost forgetting to take off her jacket when she steps inside, hand starting to shake again. She’s gotten jittery in waves between then and the ride to her home.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh my god, Bruno, they were trying to kill you!”

  “Yes.”

  “A-are you sure you’re okay?” she says, rushing up to me and looking me over, “I-”

  I silence her by putting a hand to her soft lips, looking at her steadily in the eyes. “Yes.”

  Without another word, I pull her into me and bring my lips to hers. I feel and hear a soft, surprised gasp from her before she starts to melt into me. We both have so much pent-up energy left over from the rush of the fight, and we desperately need somewhere to put it.

  “You did well tonight,” I say as she tugs my hand, beckoning me to be quiet as she leads me to her bedroom. It’s on the far corner of the house, and she relaxes once the door clasps shut.

  “I was so scared,” she breathes as she tilts her head back, exposing her neck to me now that we’re in private. I take the bait and attack her neck, kisses running up and down the sensitive skin, teeth grazing it and making her gasp. “Bruno, if you hadn’t been there-”

  “You made me proud,” I say, quieting her with a squeeze of her ass. “You’ve become a strong woman, passerotta mia.” We kick our shoes off in a hurry, and I haven’t even gotten her top off before my hand gropes her chest, cupping a breast and savoring the feel of it through the thin fabric. She shivers at my touch. My other hand goes to her ass as I work her back toward the bed.

  Finally, I sit her down on it, and I kneel over her, sliding my hand up to her back as we stare into each other’s eyes, seeing the passion in each other’s gaze. “I’ve gotten strong? What even was that?”

  I run my fingers into her hair, letting the silky feel of it run over my hand like water. “My work isn’t something to be proud of, Serena.”

  “It does have its perks,” she says, her eyes roving over the rippling muscle of my body, and I see her bite her lip as she runs her hands down my sides before reaching the hem of my shirt. She tugs at it, looking up at me with a pout to her lip.

  It’s a look I’ve seen before, a
nd it still teases the same fire in me.

  “You are a brat, you know that?” I tease, and a smile tugs her lips into a curl.

  “Just for you.”

  I tear her top off up over her head, tossing it to the side. I glower down at her exposed form, nothing but a bra left on her chest, and with one hand, I unhook it and let it slide off her arms before easing her down onto the soft cushions.

  Her breasts free, I descend on them. I let my hot breath wash over her nipple, panting over it like I’m about to devour it, and she arches her back, gasping as I play with the sensitive nub of her nipple relentlessly. My teeth toy with it, grazing against its sides ever so gently. Feeling the nipple harden under my tongue sends fire through me. My hand moves to her other nipple, and I run my thumb over it to excite it as well.

  The taste of her is delicious. My tongue lashes back and forth over her nipple, darting out to play between my teeth before I toy with her stiff nipple and cover the area with my mouth.

  My other hand gropes her breast, possessing her, letting her know she is mine. I push my thumb against the bottom of her nipple and flick it and rub it gently with my index finger. I can make my thick hands handle delicate things, when I want them to.

  Her nipples stiffen, and her breathing is quick under me. I can feel her legs squirming, and I know just how much she’s getting bothered between her thighs. It brings a smile to me, even as my mouth moves across her breast playfully, teasingly.

  I shouldn’t be doing this. This is dangerous for both of us. But if we’re going to face danger anyway, I want to us to face it together.

  I turn my eyes up as I nip her breasts, and I see a mess of blonde hair spilling around her neck and shoulders, mouth hanging open as she whimpers for me. I raise my head away from her breasts, replacing my teeth with my hand on her right breast. I have to look down on Serena.

  On my woman.

  Her limbs are sprawled out across the bed, long and willowy. She looks like some dancer exhausted from practice, but I’m just getting her started. She turns her eyes to me as she feels the change, and color rushes to her cheeks at the sight of me looming over her, thumbs roving possessively over her nipples.