by Soraya Naomi
Adriano scans me from head to toe, and Henry nods at him as Logan whispers into his ear, most likely to update him. Logan leaves out the fact that I’m high, I assume, since Adriano doesn’t scowl at me.
“We seem to have a problem, gentlemen,” Adriano begins, stopping in front of the end of the barrel that’s pointed at his chin since he’s much taller.
Struggling to concentrate, I stand up straight to hide my buzz from Adriano and Carmine, who comes to a halt next to Adriano and reaches inside his grey suit jacket to fish out his gun while Henry pushes me farther behind him as I clasp his hand.
“Lower your gun. Now,” Carmine commands, and after a hesitation, Scarface stands down.
“Why is your fucking bartender selling our heroin?” Henry demands, and I see Adriano grinning at him with pride.
No one answers, so Adriano strolls around the desk, touching an opened package and letting some heroin flow through his fingers. “I don’t remember giving you permission to sell my drugs. Did we, Logan?”
Logan strolls alongside the desk, the tip of his weapon scraping across it, causing powder to flutter to the floor. “I don’t think we did.”
When one man moves, Henry and Luca cock their weapons as well, and after that, chaos erupts. The guy on Scarface’s left jumps aside as Scarface lifts his arm again, but Carmine blasts his shoulder, making him swing backward against the edge of the desk and sag to the floor with a cry.
Then Henry shoots the second guy in the heart twice, and he also collapses.
In the meantime, Logan grasps the throat of the third man, who’s tried to sneak out the door, slamming him against the wall with a thunderous growl, pushing his gun against his chest and chiding, “No, no. You’re not going anywhere.”
Adriano rounds the desk and looks down his nose at Scarface, who’s clutching his injured shoulder. “You chose to make this difficult.” Then he kicks his stomach with a furious groan. “You will tell me who sold you my drugs.” Adriano unbuttons his suit jacket and flings it onto the desk. “I guess this is going to be a long night.”
However, when he stoops low and grabs a knife from his ankle sheath, flashing it before Scarface, Luca interrupts, prompting, “Adriano.” And then he nods in my direction.
Adriano looks at us and orders, “Henry, take Mary home.”
Instantly, Henry guides me toward the door, stashing his gun in his waistband when Luca pulls down the handle and inches it open for us to cross the threshold.
As the door shuts behind us, I hear Adriano say, “By the way, that’s my little sister, and her life is worth more than all of yours combined.” The last thing I hear is a smothered cry.
Despite this violent display, I’m distracted by Henry winding his arm around me and tucking me into his side. Utterly comfortable and high, I’m not even registering what just happened. Instead, I’m focused on being so close to Henry after arguing with him earlier.
“Where are we going?” I ask, having no desire to return home whatsoever.
This time, his answer is exactly what I hoped for. “Somewhere we can be alone.”
That smoldering look is back in his eyes, beneath the layer of anger and concern. The sentiment touches me as he guides me out without releasing me once, as if he’s afraid someone will hurt me if he let’s go.
And my heart is no match for this Henry, a possessive and protective Henry.
CHAPTER 8
Henry
I grasp Mary’s hand as my mind spirals out of control, not sure whether I want to kiss her or strangle her. I’m furious at Keano for giving her the drug and at her for snorting it. Furthermore. I’m taking a huge risk for Mary; I even covered for her. Logan and I didn’t tell her brothers she used heroin. Only that the bartender tried to sell it to her.
Additionally, it pisses me the fuck off that she was even in that tainted place. Alone. While I’ve always believed she’s a little naïve sometimes, her calm reaction to what occurred in the office amazes me. Now I realize she isn’t naïve at all. Her sweetness is just inherent to the vitality that surrounds her all the time. In reality, she’s clever enough to assess a situation and knows when to keep quiet and cooperate. It’s a damn sexy trait. Combine that with the way I’ve been feeling ever since I saw her with Keano again at Club 7, and I’m no longer capable of restraining these emotions.
Once we reach my silver sedan and are on our way, I maneuver it through the darkened streets of the Loop, toward Lincoln Park, where I park the car and storm across a stretch of trimmed grass until I reach a small, round pond.
Mary stops next to me as I glare at the light rippling over the surface of the water, fuming yet trying to contain my rage. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“What?” she responds, annoyed. “I’m high, Henry. Don’t you dare treat me like a little sister right now.”
I turn sideways and grab her shoulders, barking, “Jesus Christ, Mary! This was completely irresponsible. Do you even get that?”
The wind rustles through her curls while she tries to wrench free. “I’ll admit it wasn’t my best choice, but why were you even there?”
“Because Carmine discovered that the Syndicate’s heroin was being sold at Cocktails & Heels.” I release her harshly as she studies me in a manner that seems too intimate, like she can see into my goddamn soul. And I’m bewildered as to why I’m not doing what I usually do and running in the opposite fucking direction, because the thought of Mary in trouble weakens me. I’m used to working with data and avoiding personal attachments; however, since joining this Syndicate, I’m not sure I want to live like that anymore.
I watch her scowling face, how the moonlight makes her skin glow. She obviously is high, because she’s standing tall, even though she just witnessed something most women would cower under. Any other woman would probably want my comfort, yet not Mary. She’s different, resilient, and knows her place in this mafia life. And deep down, I always knew it.
“That still doesn’t answer why you were there. Weren’t you with Tara?” she spits, poking her finger into my chest. “You don’t get to play hero while you constantly push me away. This has nothing to do with me being high—”
I grip her hand forcefully and pull her close. “It is about how fucking stupid I find it that you got high. With him.”
“Fine. Maybe it’s a little about that. But it’s mostly about how you can’t deal with your damn feelings! Because you’re a hacker and prefer systems to people.”
Instantly, I let her go as if she’s burned me, but her words keep tumbling out.
“You dismissed me on Sunday like I was one of your one-night stands. Did you ever think about how that made me feel? No! Because you’ve been MIA for days to be with her. Who is she?!”
“Someone from my past,” I answer too quickly, needing this subject to go away.
She assesses me while puffing out her aggravation. “Past? Or present?”
I cock my head, and she sighs.
“Are you currently dating her?” Her tone becomes loud again.
“No,” I retort with a snarl, “Not the way you date him. Christ! What the fuck do you expect from me, Mary?”
“I expect you to treat me like a real friend. To not disappear on me and...” Hesitantly, she rubs a hand over her forehead. “...tell me, why are you so protective?”
“No. First”—I crowd her again, so she looks up into my eyes—“cut the bullshit and tell me what you expect from me? You are dating someone; I am not.”
“So you’re not dating Tara? She was just your fuck of the week? I hate seeing you with her.” She spins around, turning her back to me. “I hate her.”
“You hate her?” The anger, along with the jealousy that’s eating me up inside, which I’ve never encountered with another woman – not even Tara – rears its ugly head again. “How do you think it’s been for me to see you with fucking Keano? For weeks!” I grip her arm, pivoting her back around as her hair cascades over one shoulder. “Why are you still wit
h him, Mary?”
Her nostrils flare. “You only want me as a friend. So why do you care if I’m with him?”
I disregard her comment. “So you just stay with him, even though he gives you drugs. Even though we both know you don’t want to be with him. That’s really fucking smart.” I’ve lost the reins on all my mixed emotions.
Her lips thin and she jerks free. “It’s my mistake for not ending it with him and for using the heroin, and I know that. But you don’t get to lecture me.” She tries to provoke me. “You don’t get to be jealous while I have to watch the parade of conquests you bring to the club.”
I finally snap because she’s driving me absolutely crazy. I haven’t been with a woman for weeks, while she’s been with him. “Maybe I need to have other women to deal with the fact that you go home with him every fucking night.” I vehemently grab her face with both hands, dragging her closer to me again, and grind out, “To drown you from my mind while you fuck him! This is the last goddamn time I’m asking, Mary. Why are you still with him?”
Mary’s palms rest on my chest as she meets my eyes. “I’m not. Not in the way you think. I haven’t slept with him except that one time.”
I rear back without releasing her face. “What?”
“I don’t have sex with Keano. I don’t even kiss him. We don’t touch each other. He isn’t really my boyfriend, not to me anyway. I haven’t spoken to him since Sunday either.”
My hands fall from her face in astonishment. “How?”
“Our relationship has been weird ever since we got back together; we barely see each other. And I’m confused...because of you,” she explains in a softer tone, her temper more in check.
I rub my hand over my mouth and decide to be honest as well, or else I’ll go mad with whatever this woman does to me. “I might have confused you because I didn’t want to ruin our friendship, Mary.”
“But we are more than friends, aren’t we?” she questions with an expectant expression in her captivating, doll-like facial features.
Nodding, I stroke from the high arcs of her cheeks down to the corners of her full, rosy lips with my thumbs. Simultaneously, we expel a deep breath.
My senses are accosted by her signature perfume, which is also driving me wild, and I ask before I forget, “What perfume do you use?”
“It’s not perfume. It’s argan oil. It has a nice scent, but I can’t believe you can smell it. It’s magic potion for the skin and hair.”
“I see.” I wrap a satiny curl around my finger while I imagine pouring this argan oil all over her body.
Then I return to reality when Mary shifts forward, looking up as she toys with the end of my untied bow tie. She goes up on her tiptoes, and I mesh my fingers into her hair, the sexual tension that persistently surrounds us growing stronger.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” she mumbles as the warmth of her body presses into mine. “And for using the heroin.”
“Don’t ever fucking use it again,” I order, snaking my arms around her and hugging her tightly.
“I won’t. I promise.” She gazes up at me, and I’m softened by her show of remorse.
“How are you doing?”
“Okay. I’m less sluggish, so I think I’m less high,” she answers before confessing in the sweetest tone as she skims the tip of her nose over mine, “I’ve missed you. So much.”
Instead of running away from the intimacy she’s creating, I need to mark her with my kiss before I lose it. Yet not like this, not until she’s all fucking mine. So I hold still, gripping her hair and pulling her head back as my lips hover an inch above hers. “I won’t kiss you. You won’t cheat with me, Mary. End it with him. He’s an asshole anyway for deserting you.”
“I’ve been trying to break up with him for weeks, but he always manages to convince me otherwise. I don’t know why, because he doesn’t seem to be any more invested in this relationship than I am.”
That’s odd. “I can go with you,” I offer in all seriousness.
When she laughs, it cuts through the solemnity. “No, that would be a little mean. I can’t dump him with the guy who beat him up standing right there.”
“You’re too goddamn nice to him. He doesn’t deserve you,” I tell her while watching the heat in her expressive eyes. “And I didn’t beat him up. I only punched him once. But end it with him so that he fucking understands it or I will.”
She grins, and I’m not sure which one of us initiates it, but before I know it, we’ve sunk to the ground and she’s astride me. My hand roams down her spine as her center presses against my rapidly stiffening dick, and my resolve to hold off, which I expressed only minutes ago, vanishes as I massage her ass with both hands.
“Fuck waiting,” I rasp against her lips, not kissing her. “I want you now – one way or another.”
I’m mad. I’m certifiably insane, but I don’t fucking care. My desire for Mary is beyond all reason, and I will take this moment and this woman as far as she’ll let me.
When she arches her body and starts to move, I nip her throat as our suppressed longing sets off and we’re both unable to end it. Nevertheless, we still don’t kiss, denying ourselves at least that much.
Mary moans when I suck her neck, bunching her dress up as I run my hands up her thighs, which are locked around my hips. She shivers as my fingertips continue to glide over her skin, and I become hard as steel when I expose her sexy red thong.
Molding her behind, I possessively growl into her neck, “You have the sweetest ass.”
Her eyes glaze over with lust, and when she slithers her nails down my chest, I actually fucking tremble, aching to be inside her. Impatiently, I unfasten my pants while Mary yanks my dress shirt up and my boxers down slightly, stopping for a split second when she notices my straining erection.
Grinning, I nip the corner of her mouth and order, “Turn around, Mary.”
Grasping her sides, I rotate her effortlessly and situate her to face away from me, giving me a perfect view of that ass that’s been featured in the majority of my fantasies lately.
I hook one finger in her thong, nudging it aside to drag the tip of my cock over her pussy. Then I place both my palms on her round cheeks, roughly squeezing the soft flesh. We both gasp when our skin makes contact, her core rubbing all over the length of my cock.
As I dig my fingers into her behind and thrust my dick between her cheeks, Mary groans and throws her head back while I watch her perfect body moving against mine. “Jesus Christ, Mary. You better get ready because I will be fucking your pussy. Soon.”
“Oh...Henry.” Whimpers come from deep in Mary’s throat as she gyrates against my dick, tangling her fingers into her own hair and riding me without restraint.
It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. The way her back curves and her copper brown curls flow down it in captivating waves, the way she breathes those husky little sighs.
I jack my hips up, groaning because of how goddamn good it feels and grabbing hold of her before slapping her ass twice, hard. My cock is throbbing and I’m about to blow, pressing it against her slit and ass, and it takes enormous willpower not to drive into her.
Mary moans unashamedly loudly, so I quickly survey the area to ensure we’re still alone, although I’m fucking loving the way she doesn’t hold back at all. As we move together with urgency, I know there’s a good chance my grip will bruise her, but we’ve both lost control, needing to express our pent-up hunger for each other.
“Come for me, baby,” I order, smacking her luscious behind again and guiding her to ride me harder until I feel her wetness coating my entire cock as she locks her legs on either side of my thighs and comes.
I follow right behind her, my balls tightening. Thrusting up three times, I push her ass cheeks together and explode in violent spurts all over them. My whole body reaches a zenith, and it’s the most incredible sensation I’ve ever felt, especially after waiting for so long.
“Fuck, Mary!” I rumble, breathless, as she
looks at me over her shoulder with a satisfied afterglow. I collapse backward to catch my breath for a few seconds before I yank out my handkerchief and swipe her clean, slapping her ass one more time because I can’t help myself.
“Ow,” she protests, yet I hear the smile in her voice.
Throwing the handkerchief aside, I sit up and guide her to recline against me. Lazily, she puts all her weight on me while I stroke the insides of her thighs. We’re both still half naked, but neither one of us gives a shit at the moment. I just need her to stay where she is – I need to feel her. We don’t speak, and I now notice that the temperature’s dropped. Depleted and satisfied, I hold her to try to keep her from getting cold so that we don’t have to move, but unluckily, reality interferes when an ambulance siren in the distance breaks the spell.
Suddenly, I see that Mary’s eyes are closed, so I cup her chin and she opens them. She’s hesitant to speak, but there really isn’t much we can say until she ends it with that motherfucker, Keano, and I guess she understands that as well since she mumbles, “I should go.”
“You should,” I agree, and her face falls, though I’m not sure why. “My offer to go with you still stands.”
“No. I need to do it alone.” I pull her dress down as she gets up and asks, while glancing away, “Um, can I see you later?”
I button up my slacks and rise too. “Yes. But first, end it with him. Tonight.”
Mary runs her hands through her hair to make herself presentable again. “If you can drop me off at home, I’ll call him or meet with him tonight.”
I’d rather she doesn’t meet him alone, but she seems adamant to do this by herself. And I’m glad she’s going home since she’s still high.
After Mary dumps him, I’ll deal with Keano with the assistance of Adriano and Carmine. He’ll pay for giving her that heroin.
