Taken by the Boss: The Ruzzo Family

by Belle Winters

  In the wake of the morning sun, I had to refrain from crying. Last night had been… amazing to say the least and I knew it made me leaving today for good even harder. I rolled over and took the opportunity to look at him. When he was sleeping, he seemed so harmless and innocent. He was still breathtaking, but that danger that he usually exudes was gone and before me was just a beautiful man. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning over and brushing my lips against his softly as not to wake him. Just to remember what they felt like.

  Of course, I should’ve known better. The man could hear a feather float in his sleep. His eyes blinked open catching me centimeters from his face. He smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but blush. Knowing my little moment was over, I dropped onto my back, and I sighed. I let myself lay there for a couple of minutes before getting up.

  “I have stuff in the kitchen, I went shopping. I can make breakfast.” He offered.

  I couldn’t help my smile. Once I started to stay here, I started bitching him out about not having food. From then, he made it a habit of going shopping every week to keep his kitchen fully stocked.

  Snapping out of memory lane and coming back to the present I shook my head. “I need to get going,” I told him.

  I didn’t turn around as I stood and went to my duffle bag. I pulled out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that I could throw on to walk home. I quickly scanned the floor for last nights discarded clothes. I just spotted my panties and began walking towards them. Just as I was going to bend down to pick them up, a hand clamped down on my wrist.

  “Why? What just happened?” he asked.

  I turned to look at him and met his weary gaze. Just like last night, I came to the same conclusion. He knows. “Nothing. Nothing has changed since yesterday. I’m going to go back home. He should be gone.”

  He ran his hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated breath. “This is fucking bullshit, Julie.” He crossed his arms.

  My eyes narrowed at him. “No, it’s not. Last night was a moment of weakness, and I shouldn’t have even allowed you to bring me here for that mat – “

  I was cut off. “Allowed me?” he scoffed. “You think you fucking let me bring you here? You didn’t really have a choice babe because there was no way in fuck I would’ve left you.”

  I believed that which is exactly why I caved easily. But to remain stubborn, I made a show out of rolling my eyes. He continued to give me that hard stare, and I sighed.

  “Look, I don’t know what exactly happened Gio. One second everything was fine, and the next thing I knew I was being dumped with a fucking MetroCard. If that doesn’t send alarms flaring, then I don’t know what does.”

  He scrubbed a hand down his face. “This is exactly why you need to relax for a minute so we can talk about this. I wanted to last night but… it didn’t seem appropriate.”

  I crossed my arms mirroring his defensive stance. “What exactly do we have to say? I have my closure.”

  He frowned deep. “Closure?” he questioned.

  Ok fine. So maybe I did owe it to him (and myself if I want to be honest) to clear the air. “Ok, so you want to talk about it? Explain.”

  He just stood there staring at me stone-faced. When minutes ticked by and he still didn’t speak my frustration hit an all-time high. I threw my arms up in the air, “you wanted to talk about this, yet you say nothing. You did this!” I let it all pour out of me. “You dropped me, you avoided me, you were with other women the next fucking day right in my face!” I felt my eyes burn, but I held the tears back. “Then… then you show up at my house, and you degrade me.” I walked up to him and punched him in the shoulder. “You intentionally taunted me last night. You were an ass, and I had no idea you could be so blatantly fucking mean.” My voice cracked on the last word of my mini rant, and I saw him visibly flinch because of it.

  I took a step back as my chest heaved up and down. My breathing was erratic because now, I was worked up. I was ready for this fight, realizing I’d been waiting for it from the moment everything went downhill. Just when I thought I was going to explode from his silence, he spoke. “Why did you treat me like that?”

  Ok. Not what I was expecting, not that I had a clue as to what to expect. “Excuse me?” I asked.

  His expression darkened. “You heard me.”

  I shook my head hoping that clearing the cobwebs would bring me up to speed with whatever the hell he was going on about. “I did… I just… have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  He lowered his arms, and I watched as his hands flexed. “I went to your home… twice. Both times you tried to rush me out. Neither time did you address me or us. Are you ashamed of me?” he asked. His voice calm and deadly quiet.

  I frowned hard. What?! “No, I’m not ashamed of you. Why would you think that?”

  He scoffed and began ticking off fingers at each point. “You didn’t tell your family you were seeing me. You told them I was your boss. You sat there while your mom hit on me and still fucking said nothing! You didn’t want me to come to dinner.” He let out a humorless laugh. “Then I thought about it some more, and I realized how you’d wanted to keep us a secret from damn near everyone. You didn’t even want people at the club to know you were fucking mine. Always running off and trying not to be seen with me.” He shot an accusing finger at me. “I’m not your little dirty fucking secret.”

  I stared.

  The stared some more.

  Because, why wouldn’t I?

  I was supposed to be the crazy one here, but he was by far insane. Then I did what any other sane person in my situation would do. I laughed. Fuck, laughing never felt so good. It was funny and sad all at the same time. Completely absurd. Totally fucking ridiculous. This. This. THIS! Is what the fuck this was all about? There was no way, just no fucking way.

  “Do you find this funny?” he asked.

  I was laughing too hard to answer verbally, so I nodded. That must’ve been the hump that broke the camels back sorta say because he was on me in seconds. He grabbed me and had me pinned to the wall. “I don’t think this is funny Julie. Not at all.” My eyes zoned in on the pulsing point in his throat telling me that he was beyond livid. “You were supposed to fucking be mine, and you think it’s a fucking joke that while I was ready to tell everyone that would listen you were trying to fucking hide it.” His grip on me tightened, and I don’t think he noticed. “I don’t find anything funny about it at all.”

  The look in his eyes gave me pause. I knew he was pissed beyond measures, but it was the hurt that lingered there that sobered up my laughter real quick. “It’s not funny that I was ashamed of you or was trying to hide us. The part that’s funny is that you just don’t fucking get it.”

  He leaned in crowding my space and spoke through clench teeth. “And what is it that I’m not understanding?” he asked.

  I went back through his list in my head and answered each one. “Why didn’t I want anyone at work to know? Because I didn’t want to be treated any different. I didn’t want to be looked at as the girl fucking the boss for perks or any other thing you can imagine. I wouldn’t have ever said anything about us so I would’ve had to deal with rumors and assumptions, I would rather keep my business mine.” I shook my head. “And my family? Who the ever loving fuck would want to meet them?!” I practically screamed at him back on the offensive.

  “You should want me to meet them! It's your fucking family. I took you to mine, and that right there wasn’t something I ever did, but I did with you. For us because you were mine and I needed everyone to fucking know. You were different. You were fucking…” he trailed off as his adam apple bobbed up and down.

  “You did meet them! Or did you forget last night so soon? My fucking mother looks at you and sees ’s a paycheck, dollar signs. She would’ve been expecting me to pump you for money or something stupid for her. That’s why I didn’t want her to know. She would’ve been breathing down my back… and yours. I was trying to shield you! And… I was ashamed. I told y
ou a bit about Taylor, but that was barely touching the surface. You fucking saw with your own eyes. Heard it with your fucking ears. Taylor having Victor there? My mom was there that night like I freaking told you! She knows who he is and what they did, she doesn’t care! She went for you even though she must've known you weren’t just my boss deep down. Taylor for fuck sure did from the way she questioned me since you first came around. You really need me to write a fucking book why I would not want someone I care about…” I took a deep breath totally gone. I felt like I’ve gone off the deep end already and I just had no control left. “The fucking man I love to be subjected to them? I hate being around them!”

  He froze. His entire body tense and I wasn’t sure what was going on with him. For once, I couldn’t read him. “What did you say?” he whispered.

  I looked at him with wide eyes. “I said a lot… I’m not exactly sure which part you’re referring to.”

  “You said.” He began and paused. I felt his hands clenched and unclenched rapidly against my wrists. He took a step forward closing the small gap between us. His chest was pressed against my breast, and he bent his head down until his lips were practically in my ear. “You said, the fucking man you love.”

  Uh-oh. How the fuck do I get myself out of this? There was a lump in my throat, and I suddenly felt queasy. How the heck did I let that slip? I wanted to bang my head against the wall, and so well… I did.

  He shook his head chuckling. “Hey, hey.” He ran a hand down the back of my head. “Precious cargo here. We don’t need any more brain damage than you already have babe.”

  He was all light and smiling like we hadn’t just been at each other’s throats. Talk about a man with some major mood swings… I’m sure there's a word for it. I’ll have to refer to my psych book later to figure out the exact term for this shit. However, in the meantime…

  I narrowed my eyes. “What are you up to?” I asked suspiciously.

  He grinned. “What?”

  My eyes were now slits. “You were just ready to ring my neck, and now you’re all smiling like I just rocked your world, and you're hopped up on sexual bliss.”

  He bit his lip and traced my face with his eyes. He leaned into me pressing his erection into my stomach. I tried… I’m not lying I swear I tried not to react but god. The man was sex on a stick and just knowing he was hard for me made me horny as a fucking rabbit. I shivered and right before his mouth captured mine, I had just enough energy to push him back. Okay, fine. Maybe it was more of a small nudge that didn’t even make him shift, but the sound of his phone ringing saved the day. He eyed me for a beat, and when the ringing kicked off again, he cursed under his breath and stalked towards the living room. I let out the breath I’d been holding because… fuck.

  *****

  Giovanni

  I was already ready to kill whoever the fuck was calling me. If someone wasn’t dying, then someone will be. Julie just told me she fucking loved me, and I am fucking dying inside to get her to say that shit again. My cock also wants to fuck her into the nearest wall, bed, table… fuck. Anywhere! I just need inside of her and claim her again. Last night I was hesitant taking it easy. I knew something wasn’t right in my gut and that was only confirmed when she was ready to run for the hills this morning. Now that I know how she feels, there’s no way in hell she’s running.

  I grinned to myself. Well, she’s a hard-headed, stubborn, pain in my ass so she just might try. It would make the chase and capture even sweeter. Then, when I have to cuff her ass to the headboard of my bed for a few days and have my way with her, she’d learn. Once she let those fucking words slip, the whole cat and mouse game came to an abrupt end. She was caught. Plain and simple. I just need to get her to understand. God help me.

  When I reached my phone, I saw it was an unknown number, and I tensed. I didn’t do randoms, that shit automatically screamed fucking trouble. I don’t like the whole surprise bullshit. I want to know who the fuck you are up front. I watched as it rang once last time and went to voicemail. Almost immediately, it began to ring again, and I watched it contemplating answering when finally deciding not to. I was fucking surprised when not a couple of minutes later a notification popped up on my phone telling me I have a voicemail.

  I tapped the button so the voicemail could play. I bought the phone to my ear, “this is your only warning. I’m coming for you and the rest of the Ruzzo’s as well as everything you love. Everything you own will be gone.” A laugh that was humorless. “I’m taking what’s mine.” Then the message was done.

  I stared at my phone frowning. What the fuck?

  One, who the fuck still leaves voicemails, especially threatening ones. Two, who was this fuck that dared issue a threat like that yet is trying to remain anonymous – a pussy motherfucker. Three, apparently, I now had someone to go after. He was going to regret ever even learning my fucking name. The thing to know about me, I don’t take too kindly to threats. If you have the balls to come at me, you damn well better be ready for the consequences.

  I’d just pulled up Jetti’s number on my phone and right before I could connect through, my phone rang in my hand. Dante.

  “Yo.”

  “Gio, man… we have a problem.” Dante began.

  I tensed. “Talk.”

  “Ruzzo’s, its… gone.”

  Huh? “What do you mean it’s gone?”

  “The fire department contacted us. The place was torched, arson. There’s nothing left to salvage.” Dante explained.

  “Fuck.” I shook my head. “Alright, I’m on my way. We need to talk. Where’s Louie?” I asked.

  “He’s talking to Jetti.”

  I nodded. “I need to talk to all three of you, meet me at the cabin in twenty,” I told him.

  He paused. “Something else is going on isn’t there?” he asked warily.

  “Yea. I’ll fill you in… make sure everyone is there.” I said and hung up.

  My body was coiled tight, ready for a fight. Someone was really asking for a meeting with the grim reaper, and I am more than happy to make the introduction. Ruzzo’s was a pizza joint that’s been in the family since before pa. I think my great-grandfather or hell maybe even his pops opened up that spot. That place was a legend and even though we’re criminal bastards – especially back then – the family always made sure our people were taken care of. We ran these parts, but we also did shit for the community. Some people stick their noses up and shit at some of the stuff we’ve done… going with shit like it’s from guilt. It’s not. There’s not a fucking thing for us to feel guilty about. This is the life chosen for us and fuck whoever doesn’t like it.

  Our pizza place not only had the best food in town but all kids got food for $1 – anything on the menu. Sometimes even free if they couldn’t afford it. Hell, same went for adults although their usual price was $2.50. We built a rec center for the kids next to it, and my dad started a “secretly funded” tutor program where not only the tutors got paid, but the tutee also got a stipend if the session was a success and their grades improved. It was definitely a motivation.

  So, I guess how you could see how someone burning down the spot was a real slap in the fucking face. It’s not like we actually made money from the place. It was one of the main things that the community was grateful for. It was homey and believe it or not served a bigger purpose. Got runaways and all types of people in and out of there. Kids felt safe the second they walked through those doors because the name on the sign fucking made sure of it.

  I turned to Julie who was still panting against the wall where I’d left her. My eyes scanned her head to toe, and I cursed to myself. Of course, as soon as I have her in my fucking clutches, some shit pops off. I fucking want her bad, but that would have to wait. I had business that I had to tend to first… shit just got real. I sent out a text to pops and prayed that he’d get it right away on a miracle can get here in ten minutes.

  I walked over to Julie and pulled her into my arms. I breathed her in, and some of t
he anger and violence threatening to consume me faded a bit. I ran my hand down her back and kissed her forehead. She put her hands on my chest and frowned.

  Her blue eyes swept up to meet mine. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  I cocked my head to the side. “How do you know something is wrong?”

  She raised an eyebrow as if to say, really? “You’re tense as hell. You were just smiling before you got on your phone. Did something happen?” she asked.

  I searched her face, and she seemed genuinely concerned. I sighed and ran a hand down my face. “It’s just business that I need to take care of right now.”

  She worried her bottom lip. “You uh…” she scratched her ear nervously. “Want to talk about it?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll handle it.” I ran my hands down her back until I was cupping her round ass. “I know you’re trying to find the first opportunity to flee, but can you stay here and wait for me?” I asked.

  She groaned and dropped her head against my chest. “Look, I was serious… I don’t think – “

  I gripped her chin and tilted her head up. “We’re not done, and I know if you leave you’re going to avoid me. I’m going out, so it's not like you have to deal with me. Just stay here?” she started to shake her head, and I groaned. Fuck she was stubborn. “Please?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  She tried to fight her smile and failed miserably. “God, that sounded painful. Did it feel as bad as it sounded?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Yes. Now, can you stay put until I get done with business and get back? I’m sure you have some homework or something you can work on. I have all you can drink coffee.” I bribed her.

  She sighed long and hard like I was putting her out. “Fine.” She muttered. “How long are you going to be?” she asked as she crossed her arms with an attitude.

  “I’m not sure, but hopefully I can get this shit resolved quick,” I told her although I knew this was going to take most of the day if not the night. “Just promise you’ll still be here when I get back.”