Ties That Bind Us

by Nicole Knight

  “Then I’m not seeing what the problem is. You hate the morning after. Why aren’t you jumping for joy about this? She was an awesome shag and completely detached. In fact, are you sure you didn’t dream this? It seems too good to be true.” Leo smiled slyly.

  “The problem is, I’ve never been ghosted before. No one has ever walked out on me like that,” I grumbled, shoving down some of my breakfast.

  “Or the problem is you actually want to see this girl again.” Leo arched an eyebrow at me. It irked me how observant he was sometimes. It was hopeless to try to hide anything from my brother.

  “Can we just drop this please?” This was only making me more irritated. Hopefully, Zane would have something for me soon.

  “Drop what?” My father’s voice came over my shoulder. He walked around my side of the booth and slid in next to Leo. Gio Caponelli was an intimidating man. He stood tall at six foot six, and had a piercing glare that could make a person crumble on sight. He was fearsome and evoked an uneasiness in people who weren’t familiar with him. Most people chose to just stay out of his way entirely. He was a good father, but he always demanded the most out of us, and only now that I was an adult could I understand why. This life wasn’t for everyone, and he was doing his best to prepare the three of us to continue his legacy.

  “Nothing,” I snapped, certainly not wanting to explain the entire story to my father. He would have all kinds of unsolicited opinions I wasn’t sure I could stomach this morning. They’d probably be along the lines of me cleaning up my act and settling down with someone. That was one of his conditions for me taking over, and something I wanted nothing to do with.

  “Don’t mind him, Dad.” Leo laughed. “He’s a little moody this morning.”

  “I’m not moody. I’m dealing with a small crisis and I would appreciate a little sympathy.” I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “What kind of crisis?” my dad asked, eyeing me suspiciously. I knew he was thinking this had something to do with the business.

  “Oh please. You not being able to get in touch with your booty call is not a crisis.” Leo rolled his eyes and I kicked him under the table. What the fuck? I thought I made it clear I didn’t want to talk about this anymore? Especially in front of our father.

  “Booty call?” My dad sighed heavily. “Don’t you think it’s time you grow up a little?” And there it was.

  I rubbed my chin harshly, careful about my response. I didn’t want to piss my dad off but I didn’t really like what he was insinuating. My sex life was none of his business, and I certainly didn’t need to curtail it in order to run this group. I was more than capable, and his assumptions were way off base.

  “It’s not a big deal. We have a lot going on at the warehouse this week that I’m stressed out about. That’s all.” We ran a legitimate shipping company that masked most of our illegal activity. By day we imported and exported all kinds of goods out of South America, and by night, we brought in heavy ammo and artillery under the disguise of livestock shipments. Port authorities used scent dogs, and the animals always threw them off the scent of the illegal shit. It was the perfect setup. Until I took over for my father, I was in charge of the day-to-day operations of the shipping business. I knew the purpose of it, but all it really was a headache to me.

  My dad contemplated my words before nodding and filling his cup with coffee. At least that was sufficient for now. “Right. That’s what I wanted to speak to you both about anyway.”

  “What’s going on?” Leo asked. He was mostly in charge of shipments coming in at the dock and then transporting them to the warehouse. Once at the warehouse, they were sorted and sent out to our clients. I handled the redistribution.

  “I think we have a rat.”

  “What?” Leo and I both hissed at the same time. A traitor? There was no way. Our men were loyal almost to a fault, and we didn’t bring anyone new on without serious vetting. My dad had always been sure to make an example out of anyone who crossed us so no one would ever risk it. We had good relationships with all of our men and treated them well. Had something slipped through the cracks?

  “I don’t know for sure and I don’t know where. But somewhere between the docks and when the shipments are getting back to the warehouse, we’re coming up short. Just a little at a time. I have a feeling it might be a supplier, but I want to be sure before we do anything.”

  “How? I’ve been checking them in myself,” Leo said.

  “Somewhere along the line before redistribution. We need to keep a close eye on things these next few weeks and see where the problem is. I don’t want to draw any attention to it right now, just see how everything shakes out and then we’ll go from there.” My dad’s expression was serious. He was genuinely concerned about this, which was nerve-racking. He didn’t get disturbed very often, so when he did, it was a big deal.

  “And in the meantime?” I asked. “How will we make up the loose ends? We can’t send our shipments out short.”

  “In the meantime, I’ve asked the Morettis for additional support.” He sighed heavily. “They deal with a few mutual suppliers, and Alessandro said they’re having some of the same issues.”

  “You’re working with the Morettis?” This was absolutely absurd. Signing a deal with them was like signing a deal with the devil.

  “We’re working with the Morettis,” he corrected me. “It’s only temporary, and we’re all on the same side here.”

  “I don’t like this one fucking bit.” Leo groaned.

  “You don’t have to like it, Leo. We just need to figure out what’s going on and go from there. We’ll both be monitoring our own groups and then meet in a few weeks and see what we can figure out.” Dad checked his watch. “I’ve got to run. You two behave yourselves.”

  He slugged back the rest of his coffee and slammed the cup back on the table.

  “And you,” he said pointing at me. “No more booty calls. Find yourself a nice woman that your mother will approve of.”

  I chuckled and shook my head.

  “Easier said than done.” Leo laughed, taking my side for the first time in this whole conversation.

  Dad waved and headed out the front door, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on us. Working with the Morettis was dangerous.

  This was going to be a nightmare.

  Chapter 3

  Ava

  “You’re unbelievable, you know that?” Bella barked from the pool chair next to me. I ignored her, continuing to flip through some trashy gossip magazine. We’d already been out here lying by the pool for an hour, and I had listened to her ranting the entire time. She wanted details about last night, but I wasn’t about to give in so easily. I was nursing an earth-shattering headache and trying to make sense of all that gone on last night in my own mind. The last thing I wanted to do was delve into all the details with Bella right now so she could dissect and overanalyze the whole thing like she usually did.

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bells.” I knew exactly where she was going with this, but I enjoyed irritating her.

  I had been giving her excuses all morning. Thankfully, she had been the only one woken up by me sneaking back into the house early this morning. I could only imagine what my father would have said if he caught me tiptoeing up to my room, dress wrinkled and heels in hand, at seven thirty in the morning. It certainly wouldn’t have been pretty, and he definitely wouldn’t have let me off as easily as Bella had. I staved her off as long as I could by promising to tell her all the juicy details later if only she’d let me get some rest. That lasted briefly. She was at my door at nine o’clock ready to go out to the pool. I begrudgingly joined her, but had remained tight lipped on the whole thing so far.

  My parents had a sprawling estate in Oyster Bay Cove, about an hour east of the city, where Bella and I both still lived. It was our childhood home, and while I was always drawn to the business and liveliness
of the city, there was something about the serenity here I would always appreciate. Their backyard had always been a sanctuary for me, with its towering trees and expansive gardens. It had been a hideaway for me growing up, a place to escape the chaos of my family or get away from my father when he was in one of his fits of rage. Right now I was enjoying the peace and quiet of it all, and if we sat out here long enough, I might even fall asleep.

  I was exhausted. I had spent a lot of time in bed last night, but none of it sleeping. Romeo, as he called himself, was more than I ever expected. Even now, I felt like I had some sort of out of body experience and was someone else entirely. And in a way, I guess I was. I was Juliette. And Juliette was definitely the kind of person to throw caution to the wind and go back to a hotel with a someone she’d just met, letting him have his way with her all night.

  Just thinking about his deep, husky voice gave me chills. It was almost too good to be true. If I didn’t have his possessive marks on my body and the deep soreness in my legs, I would have thought I’d dreamed the entire thing. I couldn’t tell Bella all of that, though. She was my older sister, after all, and even though I trusted her with the world, I couldn’t imagine what she would think of me.

  It couldn’t be any worse than what I thought of myself. I kept floating somewhere between being ashamed at what I had done and relishing in every detail, replaying them in my mind. The deep kisses, the passionate sex, the way I felt so comfortable with him. It wasn’t like me to let my guard down so easily, but somehow he had blown right through it. He knew every way to touch me, was attentive to my every need, picking up on them almost before I did. And when I spoke, he hung on every word I said, really listening and soaking in what I was saying. He was a perfect combination of tantalizing domination and tender consideration. But as much of a fantasy world as my experience with him had been, I couldn’t shake the shame I was feeling this morning.

  Bad decisions were a part of my personality recently. Andrew’s death had rocked me, and being a little bit reckless was my twisted way of reckoning it. Last night had taken it to an extreme that I was even shocked by, though. I knew better than to run off with a guy like that without telling a single soul, and yet I had done it anyway. What if he was a serial killer? What if he kidnapped me and held me for ransom? I didn’t even know the guy’s name. What if he had a girlfriend? Or a disease? Jesus, what had I been thinking? There were a million things that could have gone wrong, and it was a damn miracle that nothing had. Not to mention, the second he gave me the time of day, it was like I threw every moral I had right out the window. I left my date with another man, although justified, and practically jumped into this guy’s bed. Better yet, I had let him use me like some glorified, high-priced hooker. He took me to a hotel, and if that hadn’t been enough of a red flag, maybe, just maybe, the gun he’d had strapped to his ankle should have been. He was dangerous to me in more ways than one, but never for one second had I felt threatened or afraid of him. He was attentive and gentle when I needed him to be, and underneath that tough, tattooed exterior, I felt an insane connection with him. The guy was bad news—exactly the opposite of who I should be associating with—and yet, given the chance, I would relive last night a thousand times.

  The way he had touched me; it was ecstasy. Even his kiss was like nothing I had ever experienced before. His tongue slid through every inch of mouth as if he was searching for something. His teeth gently tugging on my lower lip and sending me absolutely reeling. He was dominant and let me know exactly what he wanted, but made sure he was taking care of me. Normally, I would have been put off by someone ordering me around, but when he did, I felt weak in the knees. It was so hot. All night, he pushed the line between pain and pleasure, and took me to places I didn’t even know existed. He held me like he was hungry for me, like he had been waiting for me forever, like if he let me out of his grasp I would slip away forever. Considering that was exactly what I did this morning, he was probably right to.

  “Don’t even start with me!” Bella ripped me back to reality. “You can’t just come crawling into the house in the same clothes you left last night and expect me to not ask questions. I know you hooked up with someone because you’re practically glowing, and you keep getting this cloudy look in your eyes like you’re daydreaming. What happened?” Bella persisted. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold her off much longer; she was starting to get pissy.

  “Fine,” I grumbled. “But you can’t tell a soul.”

  “I promise.” She bounced up and down on her pool chair giddily, and offered me her pinkie. We had been making pinkie promises to each other our entire lives. It was the most sacred of vows you could ever make between sisters, even to this day.

  I smiled, locking pinkies with her and trying to figure out where to begin. I gave her a rundown of how I had gotten to the restaurant early, only to catch the attention of my mystery man. She sat wide eyed, completely engrossed in my story as I told her about Rob wanting a second date and me not being into it. I could see her interest piqued more as I got to the part about running into the man from before in the kitchen of the restaurant.

  “Wait. Why was he in the kitchen to begin with?” She scrunched her nose.

  “Actually, I don’t know, we didn’t get that far.”

  Bella smirked and looked over her sunglasses at me in a condescending way. “Okay, so what happened next? You hooked up in the kitchen?”

  “Of course not! He took me to a hotel a block or two away and we hooked up. I left this morning, ran into you in the hallway, slept a little bit, and now you’re basically up to speed.” I shrugged, knowing she wasn’t going to let me get away with that.

  “No way! I want details. How was he?” She leaned forward, hanging on my every word.

  “Honestly, Bells, it was incredible,” I confessed. “He was perfect, the sex was even better. It wasn’t even just that, though. He was sweet and charming, and it felt like he was genuinely interested in me, not just using me for the night.” That was the part that had surprised me the most. We had both been clear from the beginning that this was all just for fun, but we’d had meaningful conversations between the sex, and he was always checking in on me to make sure I was okay. He seemed to know exactly what I needed, treating me gently at times but dominating me at others.

  “Then why did you leave?” she asked, clearly confused. Honestly, I was confused too. I left because I panicked—seeing him in the daylight had terrified me. What kind of person would he think I was? I gave him a fake name and practically threw myself at him. I’m sure he was used to being with girls much classier than that. Somehow, he brought out the very best of me, the person I used to be, but also awakened an entirely new part of myself I didn’t even know existed. I had freed myself in ways I’d never dreamed about before, and part of me was concerned that I wouldn’t be the girl he thought I was in the morning.

  Maybe I walked out because it was the most intense connection I’d ever had with someone, and I left before anything could happen to taint the memory for me. I wanted it preserved a certain way in my mind forever, untouched by the stickiness of the morning after, or even a relationship. I wasn’t ready for anything of the sort for a variety of reasons, and I never wanted to look back on last night with regret.

  “It was just a one-night thing,” I said, trying to hide the defeat in my voice. The reminder was as much for my own benefit as it was for her. What happened last night certainly couldn’t be repeated; we had both agreed on that, and it was for the best.

  “And you’re okay with that? You seem really into this guy. And if he’s as great as you say he is, maybe once isn’t good enough.” I hated that she was right. Once would never be good enough; I’d be craving him for a while, but I had to live with that.

  “It doesn’t matter what I want now, Bells. I agreed to a one-time thing. That’s all it was. That’s all he wanted.” I shrugged.

  “Did he actually come out and say that’s all he wanted?” she inqui
red with a knowing look in her eyes.

  Even I could recognize I was making excuses. “Not exactly, no. But guys like that . . .”

  “Ava, I swear, I am going to murder you.” Angie’s voice rang out from the house as she came out to the pool.

  “Damn it. Hide me,” I groaned, putting my magazine over my face and sinking low into the chair. I certainly wasn’t equipped to deal with the wrath of my other sister right now.

  “I think she’s gotten scarier since she’s become a mother.” Bella snickered.

  “Do you want to explain why you ran out in the middle of a date with Rob last night?” I could tell by the sound of her voice she was standing over me.

  “I didn’t run out in the middle of our date. He knew I was leaving and I even left cash for the check. Now, do you think you could scoot over? You’re blocking my sun.”

  She picked the magazine up off my face, rolled it up, and hit me with it. I flinched but couldn’t help laughing.

  “Lighten up, Ang.” Bella rubbed some lotion into her shoulders. “Just because Ava had fantastic sex last night and you haven’t gotten laid in a while doesn’t mean—”

  “Bella!” I hissed, covering my eyes with my hand.

  “Don’t start with me, Bella. I only have time to kill one annoying little sister today and Ava is at the top of my list.” Angie arched her eyebrows at me. “You ran out on Rob to go hook up with another man?” She tapped her perfectly manicured fingers on her hip, waiting for some kind of explanation.

  “Angie, Rob was great, but there wasn’t any connection between us. He was . . . I don’t know, just not the guy for me. It wasn’t going to go anywhere and instead of dragging it out, I figured it was best to not waste his time.”

  “And you knew that from one conversation? Ava, Rob has a stable job, he comes from a good family, he’s the type of guy who would take care of you. What more could you want?”