Ransom: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Dark Desires Book 1)

by Amy Starling

  “Last night, when I went out,” I continued. “I learned something real bad. One of my best guys, Lucas, is plotting to kill my dad – and he wants to use your father as the murderer.”

  Her eyes widened and she started to choke on her food. After gulping down some orange juice and clearing her throat, she gaped at me in disbelief.

  “What? I don't understand. Why would he do that, and why involve my dad?”

  “He thinks he'll take charge of the family when Leo dies – either that, or it's a lie, or some kind of bigger plot, I dunno. He promised your father that if he does this, he'll wipe the debt and free you.”

  She mulled it over. “But he wouldn't kill anyone.”

  I couldn't tell her that I wasn't so sure about that. What he'd told me last night, about how he was about to lose their house and now worked as a grocery store cashier, that kind of thing wasn't what Ceci needed to hear right now.

  “It wouldn't matter even if he did kill him. I'm next in line, not Lucas.” That piece of shit traitor. “So why would he pull something like this? He knows better.”

  She stirred the remnants of her soggy flakes. “So are you going to tell Leo? Seems he should probably know one of his lackeys is out for his head.”

  “Figured you would want the guy dead,” I muttered, “given what he's doing to your family.”

  She glared at me. “I don't want anyone to die. My job is to save lives, remember?”

  “You certainly are idealistic. Ever think that maybe some people don't deserve saving?”

  Apparently, that pissed her off even more. She cursed at me, dumped out her cereal, and sprinted upstairs.

  “I'm going to pack my things. Just let me know when we're moving.”

  Just great. Women were so damn complicated, especially this one in particular. Lucky for her, she was worth the hassle.

  Anyway, she did have a point. I ought to tell dad about the scheme. Thing was, after talking with Roger last night I doubted he'd pull the trigger. Lucas wasn't gonna make a move himself, so that gave me some time.

  The second I told dad about this, things were gonna change. He'd put the family on high alert and stop trusting anyone. It'd be impossible to reason with him about Ceci at that point.

  And Lucas would either flee – or I'd be ordered to kill him, not that I so much minded after this. But there was something more to this whole thing; I could feel it, and by running him off I'd miss the chance to figure out exactly what that something was.

  So I'd keep quiet, but I had to act fast.

  As I hauled a box of things out to the car, the phone rang.

  “Yeah, dad? I'm kind of in the middle of something.”

  “Well, whatever it is, you can drop it. We got a big problem.” He sighed deeply. “One of our guys was found dead this morning. It was Harry.”

  I dropped the box onto my foot, barely noticing the ache in my toes.

  “Harry, the getaway driver? He's dead?”

  “Murdered in cold blood. He was supposed to meet some fellas for coffee but didn't show. They found him in his car at home, knife stuck in his neck. Looked like he'd been that way for several hours.”

  My stomach heaved, and I slumped down into the grass and leaned against the car to keep from fainting.

  Yes, I was a hitman and I regularly killed without remorse. But death was different when it happened to somebody you knew. I used to go out to the bar with him and the boys. Now I'd never see him again.

  Rage filled me, and I punched the tire hard. “Who did it? I'll fucking slaughter him.”

  “Well, that's sort of why I'm calling you,” dad murmured. “There was a note left in blood on Harvey's windshield. Said this was your fault. That this was revenge, and only the start of it.”

  I shivered. No, it couldn't be. Did the Giseppis go after Harry because of their guy I killed? They'd never been so bold before, but then we'd had an uneasy coexistence lately.

  Was Harry's death because of me?

  “What have you done, Alec?”

  “Don't you blame me for this,” I spat. “They brought this on themselves. A bunch of their guys showed up last night, trying to take Ceci away. They were going to use her to get money somehow – maybe sell her back her parents, I dunno.”

  “So you killed them.”

  “Only one. The guy was trying to take me out, and he had Ceci. So I did what I had to do.”

  “Yeah, and now that their man is dead, they took one of ours.” He grunted. “Damn it, son. We've been tolerating each other for years. Now you went and tore open old wounds, and it looks like they're not letting this one go so easily.”

  “I had no choice. Should I have let him kill me? What about Ceci, your bargaining piece? Without her, Roger has no reason to pay your ransom.”

  “Oh, he's got lots of reasons. Anyway, how'd the Giseppis know you had the girl there? They must have followed you.”

  “The traitor likely tipped them off.”

  Had this been Lucas's fault? He may have wanted my dad out of the picture, but I couldn't see him working with the Giseppis. He hated them after they trashed his cab a few years back.

  “I got a feeling there's a war brewing,” he said. “Keep your eyes peeled for trouble. This is gonna get worse before it's over.”

  “Then maybe we should take the fight to them.”

  “No, that's what they want us to do: retaliate for Harry's death. Let's wait them out and see what happens.”

  I forced myself off the ground and hauled the box I'd dropped into the trunk.

  “If we got so many problems coming with them, maybe you should forget about the Trentons,” I suggested. “You're not gonna get a dime out of him. He's about to lose his house to the bank, and he lost his high-paying job a while ago. Where do you think he'll get the money now?”

  “He'll find a way. After all, he had no trouble coming up with the cash to bet on all those races, huh?”

  “Alec... Is that true?”

  When I turned around, Ceci stood behind me. My heart sank. She'd heard what I said about her dad; the look of hurt on her face made that very clear.

  “I've got to go,” I muttered, hanging up the phone before going to her. “Is what true?”

  “My dad. The job. The house.”

  I curled my arm around her, wincing from the pain of the wound in my shoulder. “I'm afraid so. I spoke with him last night. He admitted he's working at a grocery store to make ends meet, but it's not enough to cover the mortgage and bills.”

  She broke down and sobbed against my chest. It was all I could do to hold her, to tell her everything was going to be okay even though I knew it probably wouldn't be.

  “He lied to us about everything. All this time, he hid things. Things his family had a right to know.”

  “I think he hid them because he didn't want to hurt you guys.”

  “Or because he was just a coward.” She scowled. “I always thought that my dad was the one man I could trust no matter what.”

  “You can trust me,” I told her, and I meant it.

  “You.” She laughed. “You, the mobster and the killer.”

  “But I'm honest, at least.” I gently brushed the hair away from her wet cheeks. “And I'll take care of you. You know that.”

  “If by 'take care of,' you mean you'll murder anyone who touches me, then sure.”

  She stayed in my arms, but I'd be a fool not to notice her hesitance. She didn't know what she wanted.

  I, on the other hand, knew exactly what I wanted: her.

  Maybe she wasn't one of the family. Maybe we were wrong for each other in a dozen different ways. None of that mattered to me.

  “Get in the car, Ceci. I'm taking you home with me.”

  To my surprise, she didn't argue. She stared out the window on our way back to town, gazing at the endless sea of green, hardly even blinking.

  It was a twenty-minute drive to get back to my apartment. Soon as we returned to Summerset, this look of relief came over her.<
br />
  “My place isn't as big as the cabin,” I said as I unlocked the door. “But it's got everything you could want. Help yourself to whatever you need.”

  She toured the apartment while I carried in her bags. Hopefully, she didn't mind the clutter too much.

  A shriek from inside sent me running to see what had happened. I found her in the hall, staring into one of the side rooms.

  “What is this?”

  “My office.”

  “But...” She gestured to the rack of guns and various knives on the wall. “Why do you have to keep so many weapons around? It scares me.”

  “Better to have too many than not enough.” I turned her away and shut the door. “C'mon. Now, I only have one bedroom. If you like, I can take the couch.”

  Her face reddened as I showed her my bed. Obviously, she was thinking filthy thoughts right then, just the same as I was.

  Now wasn't the time for it – I'd just lost a friend, the Giseppis were hunting us, everything was going wrong around us.

  I reached for her anyway, suddenly needing her comfort so bad I couldn't take another minute apart from her.

  She didn't resist, instead sinking fast into my embrace and kissing me with savage hunger. Her lips were so soft, my cock responded immediately.

  “We... We shouldn't be doing this,” she murmured as I peeled off her clothes, then mine.

  I ignored her and threw her on the bed. Her perky pink tits called to me, and that bouncy ass, and of course, her sweet, tight pussy.

  Oh, I couldn't wait to be inside her.

  Her toes curled as I slid my fingers into her and made her groan my name with a flick of my tongue. Mmm, she tasted good.

  “I'm gonna fuck you so hard you'll forget about everything else,” I promised. “I'll make you come until you can't take it anymore. You want that, don't you?”

  “Y-yes...”

  But then she climbed on top of me, raked her fingernails down my chest, and shot me this very smoldering stare. She kissed my stomach, lingering for a while on my hard abs, then down to my inner thighs, where her breath on my sensitive flesh almost made me explode.

  Was she going to...? Oh God, yes, please!

  Her lips were like velvet on my cock. The surprise of such intense, unexpected pleasure made me gasp aloud. Holy shit, she was amazing.

  No woman had ever blown me so eagerly, as if she simply couldn't get enough of me. Then her sparkling eyes met mine, and she gave my stuffed balls a teasing squeeze. Shit! She was enjoying this.

  “Mm, I love you, Ceci.”

  I said the words without thinking – a really good blow job could do that to a man – but most times, with most girls, they meant nothing.

  This time, it was different.

  She made a little growl and sucked me harder. Somehow, she got every inch of me down her throat. It was so beautiful, I couldn't take my eyes off her.

  My hand found hers and I held it, suddenly feeling more connected to her than any human being I'd ever known.

  Then she took her mouth off me, spread her legs over me, and let her perfect round breasts hang right in my face. It was a show I knew I'd never forget.

  Her slick passage enveloped me, nice and slow. I bit my lip so I wouldn't let go too soon. Couldn't do that. Not until this angel of mine was satisfied.

  She rode me, using me for her pleasure and grinding my cock until she came. It didn't take long, but as soon as she was done with one orgasm, she was already begging me to give her more.

  I, of course, was happy to oblige.

  “Your turn.” She playfully threw herself back on the bed. “Give it to me, hard as you want.”

  “If I do, I'm afraid I'll hurt you.”

  “Maybe I don't mind the pain so much.”

  So I had my way with her until I couldn't take it anymore and I let go in her, and holy shit, that look on her face was the loveliest thing I'd ever seen.

  I lay there, chest burning and muscles aching as I tried to catch my breath. Boy, could this woman sure take a rough pounding.

  She snuggled up alongside me and whispered those magic words in my ear.

  “I'm not done with you yet.”

  So we fucked for hours, only getting out of bed to order pizza and eat lunch naked on the couch. Then we were at it again, and it seemed that Ceci knew every position of the Kama Sutra and wanted to go through them all.

  By the time the sun went down, we were spent and exhausted. Every part of me was sore, including my wounded shoulder, but it was so worth it.

  “I didn't know a man could come that many times in a day,” I told her. “You're something else, all right.”

  “Thanks to you, I might not be able to walk straight for a week.”

  The phone rang again. I'd missed several calls; probably had lots of work needed to be done.

  No way in hell was I getting out of this bed. Not with this girl snuggled up in my arms.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I realized something.

  For the first time in my life, I actually felt safe.

  Chapter 15 - Ceci

  Alec didn't snore, but I knew he was asleep when his eyes began to flutter and his breathing turned slow and deep.

  It was time to go.

  I generally wasn't the kind of woman who jetted out on a man after sex, but I had to do something. Dad screwed up big time, and if someone didn't help him he'd never get that money.

  Not only that, the Giseppi family knew I was with Alec. If they wanted to bad enough, they could track me down easily just by looking for him.

  I sat up in bed and watched him sleep. The blanket just barely draped over his waist, and his muscular torso looked so yummy accented by the moonlight.

  I was sorely tempted to crawl back under the covers and lay my head on his chest.

  He was the one who pulled me into bed with him, but then I decided to use it to my advantage. Cruel? Maybe, but I enjoyed every last moment of it. None of those orgasms were faked, that was for sure.

  Damn shame I couldn't stick around for more.

  Very carefully, I slipped out of bed and gathered my clothes. As I dressed, I roamed Alec's apartment and came up with some kind of plan.

  First, I was getting out of here and going straight home. Dad had a lot to make up for – maybe more than he ever could – but I missed him and mom terribly.

  Then to do something about his debt. Playing defense wasn't working. Time to change to a new plan, one of attack this time instead.

  On the way out, his weapon room caught my eye. I'd been horrified to go in there earlier. He'd probably used these things on his targets, on actual people.

  But if I was gonna pull this off, I needed to protect myself.

  “Let's see,” I whispered, perusing the rack of guns. “Which one?”

  I'd never fired a gun before. The ones on the far left were the smallest, least-scary looking he had on display. I didn't have time to be picky, though, so I grabbed the first one my gaze settled on.

  I had no idea what it was called, but it looked like the kind of handguns the police carried. It had some kind of scope on top and weighed heavier than I thought it would.

  Now, what else did guns need but bullets? Trouble was, I had no idea how to check if this was loaded, how to load the thing if not, or even where Alec kept his ammo.

  Ugh. Maybe I should have asked him for a tutorial before jumping into bed with him.

  I fumbled with the weapon in the dark. Finally, my thumb hit a switch or something and a cartridge of sorts slid out.

  Yep, those copper things sure looked like bullets to me.

  “Okay, time to make a run for it.”

  Figured I'd leave my stuff here – I had no time to gather it. I'd be able to get it back later so long as Alec wasn't too angry at me.

  Except he probably would be, given that I was about to steal his car.

  “Sorry,” I muttered as I slid the keys off the hook.

  Then I unlocked the door and slipped out into the
balmy night. At last, I was free.

  But I was too scared to be excited. I felt like a dog who'd just escaped its fenced-in yard for the first time. So much to do, so many places I had to go.

  First thing first, the car.

  I unlocked it, adjusted the mirror, and sped out of the parking lot toward home fast as the old Firebird would take me.

  As I pulled up to the house, it quickly dawned on me that something was very wrong.

  A man who I'd never seen before, some young guy probably not much older than me, backed off the porch and down the front steps. He wore a wife-beater shirt and had tattoos covering every inch of his arms.

  Mom stood on the porch, yelling something at him I couldn't hear. I slowed my approach and rolled the window down.

  “But you've got to help me! You said you would,” she howled.

  “It ain't that easy. She's got herself a real nasty bodyguard – killed one of my boys last night.”

  Her eyes widened. “W-what? The man who has my daughter murdered your friend? Oh God, the horrible things he must be doing to Ceci...”

  “Twenty ain't enough anymore. We've decided we'll be needing a lot more.”

  Was he one of the guys who tried to snatch me? For a moment, I felt for the cold steel of the gun on the seat beside me. The idea of revenge seemed far too sweet.

  No, I couldn't shoot anybody. That would make me no better than Alec. And what kind of doctor, what kind of human being, would I be then?

  Another figure darkened the front door. Dad?

  “I told you to leave,” he snapped. “First you slept with my wife, and now the two of you are making deals for Ceci behind my back. Get out.”

  The other guy fumbled with his car door. “Hey, man. I was just trying to do your family a favor. I got connections.”

  “I don't want your connections. And I never want to see you near this house again.”

  Dad stormed back inside. Mom stood there, crying, while the man ducked into his vehicle.

  “I'll call you later, baby,” he said. “Maybe we can work something out.”

  He sped off, smoke spewing from his tailpipe. I whipped into the driveway, much to mom's surprise. When I stepped out of the car, she gaped at me like I was a ghost.