by Rye Hart
“If you don’t want Matteo to do it, then you have to do it,” my uncle said.
“What?” I asked.
“If you don’t want to use Matteo to smooth things over, then you have to suck down your pride and do it in his place. Talk things out with Romeo,” my uncle said.
“I’m not stepping within another inch of that man,” I said.
“Then why did you come back. Hmm? When I called you and told you of my plans and ushered you back into the city after your father cast you out, what did you think you were coming to do? Make a life for yourself? When I asked you to help me make peace with the Martine family, what did you think your role was?”
I clenched my jaw as my eyes gazed out the window.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I didn’t think it was this.”
“My great nephew—your son—is the only connection to the Martine family we have. You created a family with Romeo, whether you like that idea or not. And if you want to help me make peace and return this city to the glory days, then you need to recognize the part you play in that. I know you don’t like this lifestyle. I know you want to keep Matteo away from it, and I respect that. But making peace means making sacrifices.”
“I’m not sacrificing my son,” I said, hissing.
“Then you sacrifice yourself for the sake of your son. After all, isn’t that a mother’s job?” he asked.
I bit down onto the inside of my cheek and turned my back on him. I didn’t like where this was going. Not one damn bit. But as hard as I tried to poke holes in his theories and his beliefs, I couldn’t. If I wasn’t going to bring Matteo into this, then I had to step up and play my part to meet the end my family wanted.
Peace in the streets of New York City.
I opened the door and walked out of the room before Enrico stepped out after me. He shut the door and grabbed my arm, then pulled me aside toward a concealed hallway. My eyes fluttered up to his, and he released his grip on me, and I could tell he had something on his mind.
“What is it?” I asked
“I want you to know I support you. Always.”
“I appreciate that, Enrico.”
“And if you don’t want to go talk to Romeo, you don’t have to. I can field your uncle. That’s not a problem,” he said.
“That’s sweet of you, thank you. But unfortunately, he’s right.”
“What?” he asked.
“If I don’t want to bring Matteo into this—even with my dedication to the idea of peace—then I have to step in. To talk with Romeo and hear him out and see what kind of agreement or conclusion we can come to.”
“Then you don’t do this alone,” he said. “I’m coming with you to this meeting.”
“That isn’t necessary, Enrico.”
“You said so yourself. He had six men with him last night, and you didn’t have a single one.”
“And I grabbed my weapon of choice and poised myself, just like you taught me,” I said.
“This isn’t a good idea, Julia.”
“But it’s the only one we’ve got. We do have a chance to enact peace right now through my prior relationship with Romeo. It’s at least worth another conversation.”
I knew Enrico wasn’t happy. After all, he was the one that taught me how to defend myself. That was one of my father’s requirements after I’d had Matteo. Once I was feeling better and able to run business as usual in my life, Enrico was responsible for teaching me how to fight. How to defend myself. I was small, but I was strong, and that meant bigger people were at a disadvantage against my training due to underestimating me.
Enrico had been good to me for many years. I was okay by myself now because of him.
“I don’t like this,” Enrico said.
“You’ve already crossed a line with my uncle,” I said. “By telling him you still answer to my father. Or were at least commanded by him. My uncle sits on the same seat my father did, and he can fire you if he wishes. Don’t butt heads with him, Enrico. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I’m worried about you,” he said. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, either.”
I sighed as I took a step away from him.
I’d known for a couple of years now that Enrico cared for me more than he needed to. The way he glanced at me a little too long. The way he quickly came to my defense even when he knew it wasn’t necessary. The way he hovered at times whenever I was by myself or with Matteo out in public. There were many times where people had mistaken him for my boyfriend, and I could see his dejected eyes whenever I would correct them and call him “my best friend.”
And he was.
Enrico, by all accounts, was the closest friend I had.
I trusted him more than anyone else. He was the only person I felt comfortable leaving Matteo with alone. I knew that, above all else, his allegiance fell with me and my well-being instead of the well-being of the family. Of the mafia. Of the criminal syndicate my family had brought to the States when they migrated decades ago. I didn’t have the same feelings for him, and he knew that. I made sure it was clear whenever things became awkward between us.
I needed someone I could trust at my side with the road I was about to travel.
Which was why I didn’t need him pissing off my uncle.
“Enrico—”
“I know, I know. I’m your bodyguard and your friend. Nothing else. But that doesn't mean I still can’t be worried about you. It’s technically my job,” he said.
He had a point.
“I promised Matteo a movie,” I said, before turning and heading up the steps.
CHAPTER 4
ROMEO
A knock on the door led me from my office, but the person standing behind it left me surprised. Julia was there, standing in a beautiful dress whipping around her luxurious thighs as the breeze filtered into the house. Her red-streaked hair was sparkling in the sunlight and floating around her breasts, fanning out along her face and pulling her hazel eyes to the forefront.
“Are you going to let me in?” she asked.
I opened the door and stepped to the side, but soon there was a commotion coming down the stairs. Antony and my mother were laughing at something as they traveled down the staircase, and I shut the door as Julia’s eyes glanced up to take them in. I stood behind her, my hands in my pockets, as Antony’s eyebrows shot up to the damn crown of his head.
My mother gave her a once-over, then smiled as she leaned over to my brother.
“They’d make beautiful babies together.”
“You’re a terrible whisperer, Mother,” I said.
“Luisa. It’s good to see you again,” Julia said.
“And you as well. You look beautiful. Doesn’t she, Romeo?”
Julia looked back at me with a healthy flush in her cheeks, and my cock jumped between my legs.
“Always,” I said.
My brother and mother made their way outside and shut the door quickly behind them. Julia turned to me with her bright hazel eyes and began wringing her fingers in the excess fabric of her dress.
I guess old habits die hard.
“I came over to apologize,” Julia said.
I cocked my head and studied her as she cleared her throat.
“At the restaurant. I shouldn't have gone off the way I did. But I’m worried about my son.”
I clenched my jaw as she drew in a deep breath.
“Our son. I’m worried about our son,” she corrected.
“I would expect nothing less from you,” I said.
“Romeo, I spent the last six years of my life shielding that boy. From everything. From seeing my father come home with his hands covered in blood, and the worry I felt whenever my father didn’t make it home after two or three nights. I shielded him from the clothes I burned, and the shoes I shined, and the blood I wiped off the floor when my father tracked it in.. I made sure he never knew anything that went on in the family. I explained his missing uncles and his grandfather’s death as accidents
, and luckily for me he’s too young to really know anything else. But he’s getting to that age where he’s going to start noticing and understanding things and I need to keep him away from all of it.”
I watched her struggle, and my heart reached out for her. I knew that struggle all too well. I’d watched my mother go through it for years. Bandaging my father’s wounds so he wouldn’t need a hospital. Stitching him up with sewing needles sterilized in alcohol and thread from her sewing cabinets. Clothes burned in a wood stove in the basement that puffed death-tainted plumbs of air into the sky over our house.
I wanted to change that for my family.
For good.
“You now being in charge of your family business scared me,” Julia said. “I never expected you to take over. I always saw you passing that down to Antony.”
“Would it help you to know that I’m trying to make things better?” I asked.
“What does that even mean?”
“That I’m trying to make our operations more legitimate?”
“Is that something the Martine family is capable of?” she asked.
“With me at the helm? I think so. It’s why I took the job. I’m tired of watching my family suffer. I’m tired of my family being wiped out over petty arguments that took place two and three decades ago. I’m tired of all the rivalry and the illegality of everything that goes on in this city because of us.”
I watched Julia shake her head as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I want to believe you so badly, Romeo. You were such a good man. All those late-night conversations about how we couldn't stand what our fathers were doing? It was one of the reasons why I fell in love with you.”
That word.
Love.
It rumbled down my body and sent shivers up my spine.
“I’m still that man, Julia.”
“Can you promise me that?” she asked. “Because what you’re saying, it’s almost too good to be true.”
I took a step toward her and took a chance. I slid my hand from my pocket and raised it to cup her cheek. At first, she backed away. Clearly uncomfortable with my touch. But I tried again, and that time she didn’t move, and I felt it.
For the first time in almost seven years, I felt her skin against mine.
“Almost, but not completely,” I said.
Her eyes danced between mine as I leaned my lips into hers.
“Don’t give up on me just yet, Julia.”
I pressed our lips together and every single guarded wall I’d thrown up after that dinner came crashing down. Her hands flew to my hair, and I wrapped her up tightly, picking her up against my body. Fuck. Her tongue was hot against mine, tasting of coffee and apples. I walked her through the foyer and into the dining room, then laid her down on the table. I shoved her dress up her legs, unable to keep my hands off her. I was magnetized, under her spell once again.
“Romeo,” she said breathlessly. “Your hands. They’re—”
I spread her legs wide and placed my face against her clothed pussy. I breathed in her scent, allowing it to wash over me. She smelled perfect. Reminiscent of the woman I’d taken all those years ago. A young woman who had captured my heart and my attention. My cock and my soul.
A young woman who had born me a son.
I nipped at her thick thighs and felt her stretch marks underneath my tongue. I shoved her dress all the way up her body and cupped her breasts in the palms of my hands. Her hair was sprawled out over the family dining room table, and her legs parted for me. I threw them over my shoulder and reached down, releasing my cock from its confines. I slid my pants down around my ankles and shoved my boxers down, feeling my cock leaking with want to be inside her.
But I wanted to taste her first.
I nuzzled her panties off to the side and watched as she dripped for me. My cock jerked at the sight, and I stuck my tongue between her folds, finding that beautiful spot that made her jump.
“Shit. Romeo.”
Her hips rolled down into my mouth, and I groaned into her pussy.
My tongue lapped at her slit, gathering her on the tip of my tongue. I’d missed her taste. Her texture. The sweetened salty desire that leaked from her heated entrance. I slid my tongue into her body and curled it deep, watching the way she jolted as my tongue stroked her walls.
I spread her legs wider, opening her to me before I curled her knees into her chest.
Her hands twisted in my hair and dragged my tongue back up to her clit. I pressed deeply into her core, making her bounce and jump with pleasure. She was dripping down my chin. Her fluids were heavenly, and her breathless pants sparked a fire in my toes. I needed her. Desired her. Dreamed of her for years. How her body had filled out. How proof of our son marked her. I was mesmerized by the tiger stripes along her stomach. Showcasing the strength she had cultivated in a want to protect our son.
Our son.
My tongue flicked her clit at lightning speed, and her back began to arch. Her hands raked along my scalp, and she tugged me deeper into her pussy. I moaned and groaned, watching as she shivered and jumped for me. I remembered every stroke. Every button. Every movement she enjoyed. And soon, those obscene words I’d only heard in my dreams echoed off the walls of my dining room.
“Fuck me, Romeo. You know how I want it. Oh, yes. Fuck. So good. You’re so good to me. Yes. Yes. Yes. Right there. Right there. Deeper. Press deeper. Please! Deeper! Yes!”
Her jaw unhinged, and I watched as her eyes screwed shut. I drew myself back as her body shook with pleasure and slid my cock into her vibrating pussy. Her walls clamped down around me, trying to push me out as she clung to my shirt, pulling me closer as I inched my way in, my legs shivering as her heat pulsed around me.
Fuck. She was as tight as she’d ever been.
My hands fell to the table, and her lips drew up to encompass mine. Her tongue licked herself off me, and I grinned into her lips. Her eyes were half-hooded with lustful desires, and I knew exactly how I was going to take her. I stood to my feet and gripped her legs, then pulled her all the way to the edge.
I looked down and withdrew my cock, then I pounded back into her and left both of us breathless.
Her body jiggled for me as I tossed her legs over my shoulders. I grabbed her hips and pulled her close to my body, my hips delivering their assault. My balls smacked against her ass, and I could feel her juices splattering against my skin as her legs curled around my neck. Her hands grabbed the edge of the table as she rolled into me. I could see her tits bouncing underneath her pale pink bra, and the sight of that innocent color against her skin caused my cock to pulse.
To grow.
To thicken inside of her.
“Julia. Fuck. You have no idea how beautiful you look right now.”
I picked up the pace, rocking her body as her head bounced. Her hands clung to me. Gripping onto my forearms as her fingernails left marks behind. My toes curled into the ground, and I could feel her shaking, her pussy readying itself for another explosion. I rolled my hips. I ground into her clit. I bent her in half and slid as deeply as I could into her body. I watched her jump and moan. I heard her whimper as sweat began to permeate her brow.
But the second her hands cupped my cheeks and crashed our lips together, I couldn’t contain myself.
My cock released, pulsing against her as it shot streams of cum into her body. Pump after pump, until I was resting on the backs of her thighs. My legs gave out as our tongues collided and her pussy came around my girth, milking me dry and greedy for all I had to give as our lips swelled against the other. I buried myself inside of her, feeling her walls stroke me until there was nothing left. Until my balls were empty, and my arms were shaking, and her body was trembling.
I nuzzled our noses together and allowed myself to bask in the moment. But it was gone once I felt her hands on my chest.
She pushed me off her, my cock sliding quickly from between her legs. She slid off the table and fixed her clothes, then ran her
fingers through her hair. I reached for my pants and stuffed myself back in as she looked around the house.
There was confusion behind her eyes as she headed for the front door.
“Julia,” I called out.
She spun around on her heels and gave me an eyeful of that healthy flush to her skin.
“Are you thirsty?” I asked.
I watched her roll the question around in her head before she shook it.
“No,” she said. “But I, um, Matteo. I promised him—a thing.”
“Of course,” I said as I tucked in my shirt. “Of course.”
She rushed out the front door. I looked back at the table. Fuck. Now there was a mess to clean up. I went into the kitchen and got some cleaning supplies, then wiped down the table before Antony had a chance to ream me for this.
But I wish she had stayed.
CHAPTER 5
ROMEO
“I saw Julia rushing from the house,” my mother said.
“You don’t waste any time, do you?” I asked.
“Why was she practically sprinting away?”
“She’s just getting back into town, Mother. Nothing more.”
“Do you think I was born yesterday?”
“No, I don’t think you were born yesterday,” I said.
“What happened?” she asked. “Julia looked happy when she arrived.”
“I think you mistook ‘happiness’ for a pleasant nervousness.”
“Did you give her a reason to be nervous?”
I shot my mother a look as I fixed myself a cup of coffee.
“Care to make your mother one of those?”
“Whose do you think this is?” I asked.
“Yours until I asked for it,” she said with a grin.
“And you wonder why father always cursed you under his breath.”
“He knew who ruled this house. You’d do well to abide by the same principle.”
