“Jonathan’s new girlfriend turned up unannounced at the office,” I said.
“Oh God, what happened?”
“Well, it was rush to clear away things. She’s a feisty one. Patricia is her name. Your father likes her.”
The longer we sat the more relaxed I became. Although those words, “I can’t help who I fall in love with,” whirled around my mind. When the meal was eaten and coffee drank, I took her hand and led her from the restaurant. Instead of heading to the car, I took a turn towards a grassy bank. We sat and I placed my arm around her shoulders pulling her close.
“I don’t know what the future is, Ev. I want to be honest with you,” I said quietly.
“Please, don’t say…”
“Hear me out. I don’t even have a visa to be here, did you know that? Your father’s influence means I haven’t already been picked up and sent packing. And that’s what bothers me. If I don’t have his support, I’m gone. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“If you want him to know, Rocco, I’ll talk to him. He’s never refused me.”
“And if you’re wrong? I feel like I can’t let myself fall in love, Evelyn, because I’m too scared that it will be taken away. But I can’t let you go either.”
We sat in silence for a while. The warmth of her body took the chill from mine. Her head rested on my shoulder and her warm breath caressed the skin on my neck.
“Take me home, Rocco, to your house,” she whispered.
I was fucked, doomed; whatever word I chose could not describe how I felt. I loved her yet I couldn’t tell her that. I couldn’t allow those feelings to come to the surface and it hurt to supress them. In my head I was going round and round in circles—tell Joe, don’t tell Joe. I rested my hand on her thigh, her skirt had risen and I felt her smooth skin under my fingers. I ran my hand higher; she sunk lower in the seat inviting me to touch her. I could smell her arousal and I could see the hardness of her nipples through her flimsy top.
Evelyn reached over and placed her hand on my cock as it strained against the tightness of my jeans. I sucked in a breath and pushed my foot down on the gas pedal.
The car was left, parked haphazardly, as I dragged her to the front door. My mouth found hers as I opened it and we stumbled through. It took seconds to discard our clothes as we climbed the stairs. Just a few seconds more to roll down a condom and then fuck her. Her nails raked down my back, joining the scratches she had already left.
“Harder, deeper,” she panted. I pulled out of her.
“Get on your knees,” I said.
Kneeling on the bed with her perfect ass facing me, she looked stunning. She was giving herself to me anyway I wanted. I slammed into her so fast I heard her gasp. There was nothing nice about what I wanted; I needed to fuck her hard. I’d needed that for hours. I gripped her hips hard enough to bruise as she forced herself back onto my cock. Neither of us seemed to be able to get enough, to get deeper, to get harder or faster. Sweat rolled from my brow, dripped onto her back that was covered in a sheen of perspiration. Her moans grew louder until she was screaming out my name and she came. Her body shook as she fell to her elbows, her legs quivered, and finally I was able to give into my release. I came so hard my stomach was in a knot. I cried out myself.
She collapsed down on the bed; I fell on top of her. We both struggled to get our breathing under control. Evelyn started to giggle, that turned into a laugh until eventually those laughs became sobs. Big, whacking sobs of hopelessness. I rolled to one side and pulled her into my arms. I whispered into her hair as she cried. Her head was buried in my chest and I was glad. I didn’t want her to see the tears that rolled down my cheeks. I didn’t want her to see the pain I knew would be showing in my eyes. Eventually, we both drifted off to sleep exhausted by our emotions.
****
“Shit, Rocco, wake up. It’s gone midnight,” I heard, I opened my eyes with a start.
I checked my watch. “Fuck,” I said.
Without attempting to clean ourselves, we rushed from the bedroom, gathering our clothes from the hallway, from the stairs. Evelyn was doing the last of her buttons up on her blouse as we bundled into the car. I drove fast, it took half the time, and thankfully the traffic was light. I stopped a couple of doors down from her home.
“I’ll walk you,” I said.
“No, Papa might see you. I’ll be fine from here,”
As she reached to open the door, I wrapped my hand around her neck, pulling me to her for one final deep kiss. I waited until she walked up the drive before turning the car around and heading for home.
****
Over the next few months Jonathan became a close ally, there had been one or two times he had covered for either Evelyn or me. I felt guilty that we were lying to Joe and even guiltier that Jonathan had been brought into our web of deceit. He had covered for me allowing me the afternoon to meet Evelyn, it was a Friday and Joe liked to ease in to the weekend early.
I was parked alongside the church, our regular meeting place when I saw Evelyn with an overnight bag walking towards me.
“What’s this?” I asked, taking it from her.
“I’m staying the night, with you,” she replied.
“Okay, how did you manage that?”
“Papa thinks I’m with Carmella, someone I knew from school.”
“And what if he checks?”
“He won’t. He trusts me.”
There was a certain irony in that statement and for a moment I saw a flash of pain cross her face. The strain was starting to tell, her eyes had lost a little of their usual sparkle. Another layer of guilt was added.
We arrived at the house and made our way to the kitchen, side by side we made coffee and there was something natural about the way we moved, about the way we did something so ordinary as making coffee. She belonged in my house and in my life.
We snuggled on the sofa to watch a movie. I relented and suffered through a chick flick, even handing her a tissue when the movie reduced her to tears. She watched and I thought. I thought of all the times she’d had to rush from a room to hide after a knock on the door; of all the times I’d had to leave after receiving a telephone call and all the times I’d played it cool in front of Joe. It had been a few months now, we were running on borrowed time before we were caught and I needed to make a plan. I wanted Joe to know.
“I need to take a shower,” she said. I hadn’t realised the movie had finished.
She left to head upstairs and the thought of her under the jets of the shower was just too tempting. I followed once I heard the water running.
I watched her soapy hands run over her body as I undressed. She shivered slightly when I opened the cubicle door and a blast of cold air ran over her skin. I pulled her to me, the water dripped down our faces, caught on our lips and our tongues as we kissed.
Evelyn ran her hands down my chest, down my stomach and clasped around my cock before lowering herself to her knees. She took me in her mouth, all the way to the back of her throat. To see her on her knees, to feel her mouth around my cock, and to see her looking back up at me while she sucked was pure pleasure. There was nothing submissive about her; she was totally in control. She brought me to the brink of release then slowed her pace; she had my heart pounding in my chest and calling out her name.
“Ev, I’m going to come,” I said as I wrapped my fingers tighter in her hair.
I attempted to pull her away; instead she sucked harder, milking me, swallowing my come before releasing me from her mouth. I pulled her to her feet and my mouth crashed down on hers. I tasted myself on her tongue.
“Fuck me now,” she said.
“I need a…”
She cut me off mid sentence. “No, you don’t. I went on the pill.”
I picked her up and she wrapped her legs around me waist. With one hand I slid open the cubicle door and rested her against the sink—I fucked her hard. Her screams filled the room as I teased her clitoris with my fingers, my cock still poundin
g while she came. She tightened around me, she clawed at my chest and I gripped so hard she would be left with an imprint of my hands.
Pulling out of her, I turned her around. She bent at the waist and I fucked her from behind. I wrapped my hand in her hair forcing her head up; I needed to watch her face, to see the emotion she felt. Sweat mixed with the cooling water on my skin, but inside I was on fire. I ached for her, I wanted to fuck her so hard she wouldn’t walk after; I wanted to hear her scream out my name over and over. My release came hard and fast.
She rested her head down on the basin, both of us needing to get our breathing under control. I leant forward and placed a gentle kiss on her back.
“Wow,” I whispered.
She giggled as I pulled out of her. I handed her some tissue to clean up with, doing the same myself. While she took another shower I made my way to the bedroom.
I was leaning against the open window with a cigarette and dressed just in jeans when she returned. I watched as she pulled on a pair of my shorts and a t-shirt and with a smile she left the room. I guessed I was always a little pensive after sex; it was mind-blowing and yet left me feeling sad. I was left sad because I wanted more. I wanted a relationship that was visible; I wanted her father to be proud that I was dating his daughter but that conversation always ran through my mind. Joe wanted better than me for Evelyn and so he should.
****
Evelyn was busy in the kitchen when I entered; she was preparing dinner. I took some glasses from a cupboard, a bottle of wine and plates, and set them on the table. It felt so natural, so comfortable, to have her in my space and to have her cook me dinner.
“What do they all mean?” she asked as she joined me at the table.
“What?” I answered between mouthfuls of pasta.
“Your tattoos, do they have meanings?”
I’d added to my collection since being in America.
“Some, others are just designs I liked or drew myself. This one here,” I said pointing to the dragon that snaked up my arm. “This one means strength and courage, something I needed a long time ago.”
“Will you tell me about it?”
I set my fork down and rested back on my chair. She knew the basics, of course, but if I was to have the relationship I wanted with her, she needed to know the truth.
“It was a few days before I came here, to America, I think. I was with my sister in the square in my village. We were just watching the world go by when I saw him, one of the men that had taken my father and brother. I watched him sit with his friends, drinking coffee and laughing. I don’t think I have ever felt such hatred; it was eating me up inside. His face was all I saw every time I closed my eyes. He caught me staring and I knew he thought there was something familiar about me but he couldn’t place me. You know when someone frowns at you?”
I paused to take a sip of wine. All the while I had spoken, Evelyn’s fingers had traced my tattoo.
“You don’t have to tell me anymore, Rocco. It’s fine,” she whispered.
I needed to tell her, she needed to hear exactly what I had done. I recalled the rest of that evening. I had kept my eyes focused on the table until I came to end of my story.
“I stuck him right through his ribs, as far as I could. I imagine I punctured his lung and I watched him die,” I said, looking at her as I spoke.
For a moment there was silence. “Oh, God,” she said as she rushed to the sink.
As she retched I stood behind her holding her hair to one side and rubbed her back. I’d known that when she found out the truth she would be shocked; I had no idea it would be to the point of making her sick. I filled a glass of water and handed it to her.
“Sit, take a drink,” I said quietly.
“I’m sorry, it was just a shock to hear you say that.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I haven’t told anyone the full story. I ran, I left the girl there screaming and I ran home. The next thing, I was on a plane.”
“What would have happened if you had stayed?”
“His friends came looking for me. You have to know, everyone knows everyone in the village. The girl must have described me well. Fucking amazing considering she was the one who went for him first,” I tried to conceal the bitterness I still felt.
“If they had caught me, I would be dead,” I added.
I searched her face for pity, for anger, for disgust even. There was sadness in her eyes but nothing more.
“As much as I respected your mother, I knew she didn’t want me at your house. Your father thought it was the safest place. No one would come for me at your home. I didn’t like it though. I was putting you at risk.”
I turned to face her, her knees were between mine and I smoothed some hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
“I saw how you looked at me, I knew,” I whispered. “I needed to get out, to protect you.”
“Those men wouldn’t have dared come to my house,” she said.
“Not from them, from me. I was in a bad place.”
She raised her hands and placed them either side of my face, her kiss was gentle at first. I stood and taking her hand, led her back to the bedroom. Silently I undressed her and then did the one thing I wanted so desperately to do—I made love to her.
With every part of my body, my mind and my soul, I made love to her.
Chapter Seven
I woke to the smell of coffee drifting up from the kitchen. I rolled to my side hugging the pillow that Evelyn had rested her head on to my chest. It smelt of her and I breathed in deep. Something had changed. The previous evening had been a turning point in our relationship and it scared me a little.
I rose and threw on a pair of jeans, pulled a t-shirt over my head before making my way downstairs. She was at the sink rinsing a cup when I wrapped my arms around her, she startled.
“I need to go out. Will you stay here?” I said.
“Now? It’s so early,” she said then laughed.
“I won’t be long. Business.”
She turned in my arms and kissed me hard, her hands fisted in my hair as she drew my head closer. Even as I sat in the car a few minutes later I could still taste her on my tongue.
****
I climbed the stairs to the office nodding at Paulo as I passed him sitting in his usual chair by the door.
“Rocco, come and sit. We have a problem,” Joe said as I entered the office.
He was behind his desk with Jonathan to his side.
“What’s up?”
“Geraldo called. It seems our friends have decided to reinstate their need for protection payment in the village.”
I froze. “I need to get back.”
“No, you need to stay here. I have it under control. I have an associate that is willing to help. The Commission are going to put measures in place to ensure our friends are no longer a threat to your family, but in the meantime, Geraldo wants your mother to stay with him and she’s refusing.”
I shook my head. “I’ll talk to her, convince her to leave the farm.”
“She’s a stubborn woman, your mother. Talk to her today. But that’s not the problem; there’s a cost.”
“What do you mean, a cost?”
“The Commission won’t do anything without receiving something in return, you know that. This man needs to disappear.”
Joe slid a photograph over the desk to me. I looked at the picture of an elderly man dressed in a blue suit. He was smiling for the camera. His face was familiar but I couldn’t place where I’d seen him before.
“Who is he?”
“Senator Lukehurst, Greg Lukehurst.”
I looked up at Joe. “You want me to get rid of a Senator?”
“Not me. I don’t know the man, the Commission do. And not you personally. In return, they will rid the village of their troubles.”
“Should I ask why?”
“No, not our business, Rocco. We have been asked to assist in this matter because the Senator lives in Washington. I want
you to meet someone tomorrow.”
“You don’t trust me to do the hit?”
“Oh, I do, Rocco. But you are too important to me if things go wrong. Tomorrow you meet Tony, he has special skills, shall we say.”
Joe chuckled and Jonathan furrowed his brow. I’d heard the name before but never met the man. He was reclusive. No one knew where he lived but he could be called upon if the hit was high profile or likely to be real messy.
“Okay, let me know where and when and I’ll be there. You want me to keep this?” I said, holding the photograph.
“No, that stays here. I want you to organise but no more. Believe me, you don’t want to be around when Tony gets to work. The Senator has information the Commission requires, this isn’t a straight hit.”
Joe left, taking Paulo with him, after that conversation. I walked him to his car before returning to the office.
“What do you make of that?” I asked Jonathan.
“Taking out a Senator is pretty big business. He must have some serious information if the Commission want him dead.”
There had been a spate of arrests in New York. The FBI were trialling a new set of laws, laws that meant a whole family could be arrested for the same crime regardless of who the perpetrator was. That’s when it dawned on me where I’d seen the Senator before. He had been the one who drew up the bill and place it before congress.
“He proposed the new Rico laws, didn’t he?” I said, more to myself.
“Yes, I guess that’s why he’s not popular right now. Now, what’s going on with Evelyn?”
“She’s over at my house. I should get back,” I said as I rose from my chair.
After saying goodbye, I headed back to my car and drove home. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and a warm breeze blew in from the open window. I lit a cigarette and thoughts of the Senator left my mind, replaced by a naked Evelyn.
****
“Ciao,” I called out as I saw her sitting in the yard.
She rose to greet me and her smile was infectious. “Let me get you a coffee.”
“Mmm, I could get used to this,” I said as I took off my t-shirt and sat on the metal chair.
Rocco: To accompany the Fallen Angel Series Page 7
