Evernight Publishing
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2013 Sandra Bunino
ISBN: 978-1-77130-282-1
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: JS Cook
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To my fellow Jersey girls.
THE SUBMISSION OF A MAFIA PRINCESS
The Satin Rose Experience, 3
Sandra Bunino
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
New York City - Present Day
Braxton Malone’s Harley hummed between his legs as he navigated the bustling city streets like a native New Yorker. Turning into the parking garage on Fiftieth and Lexington, a whoosh of hot air hit his face, erasing the effects of the cool autumn night that nipped at his cheeks during the ride from Wall Street.
Blowing out a quick breath, the day’s stress melted off his back as the elevator doors opened on the twentieth floor. He could count on the Satin Rose Experience to alleviate any tension life threw at him. The club was better than therapy and worth the hefty membership fee a million times over.
“Hey handsome, Mia wants to see you in her office.” A lilting voice called to him as he stepped off the elevator.
Brax strode in the direction of Courtney, SRE’s concierge. Handing over his motorcycle helmet, he cocked an eyebrow. “Am I behind on my dues or something?”
Courtney grinned and tucked his helmet under the dark oak counter where she was stationed in the middle of the lobby.
“I’m sure your account is fine. It may have to do with the glowing recommendation I gave you earlier,” she said with a grin.
Brax chuckled and rested his elbows on the counter’s surface. “Based on what?”
Her sky blue eyes sparked as she looked up at him. “Girls talk, especially when they've enjoyed the scene. You’ve developed quite a reputation for yourself. Let’s just say you’re the current Dom in demand here.”
“Flavor of the month, huh?” He shrugged. “Thanks for the good word, Court. Hey, when you decide to dump your girlfriend and play for the other team, I’ll be your first call, right?” he asked playfully.
“Sure, Brax, but slim chance that’ll happen. Girls smell so much better than guys.”
Brax snorted as his boots clopped down the hall to Mia Lavender’s office. He’d only been there once a few weeks back when Asher called him in to meet the new VP of Client Experience. He’d found out Mia was also Asher’s sub in training shortly after.
Knocking once, he pushed open the partially ajar door.
“Brax! Come in,” Mia’s cheerful voice rang out.
Entering the neat and well-appointed office, he spied Mia seated behind her desk.
“I heard you wanted to see me?” he asked uneasily. Despite being Asher’s submissive, an air of authority floated around the tall brunette. There was no doubt in his mind; Mia Lavender didn’t take anyone’s crap. The thought made him wonder how Asher was doing with her training.
Mia smiled and gestured to the chair in front of the desk.
“Please sit down. I want to talk to you about a new client, a VIP actually. Her circumstances are a little unusual.” Mia tapped a manicured finger on a folder on her desk and surveyed Brax. “I don’t believe we’ve seen anything like it here at the Satin Rose.”
Leaning back in his chair, he raised an eyebrow.
Mia flipped open the folder and a picture slid from the stack of papers contained inside. He froze when he caught a glimpse of hair the color of dark chocolate skimming a woman’s tanned shoulders. Tilting his head, he tried to get a better look but Mia scooped up the photo and placed it back in the folder before he had the chance. Brax shook his head slightly snapping him back to reality. No. Can’t be. She’s long gone.
“It’s a sub-curious inquiry, only this woman is a virgin—” She looked at him as if she wanted to study his reaction. “—and she’s engaged to be married.”
Brax sat straight up in the chair and narrowed his eyes. “Wait a minute, she wants to lose her virginity in a scene rather than with the guy she’s going to marry? There’s got to be more to the story.”
“Yes, and it gets complicated. I can’t get into the details. You know we have strict client confidentiality policies here. So, are you interested?”
“No.”
Mia cocked her head. “No?”
Brax rubbed a palm over his face. “Look Mia, I don’t get involved with virgins. I did once and it didn’t work out. It’s not something I want to relive with your VIP or anyone else.”
Mia searched his eyes. He prayed she wouldn’t ask him any questions. It’d been three years but at times, he felt as raw as the day it happened. “That’s too bad. You’d be perfect for her.”
“How old is she anyway?” Brax asked. He was well aware of the age requirement of twenty-five to become a member or even play as a guest at SRE.
“Twenty-six.”
“I saw Mick walk in before me. He loves the young and inexperienced,” he scoffed.
“Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll keep it in mind. Would you ask Courtney to come in on your way out?” Mia asked, and her eyes flicked back to her file.
That was it: he was being dismissed. Brax stood and opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it. What would he say? That he’d risked his life for a tender moment with his first love? Shit, who was he kidding; she was the only woman he’d ever loved.
He pushed those long suppressed thoughts out of his mind and left Mia’s office. There would be no other virgins in his future. Virgins meant innocence and innocence meant emotion. He’d abandoned both of them on the riverbank where his broken body had been dropped off. Brax was all about hard and dominant now. Considering the attention he’d received lately, Courtney’s comment confirmed his suspicions. The subs at SRE were lining up to get a taste of Braxton Malone’s ten-step program to earth shattering O’s. He stopped at the edge of the SRE lounge and scanned the crowd. Two regulars waved at him from the bar. The blonde, Sierra, tipped her drink and winked in his direction. The vision left him cold. Shit. What the hell was wrong with him? He strode to Courtney’s desk, relayed Mia’s message and collected his helmet. He’d hoped by making a quick getaway, he’d be able to shake the feeling of seeing a ghost from his past.
Squeezing his eyes closed, he shook his head in a feeble attempt to forget the way the soft curve of her cheek felt on his fingertips. It couldn’t be her. Impossible. Those sapphire eyes unleashed memories he kept tucked away into the depths of his subconscious. They were the same eyes that stared at him with wild abandon right before she became undone. The same eyes that pleaded for him to do the things he’d only dared to dream about back then. The same eyes that turned the other way and left him for dead.
Chapter Two
North Caldwell, New Jersey - three years earlier
Flipping through a magazine, Toni Azzari listened for the distant purr of the motor she’d known was headed her way. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the approaching roar. Running downstairs, she took her unobstructed seat that provided her with a hidden view of the backyard. Just as she’d seen him do three times a week since the beginning of the summer, he pushed the gate open and
walked to the edge of the swimming pool. Pulling his T-shirt over his head, he tossed it on the cushion of the nearest chaise lounge and disappeared into the pool house. Moments later, he reemerged with his hands full of equipment for the thirty-minute show that became the highlight of Toni’s Friday morning. As she’d done during his past few visits, she crept from the safety of the living room’s sofa to the spot at the window above the kitchen sink. Her glance danced over his tanned chest and back, glistening with sweat. The lulling splash of water filled her ears from the window she’d opened just a crack as she watched him work. Her heart raced, wondering when he’d look toward her direction. He was aware of his audience, she was sure of it. She’d been caught earlier that week because she wasn’t quick enough to duck as he glanced her way. Had she been brave, it would’ve been the perfect timing for an introduction. He’d even cautiously approached the window. But she took the easy way out and kept her place on the floor until she’d heard the motor roar away.
Something was different about him that day. She assessed his casual but purposeful stance as he stood directly in front of her line of view. Visually devouring his muscular legs straining against denim, heat formed in her belly and flooded her sex as her glance traveled to the apex between his thighs. His low-slung jeans revealed slanted hollows along the front of his hips. She’d learned every nook and cranny of his body over the past two weeks, but that day every chiseled feature seemed to beckon her to the bulge in his jeans.
Toni licked her lips and continued her journey to taut and tanned abs and pecs. The muscles of his shoulders flexed as he rhythmically pushed and pulled the pole back and forth in the water. Only that day he didn’t move from his spot facing the kitchen window. His feet were planted firmly on the concrete pool’s edge. Her eyes flicked to a pair of dark sunglasses. Crap. He’d been watching her observe him the entire time. She was too busy wondering what it’d be like to feel the flex of his biceps under her hand that she’d failed to realize his sunglasses disguised the fact that he’d been able to see her take a sensory stroll along his body. He pulled the pole toward his chest and leaned one hand on the end. The tops of his eyebrows arched over the glasses and a sly smile formed on his lips. Toni froze. Grabbing the edge of the granite countertop, she held her breath but couldn’t tear her stare from him. His grin widened as he pulled his glasses off with his free hand and waved. Toni gripped the counter tighter in fear she would pass out. Beckoning her with his finger, she shook her head rapidly. He shrugged and his lips formed the word “why?” She answered by moving away from the window until she was hidden from him. A lump rose in her throat when his grin faded, and he returned the glasses to his eyes and finished his duties on her pool, glancing occasionally to the window throughout his routine.
She considered stepping outside for about a half of a second. Her father wasn’t due home until the evening and her housekeeper, Maria, was running errands. It was an ideal time for an introduction. But she couldn’t put herself through the disappointing look, which would be evident in his eyes when he saw her. Someone like him: muscled, trim and tanned wouldn’t want anything to do with Toni and her plump backside, full hips and ‘thunder thighs’. At least that’s what her father called them. She’d heard the story how the “Azzari ass” was passed from generation to generation of Azzari women about a million times. Her father told her it was pointless to fight it. The “Azzari ass” was in her genes and as inevitable as her love for cannoli. Then he’d look at her lovingly and tell her it didn’t matter because she’d marry well and wide hips would ensure she’d gift him with many grandchildren. Could she allow herself to hope this man would be different from other guys she’d known? She was used to guys treating her with kid gloves because of her last name, but snickering about the fat girl behind her back.
Toni sighed when he returned the equipment to the pool house and retrieved his shirt. However, instead of throwing the shirt back over his shoulder and leaving, he sat down on the edge of the chaise lounge with a scrap of paper and a pen. Leaning on the side table he quickly scribbled a note. He stood, faced the window and purposely folded the paper with the same sly smile on his face. Pulling the glasses off again, he crouched down next to the lounge chair and slid the folded note under one of the legs. With one last look at the window, he winked, grabbed his T-shirt and pushed open the gate while whistling a tune as he left the pool patio.
Staring at the note, her palms grew sweaty anticipating what was written inside, but she waited for the rev of his motorcycle and wouldn’t dare go outside until she was sure he'd left the driveway. She pushed the glass door open and padded onto the bluestone patio in bare feet. Crouching, she pulled the folded paper from the chair’s leg, sat at the bottom of the lounge and slowly unfolded the note he left.
Her eye’s quickly scanned his handwritten note then reread it slowly.
Hi.
Do you have something against fresh air? Come on out next time. I promise I won’t bite (unless you want me to).
Braxton Malone
Unless you want me to. Liquid heat boiled through her body and dampened her panties as her heart raced. How could he possibly know she couldn’t rid herself of the overwhelming desire to feel his mouth on her skin? That she’d fantasied about him biting and sucking his way down her body, slowly unfolding the passion that lay dormant for so long. Twin sensations of fright and excitement curled around her insides, turning them to a puddle of warm lava ready to explode.
****
Brax couldn’t shake the vision of the girl in the window. She’d even invaded his thoughts in his sleep. Those haunting eyes looked scared, sad and intrigued at the same time, if that was even possible. There was something she was hiding. Something was not quite right. He’d always had the feeling of being watched from the first day he was assigned to clean the Azzari pool. Knowing it was the home of notorious mob boss Tony “The Chief” Azzari, Brax assumed he must’ve been on camera. Then he saw those almond shaped eyes peering at him from the window. At first, she’d disappear when he looked her way but each day she’d stayed longer until they maintained eye contact.
It’d been two days since he left the note and he’d hoped to see her on the patio when he opened the gate, but his heart sank as he scanned the empty pool deck. Brax sighed and reached over his shoulder, pulling the fabric from the back of his T-shirt over his head. The forecast called for a hot and humid July day, typical of summertime in New Jersey. The sun’s rays were already beating down on his bare shoulders. Stepping into the cool pool house, he flipped the light switch. The overhead light didn’t turn on as expected so he tried it again. He made a mental note to leave a note for Mr. Azzari about the light bulb when he heard a rustling noise from the back of the room.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” a soft voice called out.
The sunlight seeping between the closed curtain of the room’s single window was all that kept him from tripping over the assorted boxes and equipment in the small storage room.
“Is there a reason we’re in the dark?” Brax chuckled at the awkwardness of the situation.
“I’m hiding,” she called.
“Hiding? From me?” he asked, trying not to laugh.
“Yes, pretty much.”
“Okay. Umm, why don’t you come out and we can talk.”
He was drawn to the movement of boxes, which sat on a table in the corner. She lifted two of them away, revealing the face he’d seen from the window. Her eyes were still consumed by fear and sadness.
“Hey,” he said softly. She tilted her face downward and strands of her straight, shoulder length hair covered one eye. He continued to approach her as she bit down on her lower lip.
“Would you please stop there? You’re making me nervous,” she said, looking up at him for a moment before her eyes shifted down again.
This time he couldn’t stifle a chuckle. “I’m making you nervous? I’m not going to get jumped by a group of mobsters with guns, am I?” Brax asked and looked arou
nd the small room.
She laughed. Not one of those high-pitched giggles, girls seem to all master. No, this was a hearty deep chuckle that made him smile in appreciation.
“No one else is here but me,” she said with a grin.
“Good to know. I’m —”
“Braxton. I know from the note.”
“Brax for short and you?”
“Toni,” she said softly.
“Toni Azzari. Hmm, I think I’ve heard that name before.” He put his index finger to his mouth and bunched his eyebrows as if he was trying to recall where he’d heard it.
“Yes, I’m Tony ‘The Chief’ Azzari’s daughter.” She smirked and made quote marks in the air with her fingers.
“Ah ha. Well, Miss Toni Azzari, are you going to come out from behind the table?”
She didn’t answer but glanced downward again.
“What is it? Do you have three legs, or maybe a tail? Look, whatever it is, I can handle it.”
She glanced up at him through a veil of thick eyelashes and continued to nibble at her lower lip. That lip stirred things in his stomach, making him want to nip at it as well.
He sensed the debate she was having with herself. Her eyes reflected her thoughts, making her even more vulnerable. She finally nodded, seemingly in response to her own decision rather than an answer to his request.
Silently, she slipped out from her hiding spot and stood about ten feet from him. Smoothing her hands down the tops of her jean-covered thighs, she flicked her eyes toward him for a split second before looking down again. He couldn’t help but stare. Gazing over her curves made him dizzy. This girl had the looks and body that would stop any man in his tracks. What was even more amazing was she seemed to have no idea of the effect she had on him. She peered beyond him to the door as if contemplating making a run for it. He had to put her at ease. Fast.
The Submission of a Mafia Princess Page 1
