We arrived at the cemetery after about half an hour, and Anthony helped me out of the car.
“I’m not that pregnant yet, I can still walk, you know,” I grumbled playfully at him, and he held his hands up.
“Hey, just trying to help,” he teased me. “You want me to stay here, or…?”
“No, come in with me.” I took his hand, grasping it tight for comfort. He squeezed it back, and we headed down towards my sister’s grave.
It was a clear day, but cold - the kind of afternoon that late spring offers, where the sun shines but it doesn’t burn away the chill that takes over the ground. I made my way down to Lia’s grave, a familiar path that I’d taken so many times before. It felt oddly peaceful, even though I wished I’d had the foresight to pick up some flowers on the way down.
When I got to her grave, Anthony backed off and let me approach by himself. I was glad as I needed a little time with my sister, just the two of us. I knelt down at the edge of her grave, placing a hand on the slightly weathered stone, and smiled at the sight of her name. I felt a pinch in my throat where tears were threatening, but I ignored it and carried on.
“Hey, Lia,” I began. “Sorry I haven’t been down in so long.”
I could almost hear her side of the conversation, filling in where she couldn’t anymore. That’s okay, but you have to tell me what the hell’s been keeping you for so long!
“I… fuck, I don’t know where to start.” I shook my head. “Well, okay, I’ll start at the beginning. I met this guy…”
I trailed off, as I remembered all the times the women around me had been fucked over by the men in their lives. Me, with those men in the street; Lily, with the boyfriend who hurt her; and, of course, Lia, and everything that had happened to her. Part of me felt crass, bringing up Anthony around her, but I knew she would have loved him. I knew she would have known that he was different, as I did.
“I know that we haven’t exactly always had the best luck with men.” I tightened my grip on the stone beneath my fingers, a sudden chill moving across my body. “But… this one’s different, Lia. He’s amazing.”
I knew Anthony could probably hear me, but I couldn’t have cared less. I needed my sister to know that I had found the man, the one good man, the man who would protect me above all else. I wondered if he’d have done the same for my sister - if she’d found someone like him, and if she’d still be alive. I dismissed the thought from my brain at once and focused back on Lia.
“And we’re married,” I admitted. “Not even Mom knows yet. I think she’s going to lose her shit when she realizes we had a wedding without her being involved.”
I could see Lia’s eyes widening, her mouth hanging open with surprise. I could hear her taking Mom’s side with this entirely - she had always made me promise that I would let her be my maid of honor and that she would choose me as hers. I wondered what kind of wedding she would have had -enormous and over-the-top, no doubt, just like her.
“And I’m pregnant,” I went on. It felt as though I was getting in all the practice I could just saying those words; they were fresh and new, odd and difficult. But at the same time, they held so much promise, and I knew that Lia would have been thrilled at the news that she was going to be an aunt.
“I’ll name her after you, if she’s a girl,” I promised. I had thought about it a while ago, idly, long before I found out I was actually pregnant. Lia was a beautiful name, and any child would be lucky to have a namesake as special as she was.
“But… I just wanted to tell you,” I continued, feeling the tears begin to prick at my eyes. “I know that you might not even be able to hear me, but I know you’d have wanted to know. You’re the first person I’ve told about any of it. Apart from Anthony, of course.”
I shot a look over my shoulder and saw Anthony waiting patiently about ten feet away. He was giving me all the space I needed, and I appreciated that. I turned back to Lia’s grave and continued.
“You should see him, Lia,” I said, hushing my voice. “He looks just like all the posters I had in my bedroom when we were growing up. You’d be teasing me about it if you could see him.”
I closed my eyes, wiping away the tears gently. This always happened when I came to see her, but this time, some of those tears were tears of joy - I got to bring her good news for once, and she got to be the first to know about me and Anthony’s marriage and the baby on the way.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have done more.” I found my voice cracking a little as I went on. “I’m sorry I couldn’t… help you more than I did. And I know you’d tell me that it was nothing to do with me, I know you literally told me that, but… I’m still sorry.”
A light wind blew through the cemetery, ruffling my hair lightly and making me shiver. I forced myself to keep talking; to say the words I’d been too frightened to get out every time I’d been here before.
“But I’m going to move on,” I promised. “I’ve found someone who’ll protect me, who cares about me. I know that’s what scared you most - what happened to you happening to me. But… I’m safe, sis. So are you.”
I closed my eyes and forced myself to keep talking, no matter how much the lump in my throat burned in distraction.
“But anyway, I just wanted you to know that he’s a good man and that you’d have approved of him,” I went on. “Though I’m sure Mom’s going to disagree when she meets him and accuses him of stealing me away from her.”
I got to my feet and patted the grave lightly, looking down at the little ceramic flowers that decorated the bottom. I would have to come back here more often.
“I promise it won’t be so long till you see me next time,” I murmured, softly, so only she could hear it. Then, after a moment, I turned back to Anthony. He held out his hands to me, and I took them, glad that he was here. I managed a smile, and he returned it, a hint of sadness in his eyes. I wondered if he had lost anyone, or if he was thinking about what would have happened had he been visiting me here. The thought had crossed my mind, I couldn’t lie - I’d been so close to ending up here myself, and I was grateful that I could walk out of there now with my husband and my baby in tow.
We made our way back up to the car, and found that the sun was beginning to warm us a little; I tilted my head up to the sky, enjoying the feeling of it on my face. Anthony helped me into the car, and I waited for him to join me.
“You good?” he asked gently. He must have seen the tears in my eyes; I wasn’t good at keeping my emotions under wraps with people who knew me well. My mom always said she could read me like a book, and I supposed Anthony now was no different. He knew me inside out and back to front, an odd thought considering that half a year ago I’d never met him.
“I’m good.” I nodded, managing another smile. I blinked the tears away, and placed my hand on my stomach; that wouldn’t be the only visit we’d be making to see Lia as a family. No, my baby was going to hear everything about her aunt. She was going to know her as if she had never left us.
Anthony covered my hand with his. Nothing needed to be said. I loved him so much that it felt as though my heart might swell and burst trying to keep it all in. I had never adored a man as much as I adored him, and I knew he felt the same way about me. And he would feel that for our baby too. He was my savior, my husband, and the love of my life.
As he put the car into gear, I closed my eyes and let the gentle movements put me to sleep. I had so much to look forward to, and I knew I would need my energy.
THE END
BONUS BOOK - AIDAN
CHAPTER ONE
Aidan Barnes was on a mission. Working for the Devil’s Stepbrothers as a mercenary that handled other biker clubs’ dirtiest work, he was almost always looking for something or someone. There were days he had to be a lover and other times he’d had to be a murderer. It was all in a day’s work. Fortunately, today was the former.
He’d checked out a few seedy dive bars in the last few days as he surveyed the sexy woman he was going to pum
p for information, and he hoped the pumping would be literal and figurative. This assignment should have been one that was quick and to the point, but it was hard to get a handle on where the mark actually spent his time, and he’d been told that this woman was the key to Lucca Giovanni’s location.
At times, it was difficult to walk into other people’s shit and clean it up, but this guy must have fucked up pretty bad to make The Undertakers want to see the last of this man. He’d not gotten a crap load of information about Lucca. All he knew is he was the caporegime—a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made man with major social status and influence. He also knew that the people who paid him to do their dirty work wanted to make an example out of him. In other words, the Cap— that was the nickname of the mark he was after— was living on borrowed time.
The woman sitting at the bar was too far away to see exactly what she looked like, but what he did know from her picture is that she was shaped like his best wet dream brought to life. Although he had trailed her, she was slippery. He didn’t know where she came from or where she went because she seemed to appear and disappear within seconds. She also changed her look quite frequently. This was all going to change because tonight he would sit down and talk to her. That way he could find out more since the way he was going about it didn’t seem to be working.
She changed her look as often as she changed her clothes, apparently, since he’d seen her long, thick, dark hair just yesterday. Now, she wore her hair in a short blonde swingy style that would have been cute if he hadn’t had fantasies of twisting her hair in his hand and using it as a handle to bring her pussy slamming onto his cock time and time again. This is why Maverick, the boss of the Devil’s Stepbrothers, tried to keep him on a leash. Aidan knew his cock had a lot to say and played an important part of some of his dumbest incidences. Even now as he walked over to the bar, his fingers twitched watching her stand up on the rungs of the stool to lean over to talk to the bartender. That ass was made to squeeze and slap. Judging by the choice of leggings the woman wore, she knew it was one sweet asset she was showing off. He liked a woman who knew what she had and used it to get what she wanted. Now he just had to figure out what that was.
He slowed his gate to take in the situation. In his line of business, one had to be careful and figure out the best way to get what was needed. Aidan wasn’t from here, so he knew he’d be looked at as an outsider, and as a man, that was dangerous anywhere you went. This woman looked very out of place in this dark din of misery. Like a crystal vase full of flowers on a poker table, it made him wonder what her purpose was and why was she here. There wasn’t a guy in the place whose gaze didn’t keep visiting the vision of loveliness that sat in their presence almost daring someone to come over and say something. The bar was full except for the chair on either side of the woman he kept his eye on, and even if he didn’t make what he was looking at obvious to people, he figured they were probably watching him. Those chairs remained empty although there were people who stood by the bar.
Moving right next to her, Aidan slipped into the stool and settled in. He could almost feel her surprise. A woman like her probably enjoyed the men making her feel like an untouchable queen, but it was going to be a different ballgame this night. What she didn’t know was that he was much different from the guys here who seemed to be content to sit around and watch the woman like live entertainment. Aidan had nothing to lose and everything to gain by talking with her.
“So what’s good here,” he said picking up the dirty piece of paper that was the menu he scanned it quickly. Aidan wondered what her response would be to such a ridiculous question.
“I hear the quiche is good.” Her voice was as alluring as her ass had been. How did these men just sit here and let this woman marinate without even trying to talk to her? He was sure there was a reason, but he just wasn’t sure he cared what that reason was.
He turned in his chair a little so he could see her up close but more to let her see him. There was a lot riding on this little endeavor. This was a chance to prove himself to be more than the fuck up he’d been previously and a chance to let the big boss know that he was ready to commit to the job and, more than that, he was ready to accept more responsibility. Aidan hadn’t been willing or able to show that recently and had been caught up in a few wonderfully dumb situations that came from fast cars, faster woman, and his cock that was a powerful leader. Did it help that women liked where that cock would lead them? It shouldn’t, but it did.
He knew that his pretty boy looks was one of the reasons he stayed in such trouble, but it was also the main reason he was given a chance with this assignment.
“Have you tried it?” he asked and enjoyed the expressions that crossed her face. Aidan knew a little about a lot of things, but he knew women inside and out. Women were fascinating, and he liked learning about each one that crossed his path. Most of the women he’d been with thought he was a great lover and although he liked to let that stroke his ego every once in a while, he knew the truth. Going from foster home to foster home had given him a few skills like learning people quickly and finding out what they liked. Little things from noticing that they liked to be petted or learning that they like a more rough treatment. It wasn’t always sexual, but as he’d gotten older he’d honed it to that particular skill set.
“Tried what?” she said with her deep brown eyes blinking a few times like she was trying to clear the smoke that filled the room from her eyes.
“The quiche.” This was Aidan’s favorite part. He knew the exact moment she became interested in him from the slight widening of her eyes to the subtle parting of her lips to get just that much more oxygen to slip between them. It wasn’t enough to let him know she wanted to meet the powerful leader between his legs, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that to the rising flesh in his pants. Hungry looks from pretty girls always got him going.
She looked down at the menu and shook her head. “I don’t think I’d eat anything they made here.”
“Where would you eat?” This game she’d started was more fun than he’d had in a long time especially while on a mission.
“Are you looking for quiche?” she asked, was puzzled.
“Is that what you’re offering?”
She smiled, and he could tell she was at a loss of what to say. The woman studied him like she was going to be tested for accuracy when describing him later. He threw up a couple words of thanks for his sweet Irish mother who gave him the blackest of hair combined with the lightest of green eyes. He’d been told it was a stunning contrast. That was about all his mother or father had given to him, and there were times he was grateful that they had given him at least that and other times he cursed the couple that didn’t use protection and thought to throw away the baby boy they didn’t want.
“My name is Danny,” he lied as he stuck out his hand for her to shake. It was not something most men in this environment would have done, but he wanted to touch the soft looking hands that were fiddling with the napkin that she pulled from under her drink.
“Laura,” she said with a smile. “Who are you, and where are you from?”
“I’m just a guy looking for a meal and a bit of conversation from a beautiful woman.” He was used to giving quick witty replies, but for some reason he didn’t think they would go over that well with this woman.
“Judging from the décor of this place on the outside and inside, it’s hard to believe you thought you’d find a suitable match for either of those needs before you walked in here.” She looked at him as she waited for a reply, and his smile got wider. He loved an intelligent woman. It wasn’t something he went looking for because woman who just liked him for his looks were easier, but they weren’t as exciting.
The bartender chose that moment to come over with Laura’s drink and asked what he wanted.
“I’ll take an Irish Whiskey, neat.” It was the only thing he liked to drink. Maybe it kept him close to his heritage or maybe he just liked the way it tasted, bu
t if he had a choice that’s what he chose.
“Coming right up.” The bartender walked away to get his drink but was hounded by other people with orders as he walked away. It was a good thing he wasn’t in a hurry and he didn’t like his drinks with ice or he’d have been disappointed.
She looked around the place, and he knew what she saw. A bar filled with roughneck bikers and their babes. It wasn’t like she could be surprised though, because he followed her in here. It wasn’t the other way around.
“This isn’t a great place to come looking for women or conversation.” She tried again as she watched him, and he looked around like she did.
Hitman's Lust: a Dark Mafia Romance Page 19
