“I will never leave you again, Kat,” he promised. “I couldn’t. I need you.”
I flung myself at him, wrapping my arms around his chest.
“I love you so much, Gray. I have never stopped loving you. I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me, I’m just afraid that you’ll leave me again. I can’t stop thinking about it.”
He kissed me on the lips, soft and sweet. “Please give me a chance to prove to you how much I love you. I’ll never leave you, I promise.”
I sighed against his mouth, then looked at him with my eyes filled with hope.
“I want to give this a try, but you have to promise that you’ll always come back to me no matter what.”
“You’re the only woman I’ll ever come back to,” he said in a quiet, firm voice. “The only one I’ve ever truly wanted. I promise, Kat. I swear I will stay.”
I kissed him then, long and deep and passionate. We ate together and my tears dried up while we laughed and made conversation.
I found that I trusted his words. I don’t know how, but my walls dropped for him. I believed him when he said he’d never leave me.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
Chapter 9: Gray
We spent the rest of the week together, taking walks and making love. I’d go to the diner while she worked and sit all day reading the paper or a book, waiting for her to get off. Occasionally, when she thought nobody was looking, she’d give me a quick kiss and saunter away in a way that was clearly meant to be teasing. And it was. Each time I caught sight of her thighs and her ass in that dress, I felt my body stir in the most distracting way. I spent almost all day waiting for the moment I could take her home and peel that dress off. She was so distracting, so beautiful and sweet that I thought I’d never be able to get any work done anyway.
We decided that once the next bus came, we’d go back to our families. I was nervous to tell my father that I would no longer be working for him in the way I once was. I couldn’t be in such a dangerous line of work, not when Kat’s life as well as mine hung in the balance. There was always a chance that one of my targets would hit me first, and I didn’t want Kat around when that happened. But I wouldn’t leave her again, not for anything, not in a million years. She was my home. I’d checked and double-checked that going home was what she wanted to do; I’d be more than happy to stay and get a job in the small town that she’d found at the end of a bus stop, but she insisted that it wasn’t right to hide from our families any longer. So she put in noticed to quit her diner job and we waited for the bus to arrive. When it did, our things were on it, and we climbed together into a seat at the back so that we could have the privacy to kiss and touch almost as much as we wanted to.
At home, we presented ourselves to my father first, so that she could hold my hand as I delivered what I knew he would consider to be bad news. He did go red for a moment, then sighed and looked between the two of us.
“I’m doing this for her,” I said firmly. “And myself. I don’t want to do it anymore.”
I thought he’d stand, thought he’d hit me, the look on his face was so vicious. But it slowly disappeared when he realized how serious I was and how little power he had over the situation. I supposed he was just glad that we were getting married and that the alliance between our family and Kat’s would be secure again. He nodded his reluctant blessing, and Kat and jumped into her car to make the next round.
Her father knew we were showing up and was waiting in his study for us to arrive. I assumed that my father had phoned him and told him; now it was just a matter of apologizing. I liked Kat’s father better than my own. I thought he was a good man, albeit tough. He accepted Kat’s story of why she’d run away with nothing but a small nod and a glance at my face.
“You’ll take care of her,” he said firmly. “You will not hurt my daughter.”
“I couldn’t,” I told him honestly. It would be impossible for me to do anything other than love or cherish Kat.
The next day, we were married. It was a small ceremony than we had originally planned, with only my best man, Kat’s maid of honor, and our parents in attendance. The white lace dress Kat was wearing offset her skin perfectly and made my heart leap to look at her beaming face as she walked down the aisle on her father’s arm. She really was all-in, really was mine, and I planned to worship her for the rest of our lives. We locked eyes, unable to look away from each other, as we traded our I-dos in the church. I waited eagerly for the moment when I got to kiss her, then took her into my arms and pressed my mouth to hers, slipping my tongue between her lips to taste her deeply. We kissed until my father cleared his throat, indicating that we were going a little too long, and I pulled away reluctantly and studied her face.
“Happy?” I asked, smiling. Her eyes were full of love and hope.
“Happy,” she promised, and we walked back down the aisle toward our new life together.
Sold
~Bonus Story~
A Steamy & Forbidden Mafia Romance
Life is rarely fair. Such an idea is for children, those who haven’t experienced enough of the real world to know what struggle is life. I could say it wasn’t fair that my father was in debt. I could say it wasn’t fair that I was the one that stepped up to deal with the consequences.
What would it matter, really, when at the end of the day I still ended up in the arms and bed of Nero Adams, the man to whom I sold my body so that my father could have a chance to live? Fairness didn’t come into play in such situations like this. The only thing you could worry about was whether or not you’d survive knowing you ended up falling in love with the man who might get you killed.
* * *
Deal Making
Elizabeth
The journey there was a long and complicated one. It was a road riddled in poor choices, bad timing, and though none were through any fault of my own, I still found myself withstanding the worst of the consequences to those actions.
It had started with my father’s gambling, and then escalated at my mother’s death. By the time I realized how bad things were, truly saw how far things had sunk… well. All my mother’s possessions had been pawned to pay off my father’s unbreakable debts, and even then, he had the Lorenzo’s lackeys knocking on his door, demanding his money. When he couldn’t give it, his car had been busted up. The second time?
It was his knee cap.
So, where was here? Where was this place that I’d come, the beginning of the end, the apex of a hellish mass of worrying and suffering my family had been made to endure? Of all places, a biker bar. The last place that I ever wanted to be, but it was the only place I could imagine I could get what I needed and save my father before a busted knee cap turned into a busted skull.
Ray’s, the place was called, and it was seedy as all hell. Pulling in in my beat-up Dodge, I cringed at the thought of setting foot into that bar. It was a haven for the depraved, the desperate and the destitute. You could get anything you wanted in there – booze, drugs, women, men. The biker gang that ran it wasn’t too picky; if it could be bought, they sold it, if they wanted it they took it. They were the second most powerful crime organization in the city, next to the Lorenzo’s, and that was only because the Lorenzo blood ran so deep through the city that they had their hands in everything that the bikers of Ray’s hadn’t touched.
I stepped out onto the gravel, heels sinking between the rocks. I felt my stomach sink, too, the anxiety grip me at my core. I breathed in the air and tasted lingering hints of tobacco smoke. It almost made me crave the drag of a menthol, though my choice to quit years ago left me without. Perhaps it’d have calmed my nerves, settled the jitters that worked their way from my stomach, into my throat.
The place was crowded. Bodies were packed tight within, and the haze of smoke and flickering yellow lights didn’t help much. I ended up pressed against people, body sliding uncomfortably against strangers. The firm grip of a hand squeezed my rear; a whistle pierced through the sound of thumping rock
music. These were all things I ignored, things I let slip to the back of my mind and away.
I had a singular purpose. I made my way to the back of the bar, avoiding the calls of men who noticed me. A quick glance to my phone told me that I was just a few minutes early; my promptness only made me feel more jittery. I didn’t want to have to wait much longer. The men outside the back room didn’t make it much easier on me, either. They were huge, stood a head and a half taller than me, at least. They looked down at me, smirks on their faces. Their eyes roved, though I stood straight.
“I’m Elizabeth Love,” I told them. “I’m here to see Mr. Adams?”
“You can wait until he’s done,” the man on the right said. He continued to look at me, and I felt as though I should be standing before him naked. I shifted.
“I’ll wait, then.” I didn’t want to cause any more trouble than need be. My stomach felt knotted enough as it was; I didn’t have it in me to cause a true commotion.
“Pretty thing, ain’t she, Johnny?” The one on the right spoke up. When I glanced at him, his smirk was a toothy grin.
“True thing, true thing. You doing anything tonight, sugar?”
“I’m speaking with Mr. Adams, and then I’m leaving,” I said, firm.
“Sure you don’t want to party? Sweet little thing like you. Look like you need a little breaking in –”
The reprieve of the door opening saved me. A woman stepped out, blonde, busty, beautiful. She had a dazed look to her green eyes, though, and white dusted her nose. She walked past us, wiping at her mouth. I swallowed when I saw white liquid drip from the corner of her red-smeared lips. One of the men reached out and smacked her rear. She stumbled, looked back at him, though she said nothing before going on her way. I didn’t like the implications of her state; it made me swallow nervously again.
“Have fun, cupcake,” the man on the left said to me.
I was glad that he at least didn’t touch me, too.
The doors closed behind me. I was grateful for the silence that followed. A great desk was before me, and behind that, stood a man. I barely took his features in before I looked away, my face heating. He was tucking himself back into pants that had been down at his hip. There wasn’t much guessing as to what the woman in here previously had been doing for him.
“Elizabeth Love?” The voice that greeted me was cocky sounding, as if its owner was too sure of himself for his own good. I nodded. The man laughed, and my eyes cut to him.
“Is something funny, Mr. Adams?”
He plopped himself down into his cushy chair. One of his hands ran through his sandy blonde hair; his smirk was as ever-present as the men outside. When he didn’t answer me, I stepped forward, neatly seating myself in the chair across from him. I steeled myself for the conversation at hand, for the bargain I would initiate. Too bad I didn’t possess enough steel within myself to stop my hands from trembling, clenched as they were on my lap.
“I understand that you help people,” I began, unwilling to let his amusement with me impede my purpose. “If they have something to offer in return.”
“I do,” he said simply. He lounged back, relaxed. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one with a lighter from his desk. When he offered me one, as well, I shook my head. He gave a shrug and took a drag. There was a bit of silence before he spoke again. “So what is it you need? Money? Protection? Another sort of favor? We’re generous here. For a price.” He seemed quite pleased about that. For a price. I had to fight down a grimace, and nod.
“I need money. My father is in debt –”
“And you’re being a good daughter, helping him get out of it?” His amusement seemed to mount. My jaw set.
“I’m trying.”
“I see.” He tilted his head. “So. Money. How much are we talking?”
“Eight hundred thousand dollars.” Mr. Adams let out a whistle.
“That’s a pretty price. And what are you going to do in exchange for nearly a million dollars’ worth of debt?”
Ah. Finally coming to the crux of the issue.
My heart, having beat at a steady, hard rhythm, felt like it was going to thump straight out of my body. I had made the choice, thought about it for weeks before concluding that this was what I needed to do. This, certainly, was the only way to save my father. He had nothing. I had nothing. Nothing to pawn to a broker, least, or that could be reasonably sold.
So, when I answered him, I answered with as much dignity as I could manage, and hoped the sureness with which I spoke belied the fact that I was the most afraid that I had ever been in my entire life.
“My company,” I said. “My… body. Whatever you would have of me. Whatever what you want for whatever it’s worth, for as long as it takes for my father’s debts to be erased. I just need it to be regular, so he’s paying and they see he’s paying, and they leave him alone.”
Mr. Adams regarded me for a while. I wondered if he truly needed to think about my offer – I had heard he’d take almost anything when it came to having women. And though I feared the results of him taking me up on the offer – the plea – I feared what would happen should he deny me even more. It was life and death, what rested on my shoulders. It was a heavy burden to bare and I could only hope that this man… this biker, mobster, thug of a man, would help me, even if only to see himself secure some sort of pleasure from it.
“Come here.” He beckoned me, quirking a finger over to him. I was hesitant to stand, but with no other options, what was I do to but go to him? I did so, steps hesitant. I stood before him, and he circled his fingers around, indicating that he wanted me to turn for him.
It was humiliating, but I did so. It felt like I was more a dog than a woman – an animal to be judged and appraised for its worth. When I turned back around to face him, Mr. Adams had a smirk on his face.
“You’re in luck, Elizabeth. I like what I see. Now how about a taste?”
That night was the first night that Nero Adams touched me.
Unexpected Enjoyment
Nero
“Hey boss, you got a moment?”
My eyes open, agitated. I had just laid my head down, finally getting a bit of time for rest. Not like oak wood was the most comfortable thing to lay your head on, but it was better than nothing and I was tired enough to ignore the fact that’d it’d likely leave my neck a little more than annoyed with me. That, however, was beside the point.
Aiden stood in the doorframe of my office, leaning against it as if he owned the place. He was my best friend, my right-hand man. He was the one person I’d go to hell and back for, though interrupting my might may have earned him a one-way ticket there from me. He had a wicked grin on his rounded face, and I got the distinct impression he was going to tell me something that I didn’t want to hear; anything with a Cheshire grin like that was enough of an indication of that.
“What do you want, Aiden? I just got to sleep.”
“That Elizabeth woman called. Said it was urgent.”
At that, I straightened up.
It’d been about a week since that bombshell of a desperate woman came walking into my bar. Wasn’t the first woman, probably wouldn’t be the last – but she had something about her that interested me. Despite offering herself to me, she still had one thing most women didn’t have by the time they came here: her pride. I could see her try to swallow it down, but the time we spent together that night showed me she’d choke on it before she took it down entirely. Most in her position were dead and hollow already, that’s what made it easy to get them to do whatever you wanted.
Elizabeth? She had fire.
“What was so urgent?” I couldn’t imagine that she was backing out of our deal, at least not this early with how badly she wanted to help her dear old dad.
“I need to work. Now.”
My brow rose. Well. That wasn’t what I was expecting. I smirked a bit.
“I didn’t realize that you were so eager?” I could hear her scoff on the other end
. Ha. So she was irritated by me. Cute.
“I told you that I needed the money; I work, I get money, right? Look, I just –”
“Be over in an hour.”
I hung up, not giving her time to reply to me. That was probably an asshole thing to do, but oh well. She was giving me her time in exchange for my money. I figured I could afford to behave as I pleased. Besides; she seemed the type to bite back, even in her desperation, and I was interested in seeing just how hard she’d end up biting back for me when she got here.
Adrien left, after that. I decided that a nap just wasn’t going to happen. I was too awake now, too eager to see Elizabeth. I knew that it was cruel, to take advantage of people’s misfortunes. It wasn’t something to be proud of necessarily – but it was something that had to be done. My father had taught me that, taught me that sometimes the things that made us hate ourselves were the things that we needed to do to make the empire thrive. Thriving could mean a number of things: money, property, power. What I would have with Elizabeth would be just that: power. The power that had people coming to you when they were desperate, when they needed what you had the most. I’d lose money, perhaps, but what I would gain in return would be so much sweeter.
Besides. There was more to Elizabeth than a woman desperate to save her father’s life. I intended to figure out what exactly that was.
Elizabeth arrived, just shy of an hour and beautifully dressed. A deep green number that hugged her body. Just enough cleavage and thigh showing that it was sexy but not trashy – like she didn’t even have to try hard to be appealing. I could appreciate that. She came into my office, head high and eyes hard, like she was above her situation. She sat herself down after a small nod in greeting. I smiled, and got little response from her aside from a small scoff. That only made me smile more.
“Aw, don’t be so mean.” I said playfully. “You’re the one that asked to come over. What’s the hurry for? Surely you’re not so eager to continue where we left off the other night?”
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