“The roses?” Hawk asked.
“He handed me a few long-stemmed red roses, and he must not have noticed, but I did. When I looked down at my fingers, they were covered in drips of matching red blood. At first, I thought it was mine, from the thorns, but the closer I looked I realized it wasn’t mine. And when he opened his door and the interior lights brightened the car, smears of blood were left on his steering wheel. I could see where he’d tried to clean it up with tissues, but he must have been in a hurry to hear me play.” Steel hardened my tone. “That was the night I stopped forgiving him for working late, because that’s the night I knew working late meant murder. From that night on I prayed for two things at bedtime: for my father to stop being a bad guy, and for God to carry me far away from the family I’d been born into. I’ve hated roses since that night.”
“Izzy…” His hands cupped my cheeks, eyes burning intensely back at me. “I’m not a good man, a lot of the things I’ve done aren’t unlike your father’s offences.” He paused, eyes chasing around the floor before landing on me again. “I haven’t taken anyone’s life, but I’ve hurt a lot of people in a lot of ways I’m not proud of. I’ve made a fuck load of mistakes, but I’d like to think I’ve learned from them.”
“My father has done things I can’t even begin to consider--I knew deep in my bones that escaping him was my only option, but as much as you annoy me, I’ve never felt the fear that my father used to instill in me. You’re not him--you never could be. I've learned a few things about trusting my instincts, and, like it or not, fear is the last thing you instill in me, Hawk. But with my family...it’s just hard to see the sunshine some days.”
His lips turned up, one of his thumbs darting out to trace away the tear on my cheek. “Sweet Daisy, when are you going to realize you are the sunshine?” He leaned over then, catching my chin with his fingers and turning my head to find my ear. “You shine so bright it blinds me some days.”
I turned my head, the way his lips barely grazed the shell of my ear sending a new riot of sparks through my veins. “You’re so sweet.”
He huffed, voice turning gravelly as his lips caressed my earlobe. “The last damn thing I am is sweet, I just have to hope that doesn’t turn you off from spending time with a man like me.”
“A man like you?”
“A man desperate to make you his, a man who gives zero fucks about anyone's feelings but yours. I’m obsessed with you, Daisy.”
“Obsessed?” I squeaked.
“Totally fucking obsessed.” His thumb dragged down the line of my neck to land at the hollow of my throat. His warm breath heated my neck, eyes holding mine with sharp daggers, and my nerves shooting off on rapid fire as his thumb dipped a little further below my clavicle, hovering on my chest, then dragging the v-neck of my shirt down a little lower until my cleavage was nearly on display.
I’d taken such care to dress smart and sensible for this date, when really I just wanted him to tear all these clothes off of me and have his way with my body. I’d never met a man that made me feel so desperate and needy for his touch.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here, I’ve had enough feelings for one day.”
“Got other activities planned?” I laughed when he threw down a few hundred dollar bills then came around the table to take my hand and help me from my chair.
“Only one.” He growled as we manoeuvred through the tables and then pushed out into the cool night air. Once we were around the corner of the restaurant, away from the entrance, he paused, sliding me against the brick wall and covering me with his broad body. I felt every inch of him, from his marble pectorals to the thickness pressing into my hip.
He caught my face in his hands, eyes on my lips before landing on my gaze. “The only thing I have a taste for is you.”
And then he pressed our lips together in a searing kiss, my fingers tracing to his collar as I pulled myself closer, one of his arms locking around my waist and pulling me harder into his body. His tongue tangled with mine, desperate and needy and lighting me on fire. Being so close to him all night without really touching him had been torture, the way his thick and rough-edged voice travelled my veins like lava and settled between my thighs, leaving me hot and horny and his name on my lips.
“Wow.” I pulled away, panting.
His grin quirked, eyes chasing the angles of my face before he brought our lips together. “We’re way more than wow, Daisy. Be ready to have your mind blown on our second date.”
“Second date?” I smiled inwardly, wishing our first date would last forever. “I still haven’t gotten over the first.”
He laughed, making me proud that I’d put that smile on his face. “Mm, one taste of you and I’m already addicted.”
Chapter 4
Hawk
I slammed the door on my house a little too forcibly as I walked in, body still strung tight and tense from my date with Izzy. She was a vision, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her, and now I couldn’t keep my filthy thoughts off of her.
I needed her to know the truth, I had no other options. But Izzy Main was not making my life easier, that was for sure.
And then I about hit the floor in shock when I walked into the master bedroom and caught sight of her.
“Oh, Daisy, what are you doing to me?” I groaned, pausing at my bedroom window.
Her curvy form in dim silhouette at the window made my cock throb. When I’d rented this apartment across the street from hers, I hadn’t expected to find myself more and more drawn to my target over the months.
She was my easiest target yet. Most of my assignments involved my fists and a heavy dose of intimidation, usually to get the pathetic asshole to pay his debts, but when the Izzy Main file had landed in my lap, nothing could have prepared me for the simple sweetness of her.
At first, I’d tried to treat this assignment like any other. But then, watching her quiet life, the way she came and went without visitors, made tea and cuddled with a book on Sunday mornings, and woke up just after five a.m. every other day for a jog...well, I’d come to adapt myself to her routine.
And become a little more interested. I’d researched her well before renting the apartment across the street from hers, even made sure we were on the same floor so our windows were on the same level--but after a few days I found myself wondering all the things about her that I couldn’t find on paper.
What song she sang in the shower. What her laugh sounded like. If she’d whimper or cry out when I slipped my tongue through her wet folds for the first time.
I’d found myself taken with Izzy alright, visions of her sweet face coming undone, with her knees wrapped around my neck and my tongue tasting her sweet cunt. She’d even started haunting my dreams; images of her sweet lips pressed against mine kept me tossing and turning half the night, until my cock throbbed so fiercely I finally jerked off in a fit of frustration, just to quell the images of her.
Before she even knew my name, she kept me up all night.
I’d spent the first three months studying her with keen interest, and the last two haunting her bar like a lonely loser, until I finally decided I was ready to talk.
How was I supposed to bring her back to my boss? I hadn’t figured my way to a situation that kept her safe, and fulfilled my obligation to the family yet, but I was determined to do what I could to avoid relinquishing her. There was no fucking way I could allow another man to marry what was mine.
Ever.
I was completely fucked in this situation, no matter how I worked my way around it, and just the fact that I fisted my cock in my hand right now while she shed her shirt and pushed her skirt down her legs complicated my life even more.
But I was never a man to run from complications, especially when they were worth my time. And Daisy was worth everything.
She bent over, leaning on the edge of her bed as she pushed her socks off her feet. Her white cotton panties hugged the round swells of her ass cheeks and I groaned loudly as my release hummed thr
ough my balls and began to tingle up my shaft.
I watched as she paused, adjusting the thigh elastic of her panties and causing the bottom of her round ass cheek to peek out for just a moment. I growled, my release finally rocketing off through my dick as long hot jets of cum spilled over my knuckles and fell at the floor between my feet.
“I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do when all I can think about is tasting every inch of your sweet, sexy body, Daisy.” I tucked my barely softened cock back into my pants and sighed, turning to find my phone lighting up silently with a call from the boss.
I groaned again, wishing I could ignore this call, but I knew as soon as I did, he’d follow up with a few more rough guys in person to make sure I was paying attention.
“Hello?”
“Hawk, what the fuck took so long? I’ve been calling for five minutes.”
“Just got out of the shower,” I lied smoothly. “Still holding my dick in my hand, don’t even give a guy a chance to dry off.”
The Don, my adopted father, cackled on the other end. I wasn’t one for dick jokes, but I knew how to play to his filthy sense of humor--one of the few things that ever made him crack a smile. “You got eyes on her yet?”
“Not yet,” I lied again.
“Well, what the fuck is taking you so long? I sent my best man because this one’s important, this one is a game changer. You know Don Main won’t stop with the ruthless shakedowns of the business owners surrounding East Town. If we don’t make the deal, we’ll have to resort to violence, you know that. I can’t have that man fucking with my bottom line any more than he already has.” He paused, letting his promise linger, my mind running back over all of the vicious things I’d seen this man do in the name of business. “I need you to bring me the girl, Hawk.”
“I’m doing my best, Gino.” I spat.
“Don’t make yourself out to be a liar, boy, you know the pigeons have eyes in this city.”
I nodded, his saying famous through all of the neighborhoods.
“I'm starting to think your head might not be in the game anymore.” He paused, insinuation in his voice clear. “You’ve got two more weeks, don’t make me put another man on the case, Hawk.” His voice lowered then. “And don’t disappoint me.”
“I won’t.” I replied.
Chapter 5
Izzy
One week.
It’d been one week since I’d seen Hawk. I shouldn’t have felt as devastated as I did, as if the wind had been knocked out of me and the sun had been snuffed out. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t heard from him--I thought our dinner had gone well. He was so intense and still charming, and he made me feel safe. Something that I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
I was probably foolish to think he may have thought the same way. But his reaction shouldn’t have shocked me. Most of my life I’d been surrounded by men who’d disappointed and hurt me. My own father wasn’t even concerned about my well-being and health. Not if it interfered with his plans or his money. When my mom was alive it was different. His love for her kept me safe, but as soon as she died, the only good in my father died with her. He became cold, colder than usual. He no longer held any affection in his eyes, and he grew consumed with power. He often said that love made you weak, but power, power sustained you.
Just weeks after her death, my father decided to sell me--his only daughter--to another man. That sale would have garnered him power and an allegiance so strong that it would make him untouchable by anyone. But there was no way I was going to be forced into servitude, to be owned as property by a man that I didn’t love and who didn’t love me. So I did the only thing I could think of.
I ran.
“Where is Mr. Tall, Dark and Dead Sexy?” Mandy asked, mindlessly pouring another shot for the drunk who was almost hunched over at the bar counter.
“You don’t think he’s had enough?” I whispered once I was close enough to avoid his ears. One thing about drunks, they became almost homicidal if they knew you were stepping between them and their poison of choice. I usually avoided the drunks like this, and lately if anyone messed with me, Hawk was usually here to scare them off with a sharp look. It was a running joke around the bar that I was protected or connected. But that night, I was a lamb left out to be slaughtered.
“No one asked you for your opinion, little girl.” The drunk slurred, slamming the shot glass on the bar and causing the glass beside it to jump with the sheer force. I couldn’t help flinching at the menace laced in his voice.
“Hey now, Fred, you remember what happened the last time when you got a little too aggressive with the waitresses.” Mandy stepped between me and the drunk, shielding me from his glazed-over stare.
“That little bitch doesn’t know what she’s talking about. My ass ain’t drunk. You have any idea how much I can pound back?” He slurred, his voice putrid with the smell of acid and alcohol. Drunks like him were why I loathed my job so much. “Tell the whore to fucking get lost, and you pour me another drink.”
I felt myself shrinking the more he spoke to me.
“Apologize.” A strong, familiar voice bellowed beside the drunk. I looked up to see Hawk standing there, his arms crossed against his chest, looking down at Fred like he was nothing more than a cockroach. I hated how I felt when I saw him. Relief flooded through me, happiness replacing fear. I should have been pissed, I should have told him that I could protect myself, and he could fuck right off. But I was so grateful that he was there, with me, near me.
“I ain’t apologizing for shit. That bitch needs to learn to mind her fuckin’ business,” Fred said, standing up to face Hawk. I couldn’t help thinking that the alcohol must have muddied up his damn head, because he didn’t stand a chance sober, let alone drunk. There he stood, just above Hawk’s elbow, looking up at him in some weak form of defiance.
Hawk just laughed before stepping closer, the sheer mass of his body completely crowding Fred. “You want to say that again?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I ain’t apologizing for shit,” Fred said, not moving, yet his hands were shaking more than they were a few moments ago. Hawk just nodded his head and in the blink of an eye, he grabbed Fred by the head and banged it so hard against the bar counter that I thought he was rendered unconscious. Mandy screamed, calling for the bouncer to come and break it up and I just stood there, immobile, taken back to a different time and place.
“Izzy. Izzy, do something,” Mandy called, her voice frantic. It felt like her voice was coming from far away, even though she was standing there in front of me, her hands on my shoulders, shaking me to get my attention. “Izzy. Snap the fuck out of it!” She yelled.
My gaze shot up at her and I saw the fear and dread in her eyes.
“He’s going to kill him, Izzy,” she said, her voice much softer, the fear evident. Something about the tone of her voice made me finally look over to Hawk, crouched on the floor, on top of Fred, mercilessly punching him. I could see that Fred wasn’t moving, but Hawk kept going at it, punch after punch, blow after blow.
“Hawk,” I finally managed to say. That made him stop. Me just barely whispering his name took him out of the haze of his raging hatred, ending the violence that he was unleashing. I wrapped my shaking hand around his bloodstained one, moving it away from the lifeless body on the ground.
“Check to see if he is breathing.” I ordered the bouncer, Mac, a hulk of a man that usually was very frightening on his own. I watched him as his arm was around Mandy, making sure she was ok. She nodded her head right before he walked over and checked Fred’s pulse.
“He’s breathing,” Mac said. “How about we get you to the hospital, old man.” He tried to lift Fred off the ground.
“I don’t need a fuckin’ hospital,” he said. “Just pour me another drink.”
He was barely able to hold himself up, but he slithered his way to the bar stool and Mac moved beside Mandy, prepared to give Fred another beating to add on to Hawk’s.
�
�Fred, I think it’s best you go home,” Mandy said, pulling a bottle of rum from behind the bar and handing it to him. “Take this and get the fuck out.”
Fred took the bottle from her, and Mac escorted him out the front door.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I yelled at Hawk, turning all of my attention on him.
Chapter 6
Hawk
I couldn’t handle the way she was looking at me, her pretty brown eyes filled with shock and fear. I hated myself at that moment. I felt like a sorry motherfucker. I didn’t want her to ever look at me the way she was right then. The hurt in her eyes was like a fucking punch to my gut.
The straight truth was that I’d fucking blanked, saw rivers of red and gone back to the time I’d witnessed my fist hit with the Don. Late one night, in the back of a parking garage, the Don and one of his soldiers had pounded the pulse out of a guy for cutting money off the back end of the laundering hustle the family maintained. He’d been hired to protect the money, not steal it to shove powder up his nose, I remembered the Don screaming before blood soaked my shoes. I was only seventeen then and I still shuddered at the memory.
“Did you hear me?” She demanded, now standing over me, her small hand at her hips. I couldn’t help smiling at her attempt at being defiant, even when I could visibly see her fear. It was obvious that she grew up around our world. A world of murderers and criminals. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen violence and if she was going to be with me I couldn't promise it would be the last.
“He was being disrespectful,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
“That’s all you’ve got to say to me? You beat a man senseless for just being a stupid drunk!” She yelled.
“I don’t think this is the best place to discuss this,” I whispered in her ear.
His Mark: A Mafia Romance (Forever Mine Book 1) Page 2
