The Promise: Mafia Vows Two

by SR Jones

“Oh God, this is because of me; this is my fault.” Maya is starting to react now. She’s rubbing her arms, self-soothing, and her breath is coming fast.

  “Try to keep calm; you’re safe now.” Liam is untying Stella’s hands.

  As much as I want to comfort Maya, I’m too busy keeping an eye out. Andrius too. We both have our guns drawn as we scan the horizon. It’s a cool day, mid-week, and this part of town is pretty dead. This is the sort of place that’s packed on a sunny Saturday, but today it has a deserted feel.

  “Did they… Stella, did they … touch you?”

  I know what Maya’s asking. I’m not sure Stella will answer her with all of us here, but to my surprise she shakes her head and says in a stronger voice than I’m expecting, “Not that way. They hit me. Said they would mark me up and send me as a warning to you and your friends. It was Costas.” She starts to cry. “I always thought he liked me. He’s so different these days. I think he’s on drugs, and he had women there … prostitutes, I think. With the bikers.” She flushes, and again I’m reminded of the youth and innocence of these young women.

  “Bikers?” I glance at Andrius. This means the guys we saw with him the other day, the men who helped him take Maya, those men there are definitely closely aligned to Costas now. This isn’t good. If Costas has an in with an illegal motorcycle club, he’ll probably have a lot of firepower at his fingertips.

  “Yeah. Bikers.” She sniffs, and as soon as her arms and ankles are free, she pushes up and launches herself at Maya.

  The two women hug one another tightly, and I glance around me again. “Let’s go. We need to get them inside.”

  Liam nods, and Andrius covers our backs as I keep walking forward, gun aimed at the empty street in front of me.

  “Ladies, sorry to break this up, but we need to go.”

  Stella takes two steps, but she’s limping. My guess, her feet are dead from being bound.

  Liam swoops her up and carries her as we begin to jog. Maya easily keeps pace as she’s wearing jeans and sneakers, and she’s not in any way out of shape despite her ordeal.

  When we reach the house, I enter the code and shove my way inside, making room for Liam to pass me with Stella.

  Alesso and Markos rush into the hallway at the commotion, and Liam barks for them to give him space. “Where can I take her?” he snaps.

  “To my room,” Maya says. “There’s no comfy seating down here.”

  I decide there and then to get some new furniture urgently.

  Liam jogs up the stairs with Stella still in his arms.

  “I’ll grab the first aid stuff,” Reece says.

  We all file into the bedroom as Liam places Stella gently on the bed.

  “I need to take your socks off to have a look at your feet. Okay?” He starts to do it as she nods. I watch, and all the while I’m thinking now I have two women who need protection.

  Things just got so much more complicated.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Alesso

  My heart is pounding as I see the fragile woman on the bed, bruised and in shock. I always liked Maya’s friend. Not that I told anyone, not even Damen. At the time, I was supposed to be helping Sophia, a girl from my local village in Corfu, by pretending we had a relationship.

  She doesn’t need me to do that now. The girl sat her parents down and told them in no uncertain terms she didn’t want to marry the much older man they’d planned as her husband, and that she wanted to study, and after a long night of discussion, they agreed.

  With all that happened, I never got around to telling Damen I wasn’t going to be helping Sophia anymore, and I also didn’t mention I liked Stella. It doesn’t matter, because she’s far too good for the likes of me.

  Damen thinks he knows me, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t know that some nights I go trawling the clubs for tawdry sexual encounters, and that I pick up the first willing woman, go back to her place, and screw her brains out. It’s consensual, but that’s about the only good thing I can say about it. The encounters are empty, soulless, and exactly what I crave.

  Stella. She’s warm and beautiful, and she’ll end up married to a doctor or a lawyer. Didn’t stop me admiring her from afar, though. Doesn’t stop me from still admiring her beauty now.

  She’s hurt. It looks bad, and it has to be that fucker Costas that did this. My jaw works as I grind my teeth.

  Stamatis is going to have to do more than excommunicate the little shit. If he doesn’t sort Costas out, I will. The man is rogue and a danger to everyone I hold dear.

  Markos comes into the room, and I want to tell him to get out. It’s already too crowded. Full of big men, and it must be scary for Stella after what she’s been through.

  What has she been through? Did they rape her?

  The thought has bile crawling up my throat.

  “Can you tell us what happened?” Liam asks as he inspects her feet.

  She swallows, but when she speaks her voice is clear. “I was out taking a walk to meet a friend for coffee and this car pulled up, the doors opened, and I was pulled in. At first, I was relieved when I saw Costas, instinct from knowing him for years, I suppose. Then, I remembered what he did to Maya, and I looked at the other men with him.”

  She pauses and coughs.

  “Get her some water,” I snap at Markos. He glares at me, but shuffles off to do what I have ordered.

  “They were all big, rough looking, wearing leather waistcoats or jackets and jeans. They had all sorts of things on their jackets and waistcoats. Badges. You know.” She indicates to her chest area, and her hands shake slightly as she moves them. “I realized they were part of a biker gang. They drove me to their compound. Some women came to me, and they were nice. They gave me water and some food, but I couldn’t eat it. Too scared. Then Costas came into the room, and he said he was sorry for what he had to do, but he needed to send a message to the whore.”

  She glances at Maya. “Sorry, those were his words.”

  Damen clenches his fists, and his jaw is tight enough to shatter.

  “Go on,” Liam encourages Stella.

  “This big guy comes into the room. I mean huge. As big as Damen or Reece, and he hit me across the face.” She shakes her head. “He hit me quite a few times, and it really hurt, but … this might sound weird, he seemed to know what he was doing. I don’t think anything’s broken. At one point he said to Costas something like: there you go, maximum effect with minimum damage.”

  She wipes at a solitary tear, and her bravery is a sight to behold. Admiration fills me. I’ve had plenty of thoughts about Stella, most of them not fit to print. None of them really about her as a person, who she is, and what her strengths are. They’ve mostly been pornographic film reels running through my mind of the things I’d like to do to her. Now, though, I’m seeing part of who she is shine through, and she’s got a backbone of steel behind her upper-class manners.

  “After the guy finished hitting me, Costas turned to the others and said it was time to deliver the message. I could see out of the windows as we drove because they didn’t blindfold me, and they came to your house, Damen. Here. Stopped by the guard house at the bottom of the drive. But you guys were walking down the road already, so they followed you.”

  “I bet they planned to dump her right outside your drive.” Andrius paces as he talks to Damen.

  “Hey,” I tell him. “Don’t talk about her as if she’s not here. Her name is Stella.”

  Andrius stares at me as if I’ve grown another head and gives an annoyed jerk of his chin, which I’m not sure means okay, or go to hell.

  Damen looks at me, and his lips twitch. Why I don’t know, but he can fuck off too. I like the girl, some, but I’m hardly head over heels in love like he is. Not that he can bring himself to say it, which means he’s going to screw this whole thing between him and Maya up royally.

  I’ve changed my mind about that too. If Damen actually loves her, and I think he does, then he should man up and admit it. I didn’t w
ant him with Maya because it complicates everything, but he’s my friend, and I don’t want him to spend his life regretting not having the balls to go for what he truly desires.

  Stella wipes at another tear, but she’s still stoic, and something clenches in the place where my heart would reside—if I had one, and I’m pretty convinced I don’t.

  “Was the guy who hit you one of the bikers?” I ask her.

  She nods. “Yes, but he seemed different. His hair wasn’t the same. They had long hair most of them, whereas this guy had short hair at the sides, longer on top, styled a bit too. He wore loads of silver rings and bracelets. And as I say, he was really big. It’s why I think he controlled what he did to me. A man of that size, fists like a gorilla, surely he’d have broken something if he’d gone at me full force. He seemed so calm, as if it was all in a day’s work, compared to Costas, who was hyper and excitable. Plus, his accent seemed … off. He reminded me of my cousin who is Greek American.”

  Motherfucker. I file all the information away because I am going to need it.

  Whoever this piece of shit is, I’m going to find him, and then I’m going to put him in the ground.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Maya

  Stella is finally sleeping. I gave her a sedative and told her to shout at me if she awoke and needed anything. I feel so damn guilty, this only happened because of me. I caused my friend to be assaulted and beaten. I should disappear. The longer I stay here the more people I put in danger. My mother has died because of me. My friend has been tortured, and now Alesso and Damen are risking their lives every day to protect me.

  I’m not worth it. I’m not even worth loving, not by my father, either of them, or my mother until it was too late, and certainly not by Damen. I’ll love myself, though. I’ll take myself away and save my damn self.

  My phone goes, and I glance at it to see it’s my father. I ignore it, but only a minute or so later the voicemail message flashes up.

  I sigh and put the phone to my ear to listen to it. I’m a glutton for punishment it seems.

  “Maya, what the hell is going on?” Spiros sounds scared. I wonder for a moment if the bikers have paid him a visit? “Stamatis called me and said he doesn’t need me to run the casinos now; in fact, he said he doesn’t want me to do anything at all. Have you had a hand in this? Did you go opening your big mouth and tell him about our plan to travel for a while? Girl, you need to fix this because I can’t be cut off in this way. Please, Maya. I’m your father.”

  Those words make something in me snap.

  I jab at the keyboard, dialing our home number, the digits I know off by heart. He answers on the third ring. “Maya?”

  “You’re not my father.”

  “Now listen to me, young lady.”

  “No,” I interrupt. “You listen to me. You’re not my father. You’re dead to me. I hate you. How dare you message me asking me to go to Crete when we both know it’s to marry me off to some backward family and make me their broodmare? And then, to top it off, you call and ask me to fucking help you get your job back? No. I had nothing to do with you losing it; you did that all by yourself. I don’t want you to call me anymore. Leave me alone.”

  “Listen to me…”

  The phone is taken out of my hands, making me jump, and Damen puts it on speaker, hearing everything that spills from my father’s mouth next.

  “You need to understand how much danger you’re in. Yannis will still have you, daughter. He can keep you safe. Costas, Stamatis, they are clearly not our friends anymore. You’re married to that thug who works for Stamatis, and he could decide to off you at any moment with one word from his boss. I know Yannis is troubled, but he won’t try to kill you. The life you could have in Crete wouldn’t be bad either. You need to come to your senses, girl. You’ve little to recommend you, and you’re fast approaching the point where you’re shit out of options. I’m your father, whether you like it or not, and I know best.”

  Damen sighs and brings the phone closer to his mouth. “Call here again, Spiro, and I’ll come around there and remove your balls personally. At some point this week, Maya will need to come and sort through her mother’s things. I think it will be best for all concerned if you’re not there. I’ll text you before we set off, give you chance to go out for a few hours. If you are there, it won’t go well for you. Trust me.”

  “You can’t do this.” Spiros is practically screaming down the phone now. “You harm one hair on my little girl’s head, and I will take you down. You’re nothing but a hired hand. I am a member of this family, whether you and others like it or not. Bring my daughter home now, do you hear me? You and Stamatis have failed spectacularly to keep her safe.”

  “You don’t give a shit for her safety; all you want is to marry her off for money. Call her again, and I will be paying you a visit. I’ll text when we’re coming for the remainder of her things. Do not touch any of her mother’s possessions until she’s had a chance to go through them for anything she might wish to keep.”

  Damen hangs up without waiting to hear Spiros’ answer.

  “The man is an utter dick,” he says, as he rubs the back of his neck. “But he is right about one thing. I have failed you. You haven’t been safe with me. I’m sorry for that.”

  I smile at him. “Well, seeing as I am the one who ran outside the day Costas took me, when you’d expressly forbidden me from doing so, I think we can apportion some of the blame to me too.”

  “You only did that because I’m struggling so much with the whole … feelings side of this.”

  My heart does a little stop-start, before resuming its normal rhythm. This is the first time he’s openly mentioned struggling with this. Wow, it gives me some hope. I try not to let those tendrils curl around me, because I know it might not mean anything, but it seems like a step in the right direction to me.

  “We’re both screw ups,” I tell him, realizing how true it is. “Sadly for us, our screwed-upness is kind of contradictory. What I need and what you need are diametrically opposed.”

  He watches me a moment before sitting on the bed. “I don’t think it is. We want the same things, we just use different words for it.”

  “Words matter, though. To me at least. I will give you time, but I won’t stay married for life to a man who can’t tell me he loves me. I deserve better, Damen.” Then to show him I’m not pissed at him, merely being honest, I kiss him as I leave the room to go check on Stella.

  She’s sleeping, so feeling at odds with myself, and unsure what to do, I head back to Damen’s room. It’s practically our room at this point, the amount of time I spend in there. I smile when I walk in to see him completely naked. It’s a sight I don’t think I’ll ever grow bored of. He’s simply stunning.

  “What are you staring at?” he says as he watches me with amused eyes. His dick, already big, starts to fill as I drink him in.

  “You. You’re like a porn show made purely for womankind.”

  He laughs then, one of his rare genuine chuckles. I take the sound and file it away, a treasure in my memory box of our time together. “I’m pretty sure I’d have to be doing something other than standing here to be a one-man porn show. Like actually touching myself.”

  I remember walking in on him doing exactly that in the shower and speak without engaging my brain-to-mouth filter. “That would be hot, you taking care of yourself.”

  I have a bit of a secret penchant for watching guys taking care of themselves. I have a few favorite videos hidden in my phone files, although Damen could find them in a heartbeat if he wanted to, with his skills.

  He quirks one brow, but his dick swells more. “You’d find it hot watching me?”

  He sounds bemused at the idea. Doesn’t he get it? How utterly amazing he is? His big body is out of this world. It’s perfect.

  “Yeah.” I shrug as heat crawls up my throat. Why is it so hard to admit? Guys are so open about what turns them on, but we women are always made to feel ashamed of our desire
s. We are meant to be receptacles for male desire, not have active fantasies and wants of our own. And yes, I’ve read some feminist theory, and frankly, with the life I’ve lived, I haven’t seen much to disprove some of those theories.

  Damen goes and lies on the bed. I swallow. “What are you doing?”

  “Giving you a show. It’s only fair. You gave me one.”

  For some strange reason, despite everything we’ve done, this whole exchange is making me intensely shy.

  “I don’t think I can watch you, with you watching me,” I admit to him.

  He gives me a lazy grin. “That’s okay. When I take care of myself, I have my eyes shut.”

  Then without another word, he shuts his eyes and runs his hand down his chest, down his rippled abs, and further, stopping just short of his dick. Not sure what to do with myself, I stay standing and watch in anticipation as he takes hold of himself.

  His grip is firm, much firmer than mine. He strokes his hand leisurely up and down his length, adding a twist at the top. His other hand cups his balls and gives a tug on them. Letting his legs drop to the side slightly, he keeps playing with his balls as he increases the speed he’s stroking himself at.

  Eyes remaining tightly closed, his mouth parts, and some of the tension that seems to live in him eases as his features relax.

  I press my palm against my throbbing core, desperate for some relief of my own. Damen opens one eye for a brief moment. “Why don’t you join me? Put your hand in your panties and fuck yourself.”

  Then he closes his eye again, giving me the privacy I need to do as he says. I’m near the dresser, so I hold onto that with one hand, as my other slips into my panties, between my already soaked folds.

  “Good girl,” Damen says.

  “How do you know I’ve done what you said?” I ask, voice breathy.

  “You always do … in the bedroom. It’s one of the things I love about you.” His hand is flying over his cock now, but his words have me frozen.

  One of the things he loves about me? I don’t think he realizes what he’s said, and maybe it doesn’t count in a moment like this. But perhaps…it does.