by Rye Hart
Not one bit.
“Julia?”
“Yes, Enrico?”
“Are you sure there’s nothing you want to talk about?” he asked.
“You need to stop worrying,” I said. “Nothing happened. We talked for a bit. I apologized for how things went down at the restaurant, but I made it clear he still wasn’t going to demand to see his son. I’m still not comfortable with it.”
“And you shouldn’t be. He’s taken a very powerful seat, and power like that can easily corrupt,” he said.
“That’s my fear. Which is why, for now, I’m still planning on interacting with Romeo. If peace is what my uncle wants, then I believe I can get that for him. And I think I can get it without having to throw Matteo into the mix.”
“That’s why you’re such a phenomenal mother. You always have been.”
“Thanks, Enrico. But right now? I’m tired. I could use a nap myself.”
“Then go lay down,” he said. “I’ll be here if you need anything.”
I turned down the hallway and was elated when Enrico didn’t follow. The last thing I wanted to have to do was keep myself quiet. Every time Romeo came back to my mind, heat pooled between my legs. I slipped into my room and shut the door behind me, then kicked off my shoes and dove for the covers. I slipped underneath the silken cotton and closed my eyes, reliving the moment I’d spent with him.
The way his body commanded mine.
The way his cock felt filling my pussy.
The way his lips felt along the skin of my neck.
I couldn’t stop smiling. I wanted to believe Romeo wasn’t some dirty crime boss, that he was good, the moral man he used to be. I wanted to believe he wanted peace as much as my uncle did. I wanted to believe him when he said he wanted to make his family’s business legitimate.
The way it all needed to be.
I didn’t trust that it could happen, but I allowed my mind to believe it. I slid my fingers between my legs and parted them widely, allowing my mind to drift. To imagine what a life with him would look like. Feel like. Be like. I saw our wedding and my skin glowing in a beautiful white gown. I saw us dancing as my fingers slipped between my pussy folds. I felt his lips against my skin as he dragged me to a dark corner, his hand shoved up my innocent wedding gown with our family only a few feet away.
“I can’t wait to have you. I need you now.”
His voice was hot in my ear as my fingers dipped into my heated warmth. I slicked up my fingers and traveled up to my clit, circling it quickly as my heels dug into the mattress. Fucking him on our honeymoon would be incredible. His hands tearing at my dress, ripping the fabric and allowing it to slip to the floor. Buttons popping from his tuxedo as he dragged me out onto the balcony to lean me over the edge of it and fuck me senseless.
“Romeo,” I said breathlessly. “Yes.”
I bucked into my hands as I imagined him fucking me. Slamming against my ass while his hand fisted my hair. He pulled my gaze up to look out over the tropical waters, the moon reflected in the undulating waves as his hand migrated between my legs.
“Mine,” Romeo said. “You’re mine. Say it.”
“I’m yours,” I said in a whisper. “Always yours.”
My hand flicked my clit before pressing deeply into my pussy. Juices were slipping down onto the mattress below me as I ground against my hand. I cupped my pussy and imagined it was his face. My legs straddling his cheeks as he fucked me with his tongue. My breathing was ragged, and my chest was panting. I could feel his cock filling my body as my fingers moved faster. Harder. “Holy shit. Yes. Romeo, please.”
My back arched, and my toes curled as my mouth fell open in silent pleasure. I choked out groans as my pussy clamped down, and I slipped my fingers inside. I squeezed my eyes shut and imagined him, hovering over me with his beautiful blue eyes. Grinning down at my body and shoved deeply between my legs as he poured himself into me.
I saw him everywhere. The balcony of our honeymoon. In my bed. On his dining room table. Against the wall.
In the back of his car where we had conceived Matteo.
I plummeted to the mattress, my fingers buried between my legs. Fluids were coating my skin and a lopsided smile spread across my cheeks. I allowed my eyes to flutter closed as sleep threatened to take me over, and soon the thoughts of Romeo changed. I was no longer thinking of his body or the rings of his chiseled abs. I was no longer envisioning the pads of his Adonis muscles or his strong palms cupping my breasts.
There was a nagging sensation.
Like I had gotten something wrong.
I slipped my hand from between my thighs. My body was shivering with the aftershocks of my orgasm, and I needed to take a nap. I did my best to push the feeling of dread away. I chalked it up to the fact that I was simply nervous. Worried about interacting with Romeo again and what that might entail for us. I’d set a precedent that I would sleep with him, and he would probably expect that every time now.
For all I knew, his status as a crime boss would make him feel entitled to my body every time I saw him.
I wanted to believe he was a good man. That we could be the family I’d always dreamt of us being. That he could be a part of Matteo’s life and be the strong, seductive, protective man I knew he was when I was younger. It was why my pregnancy was a wonderful time for me, even if it pissed off my father.
Because out of all the men on the planet, it was an honor to carry his child.
But now, I still wasn’t sure if he was the same man I once knew.
I rolled over onto my stomach and buried my face into the pillow below me. I could still smell my scent wafting around the room, and it somehow didn’t seem like enough any longer. Romeo’s scent was missing, not mingling like it had earlier that afternoon. It was lonely. Single. Alone.
Like me.
I drew in a deep breath and let sleep drag me under. I didn’t want to cry myself to sleep again. I’d done enough of that. I wanted to ride the high of my orgasmic state into wonderful dreams that swept me away until Matteo came and knocked on my door.
As I slept, I dreamt of the perfect future.
Of peace between our families.
Of marriage and more babies than I could count.
I dreamt of the future I had always wanted for myself and Matteo.
But the dreams were shallow and didn’t leave me fulfilled or hopeful when I woke. They left me uneasy that dreams were all I would ever have.
CHAPTER 7
ROMEO
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
I sighed and shook my head as the two men beside me drew their guns.
“This was a deal my father had on the table before he died,” I said. “And now that I’ve taken over, we are no longer in need of your shipment.”
“I don’t give a damn if your daddy’s dead,” the man said. “He made a deal, and we shook on it. You owe us the money, or you owe us your life.”
“I owe you nothing. You made that deal with my father without a physical contract in place. I don’t need your guns.”
“Then maybe we’ll take your money and shoot you anyway,” another man said.
“That would most definitely not be in your best interests,” I said evenly.
I was standing with two of my bodyguards staring down the barrel of three separate guns held by desperate men, and the only thing I wanted was for them to find some other fucking buyer for their weapons. That was it. There were plenty of traffickers in New York City that would kill for the shipment that had just arrived.
I didn’t need them, and all they had to do was acknowledge the deal gone bad and walk away from it.
No one had to get hurt.
“You’ll pay the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars you owe us, or you’ll die,” the man said.
I heard my bodyguards cock their guns as I held up my hand. They whipped their eyes toward me, looking at me as if I’d lost my mind. I was serious when I told my mother I wanted this operation to be le
gitimate again. That meant we would obtain any guns we needed for any reason legally, not shipped in from overseas with the fucking serial numbers scratched off from the metal. That was my father’s business. Not mine.
And I wasn’t going to be strong-armed into his dirty deals.
Which meant I had to keep a cool head.
“Gentleman. I’ve got a check in my back pocket for twenty thousand dollars to pay you for your troubles and to get you by until you find another buyer for the guns. I know you can find them in the city. I’m sure you’ve got plenty of clients,” I said.
“You’ll take the guns, and you’ll be thankful,” the man said.
“I don’t want to buy the guns. My father did, but he’s dead. And I have no use for them. You don’t have a paper contract so I can’t confirm the amount you’re asking for or even the fact that the deal took place.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” the man asked.
He thrust his gun out further forcing my bodyguards back into attack mode.
“Listen to me. I’m trying to find an avenue that benefits all of us, and you’re making it very hard for me to do so. These men at my side are ordered to protect me at any cost. Don’t make them do that. Be reasonable.”
“Reasonable?” the man asked. “There ain’t no reason when it comes to buying guns. You took your father’s place, which means you inherited his deals and his dirty work. Take the fucking guns and give us our money, or you’ll be shark bait for my son’s crabbing venture.”
“Shark bait for crabs. Got it,” I said. “Guys, could you please lower your weapons?”
“Sorry, Mr. Bianchi. No can do,” my bodyguard said.
“Too volatile,” the other man said.
“Look, I have no need for the guns. Would you pay a quarter of a million dollars for something you didn’t need any longer?” I asked.
“Your father had a use for them. I suggest you start there,” the man said.
“And I already told you, I’m no longer seeking out those avenues of business. You can take the check for twenty thousand for the inconvenience I’ve caused you, or you can walk away with nothing. The choice is yours,” I said.
“As far as I can tell, we have three guns to your two. We’ll take both of your guards out before you can do anything. I know you’ve got the money, Bianchi. You can turn around and sell the damn guns for all we care to recoup what you lost. But I’m not fucking leaving without the money I was promised.”
Gun runners were always so unwavering in their demands. I hated doing business with them, and I hated it when my father did. But I knew why he did. They cut him a fantastic deal on the massive number of guns and the quality he always obtained. I got it. But it wasn’t needed for what I was trying to do with the operation. I wanted to rule by respect, not by fear. But as I stared at the three men in front of me, I knew what had to be done. I didn't want to do it. I promised myself I wouldn’t get my hands dirty unless I absolutely had to. But these men weren’t letting up. I wasn’t paying them for guns I didn’t need, and since there was no paper trail, nobody would ever trace the weapons back to the deal my father made with them. I didn’t see any other way out of this mess that didn’t end in someone’s death.
And if I was going to turn my family around, it couldn’t be my death.
“I don’t want this ending badly,” I said.
“Then cough up the cash,” the man said.
“There’s no sort of deal we can come to where we all walk away happy?” I asked. “Because I don’t need those guns. They’ll simply sit here and wait for the police to trace them back to you.”
“Oh, you’ll take them. And we’ll take our money. You’ll get the guns off this damn dock and out of our sight, and then we can talk about doing another deal.”
“There will never be another deal, gentleman. Let’s get that very clear right now,” I said.
“Your father was a good customer of ours. We greased his palms, and he greased ours. We have no intention of letting our connections to your family go.”
There it was.
The straw that broke my back.
They could force these guns on me and take my money. They could threaten my life if I didn’t give it to them. They could even take their best shot at trying to take me out before my bodyguards pumped their bodies full of lead.
But they would never hold my family ransom.
I promised to dig them out of that life, and I wasn’t backing down from that promise.
“Okay,” I said. “Then you can have your money.”
The thugs looked at one another, seemingly happy with the choice I had made. I heard them utter a few derogatory comments projected specifically at me. Something about being a pussy compared to my father. I bit down on my tongue and walked around behind my car, then opened the trunk.
But instead of pulling out a bag of cash, I reached for my weapon.
I closed my eyes briefly and told myself it was them or me. I was working too damn hard to get my family out of this shit to let this go down this way. I stepped from behind my car and handled the situation the only way I knew to make it go away for good. I sighed and shook my head as I dropped the weapon back into the trunk of the car.
I was disgusted with myself, but they gave me no choice. I pulled out my wallet and flipped it open, then slipped the twenty thousand dollar check out. I had it written and everything. Ready for them to cash it and be on their way. I lit a lighter and burned the checked before me. I didn’t need anything to connect me back to what happened here.
“Come along, gentleman. It’s time to get home,” I said.
“Yes, sir,” one of them said.
“Should we call this in?” the other one asked.
“Just get me home. I’ll deal with it,” I said.
I wiped my hands of the cool metal texture before I slid into the back of the car. I pulled a burner phone from my pocket and dialed the non-emergency police number, then waited until we were on a back road outside of the city before I called. I left an anonymous tip about the shooting and how I thought I heard four or five different gunshots go off.
Then I hung up the phone, took out the battery, and tossed the remnants of it into the water.
I leaned back in my seat and tossed the battery onto the floorboard of the car. I watched as the city passed me by, the car driving me closer to home. That wasn’t the first time a deal my father had dragged this family into had gone south. I took diplomatic approaches with every other one of them, but gun runners were stubborn. Shaking on something was equivalent to a paper contract. But not in my world. I grimaced as I thought about the three bodies lying there on the dock. I still wasn’t sure I’d done the right thing.
Part of me still thought I could’ve talked them off the ledge.
“Mr. Martine.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Are you hungry?”
“Not particularly. But if you are, feel free to swing by somewhere and get yourself something. My treat.”
“I was actually hoping your mother had some leftover lasagna if it’s not asking too much.”
I grinned as I shook my head. My mother’s lasagna was known all over town. At the very least, it was known all over the family. If there were leftovers from a meal she cooked, they were never in the fridge for long. She made her food with love and care, and way too much butter and sugar for any normal human being.
“We had some last night, and I think she made a separate dish that didn’t even get touched,” I said. “Drive me home. I’ll let you guys in, and you can have at it.”
“Thanks, Mr. Mart—”
“No,” I said.
I looked up and eyed my bodyguard heavily through the rearview mirror.
“Thank you, Romeo,” the man said.
“Better. Now speed up. Talking about my mother’s lasagna has made me hungry.”
End of Sneak Peek. Would you like to know how this continues?
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BAD SEED
CHAPTER 1
THERESA
ELEVEN YEARS AGO
“Theresa, the guy’s bad news”.
“He’s not a bad guy, Jane. He just had a rough home life. That’s why my parents took him in,” I said.
“Fine, but I still can’t believe you’re fantasizing about your brother’s best friend.”
“I’d rather talk about your love interest. Did you actually kiss him?” I asked.
“Who?” Jane asked.
“Do I have to specify?”
“Come on,” Jane said as she giggled. “Who are you talking about?”
“You know. Chance. The captain of the football team? You can’t tell me you didn’t kiss him after the game last night.”
“Maybe,” Jane said with a grin.
“You little tease! I knew it! And you’re giving me a hard time about my innocent crush on Grant. You’re sucking face with the school quarterback. Why can’t this be my miracle moment?” I asked.
“Are you saying Chance kissing me is a miracle?” she asked, her face turning a slight shade of red.
“Jane, that’s not what I’m saying.”
“That’s what it sounds like you’re saying.”
“Look, I don’t want to argue, okay? I want to know how it was,” I grinned.
Jane’s face perked back up. “It was awesome. His lips were all warm, and he had just put on Chapstick so they were nice and soft. And his tongue…”
