The Syndicates: A Dark Mafia Romance Collection

by Raven Scott

  Hovering above me on his knees and elbows, Carlyle deepened the kiss, and my tongue throbbed with the overwhelming taste of him. Cupping his face, I wrapped my legs around him proper, and he nestled between them to pin me to the mattress.

  “Valerie . . . ” He breathed my name like I was his Eden, and Carlyle rolled onto his side to gather me to his broad chest. His arms were security, and I cuddled against him with the full knowledge that I’d never get any better than him.

  26

  Valerie

  A shrill ringing interrupted my stuffing my face with pancakes drenched in syrup, and Carlyle didn’t even look at his phone before declining the call. Chewing my large bite, I smiled as he piled eggs onto his toast, but before he could get it into his mouth, his phone went off again. Irritation morphed in his features, but I nodded as he reached to snatch it and swipe the screen.

  “What?” Putting down his fork, Carlyle grabbed his coffee as he frowned under furrowed brows. His gaze flickered to me warily, jaw ticking as he held his mug to his lips, but the irritation on his face eventually faded away before he wordlessly hung up. Setting the device face down, he took a swig of his brew, and I licked my lips heavily as I watched a drop slip down the side of the ceramic. “So, I don’t need your sister to write the program for me anymore. Jerry figured it out. I’ll still pay her for what she did, but that’s alright for you because you can get started on your thing when we get back.”

  “Oh, okay. I can text her and let her know.” I’d left the phone in the car, and a certain kind of anxiety gripped me as Carlyle nodded in agreement. “Do you think getting the phone under your name was enough?”

  “Even if it wasn’t, I’m fully confident that you and your sister will be fine.” Reaching across the table, Carlyle squeezed my fingers reassuringly as darkness flashed in his eyes. “Trust me.”

  “I do.” I answered faster than I thought I could talk, and he smiled as I stood up to round the small table and straddle his lap. The heat of him wrapped around me, and I cupped his hard jaw to kiss him as he shamelessly groped my ass. Moaning softly, desire smoldered beneath my tank top, and he caressed my sides as his fingers snuck under the thin fabric. He tasted strongly of coffee, and I opened my mouth for his tongue as warm, calloused palms kneaded my breasts.

  “A guy could get used to this.” Goosebumps swept across my chest, and my nipples tightened as Carlyle slopped open-mouthed kisses down my neck. Shivering when he pulled my shirt off completely, I arched into his hands, and greedy lips clamped around my nipple. Shocks of pleasure surged south, and I gripped the back of his chair to grind against him.

  The soft silk of Carlyle’s boxers burned my thighs, and I closed my eyes and tossed my head back to savor his attention. Squeezing my breasts together, he scraped his tongue along the pert peaks, and a gasp escaped me as eroticism flooded my chest. Reaching between us, he worked his hand into my panties to circle my clit, and my abdomen clenched as he kissed his way back to my mouth.

  “You little slut, you’re so wet.” My lips parted in a silent moan when Carlyle teased my entrance, but he didn’t linger before reaching to grip my ass hard. Standing up in one swift display of pure physical strength, he carried me over to the bed, and I panted softly as expectant thrill raced through my veins. “Stick that perfect ass in the air and bounce.”

  “Only if you spank me.” Even as I posed my condition, my body shuffled on its own, and Carlyle chuckled a sultry sound that rolled up my back. On my knees, my skin jumped when he pulled down my panties to caress my ass cheeks, and I wiggled my hips. Bracing my forearms on the mattress, I gasped when he bit the globe firmly— not hard, but more than a graze of his teeth. The bed dipped, and he spread my ass to peel my slick folds with thumbs.

  “Valerie . . . ” The worshipful lilt in Carlyle’s voice thickened the goosebumps blanketing every inch of me, and my toes curled against the sheet bunched up under me. My core clenched, and his breath hitched as he leaned to conform to my back. Kissing my shoulder, he pulled his cock out of his boxers to swipe the head between my folds, and I rolled my hips against his.

  Thrusting to slather his shaft in my juices, Carlyle slid his thumb inside me, and I arched with a low moan as pleasure rippled up my spine. His heat disappeared, and he wiggled his thumb before pulling out to poise his head at my quivering entrance. Gripping the sheet tightly, I rocked back on my knees, and the thick ridge of his cock stretched my entrance.

  “Fuck, Valerie . . . bounce that ass on my cock.” My thighs touched my heels, and Carlyle jiggled my ass with greedy palms as I wiggled my hips. His thick, silky cock caressed my walls as they hugged him tighter, and he ground his hips against me to reach deep. The fine hairs on my back stood up when he raised his palm, and I clenched in preparation just before he spanked me firmly.

  Pleasure beat against my eye sockets as I jolted from the impact, and Carlyle growled in satisfaction. Rocking forward, I set a steady pace, and my moans muffled in the bed to match his sputtered gasps and grunts. Sweat dribbled between my shoulder blades, and I pushed myself onto unsteady arms to flip my hair out of my face. Gathering up the strands, he pulled my head back, and I gasped when he snapped his hips against mine.

  His cock caressed my walls, the veins pulsing with each thrust, and I whimpered when Carlyle smacked my ass harder. Rolling my hips to his beat, I lost myself in the utter euphoria of his powerful muscles flexing against me. Tugging me off my hands, he grappled my breasts to squeeze, and the rigidness of his chest played against my back. Tweaking my nipples as he filled my channel, his pants rolled down between my breasts, and I moaned loudly.

  “Yeah, you better like that.” Short, sharp fingernails dragged down my abdomen, and Carlyle gripped my hip hard to hold me down. Thrusting hard, the jolt of him against my back rippled with such power that my eyes rolled, and I tilted my head back to bury my face in his neck. Little high-pitched whines escaped me with each, jarring thrust, the smack of skin on skin thickening the dense atmosphere to the point that it was hard to breathe.

  “I’m gonna come . . . I’m gonna . . . I’m-m comin-n-g . . . yes-s! Carlyle! Fuck me . . . just like that!” The veins of his cock gyrated my inner walls as I tensed, the pleasure building until it spilled over, and he growled hungrily in my ear. My whine echoed beyond the blood that pounded against my eardrums to the beat of him, and his heart thundered against my back. Clamping down on his hard girth, my hands flew up to disappear in his hair, and he nibbled my shoulder as he ground his hips against my ass.

  “Holy fuck-k . . . ” I could hear it in Carlyle’s voice that he was close, his moan straining, and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as I panted like a greedy bitch. “Shit . . . shit . . . ”

  Clenching around his cock as it throbbed, I sputtered a breath at his hard, unsteady pace, and Carlyle pushed me down to pull out at the last second. I couldn’t turn around fast enough, and eagerness watered my mouth as I wrapped my lips around his head. Peeling back his foreskin, I groaned at the mingling taste of us, and he buried his fists in my hair to take complete control.

  “Fuck . . . oh, fuck . . . Valerie . . . choke on my cock.” I don’t know what I was expecting, but the roughness of him fucking my face was arguably more of a turn-on than the actual sex itself. Gagging around his thick cock, I cupped his sac and squeezed, and he thrust hard to bend down the curve of my throat. My juices dribbled off my clit, and I reached between my legs to pleasure myself as he hissed from high above me.

  Arching sharply when Carlyle’s curls tickled my nose just the wrong way, I gagged viciously, and he pulled back just far enough to let me rasp a breath. Tiny tears escaped my shuttered lids, and I caressed his shaft with my lips as the need to taste him completely overwhelmed me.

  “Come . . . come in my mouth . . . oh G—” Cutting me off as he surged down my throat, Carlyle’s pelvis kissed my chin, and I choked violently. My throat closed around his spongy head, and I caressed his sac as I abandoned my clit to stroke his shaft. Two sharp
thrusts of his hips were all it took, and his cock rippled against the roof my mouth as he pulled back to cum. Hot and salty, his ecstasy slathered my tongue and cheeks, and I sucked his tip as he groaned and gasped haltingly.

  “You know, maybe I was wrong about your oral skills.” Panting harshly, his toned muscles twitching under skin taut and glistening with sweat, Carlyle’s voice trembled. Gulping down my mouthful, I licked his softening cock before he tugged on my hair, and he captured my lips voraciously. “I could get used to that.”

  “I love sucking your cock . . . ugh . . . ” Hooking his arm around my waist, Carlyle smirked at my groan, and I let the residual emptiness of my mind linger. Resting my cheek on his shoulder, I closed my eyes and heaved a hot breath, and his taste tingled my buds. “Why didn’t you like it?”

  “I guess it was just something degrading to me, something humiliating. It’s just how I’ve always felt about it. The last time I got a blowjob, the slut talked more than anything else, too . . . it was really irritating.” I didn’t have the mind to argue with those points, and even if I did, I probably wouldn’t. “I thought you didn’t like it?”

  “I don’t, but when you pulled my hair, and I didn’t have to sprain my neck, or choke myself . . . ” My mouth watered just talking about it, and I sighed shakily as Carlyle flopped forward to spoon me. Powerful arms wrapped me up, legs tangling, and I closed my eyes as he took a deep breath against my back. “I’d go through that again. Every guy I’ve been with expects me to do all the work.”

  “When we get back, I’ll face fuck you before I go to work. Deal?” Chuffing a rasping giggle, I nodded, and Carlyle tightened his arms around me as he exhaled over my shoulder.

  27

  Carlyle

  Zipping my pants on my way down the stairs, I ran both my hands through my hair before checking the time on my phone. Despite the sex, the late-night, the traffic, I wasn’t going to be too late this morning. When I emerged from Valerie’s apartment building, Carl was waiting, and the car I’d driven around yesterday had disappeared back to my garage.

  “Step on it. I’ve got shit to catch up on.” Before I even shut the door, Carl was pulling off the curb, and I propped my elbow on the door as the past day raced through my mind’s eye. I didn’t want to ruin my time with Valerie, but gears were starting to turn, and I, unfortunately, had to have a little chat with the Italian princess rotting in her own piss and shit in my basement.

  At least Jerry’s replacement wasn’t entirely incompetent and found out the original voice in that video.

  Glancing over at Theo, a scowl on his face and his knee bouncing from agitation, I cocked my head in silent question. He scoffed quietly, turning away from me, but I knew he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut for long.

  “Illya’s been restless for weeks.” Grinding my teeth at that, I only nodded, and Theo rubbed his mangled palm against his jeans as if it itched. “I’ve felt the same anxiety since she brought it up, like some shit’s gonna go down. I don’t think Vegas is a good idea right now, Carlyle.”

  “We’ll see what information Isobel coughs up after marinating in her own shit for a few days before we make any decisions.” I tapped my cheek as my mind raced, still scrambled from Valerie’s voracity, and I cleared my throat roughly. “Who’s voice is it?”

  “Diamon’s.” A harsh bark of laughter burst from my chest at Carl’s reply, and I clenched and released my fist in my lap. “How’d he know whatever he knew, though? That’s kinda the real question.”

  “Oh, I have a feeling I know exactly how he figured it out.” That Italian scum was smarter than I gave him credit for— not by much, though. Apparently, he was capable of some rudimentary scheming, even if it was crude. Carl sped up at my growl, and my heel tapped against the floor mat as a few more pieces fell into place.

  Isobel wasn’t good for much but being a pawn. When her plan with Wren fell apart, she must’ve had him assassinated at Diamon’s suggestion. Because he’s a spineless, dickless piece of shit, who thinks he’s too good to get dirty. When she started making infiltration moves on her own so sloppy, he needed to get rid of her.

  That much was obvious. The only part that didn’t fit was how did he know my father was going to hand me the reins when it wasn’t decided until Mateo fucked up?

  “Theo, what do you say we have a boys’ night out at a certain bar?” Casting him a dark smirk, I sat up a little as Theo shrugged, rolling his eyes a little. “I think that snake slithered into the wrong fucking bed.”

  “You think she made a deal with Diamon?” I almost cringed, hearing that idiot’s name so often in such a short time frame, but I managed to simply shake my head. Theo frowned under furrowed brows, and I knocked my temple softly before his face morphed in a scowl. “You think she interfered somehow, though. Fuck this shit, Carlyle, you know I suck at this shit.”

  “She sells girls she sees no potential in. What if she unknowingly got a girl that wasn’t as downtrodden as she seemed? And what if that girl wiggled her way into my operation somehow? This is starting to get exciting.” He only sneered at me, turning back to the window, and my smirk widened. “Yes, it really is. At least I know one thing right now. Valerie’s not going to get caught up in the middle of this, which is nice. Not to say she’s not going to get caught in her own shit, but I don’t have to worry for right now.”

  “You don’t buy girls, boss.” Piping up from the driver’s seat, Carl took a hard turn, and I suddenly felt even better about today.

  “I don’t, no, but my brothers do.” And that was all that needed to be said. I’d get the Italians, one or both of my brothers, and Valerie and her sister were going to be fine. Everything was fucking peachy. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

  My body moved on autopilot when we finally pulled into the compound, and I rode the elevator to the basement as my thoughts consumed my attention. How was I going to personally kill Isobel? There were so many options! So many, it was almost dizzying. Just this once, I was going to enjoy it, and she would know who the haunt when her fake ass got stuck in limbo.

  When I opened the metal door to her room, she jumped with a petrified shriek, and I downright grinned. The rank stench of piss-stained her dress and pooled at her feet, eating away at the fabric and her skin, but it barely registered. Huge, terrified eyes met mine, bloodshot and bulging, and I clapped my hands exaggeratedly as Theo closed the door behind me.

  “Congratulations, you dumb cunt! I’ve decided that since I’m in such a good mood, I’ll let you go as soon as you answer my questions. And be truthful— lying will just sour my day, and you don’t want that.” I hauled myself onto the table to rub my neck and shoulders with both hands, just needing to do something. Isobel was quiet, a hope flickering in her eye, and I cocked my head. “Did Diamon know you tried to meet with Esmarissa?”

  “Yeah. He tried to talk me out of it because she wouldn’t listen, and he was right.”

  “How long ago did the meet happen? Did he know then, or did he find out afterward?” She was so fucking stupid, and I held up my hand when Isobel opened her mouth instantly. “Also, where did you meet?”

  “I invited her to New York about a year and a half, maybe twenty-one months ago. Diamon knew about it at the time, and he knew when it fell through. He made sure to rub it in my face.” I nodded when Isobel confirmed my suspicion, and she leaned forward in the chair despite her arms tied behind the back. “Can you at least untie me? I’ll tell you anything you want to know, Carlyle. You promised to let me go.”

  “Theo.” He was already fishing his knife from his pocket, and she slumped in relief as I calculated my next question. “Diamon mentioned you talked to someone from Texas about killing Wren. What about?”

  Isobel didn’t say anything as she was cut free— her arms, at least— and she rubbed her wrists and rolled her shoulders. I let her have this moment, and she sat up a little straighter before clearing her throat.

  “The guy had an accent, but he was who I hired to kill Wr
en. He’s worked for me before, so I knew I could trust him to get the job done. Standard stuff, mostly.” She panted a little from talking so much after such an ordeal, and I licked my teeth as my eyes narrowed on her. “There was no way Diamon could know he had a Texan accent unless he bugged my phone. We were never that close, and I don’t have names or any personal details on the guy. I don’t even know if the accent is real. I don’t care. He killed Wren like I needed him to. That’s all the information we ever shared.”

  “Really? Diamon made it seem like you were your usual, whiny cunt self. It’s probably the most believable lie he could sell me, of course. He might’ve been smart enough to think I was already going to kidnap you and wring your neck, and he gave me a little push. Then, after I had you, he sent me a video intended for my father, which, well, let’s face it, that’s not going to do anything, anyway.” Big, brown eyes widened, and I hopped off the table to circle Isobel, still sitting in her own puddle of filth. My brows furrowed over my slight frown, and I waved a thoughtful hand as her information gave me a full picture. “I feel so bad for your father for having such idiot children. Not a good single one in the whole bunch. I mean, when you name your kid ‘Diamon,’ I suppose it’s expected that he’ll be a fucking imbecile. It only makes me want to crush you grease monkeys even more finely under my heel.”

  “W-what-t?” Looming over her as her face paled a sickly yellowish-green, I frowned at the alarm brightening her fevered eyes. “You promised to let me go!”

  “Go where, though? When? How? See, if you were smart, Isobel, you’d realize there’s no way you’re getting out of this room. You could’ve kept your mouth shut, and the outcome would’ve been the same, but you could’ve still stuck it to me. You should’ve been more specific with your demands. Instead, you wasted away here, simmering in your own piss like the ugly creature you are.” Holding out my hand to Theo, I took the warm gun he always carried and pressed the barrel to Isobel’s cheek. She whimpered pathetically even as the light died in her eyes, and I hadn’t even pulled the trigger yet. For a second, I watched her slump in defeat and man! It felt so good! “You know what, I’m not going to kill you, Isobel. You’ve been so helpful, after all.”