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She’s naked, as per my instructions. And fuck, this makes me happy. I reach into the nightstand for a condom and roll it on.
I fuck her slow, savoring every minute, loving every whimper I earn, wishing I’d had this for three years instead of the last three days.
I can’t think about that now, or I’ll either lose my hard on or I’ll be too rough. I’ll think on that later.
I make her come quickly and I’m not far behind her.
***
I pull her tight, the condom dealt with, her empty juice glass on the nightstand, and the sun beginning to rise.
“Move in with me. Please. I need you here when I get home. I need to know you’re safe. Shit happened tonight, someone sending strong messages that they’re targeting me. I won’t sleep if we’re not in the same place.”
She tenses.
Shit. I shouldn’t have done this right now. She’s already a little spooked.
She caresses my jaw. “Killian,” she says, and her word is my answer. She’s not ready.
I grind my teeth. “Forget I said that for now. We’ll talk later.”
She snuggles in. “I’ll drive myself to work. You need sleep.”
“No. Some shit happened tonight. Security problems. I’m concerned about safety. I’ve got Will coming and driving you.”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah. He’ll be here at eight, he’ll let himself in so you’re not even walking downstairs alone. Can you eat lunch in your office? Don’t go anywhere tomorrow? Today, I guess.”
“Okay. Wanna tell me what happened tonight?”
“Can I tell you after I get some sleep? Exhausted, baby. But someone’s targeted all four of my bars tonight and thrown a brick in the window of Will’s house. Two of my team members got hurt.”
“Oh no! Are they okay?”
“Yeah. They are, but this shit has me tweaked.”
“Of course it does.” She leans up and plants a kiss on my chin and then snuggles back in. “Do you have any idea who did this?”
I let out a sigh. At least she’s here now. At least I don’t have to wonder if she’s all right.
But if she thinks she’s gonna be out of my sight any time soon without security to watch her, she’s wrong.
“No. But I’ve got people working on figuring that out.”
“Good. Try to rest. Okay?”
I lay there for a while holding her, while she rubs my shoulder with affection, before her pace slows and finally, her hand flops as her breathing evens out and she’s fallen back to sleep.
I’m thinking about that shit she told me tonight about Fuckhead with his double-sided coins. I can’t think about it without feeling like a bull, ready to charge.
All tonight’s bullshit got in front of that temporarily, but back here, holding her in my arms, thinking that I could’ve had her in my bed every night the past thousand plus nights?
Or that maybe at the very least she wouldn’t have faced years of abuse with that shit stain?
I am not okay.
I’m so far from okay, it’s unreal.
58
Killian
Six Days Later – Dario Ferrano’s Wedding
I’ve known Dario Ferrano since we were teenagers. We didn’t go to school together, he was fourteen and I was sixteen when we met, plus I lived in a different neighborhood, but we met at the pizza place I worked at.
His father used to do business in the back room there and sometimes brought him along, sent him into the kitchen to help prep. He was a good fucking friend and wise beyond his years. He joked about his father giving him and his brother grunt jobs to build character.
But I respected that, especially seeing some of the assholes that’d hang out with their friends, full pockets, little to no work ethic, and empty heads. The kinds of guys that started making me enough money to build my empire.
Dario watched how I conducted my bookie hustle and went to his father with the idea of bankrolling me. Mr. Ferrano helped me take my bookie business to the next level, where men twice, even three times my age were placing bets with me. His father, rest his soul, saw my ambition and gave me great advice as well as access to certain useful resources when I needed them. It’s down to him I opened Genesis, the beginning of my new life. After I paid him back, we rarely spoke, though I won’t ever forget what he and his sons have done for me.
Really though, rewinding back to after my mother died, that’s when my new life started. Mr. Ferrano helped me and Will avoid CPS, and Dario, his older brother Tommy, and their crew took my back when I needed it most, when I made Max pay for what he did.
I’d done a few favors for Mr. Ferrano over the years, too. Not always easy ones, but he was always fair with me and taught me a lot. One of his daughter’s husbands now runs the pizzeria, a guy that started working there not long after I left. I try to eat there once a month and Dario and I stay in touch.
