AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s on PacSyn,” Max says fiercely. “And those fuckers are going to pay.”
It’s the first time I’ve heard him sound like that, like he plans to be the hand of vengeance, and it gets through to me somehow. Makes me fierce, too. “Damn straight.”
The ferocious moment between us softens as we keep holding each other, and somehow my lips find their way to his. The kiss is passionate, my emotions pouring out confused and needy. And then it hits me, blindsiding me: I can feel myself falling for this guy.
Falling for a fucking Castellani old enough to be my father.
A Castellani who has been a rock for me, not just today, but all the days he’s been with my crew, no matter how much shit I give him. Van has always been dependable, a capable second-in-command, but he’s more like a hype man than a support. He revs up the crew and he cheers me on when I make speeches, and I need that.
But I need this, too.
I need Max’s hot breath on my neck and his skilled tongue exploring my mouth. I need his arms around me, pulling me closer and closer, building up the intimacy between us.
I need him to help me forget about everything else...
Rook’s lifeless face flashes through my mind.
I squeeze my eyes shut hard, try to focus on Max, on his mouth, on his hands, on how much I want him, but it’s impossible.
Nico. Nico lying there at the edge of death…
With a muttered apology, I pull away from Max, the taste of him still lingering on my lips.
“Sorry, it’s...” I can’t say more, my throat too thick with emotion. Max rests his forehead against mine, his hand caressing the back of my neck.
“It’s fine,” he says gently, his hand drifting to my shoulder for a moment before he lets a little space between us. “Whatever you need, Bricker. That’s what I’m here for.”
But he keeps the reassuring contact of his hand on my shoulder. And I want it.
Need it.
I turn on my side and reach back to pull his arm over me. Exhaustion hits hard, a combination of the comforting arm around my middle and the warm shower and the turmoil of the day. Sleep sneaks up on me, offering a temporary escape, and I gratefully let it take me away.
* * *
The next morning, the smell of bacon cooking rouses me from what was a deep, dreamless sleep. I check my phone, relieved to find an update from Jazz. Giddy is fine.
Nico is also doing better, another text informs me, and doctors are more encouraging today about his prognosis.
Relief threads through my veins like a shot of adrenaline, and I get out of bed at once and follow my nose.
Max is in the kitchen, poking around a mound of bacon in the pan.
“Morning,” he greets me with a small smile. “Thought you might want a side of pig for breakfast. Seems to be your favorite.”
“Morning,” I reply, taking a seat at the kitchen table. “And thanks.” As I sip the coffee he brings over, I find myself silently wondering about Van’s reaction yesterday when I told him about being called up with Max to see Anna-Vittoria. The jealousy in his eyes was unmistakable, but I don’t understand why he’s being sointenseabout everything.
Van and I have been tight for years. Decades. He’s my best fucking friend in the world, as well as my right-hand man, and he’s never given the slightest fuck that I’m gay.
But something tells me he wouldn’t be happy to know the kind of thoughts I’m having about Max lately.
I still don’t get why he hates Max so much. Sure, the Castellanis are rivals, but not in any real sense of the word. They stay out of our territory, and we stay out of theirs. Even that business with Vinnie Esposito got cleared up in the end. Seems strange that Van is so dead-set against Max Pedretti for no real reason, especially after Max saved my butt—and Van’s, too, during the armored car heist.
Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe Van doesn’t like owing a Castellani.
Or maybe he’s the mole.
The unbidden thought gives me a physical reaction, turning the coffee sour in my mouth, and I have to go get myself a glass of water to wash away the taste.
