AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Forever?
“Nikolai,” he said, the velvety sound of his voice warming my ears, “I understand how upsetting all of this must be. I too lost my parents, in a way. I too was born into this life, without a choice really of who I was to become. I won’t say it isn’t painful, sometimes, but all we can do is keep our chin up, fight the good fight, carry on and be the best mafiosos we can be—even if that means something different to us than it does for John Gotti.”
Damien began to run his hand up and down my back. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, but at the same time, I couldn’t deny that everything felt better with his touch. I felt his coarse fingers as they traced up and down the skin around my spine, allowing me to just melt into the silky sheets.
“How did you lose your parents?” I asked Damien, still fixing my eyes on the dismal scene out the window.
“They’re still alive,” Damien replied, “but I’m embarrassed to tell you—they went with Vladimir. They’re, shall I say, more of the traditional, hardcore mafia type. They didn’t approve of what your parents were doing. The good they were trying to bring. And so after your parents were killed, they were quick to join him. I haven’t spoken to them in years.”
I wanted to comfort Damien somehow, but there was no use. He would have to get through life on his own, just as I was doing. Even if it felt like an impossible task, like Sisyphus pushing the boulder up a hill only for it to fall down again.
“Nikolai, I think it’s important for you to know that your parents were good people. They were making respectable changes. They were using the wealth and the power they’d inherited from the mafia, from your grandfather, to help people. Gay people, Irish people, Chinese people, even the Italian immigrants. They even let the homeless come and stay here at Obolensky
Manor.”
I turned my head slightly so my eyes could meet Damien’s. I immediately regretted doing so; I felt powerless in resisting those two luminous blackberries that were looking down at me so lovingly or his large, blood-red lips like two soft pillows around a mouth that was saying all the right things.
“Obolensky Manor?”
“Not the most original name,” Damien replied without his hand missing a beat, still running its way up and down my back’s flesh, “but it does the trick.” I returned my gaze to the window.
“Wait, don’t tell me you didn’t realize this manor belonged to your family?” Damien said. Finally, his hand paused. Well, I guess that should have been obvious, but there was a lot of information coming at me all at once.
“If this was the family home, why did I grow up in that small apartment in Queens?” I asked.
“Because, like we talked about, your parents didn’t want you to know about any of this until you were 18. They would bring you here as a toddler, knowing you would never remember it. From then on, it was all kept from you. But this manor is your birthright. It’s also the only place where you’re safe from Vladimir at the moment, with the rest of the family here to protect you. Keeping you alive is my sole purpose, right now, and I’ll be damned if anything should happen to you.”
Damien leaned down and kissed my cheek. I’d never felt anything more divine than those lips gracing my flesh, even if it was just in a customary Russian greeting and parting. My jaw began to quiver; I felt a rush of butterflies fluttering with a frenzy through my chest.
I turned to him again, my head still firmly on the pillow.
“Damien,” I said, “you keep referring to these people and yourself as family. I know that isn’t a literal term—I’ve seen the mob movies—I get that it’s a crime family. But that’s just hard for me to hear right now. My family is dead, besides my grandfather. Okay?”
Damien looked down at me with sad eyes. “Okay, sweet Nikolai,” he said. “Listen, it’s your birthday today. Wouldn’t you like us to have an early dinner celebration? We can have cake, some borscht…”
“Thanks, Damien. I do really appreciate it. But today has been a lot. I just need to have the rest of the day and night to myself.”
“Alright, sir,” Damien said, standing up from my bed. He walked toward the door and, after exiting into the hallway, closed it shut. The room was frighteningly dark without him.
So, my parents had been good people after all. Maybe I could live with that. Maybe I could live with all of this.
I placed my hand on the empty space where Damien had sat, feeling the warmth from his ass on the bed. I danced my fingers across the sheets with only one thought running through my mind:
He kissed my cheek.
Chapter 6
Damien
I couldn’t believe I kissed his cheek.
What afoolI was.
God, my parents would be laughing their asses off. Their little fairy son, who refused to go with them to Vladimir’s gang, swearing to commit himself to one thing: protecting Nikolai, the rightful heir.
And here I was, kissing the boy's cheek.
Sure, Russians often kiss cheeks to say hello or goodbye.
