AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gingerly walk to the bed and sit down, still not confident on my legs. My eyes find the clock, seeing that it is now nearly midday, so I was out for hours. That has only happened once before. I need to make sure I eat more and have cooler showers if I want any chance of enjoying the time I have left. After putting on the fresh underwear that is on the bed for me, I place a pillow under my feet and lie back.
As I stare at the ceiling, I think about the man whose bed I am in. Who is he? He is heavily armed, has a large team of men, and appears to be the boss of them all. Obviously, he is a criminal of some kind, but not being a native New Yorker, I have no idea.
He is extremely handsome and strong, all man, and he seems somewhat protective and gentle in an unexpected way—all attractive qualities in my book. Not to mention that I saw him half naked yesterday in the bathroom, and I didn’t miss his chiseled chest or patchwork of tattoos, which any woman would be a fool not to find sexy.
But all these romantic thoughts that begin to enter my mind are nothing but the makings of a young girl's fantasy. He is much older than me and probably has a supermodel girlfriend. He probably thinks I am nothing but a young, naive girl, and to be honest, he wouldn’t be wrong. I have had a full life, of that I am sure, but it has been full of heartache, pain, and I have had to grow up fast, never having experienced sleepovers or girls’ shopping trips or prom. I haven’t even been on a real date.
Given that I don’t know who he is or what he is capable of, I need to rid my mind of him and erase any loved up thoughts I am having. Immediately.
7
Dante
I adjust my dick in my pants as I walk away from her, down the hall to my office. Why she has such an effect on me, I have no fucking idea. She is too young, too innocent, and after the debacle I had with my ex-wife, I don’t ever want to be involved with another woman. They only end up lying to you and fucking other men anyway. I wish my cock would get the same memo.
Little Red didn’t say much this morning, appearing to be a little shy and reserved, but I can confirm my original thoughts that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I push my office door open and see Carter already here, coffee in hand, leaning back in my leather armchair which overlooks the courtyard below. I spot an extra coffee for me on the side table and grab it before I join him. It was a late night and I sigh as my body molds into the soft leather, enjoying the five minutes of peace we have with each other.
After checking on Leo and Little Red last night, I spent some time in my office before grabbing a few hours of sleep in my spare room. But I didn’t stay away any longer, since as soon as I opened my eyes, my feet were moving back to my room on their own accord, not stopping until I was sitting in the armchair, watching her. Watching the rise and fall of her chest, the outline of her small curves underneath the linen. Why, I have no idea. There is something about her that has me on edge, and I seem to like torturing myself with the pretty young thing sleeping in my bed. When I brought her home yesterday, I could have put her in any one of the spare bedrooms, but like the fool I am, I brought her to mine. The look of her in my sheets, her scent in my bed, her hair splayed out across the pillow, is now permanently etched into my memory, and I don’t want her anywhere else. The itch to touch her but knowing I shouldn’t festers on the surface of my skin, making me itch. My fingers twitch just thinking about it.
“We’ve got to get this shit sorted,” Carter says, and by the look of him, he hasn’t had any sleep either. We have worked together for the past ten years, ever since Carter was 15 and Sebastian and I caught him pickpocketing. We offered him a job, and he has been with us ever since. He isn’t Italian, but learnt the rules quickly, and although he can never be second in command or head of the family, his role is no less important, and we consider him a brother. Like me, he has no living parents, but at least I have Leo.
My eyes flick to the clock on my wall, and I remember I must go down and have breakfast with him when he wakes in an hour or so.
“I know. Fucking Dominic is already shooting his mouth off about it to anyone who will listen. Of course, he doesn’t tell anyone who matters that he owes us money. Fucking rat,” I spit out. My hatred for the man goes deep, probably as deep as his cock was in my wife all those years ago.
He has no respect. None. And while I know many of the other families in the fold feel the same way, if he can cover his tracks as well as he thinks he can and say we acted without necessity yesterday, then it is not going to be well received in our wider circle. I already know Sebastian’s phone is running hot.
My cell rings then, and it was like I conjured him, because Sebastian’s name lights up the screen. “Sebastian.” I put him on speakerphone for Carter to hear.
“Boys, give me an update. Everyone has been calling, and I need some fucking answers,” he says wearily.
Carter and I run through what we know, which is not much at this point. The Russo brothers have taken our money and very sneakily made it appear that they didn’t even receive it in the first place. It is currently our word against theirs, and while our word will always win, the fact that they are now out for revenge for the deaths of his men plants a small seed of doubt in the other families’ minds. It’s enough to topple us if others jump on board, which they undoubtedly will, because when you are at the top, there are many people waiting in the wings for their opportunity. The constant battle to remain the head family is tiresome at times.
We talk at length, and together the three of us decide to visit every venue and property they own, put a tail on the rest of their family, and do a forensic accounting audit on their files—the ones we have, anyway. All their phones will be bugged by the end of today, and we have already planted some of our girls into their other strip joints to see if we can get their girls to talk, all the while keeping our ear to the ground.
With Sebastian away for a while longer, it is decided that I will start local talks with our contacts on his behalf. A job that I have done before and one that I have no problem with. It will take me out of the compound which, given they want my head is not the smartest, but I will take Carter and a large team with me wherever I go.
After discussing things for close to an hour, we end the call.
“Carter, get the team to go to the Happy Holidays Hotel at Ozone Park and grab Little Red’s things, would you? She checked in yesterday before the shooting, so she hasn’t been there even a night.”
“Little Red?” he fires back in question, his eyebrow raised and a smirk forming on his face. “She's still here, then?” He already knows the answer.
“Yes, she is still here,” I say, offering him nothing else in reply, pretending to busy myself with paperwork on my desk.
“Perhaps I should take her off your hands?” Before I even realize it, a deep rumble leaves my chest at his prodding.
“Okay, okay...” A full grin takes over his face, palms up in surrender, as he steps backwards through the door. “I will leave the pretty little thing with you, then.” He promptly steps out of the door as soon as the last word leaves his mouth, so as not to get his head bitten off.
I shake my head and slam the papers onto my desk. What the hell am I doing? She has been here a day. One fucking day! I don’t know anything about her, yet I am jealous of another man wanting her. Carter is no threat; he doesn’t get close to women. He has too much on his plate to begin with.
I run my hands through my hair and walk out of my office. Pausing at the door, I look down the corridor toward my room, thinking about checking on Little Red again. I decide against it and follow my nose to the kitchen, where Leo is having waffles, and Maria is busy making lasagne for dinner.
“Morning, buddy.” I kiss his head in greeting, ruffling his hair.
He smiles as I sit next to him up at the kitchen bench, and have another coffee while watching Maria place the pasta sheets one by one, followed by the meat and the cheese in perfect layers.
