by Hamel, B. B.
“But not perfectly safe, right?”
He shrugged. “Right. Vlas has balls on him, I won’t deny it. I can’t assume he won’t try something in my own territory.”
“But you don’t seem afraid.”
“No.” He glanced at me then shook his head. “Not afraid at all.”
I sank back into the leather and bit my lip. I loved the way he looked at me and loved the way I felt in this dress. Even though I’d never dreamed of owning something from a brand like Givenchy, and the dress probably cost more than my whole wardrobe combined, I still couldn’t help myself.
I felt beautiful and desired. This intense, gorgeous mobster wanted me, wanted me badly. He was giving me expensive dresses and making me put them on in front of him, and the thought just drove me wild.
We headed into the city, not talking much. He seemed preoccupied and I didn’t want to press too hard. He found a spot on a packed block and stepped out before coming around to help me down. I held his arm as he led me down the crowded block, lots of young people milling about outside of hipster bars and late-night pizza places. We crossed the street and came across a line of people dressed in club clothes, some of the girls looking bored, some of the guys looking annoyed.
Dante walked past them all and took me straight to the bouncer, a bald guy with a neck thicker than a tree trunk. His eyes lit up when he saw Dante and he stood up off his stool. “Yo, man,” he said.
“What’s up, T?” Dante said, shaking the guy’s hand. “You doing good?”
“Doing great.”
“Good vibe in there?”
“Packed tonight, I hope so.”
“Good man. Hey, let some of those girls back there in. Saw a few hot ones.” Dante snapped his fingers, whistled, and pointed at a group of girls in short dresses. “Ladies, you’re in, let’s go.”
Some guys started to complain but Dante shot them a glare and they shut their mouths. One of them whispered something to the other, and both dudes went silent. I stared as the girls laughed and headed into the club before Dante took my hand.
“Let’s go in,” he said and he tugged me along behind him.
I’d never met someone that could control a line like that before. “Do you own this place?” I asked him.
“No,” he said, laughing. “Although they do pay me.”
“For what?”
“Protection mostly. It’s just good business to put some cash in the local Capo’s pocket, especially a club like this. They send me some money, I make sure my boys patronize them as much as I can. It’s a good situation all around.”
We walked down a short black hall then through another set of doors and into a pulse-pounding club atmosphere.
The place was packed. There were standing tables scattered to the right and a huge bar in the middle of the place with people stacked two deep all around it. Four waitresses ran around filling drink orders. The far left side of the place was one big dance floor with a DJ booth in the middle. The DJ was a white guy in a tank top with headphones on and a MacBook in front of him. He bobbed his head and typed something on the computer before waving his hands in the air.
Dante took my hand and pulled me along. The crowd parted in front of him like butter in front of a hot knife. He slipped up to the bar at the far end where the waitresses took their orders and caught the eye of one of the girls.
She came over, short brunette hair, low-cut tank top, big smile that showed too much of her gums. “Hey, Dante,” she yelled. “What can I get you?”
“Whiskey for me, gin and tonic for her.” He glanced back at me. “Good?”
“Good,” I said, feeling overwhelmed. I’d just gone from staying alone inside his house for days on end, seeing nobody but Dante, Gino, and a few of his crew, to suddenly being shoved into a huge, loud, packed, sweaty club wearing uncomfortable old heels and an absurdly expensive designer dress. But Dante put his arm around me and drew me close, and I looked up into his face. He smirked at me and leaned down.
“Don’t worry,” he said in my ear. “We can go somewhere private when you’ve had enough.”
“We’re just getting started though,” I said.
He laughed and the bartender returned with our drinks. He dropped a twenty on the bar, winked at the girl, and handed me a drink. We found a spot at a standing table not far away, and I looked around the place.
People were staring over at us. I didn’t notice at first, since I was so overwhelmed by the loud music and the people dancing. But everywhere I looked, someone was watching. Girls, guys, young and old, it didn’t matter. It seemed like they all knew who Dante was and they were all wondering what the hell I was doing with a man like that.
I was asking myself the same question.
I leaned toward Dante as he took a long drink. “People are staring,” I said in his ear.
He shrugged. “It’s my territory. They know me here.”
“But still. A lot of people are staring.”
He laughed and looked around. “A few of them are my boys. I guess Steven didn’t trust me to be alone out here tonight.”
I frowned and followed his gaze. Sure enough, I recognized two guys standing at a table not far off. They caught me looking and the one raised a beer with a grin on his face. I smiled back before leaning toward Dante again.
“They’re here to protect you?”
“They’re here to make sure nothing goes down,” he said. “I don’t need protecting.”
“Well, I do.” I grinned at him. “In case you forgot.”
“I didn’t forget.” His hand moved down my lower back and gripped my ass. “I know you’re all mine.”
I laughed and hit his chest. I took a long drink and looked around, starting to loosen up a little bit. People were dancing tightly packed together, sweating, laughing, working their hips. Girls moved up against their men and the guys were free with their hands, and nobody seemed to mind, care, or notice. Drinks were flowing, and I remembered what it felt like to have a good time for the first time in a while.
I took another long drink then set it down. “Come on,” I said. “You brought me here to dance.”
“Damn right I did.” He knocked is drink back then put it on the table. He took my hand as I put my drink down next to his, not finished, not halfway there. He dragged me to the dance floor and we slipped our way into the mass of people as the song changed, an upbeat pulsing tempo.
He pulled me tight against him and we danced. I was self-conscious at first, intensely aware of all the strangers around us. I kept catching looks from women, from men, most of them jealous but some of them just curious. Dante moved like liquid, comfortable and sensual, and he kept my hips pressed against his as my ass swayed to the rhythm. But soon the song changed again, and I felt a bead of sweat start to drop down my back.
I lost all sense of time, and the eyes that flitted across us disappeared from my awareness. Dante became everything as I danced with him, pressing my body close, grinding up against him. I felt his muscles, his intense lips near my neck, my throat, his hands in my hair, on my hips, on my ass. He didn’t seem to care at all what people thought or what they saw, he only cared about me, only cared about dancing close and tight, our bodies beginning to sweat. I was panting, breathing hard, as I turned to face him, moving my hips with his, and he tilted my chin up to kiss me.
I kissed him hard then turned back and he grabbed my hips. We danced like that, grinding and moving to the rhythm for song after song. The world stopped mattering and time stopped making sense. All I felt was his hands on my skin, my body moving to the pulsing beat of the music, and all my worries dropped away, disappeared into nothing.
He let out a growl after what felt like forever and spun me around. This time, he grabbed my hair tight in his fist and kissed me deep, tongue against my tongue, before pulling away. “Come on,” he said. “I can’t take this shit anymore.”
I let him lead me away from the dance floor. He shoved his way toward the back of the club.
There was a long line for the bathrooms, but we shoved past them. There was a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY between the men’s room and the women’s room, and Dante pushed it open. He tugged me along with him and slammed the door shut.
It was a small office, a desk in the center with a large CRT monitor at one end and a flat computer monitor at the other. A filing cabinet was overflowing with papers and receipts, and there were more folders and files scattered all over the place. Dante turned to me as I leaned up against the desk, staring at him, my heart racing.
“We shouldn’t be in here,” I said. “You saw the sign.”
“They can come kick me out then,” he said, stepping slowly toward me. “The motherfuckers can try at least.” A wicked smile broke across his mouth as he pressed himself tight against me. I gasped as he pushed my legs open then lifted me up by the ass, his hands grasping me hard. He sat me down on the desk, knocking away files, stacks of papers hitting the floor with a thud and spilling over the carpet.
His hands moved up my back and gripped my hair then. He pulled hard and kissed me, tongue in my mouth, biting my lip with a growl. I fumbled at his belt, my heart racing, unable to help myself. I pulled it open as he kissed me, his right hand moving from my hand to tease my breasts over my dress. He reached around and undid the small clasp as I managed to get him unzipped. A moment later he had the back of my dress undone, and his fingernails moved gently down my skin before he pulled the dress forward.
I let it fall off, exposing my breasts. He kissed my neck, licked my nipples, bit them gently. I moaned and pushed him back, dropping to my knees in front of him, the dress hanging down around my waist. I tugged down his pants and his underwear, taking his thick cock into my hand and sliding it into my mouth.
He grabbed my hair and pushed me down his shaft. I moaned and sucked him faster, licking around his tip. “People were staring tonight because you look so fucking good,” he growled, pushing me down deep. I gagged and gasped but started sucking him again, my mouth sliding up and down his tip and shaft, bobbing forward, my breasts shaking as I took him hard in my mouth.
“They were staring because they’re jealous of me,” he growled. “Jealous of the girl on my arm. Men wanted to have you, women wanted to be you. Little Aida, you don’t know what you do to me. I wasn’t lying when I said I’d make you my bride.”
He pushed my mouth down deep along his shaft again. I gagged but held him there in my throat. He fucked my mouth, pumping my hips, before pulling me back and kissing me.
I stroked him fast with both my hands as he reached down to tease my breasts. My nipples were so stiff and it felt amazing as his fingers teased me. I started sucking him again, sucking and stroking his cock at the same time, working his shaft and rolling my tongue around his tip. I moaned as I did it, losing myself in the moment, taking his cock between my lips.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I want you to swallow me. Taste every fucking drop. Keep sucking my cock, little Aida. You’re all mine, you beautiful girl, you made every head in this fucking club turn tonight.”
I kept going faster, faster, moaning as I sucked him. He tensed and grabbed my hair, fucking my mouth, and I knew he was close. I kept going, not slowing, as his fist tightened in my hair.
I tasted him come in my mouth. He growled his pleasure and I sucked him tight, taking every drop of him on my tongue. I swallowed and kept going, sucking him until he was clean, then licked every inch of his thick cock before he pulled me to my feet and kissed me. He backed me up against the desk again and kissed me for a long moment, hands teasing my breasts.
He bit my lip. “Good girl,” he whispered.
I pulled my dress up as he got his pants back on. I slid my arms into the sleeves and held the chest over my breasts. “I’m not going to lie, this isn’t the night I expected,” I said, breathless and glowing with pleasure. I could still taste him on my lips.
He smirked and finished tucking in his shirt. “What did you expect?” he asked.
But I didn’t have a chance to answer.
Someone banged at the door hard. He turned with a frown before they banged again, the door flexing.
“Get back,” he growled at me, and the door flexed a third time. Wood splintered as I realized what was happening.
“Dante,” I said, fear spiking through me.
He grabbed me, pulled me around the desk, and threw me on the floor behind it as the door burst open.
17
Dante
I managed to get Aida down behind the desk just as the door split open and three guys spilled into the tiny office.
They must not have expected the cramped space. There was barely enough room for two of us, let alone three grown men. The first guy came in with a gun out, wearing jeans and a collared button-down shirt, looking like any random club asshole, his hair gelled up in little spikes, his pale skin and blue eyes looking sallow in the office light.
I dodged to the side as he shot wildly at me. He squeezed off two rounds, both whizzing past my face, as I grabbed his wrist, turned it, and twisted his arm up. He growled in pain and the gun clattered to the floor as I smashed my forehead into his nose with a satisfying crunch and a spray of blood.
Aida screamed but I didn’t have time to check her. The next guy was trying to muscle in and managed to land a crunching blow on my face. I staggered back against the desk as he brought a gun up.
But before he could fire, he tripped on his downed companion, and I took the chance to surge forward, slamming my elbow into his face. He grunted and I grabbed his wrist, turning him to face the last guy charging in with a knife. Before I could fire, the guy sliced his knife along my side.
I grunted as pain flashed up my skin like lightning then kicked him in the stomach and knocked him back. His eyes went wide as I ripped the gun from the second guy’s grip and fired a round into the knife man’s chest. His white shirt bloomed red and blood splattered my face as he stumbled back out into the hall.
People screamed and began to run. The knife guy got trampled as people stomped on his body. I threw the second guy against the cabinet, but he wasn’t done yet. He shook his head then swiped at me, taking hard jabs at my face.
I dodged, caught one on my wrist, and turned his punch wide before moving in close. I brought my knee into his gut then jabbed him in the throat before smashing his face against the corner of the filing cabinet. He screamed as a tooth came loose, and he spit blood on the floor as he smashed down on top of his friend.
I stood there, breathing hard, head dizzy before I turned. Aida was crouched behind the desk, hands over her head.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
She nodded, opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
A second later, Steven and Biagio came crashing into the room, guns drawn. “What the fuck happened?” Steven barked.
I gestured at the mess. Two guys down, one dead in the hall. “Vlas,” I said.
Steven stared at the men. “They don’t look like his boys.”
“Hired muscle,” I said. “I’d bet anything.” I walked over to the first guy and flipped him over onto his back. I knelt down on his throat and made him gag. “Who do you work for?” I asked.
“Nobody,” he gasped. “Nobody. Paid by Vlas. Work for nobody.”
I released him then kicked him hard in the skull. Motherfucker. Rage rolled through my body as I turned and grabbed Aida, pulling her along as I shoved past Steven.
“Wait,” she said. “My dress.”
I stopped in the hall, standing in the knife guy’s blood. I turned her around, zipped her up, then pushed her forward. “Go with Biagio,” I grunted, motioning for my soldier. “Get back home right now.”
“Dante—”
“Go,” I snapped at her.
Biagio moved past me, took her arm, and pulled her along. The club was emptying out, people spilling into the street. It was chaos, and anything could happen in this shit, but I didn’t think Vlas had more tricks to send at
us.
Steven stood next to me, staring down at the dead man. “This is bad,” he said. “You can’t catch a case right now.”
“We’ll dispose of it.”
He sighed and rubbed his temples. “Vlas never uses outside muscle. What the fuck is this?”
“He’s playing to win,” I said. I looked at my lieutenant and frowned. “Don’t fucking say it.”
He grinned. “Why not? I don’t get to all that often.”
“Fine. Get it out of your system.”
“I told you not to come here tonight. Remember?”
I grunted and kicked at the dead guy. He didn’t move. Dead, for sure. I touched the wound on my side and my fingers came back bloody. “I need the doctor again,” I said. “More fucking stitches. And I need a new shirt.”
“We’ll deal with this guy first.” Steven shook his head. “Looks like some fucking local kid.”
Steven was right. The dead guy couldn’t have been older than this twenties at most. Probably some up-and-coming gangster that wasn’t affiliated with the Leone family. Kid probably thought he’d get some serious cash on top of some serious street cred if he and his boys could manage to kill me.
Fucking idiots.
“The other two need to come with us,” I said. “Get the rest of the guys in here now. We’ll take care of those other two and find a spot for these bodies. And we’ll compensate the club, make sure they keep their fucking mouths shut.”
“Fine. Better hurry though. Cops will be on their way soon.”
“Make the calls.”
Steven nodded and walked off with his phone to his ear. In minutes, more of our guys would flood this place, and we’d get the bodies out the back. I’d kill the other two, and toss all three into the Schuylkill River.
I stood over the dead kid and shook my head as rage flew through me.
I just wanted one night. One fucking night where I gave Aida a nice dress and took her out, showed her a good time, made her feel special. Things were going good, we danced, she sucked my cock like she was born for it, and soon I was going to take her back home and fuck her nice and slow. But Vlas had to be lurking around the corner, ready to ruin any measure of joy I could find in my otherwise broken and violent existence.