One Reason to Kill (Escaping the Mafia Book 1)

by Evelyn Kiss

  I must take too long, because before I know it, she’s undressing me one piece at a time. She goes right for the biggest barrier first, sliding my jeans down, then shoving my shirt. Her fingers run along my abs, carefully tracing every dip as she admires it. I let her stay in control for another minute, and then I grab her hand and guide it down toward my erection.

  She gives me a sultry look as she pulls me free. I look down, loving the sight of my dick between her hands. Half of me wants to wait and see if she’d drop to her knees, but the other half knows if she wraps those perfectly soft lips around me, I’d be done.

  I cup her cheek and divert her gaze up to me, but her hands are relentless. They glide and slide, yank and tug enough to force my eyes closed for a moment. One of her hands releases me and floats up to mine. She guides my hand, like I had done hers, down to her center. I keep my eyes closed for a moment longer, because I know the minute I touch her, she’ll be wet and ready.

  What I didn’t expect is for her to push her thong to the side and drive my fingers inside her.

  My eyes go wide, and I can’t help the huge grin that encompasses my face. Fucking confidence.

  “You like that?” Her voice is low and raspy, growing hungry with desire.

  I flick my thumb over her nub as I gently pump her. It’s meant to excite her, but when she clamps down on her lip and elicits the softest whimper, I remove my fingers, bring her back up around my waist and plunge into her.

  She cries out, and I busy her mouth so she won’t make any more noises. Not because people from the party would hear, the music was too loud for that, but because the more she voices her pleasure, the harder it is to control mine.

  Instead, I swallow every tasteful moan and let it course through my body until we find a perfect rhythm of throbs and hums. Our breaths go ragged, and the tension in our bodies rises as we draw nearer. She squeezes her thighs together, making it tighter, causing ripples of pleasure to oscillate through me as she increases the tempo.

  Fuck. She is milking me, and I have almost no restraint left.

  “Santi…” she murmurs my name as if it were a prayer.

  But I’m not a saint.

  “More!” she orders, her muscles contracting, intensifying the sensation. I feel her pulsating as she rides her release. I come, groaning as I fill her. My head drops to her shoulder, and we hold each other, waiting for our breaths to return to normal.

  She’s the first to speak. “We didn’t use a condom.”

  Not exactly the words I would have liked to hear after amazing sex like that, but truth none the less. She doesn’t seem too worried about it, though. We already had this conversation last night. We both knew we were clean, and she was on the pill, but I ask anyway. “Is that a problem?”

  “Not for me.”

  “Me, either.” I release her so she can stand. I reach for some tissue paper and hand it to her so she can clean the liquid dripping down her thighs. My dick twitches at the thought, and I grab my clothes and dress myself before I make another mistake and go for round two.

  When I turn back around, she’s already dressed and fixing her hair. She looks at my reflection in the mirror and says, “So, I think we need to keep this little bathroom romp to ourselves? Oh, and I don’t think we should repeat this.”

  I snicker. I’m not used to having women tell me that. “No repetitions?”

  She nods, but I can see her struggling to smother her smile. “None what so ever. I’ve been told to stay away from you.”

  “So have I.”

  “So, no more of this.” With a quick nod of her head, she turns toward the door.

  We both know that’s a total lie, and I’m surprisingly happy about that.

  Guess I’m adding another secret to my list.

  11

  Burning Dreams

  Santiago

  I’m exhausted. It’s been a real long time since I’ve ridden that long without stopping. The skies were clear, and the road was loud. But not louder than my thoughts.

  “My ass hurts,” Gunner says as he slides into the stool next to me at the hotel bar.

  The cup in front of me is not nearly full enough. I hold two fingers in the air and point to my glass, asking for a double dose of liquid anti-kill juice. The bartender better move his ass, or I might reach over and slam Gunner’s head into the mahogany wood.

  “Dax is going to check in with Aysen and Teagan, and see if there’s any more information about tomorrow.”

  I strum my fingers on the bar, pretending it’s a keyboard and playing around with the words in my head.

  Burn, burn… burn.

  Burn those dreams down.

  Burn, burn… burn.

  See if they fall down.

  The whole ride, I’ve been meddling with lyrics in my head, strumming melodies together and composing a chorus for a band that will no longer exist. I had asked Teagan for a favor, and she pulled through. Phoenix Records called me this morning, offering me a contract.

  Only me. I just need to come up with a song to record at the local studio in New York.

  I shattered my brother’s dream. Took away what he’s been working for since he was fifteen. And I feel like shit, but I don’t regret it. This way, he’s free of the society. They won’t call on him for favors, and won’t drag him deep inside. They won’t tempt him with promises that they easily deliver on, but cost him his entire life.

  The bartender comes over, pouring from the nozzle, and gives me another plain, white paper napkin, which I slide away to jot down the music.

  “Got a pen?” The bartender reaches into his shirt pocket and clicks the end before handing it to me.

  “What are you writing?” Gunner asks, looking over my bicep at the words on my paper.

  He’s still here. I pinch the bridge of my nose and twist the stool in his direction. “Gunner, I prefer to soak my organs in alcohol alone.”

  “You know the rule.” He turns around, resting his elbows on the bar and facing the crowd. “We don’t travel alone. And now that you’re back, I’ve got your back.”

  I chuckle. “No, you had my girl on her back. I think I’d rather take my chances with the Santinis. At least, I won’t be surprised when they backstab me.”

  He shakes his head and runs his tongue over his lips. “Look, what went down with Hannah … It was fucked up, okay? But it never meant anything. None of the guys did.”

  Is that supposed to make it better? The higher the number does not lower the significance, it just makes one thing extremely clear: she was searching for something she didn’t have with me. “You said you knew them.”

  “She drove us to the Chicago sex club once. She was doing some digging for the Council on the owner.”

  “Did she find what she was looking for?” That sounds like her, which also means she was probably screwing the owner. Who wasn’t she sleeping with?

  “I don’t know. She never told me that.” He twists back around and asks the bartender for some tequila while I mewl over his excuse. “You understand, right? It was nothing personal.”

  How stupid does he think I am? “So, you fucked my girlfriend for work?”

  “Secret work,” he clarifies a little less confident. “That’s why I couldn’t tell you.”

  I bob my head and tilt half my drink down my throat, trying to remind myself that she always came home to me. Something fierce.

  More like something bull shit.

  “So, you didn’t enjoy that thing she did, when she clenched and twisted, like a corkscrew, right before you were about to pop inside her?”

  “Oh yeah…” He groans at the memory, a smile spreading across his face.

  “I taught her that.” I rake my fingers over the stubble on my chin and cheeks to busy my hands. Starting a fight in the middle of the hotel bar would draw attention, and we are supposed to be on our best behavior.

  “Well, that just ruined it for me.”

  “Good.” I finish my drink and get up. “Don’t fu
cking remember her naked ever again, or the next time I’ll ruin more than a memory.”

  “You going to punch me again?” He pokes while following me to the elevator. “Because I gave you the first two, but if you do it again, we’re on.”

  My hate is not something to be messed with. There are very few people I despise, but I’d be willing to add this shithead to the list. “Noted.”

  “Noted?” The elevator pings open. I step inside, pressing my back against the far wall and glaring up at him with knitted brows, daring him to come inside. I’d gladly hold his head between the sliding doors and teach him a lesson.

  He foolishly takes a step within my cage.

  My throat closes, blocking the oxygen supply to my brain. One long stride, and I’m in his face, backing him up.

  “Chains.”

  Another step and his feet stand between the slits in the floor. His heels on the hotel lobby and the balls of his foot in the elevator. The doors grumble, announcing their closing.

  Gunner’s hands fly up, protecting himself by activating the sensor. “That’s how it’s going to be?”

  “We’ve shared enough. This is my space, back the fuck up.”

  He does. Just as the rumble of the doors picks up again, he adds, “And the girl from the other day? Is she your space?”

  My fingers hit the circular button, speeding up the metal partition. “She’s nothing to me,” I grumble out and relax against the wall, watching as the doors shut him out. If I told him about whatever was starting between Lexi and me, he’d tell Teagan.

  But fuck me. I don’t want him anywhere near her. Or me.

  I swing open the door to find Daxton sprawled out on his bed, phone to his ear, and a wide smile on his lips.

  “You’re scary when you smile,” I quip as he sits up and adjusts himself. “Am I interrupting?”

  “No,” he spits out. When I don’t give him privacy, he says to the phone, “So you’re with Lexi tonight, baby?”

  I narrow my eyes at him and flip him my middle finger before kicking off my jeans and heading to the bathroom. There’s been too much bonding time on the long drive. We needed to make it look like a bike run, so we stopped in Pittsburgh, Indiana, and Ohio to buy time. It led to a lot of drinking, way too much fucking talking, and piss breaks. Talking about girls with our dicks out wasn’t my first choice, but Gunner never dropped the subject.

  Maddox, apparently, has a chick he’s seeing. Gunner wants details.

  If I were Maddox, I wouldn’t tell Gunner shit either. Loyalty means something. As did respect, and Gunner had neither of them. At least not when it came to women. When Daxton suggested calling it a night at this place near Lake Michigan before driving the six hours tomorrow, I expected us to go on our separate ways.

  But he booked us a suite for five.

  I much rather bunk with Dax, than Gunner, so I’m grateful he told me to join him. I’m pretty sure Dax and I bonded over secrets because he straight-up told me he knew about Lexi. There wasn’t much more on the subject, and I still don’t know if he’s going to tell Teagan, so I listen to their conversation.

  “You told her what?” Dax shouts. “Why would you do that?” I can’t hear what Tee is saying, but Dax is definitely not enjoying it. He’s exchanged his hard-on for a rage-on. “All this time you’ve been saying you don’t want anyone to know about anything, and now you want to tell your best friend who you are? Who we are?” There’s a long pause. “Same shit. What does Ace say about this? Oh…”

  After that, they talk about Lexi for a while, and he yells about something else, and that’s when I turn the shower on. Between the adrenaline rush downstairs, the anger at Hannah, and now Teagan telling Lexi stuff about the society — there’s a lot of blood rushing around, and it’s hard to stop thinking about the last time I was in the bathroom with Lexi.

  Masturbating with the boss in the other room is not pleasurable, and to be honest, I haven’t hand-fucked myself since before Hannah died. She was away a lot, and we didn’t have sex a lot either. I thought it was because we had gotten comfortable in the relationship, and she was busy doing her legacy thing, but I should have known she was cheating on me.

  I close my eyes and duck under the showerhead, and the first person to pop into my mind is Lexi. Not Hannah. It’s been a real long time since someone took her spot in my mind.

  I can’t help comparing them. They share similar qualities, but Lexi is so much more than Hannah. So much more vulnerable, open … I have a feeling Lexi wouldn’t cheat on me. Then again, she wouldn’t die on my either, taking all her secrets with her.

  Well, as long as she stays away from the North Dragons and me.

  So, I just have to wait until I see Lexi again. Then I can tell her to stay away from the society. I don’t want her in this; she’s been through too much already.

  Shit. Maybe I did care about her.

  12

  Cake-Ho

  Santiago

  We pull into the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant a couple of buildings away from Cake-Ho on Tuesday. The center city streets are pretty busy. It would have been harder in Old Ridge, so when Teagan texted us the location of the bakery, Daxton felt a little bit better about the whole thing.

  I, however, did not. Unita is in Old Ridge, about an hour away from here, and there was no way I was going to find out more about the stupid club at Cake-Ho. I park my bike off to the side, so it’s not so obvious we’re spying on the stupid-named bakery, and rest my helmet on the handlebar. The other three guys ride into the parking lot while Gunner and his ugly bruise-colored face unwisely parks next to me.

  This. Guy. Does. Not. Quit.

  “You better back the fuck up, Gun. I’m still not over this whole fucking my girl thing and the shit you pulled yesterday.”

  He yanks off his helmet in a rush. “She’s dead.”

  “And you’re still talking, which means you must want to join her.”

  “Are you going to hold that against me forever? It was one time. And I didn’t mean anything about Lexi. She’s all yours, Chains. I just said that to show you that you’re over Hannah. You’re moving on.”

  My fists clench. “Shut up.”

  Maddox pulls up on the other side of me, along with Daxton and the other guy who had agreed to come with him. The loud rumbling of the engine drowns out anything I’d have to say, so I scowl at Gunner and square my shoulders. There’s nothing about her being dead that takes away the betrayal because he’s still here.

  Daxton disperses the initiate while Maddox travels over to us, smoothing his beard out while he smirks. “Aysen would definitely say something about the name. Cake-ho. Probably about frost—”

  “Aysen has got something to say all right.” The voice cuts through the parking lot, and all heads turn toward its direction. I half-expected him to be on a video call, not standing at the entryway of the fast-food joint with a huge milkshake in his hand.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Daxton growls as he calls the initiate back with a wave of his hand.

  Aysen props the door open with the ball of his sneakered foot. “Waiting for Teagan and Lexi.”

  “What?” Daxton and I both answer simultaneously. Neither of us expected this. Dax eyes me curiously as Aysen calls us inside. “I didn’t know shit.”

  We take a seat on a booth, littered with food wrappers.

  “How long have you been here?” Daxton asks, flicking the wrappers toward the window with the Cake-Ho view.

  “Well, I took the early bird flight this morning when Teagan didn’t show up at night, and I had to track her down all the way to fucking Jonah!” His voice increased a full decibel with that name.

  “Frustrated much?” Gunner jokes in a mumble, leaving me uneasy. What did he know about their situation?

  “Jonah told me both girls had taken a road trip to visit Ian.”

  “Who the fuck is Ian?” Daxton growls out, and I feel his worry in my bones. For both of them.

  “C
alm down,” I offer. “What makes you think they are here? Dax talked to her last night.”

  Dax shakes his head and snatches the milkshake from Ace’s hands. There’s a smirk sitting on his lips, but he hides it by looking out the window and drinking.

  “Ian is Lexi’s dead brother who is buried in Slayton Heights Cemetery.”

  Dead bother.

  Aysen shows us a map on his phone. “Only two hours from here.”

  Daxton remains very calm as he calls the initiate over and places an order. The guy goes and takes Gunner and Maddox with him, leaving the three of us to discuss the stupidity of Teagan’s decision.

  “She brought Lexi to a drug interception?” I huff out and run my hand through my hair. My muscles hurt, just thinking about what can happen to them. “Doesn’t she think?”

  “She thinks to fucking much.” Aysen grabs one of the cups on the tables, shakes it to see if there is still something in it, and slurps the last of his soft drink.

  The air sucking between ice cubes irks Daxton’s nerves, and he chucks one of the balled-up wrappers at Aysen’s face. “How did you only realize she was missing at night?”

  “We got into an argument.” Aysen places the cup down, sliding down, so the back of his head rests against the booth. While staring at the ceiling, he explains, “About Jonah.”

  “Who the hell is Jonah?” I ask after hearing the name more than once over the last few days.

  Dax fills me in, “A friend of the girls.”

  “Who has a crush on Teagan.” Ace lifts his head to glare at Dax. “Who fucked Teagan.”

  Dax shakes his head, blatantly annoyed with the situation. “Exactly. Past tense. This is never going to work if you don’t put some trust in her, Ace. You got to get your head out of your ass and cut her some slack. You’re going to push her away.”

  Eh. This is probably not supposed to be for my ears. But it’s what they were arguing about yesterday.