SEALed To Protect (Omerta Series)

by Roxy Sinclaire

  The drive back to pick up Maddie was surprisingly peaceful for me, and I didn’t understand why. There was so much drama and tension happening all around me, and I somehow felt happy that I was going to pick up Maddie and bring her the complex coffee order she desired. I threw in a few pastries she might like.

  What the hell? I felt like I had already handed over my balls along with the cash I gave the cashier. And I just couldn’t wait to see Maddie again. It got me thinking that Maddie was different from any other woman I had dated, slept with, or in general was acquainted with.

  I picked Maddie up and had texted her to try to avoid bringing her friends with her to say goodbye to me. She listened to me and practically jumped into the car and kissed me. She looked happy and healthy. She had an extra bounce about her and a glow. We drove back, and I noticed as her mood shifted down, but she didn’t seem sad or angry.

  We went inside and I watched her mood continue to shift and her energy went down a little more. I asked her if she was okay and told me she was fine, but I didn’t believe her.

  But I had work to do and I sat down at the kitchen counter. Maddie just sat beside me and drank her coffee and ate all the pastries I got her. I started to research more on the Riccis and began to fully map out in my head what I was going to do to keep her safe.

  I also watched Maddie’s behavior. She would look happy and then completely switch to bawling her eyes out and curling up in my arms. I still felt guilty about having sex with her, even though it was some of the best sex I’d had in a long time. If she could get it together, she would agree with me.

  I gave her soothing rubs and tried to console her as much as I could when she would hit her crying fits. I started to wish that I could let her stay with one of her friends, but it was way too risky. The police were swarming all over any family or friends connected to the Bianco family. Maddie was going to have to stay here with me, and I just had to suffer along with her as she broke down.

  Maddie was a grieving girl mourning her parents. Losing someone so close just gave you unpredictable behavior. All I could do for her right now was to be there, but it was absolutely killing me every time she cried. It was just unfortunate that we were on her family’s estate where if she walked outside, memories would surround her.

  It reminded me of when my whole team died with the Navy SEALs. I was devastated. But I discovered my best friend had also died, my one last hope in this world at the time. I was tempted to end my own life right there and call it quits.

  Thankfully, I found the strength not to off myself. But I saw a dark and endless hole that day, one that sucked whatever ounce of life you had left in you. I didn’t come from an encouraging home, but my best friend had been that ounce of hope for me. I clearly remember the pain I felt as I held his head in my lap. I didn’t cry, even though I really wanted to. That pain stung far worse than actually losing my best friend.

  After I was honorably discharged, I felt I was even worse off than when I started the SEALs. I don’t think I felt a single emotion of any kind until the day I walked into the Bianco home and saw the beautiful face of Madeline trying to catch a glimpse of me. I remember feeling a warm spark after meeting her.

  I just didn’t want Maddie to go into a dark place that she would never return from. I wanted to see her grow from this experience and become wiser because of it. Maddie had somehow turned into my new ounce of hope, which filled me up more and more each day I was around her.

  And that, I think, scared me the most for the first three years I knew her. I wasn’t used to feeling that kind of love and affection. In a sense, it was almost a feeling that existed in books and movies, not in real life. She had really changed that ideal into a reality, and I knew I would always be grateful for that from her.

  Then again, she seemed so attached to me and I didn’t want to break her heart and make her think that I didn’t want to be around her. I needed my head space to mourn and plan.

  It was proving to be difficult with her hanging off my arm sometimes, because I just wanted to give her the love and affection she needed. That I needed for her.

  Later in the afternoon, I had helped Maddie get all her important stuff out of her room, which took longer than I cared for it to take. I had never been in her room before, and all she wanted to do was show me the entire contents of her room. Which I found to be odd, because we were inside her house. I would’ve thought that this would have made her the most vulnerable.

  But then I remembered a high school girlfriend I had who’d snuck me into her house one time when her family wasn’t home. I thought we were just going to have sex, but she delayed that for what felt like hours to show me everything in her room. I finally stopped her by shoving my tongue down her throat and putting my cock in her. I really wasn’t a nice kid back then.

  Eventually, I got Maddy to focus without being mean, and she grabbed what she needed. Some of her clothes, makeup, sketch pads, and colored pens and pencils and whatever it was girls thought they always needed. It was touch and go as we entered the house. It was completely eerie to be in there.

  I tried to move her along as fast as we could. She grabbed a family photo from her dad’s office and his favorite monogrammed fountain pens.

  She was napping after all that lugging, and I sat at the kitchen counter on a barstool and worked out a plan. It would involve using Maddie as bait and I had to bite back a bit of anger about it, but I knew the plan would work.

  I got up and stood in the bedroom doorway and watched as Maddie slept peacefully. I smiled at her, and then she started to fuss and moan a bit in her sleep and then came a small scream.

  I quickly ran and jumped into bed and wrapped my arms around her to calm her down. She did instantly and then without opening her eyes, she turned to kiss me on the mouth.

  When I felt confident enough that she was okay and back in a peaceful state of sleep, I left the room to go map out my master plan to nail the Riccis and avenge the deaths of Mr. and Mrs. Bianco. It would be complicated and hard, but I felt like I had come up with a surefire way to get back at them.

  It did involve using Madeline in a way I didn’t like, and it would take her away from living with me for a while. But it was too good to not put into operation. I was feeling so confident about it that I think whooped for myself and nearly woke up Madeline, so I celebrated silently. I would need to break this plan to her lightly and convincingly, and I thought I would break it to her by cooking a fantastic meal for her. It was the best thing I could think of, and I remembered I had two huge steaks in the freezer. I would tell her about the plan for the Riccis over steaks.

  Chapter Seven

  Madeline

  I could tell that Blake was nervous or hiding something from me. He was quiet for most of the night and he was cooking steaks for us. Something was up and I wanted to get it out of him.

  “What’s going on?” I narrowed my eyes at Blake. He looked at me with wide innocent-appearing eyes. I knew then that something was up, and I demanded that he tell me immediately.

  “During my meeting with the detective friend I have on the force, he informed me that he suspects the Ricci family is responsible for the car explosion.” He said this through very tight and short breaths.

  “What?” I shouted and then got up and began pacing the kitchen. Blake quickly poured me a glass of wine and then stood tall and stiff like a statue. “The Ricci Family! I should’ve known!” I kept repeating and shouting and pacing.

  I began picturing them blowing up in my head. I had known them since I was a kid, and I had never liked them. There was something so greasy and disgusting about them, and did I mention greasy? Oh! I hated them! Of course, they would be responsible for trying to kill me and my family.

  They had it out for everyone who dared say a word against them. “What pieces of shit!” I shouted and then I snatched the wine right out of Blake’s hand. He actually looked terrified of me. It was some time before Blake said anything, probably because he knew I would scr
atch him if he did. I sat back down and put my head in my hands and took deep breaths. I could feel him leaning in toward me.

  “I’ve been thinking hard about how I’m going to kill them. I need your help,” he said slowly and cautiously.

  “What is it?” I growled impatiently and dropped my hands down to the counter to look him in the eye.

  “I think the best way to get them is to have you ask them for a place to stay. Call it sanctuary, and then it can be easier for me to kill them with your distracting the sneaky bastard,” he finished with a touch of excitement.

  I let out a laugh that was a release of stress, anger, and agony. “Stay with the Ricci family? Are you outta your mind?” I shouted at him and then put my head back in my hands.

  I could tell this conversation was not going to be smooth. The wine was having no effect on me and I no longer craved the juicy steak sitting on my plate. Blake must have felt the same way as I saw he had not even made a cut into his. He just sat next to me and waited for me to say something.

  I thought about it and knew the plan was the way to go to quickly get revenge on the Riccis. But what good was that? All it did was create more mob drama. All I wanted to do was go to Italy and start my life over there. This killing each other off business just made me sick thinking about it.

  “Think of it this way, Maddie. If we pull this off without a trace to either of us, you can go do anything you want. What do the police care when they receive a bribe or two? Besides, the Riccis are high on their list of dangerous people to watch. They could care less if they kill them or someone else does.” Blake’s voice had a bit of excitement again.

  He made it sound glamorous. But in reality, it would be an actual nightmare. Being in the home and breaking bread with the people who’d killed my family and wanted me dead was an insane idea, and I didn’t even want to think about it. I was already dealing with enough stress and sadness to last me a lifetime.

  My hunger and thirst for wine returned, and I began to shovel in what I could before stress and loss of appetite came back. Blake just let me sit there beside him and tabled the subject till later that night when I began to throw things and scream in a state of rage.

  It wasn’t rage toward Blake at all. It was all channeled at the thought of living with the Riccis. I wasn’t convinced I’d be able to help Blake pull the operation off. All I wanted to do was hide away in this small house with him and never go outside. Everything could come to me.

  The other option was to get hold of a private plane and just pay the pilot off to not breathe a word that he was flying me to Italy. Then I could really let go and start my life there and never come back. Except maybe for Fashion Week.

  Chapter Eight

  Blake

  I sat outside to smoke a cigarette and left Maddie to just get all of her anger out. I got tired of dodging flying mascaras and stuffed animals. I hadn’t smoked in years and it felt amazing to inhale that sweet tobacco and watch the smoke come out all white and curly. It was absolute bliss standing there with the cool night air calming my heated skin. It just began to feel hot in there with Maddie’s hot Italian temper. I felt like I was feeling her anger, like sympathy emotions.

  I wondered how long I could stay out here until she noticed I had slipped outside. The last thing I wanted to deal with tonight was fighting off a fiery little Italian.

  Scratch that. I just didn’t want to fight her, and I didn’t want to see her this angry. She had so much more strength when she was angry. It was scary and kind of sexy at the same time.

  I kept checking through the windows to see if anything had calmed down. The last time I checked, I saw a teddy bear fly across the living room. I didn’t see anything airborne this time, so I finished my cigarette on the way to the front door and carefully walked in.

  It was silent and I let out a deep breath and slowly closed the door. “Where have you been?” I heard her shout from behind, and it felt like a dagger had just been thrown in my back.

  “I was just outside to think for a minute. A lot is happening.” I laughed a bit and I wasn’t sure why. Maddie stared hard at me as she walked slowly toward me and I began to fear for my life. She got so close that I could smell the lip gloss she had just applied.

  She kissed me and then slapped me. She walked away and left me backed up against the door. “What was that for?” I called out to her.

  “That’s for smoking!” She kept walking away. I put my hand on the cheek she slapped and then smiled after her.

  As the night progressed, I tried to keep a safe distance from Maddie when she was near me. I could sense her grieving was taking on a new affect into furious anger fits. It was a little terrifying to be around her at the moment but really exciting at the same time. I couldn’t decide how I felt about it at the moment.

  The more I watched her anger progress at the thought of having to live with the Riccis, the more I was starting to regret making that decision. Nothing was set in stone yet, but I wanted to tell her so she could process the idea instead of just springing it on her.

  My idea had to be a mistake and I began to brainstorm again. There had to be another way now that I thought about it more. Maybe I was a little too hasty in making this plan. If this was going to make Maddie this angry, then I had to come up with something else.

  It was starting to hurt me just watching her get all worked up over a plan that I came up with. It was a plan that only worked for my benefit to make the Riccis an easier target for me. I felt like I was being selfish with her since her family died. Maybe I wasn’t thinking of everything yet.

  At the moment, the tension was so crowded in the room that I didn’t really have the space to think about anything. I was starting to give myself a headache.

  I was hoping the detective would call be back soon. I was starting to get antsy at this point about doing anything drastic. I needed to tell him that Maddie was in my care and protection and see if we could strategize something else instead.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Maddie was standing over me as I buried myself into the couch.

  “I’m just thinking.” It was all I could get out and I feared I would be slapped again. It was funny that I had been a SEAL, had seen wars and the fall of humanity in some countries, and I was afraid of a cute little Italian girl slapping or clawing at me if I said or did the wrong thing around her.

  I feared her because I loved her. That was the only reason I could think of. I looked at her sympathetically and lifted my arm out for her to curl up in. She saw my arm and then lowered her anger to a minimum level and walked over to nestle herself beside me.

  I turned the TV on, and we watched a Friends marathon in silence. When something was funny I could feel her ribs shake when she laughed. At least she could maintain her sense of humor. In times like this, a sense of humor was important. I learned that a long time ago.

  I tried not to talk about the plan and how I was having second thoughts about it to Maddie. I didn’t want to confuse her more and get her hopes up about another possibility. If there wasn’t a second possibility, then it would just hurt and confuse her even more than right now.

  I just wanted to hold her and enjoy her until I could talk to my detective friend again. I pulled her face toward mine and kissed her. Friends became a subtle background noise as we continued to kiss, and I lay her back and got on top of her and massaged her entire upper body with my hands and caressed her breasts, eliciting soft moans from her.

  The next morning, I was lucky to hear from the detective and I asked him if we could meet again. I had urgent things to ask him about before I completely tried to go through with my plan to have Maddie go to the Riccis’ house.

  He agreed and I kissed Maddie goodbye as I headed out to meet him. She was still sleeping and pulled me in close to her. I was tempted to stay a little longer when she started to wrap her legs around me and I had to resist.

  I drove as quickly as I could to the police station, but not close enough for anyone to see me. I
waited parked on the curb as the detective had instructed me to. He would walk by and get in and we would drive around and talk. I would then drop him back off in the same spot and that would be our meeting.

  I was almost starting to fall back asleep from the heat building up in the car. I jolted awake when the passenger door swung open and slammed shut.

  “Go,” the detective instructed, and I instantly pulled out and drove down the street.

  It was seconds before either of us said anything. I took a deep breath and dove in before he could say anything first.

  “I have to tell you, Detective, that Madeline Bianco is staying with me under my protection. I live in the back building of the Bianco estate.” I took my eyes off the road for a second to see his reaction. He nodded his head and I watched as he took in what I said.

  “Well, that makes sense that she would come to you for refuge.”

  “Yes, and I have been plotting on how to get back at the Riccis and get them out of the way.”

  “So, how does talking to me help you?”

  “I want to know my options for helping her.”

  “She could come to the police and we could put her in a witness protection program.”

  “She wants to go to Italy. Maybe we can get her there.”

  “It’s tricky, but you could make that happen. She would be safer there than in the States.”

  “That’s what I figured.”

  There was silence between us and then the detective began to talk about everything he had on the Riccis’ and the Biancos’ history. There certainly was enough evidence there that would make it easy to assume the Riccis would plot and cause the explosion. Mr. Bianco had destroyed several of Mr. Ricci’s business operations.

  But they had all jeopardized the businesses of people who had come to Mr. Bianco for help in taking down Mr. Ricci. As I listened to him talk about how dangerous the Ricci family was and how widespread their connections were with dangerous people not associated with the mob, but you wouldn’t want to meet them in a dark alley, I was more convinced that Maddie couldn’t go stay with them. She was right to be so angry with me for even suggesting it.