by B. L. Wilde
“Earth to Trixie!” Libby’s voice broke me out of my Ryan-induced trance, and I shook my head to clear it. “Do you want to rinse off and get changed? There are showers in the locker room. You’re only dancing the one time tonight, right?”
I smiled at her and nodded. “A shower sounds like heaven right about now. And yes, Carlo wanted to see how I did before he offered me a permanent position. This was an audition of sorts.”
Libby smirked. “Well, Carlo is a dumb jackass if he doesn’t hire you after that!”
“I guess we’ll see what happens.” I laughed as we made our way to the locker room. When we got there, I pulled my clothes out of my locker but then paused. “Hey, Libby? Is there a place around here I can smoke? I’m jonesing for some fucking nicotine.”
Wrinkling her nose, she giggled and teased, “Oh, you’re one of those, huh? Yeah, if you walk out of the locker room and make a right, the door at the end of the hall leads out into the back alley. You can smoke out there. I would offer to keep you company, but I go on in ten minutes and need to touch up my makeup.”
“That’s okay. Thank you for showing me around today. I really appreciate it.”
She pulled me into another tight hug before stepping back. “Anytime. I like you, Trixie. I have a feeling that you and I are going to be great friends.”
I was going to tell her that I really didn’t have friends, but stopped myself. Maybe things were changing and I could allow myself to get close to someone for once. It would be nice not to feel so alone all the time. “You might just be right,” I said instead. With a smile on my face, I grabbed the pack of smokes from my purse and walked toward the door. “I’ll see you in a few.”
Finding the alley was easy enough, and I was about to light up when a sound caught my attention. I glanced down the narrow space about twenty feet and froze at what I saw. Ryan was there with two other burly men. The three of them were standing over a guy on his knees as he clutched at his stomach.
I watched in horror as the men with Ryan pulled the other guy up and held him there as Ryan threw punch after punch at him. The poor man was begging for Ryan to stop, but that didn’t even slow him down. He hit the guy over and over, and when the two men let him sink to the ground again, Ryan began kicking him in the ribs relentlessly.
Having been on the other end of abuse, I wanted to run over and stop him, or scream for help. I wanted to do something…anything…to help the poor stranger, but I was afraid of drawing attention to myself. Like the scared little girl I was when I left home three years ago, I cradled my purse to my chest and made my way back inside quickly and quietly. No one had seen me witness that attack, and I planned on keeping it that way. As a shiver ran down my spine, I also decided that, for my own safety, I needed to stay as far away from Ryan as I could.
Chapter Two
Siena
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, Siena?” my dad screamed as I was walking toward the door. “You have shit to do around here, and you didn’t make my breakfast.”
Visibly shaking, I turned around to face him. “I’m sorry, Dad. I have school, and I can’t miss today because of a final in Calculus.” He was drunk, and I cringed internally at what I knew his reaction would be.
“Oh, look at you. All high and mighty, going to school to take your Calculus test. You think you’re better than me, don’t you, Siena? That you’re smarter? Well, I have news for you, you little whore. You’re not.”
Even though I was expecting it, his fist caught me off guard and I flew backwards into the door, crying out as the knob dug into my spine. Fighting the tears that filled my eyes, I took a deep breath and righted myself. “No, I don’t think I’m better than you. I’m just trying to finish school so I can get a better job and start helping out more around here.” That was a lie, but there was no way I was going to tell him I was saving up to get the hell out of Murphys and put as much distance between him and me as possible.
As my cheek throbbed, I wanted nothing more than to reach up and rub it, but I resisted. He wasn’t done with his rant, and I knew from experience that any sign of weakness would only make it worse. Standing in front of me silently, he glared at me as he waited for me to say something else.
“You’re a worthless piece of shit!” he shouted after a minute, closing the distance between us. “You’ll never be good for anything but cooking and cleaning like the pathetic little whore you are.” He moved, and though I tried so hard not to, I flinched. “No one wants to hire a murderer. You can do as well as you want in school, but this whole town knows that you killed your mother, and they don’t want anything to do with you.”
Tears streamed uninvited down my cheeks at his words. I never knew my mother, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to…or missing her. I would never get that chance, though, because he was right. I may not have killed her with my own two hands, but she died giving birth to me. My father never forgave me for that, and took it out on me every chance he got.
I pressed myself harder against the door and closed my eyes, waiting for the next blow—the one that would knock me cold. It always came; it was only a matter of time.
It had been three weeks, and I’d managed to avoid Ryan for the most part. When I’d gone back inside that first day, I had every intention of telling Carlo the job wasn’t for me. I had thrown my clothes on over the outfit I was wearing, grabbed my purse, and then went to put my tips in my wallet.
When I realized I’d made over four hundred dollars, plus the money that Carlo had promised me for even coming in, I started to rethink things. Being on the run, moving from city to city every few months was draining both physically and financially. I had been able to do things like waitressing, but the pay was minimal and the tips were shit. An opportunity to save up some money wasn’t something that should be taken lightly, and I’d decided that I couldn’t pass it up. I justified it by telling myself that it shouldn’t be too hard to avoid Ryan, even if he was the manager of the club. The last thing I wanted in my life was a man like my sperm donor.
I had just come from the stage and was making my way to the dressing room when Tony approached me. He’d been watching me every chance he got, and had asked me out a few times. The way he looked at me still gave me the creeps, but I did my best to hide it.
“Hey there, Sexy. Are you ready to let me take you out on that date yet?” he asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.
I tried to hide my uneasiness with a laugh as I playfully swatted at his chest. “Come on, Tony. I told you before that I’m not going to date you. You’re the boss’ son, and doing so could potentially cause a lot of problems.”
He stepped closer to me, pinning me between him and the wall. “I’ll be a perfect gentleman, Trixie. And I already talked to my dad about it. He said as long as it doesn’t affect how you dance or the money you bring in to the club, he’s fine with it.” I had to fight hard not to flinch when he reached up and tucked a sweaty strand of hair behind my ear. “Please? Just one date, and then if you don’t want to go out with me anymore, I promise I’ll leave you alone.”
“One date?” I asked, looking at him skeptically. “And then you won’t ask me out again?”
“Just one date,” he confirmed. “And if we don’t hit it off, that’s it.”
With a heavy sigh, I reluctantly agreed. “One date. But that’s it!”
He smiled widely. “You won’t regret it. I’ll pick you up tomorrow night at eight,” he said before turning to walk away.
“Tony!” I called after him. When he turned around, I continued. “I can’t do it tomorrow. I work until midnight.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll let Ryan know you’ll be with me. It’s all good, trust me. See you tomorrow, Sexy.” Without giving me a chance to respond, he turned around again and sprinted down the hall and into the back room of the club.
I changed quickly, grabbed my stuff, and was making my way out the back when I heard shouting coming from Ryan’s office. Stoppi
ng just outside the closed door, I listened for a moment, shocked when I realized that Ryan and Tony were having an argument.
“What makes you think you can walk in here and inform me that one of my dancers won’t be in tomorrow night because she’s going out with you? That’s bullshit, Tony, and you fucking know it! Wait until your father hears about this!”
“You’re a dumb motherfucker, Ryan. Face it...Trixie wants me, not you. You said it yourself—she’s been avoiding you ever since her first day here. And my father already knows. He gave me his blessing, which means she’s off limits to you, my brother. She’s fucking mine!”
That bastard had another thing coming if he thought he could claim me like that. Without waiting to hear the end of the conversation, I quickly made my way into the alley and pulled out my smokes.
I found an old milk crate on the side of the dumpster and took a seat, knowing I wouldn’t be seen. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I didn’t want to be bothered. As I took a deep drag of my cigarette, I heard the back door opening and then some girls starting to talk. I wasn’t positive, but it sounded like that blonde bimbo, Barbie, and her skanky friend, Bambi.
“Can you believe Tony? What the hell does he see in that mouse anyway? I mean, what does she have that I don’t?” bimbo one whined.
Bimbo two laughed. “Nothing, Hun. And at least you have bragging rights. As far as I know, Trixie hasn’t sucked his cock or fucked him. God, she doesn’t even do lap dances from what Libby said. All she does is strut around that pole like she owns the place.”
“True,” the first one laughed. “What a fucking bitch. That’s okay. Tony will take what he wants from her and then come crawling back to me. He does every time. And one way or another, I’ll worm my way into that family. I’ve always wanted to be a mob princess.”
At her words, my breath stuck in my throat. Mob princess? Did that mean that the Valentis were a mob family? As the thoughts swam through my head about a million miles a minute, it all started to make sense. The bodyguards…the men in suits…Ryan beating up that guy in the alley.
I was fucked and I knew it. If I tried to tell Tony that I wasn’t interested in dating him now, he would know something was up and would start asking questions. Hell, if I told him I changed my mind, he was likely to shoot me right then and there. At least, that’s what my mind kept screaming at me.
I stayed tucked behind the dumpster for another ten minutes while I waited for the bimbos to go back inside. When they did, I stood on shaky legs and accepted my fate. Until I could afford to get out of the city—maybe even out of the country—I was stuck. A person didn’t say no to a mob prince and live to tell about it.
Chapter Three
Ryan
2 years later
Two years of pure fucking torture. Only being able to look from afar at the only woman I longed to pound into wasn’t something I ever imagined having to deal with. I wasn’t used to not getting what I wanted, and that tormented me. There was no other way, though. She was strictly off limits, and I was totally fucked!
I stood, slowly inhaling the last of my cigarette. I didn't like to be kept waiting, and Tony knew it. "Sorry, Man," he smirked, finally walking out of the Valenti Mansion while buttoning up his pants. "Trixie is a little demanding today." The lucky fucker. Trixie was the most desirable female at the club. Cherries was renowned for its beautiful women, but Tony’s girl was in a class of her own. She’d been making my dick permanently hard for the last two years, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. It didn't help that she had killer legs that went on for miles and made me think about her pussy each time I gazed at them. The sight of her breasts made my mouth water, and her fucking incredible, long, wild brown hair…Fuck, I fantasized at least three times a day about holding onto it while I fucked her hard from behind.
"Are we going to the fucking club or not?" I snarled.
"You need to get some, Ryan," he snorted. "You can't keep dreaming about what I have."
"I get plenty, thank you." Yeah, I fucked a lot of women, but that didn't stop me from wanting her. Despite the amount of pussy I got, it never seemed to quench my need for Trixie, and the fact that I could never have her didn’t stop me from wanting exactly that.
The rest of the boys were already at Cherries, and Tony was quick to get the drinks brought over. We had come to talk business, after all. There were plans in the works to hijack a large drug shipment tomorrow night, and we needed to prepare.
My job practically fell in my lap over seven years ago. I had been involved in a street fight that Tony's father, Carlo, had witnessed. I was just as fucked up then as I was now. I could kill with my fists if I wanted to, and almost did on many occasions when I was younger. Carlo liked that in me; he saw a rawness that reminded him of himself and decided to take me in. He quickly became like a father figure to me, teaching me at quite a young age how to fire a gun and the general rules of underground crime. I would willingly die for him, and served as his number two, under Tony, which I was fucking proud of. I wasn't family, but I knew Carlo trusted me more than some of his own flesh and blood.
"Are we ready?" Carlo asked, taking a seat between Tony and me awhile later.
"Yes," Tony glared, downing his whiskey. He and his father didn't get along. He wanted Carlo's power, but was too young to understand that that amount of respect only came from experience. He was in too much of rush to grow up and be the Dom, and if he didn't calm down, the idiot was going to get himself killed.
"Ryan, I want you to take the lead on this one." I gaped at Carlo. What the fuck? Me, lead? No fucking way!
"But Father!" Tony tried to interrupt but Carlo continued.
"You've been ready for some time now. I want to see what you've got." He patted me on the back. "What do you say?"
"Thank you. I don't know what to say."
"Go and get a bottle of my favorite bourbon and we'll celebrate," Carlo suggested. Fuck, my dick started twitching as soon as I looked toward the bar. There she was: the goddess. Trixie was leaning over the bar in a tight, black dress, her legs long and incredible, as always. Her hair was tamed tonight, long and sleek. Shit, I would have given anything to be able to slam into her from behind at that exact moment. I wouldn't give a fuck who would be watching, either.
The closer I got to her, the harder my dick throbbed.
"Good evening, Ryan," Trixie smirked, eyeing me seductively. She was such a fucking flirt and that didn't help matters.
"Hello, Trixie." Her name always rolled off my tongue. I wanted more than her name to roll off my tongue, though. Oh the things I would do to that woman if I were given half a chance. I'd fuck her raw, leaving dents in her pussy walls from my cock. I was such a dirty fucker, but fuck me, I wanted her.
"You have got to stop looking at me like that," she giggled, throwing her hair over her shoulder. Christ, her breasts were fucking perfect, and I could see them even better now that her hair wasn't covering them. "It’ll get you into trouble one day."
"I have no idea what you mean." With a crooked smile, I gestured to the bartender for a bottle of bourbon. My grin usually worked on females, making them drop their panties within seconds, but Trixie had always been immune.
"I heard that you're taking the lead tomorrow," she commented, casually sipping her cocktail. I was mesmerized by her deep red lips and subconsciously licked my own.
“News travels fast.”
“Doesn’t it always around here? I swear it’s worse than high school. Just be careful.”
"Be careful, yourself. Anyone that overheard you just now would think you were worried about me," I chuckled, trying to brush off the concern on her face before I moved back to the table.
Carlo, the boys, and I finished off the entire bottle of bourbon while I watched Trixie onstage. She was a dancer, but nothing too seedy. Tony wouldn't allow it. She was too beautiful for that, anyway. Still, with one sway of her hips, I was always captivated. That was something that would never change.
>
Tony, the stupid motherfucker, had finally lost it, and the hijacking ended with him taking a bullet in the leg. If I hadn't shot the gunman down, Tony would've been pushing up daisies right about now. Why didn’t that fucker ever listen to me? Why couldn’t he let me lead like Carlo wanted? Stupid, dumb, fucking idiot!
"Oh, God!" Trixie cried while Bennett and I carried Tony into his house. We'd already called the doctor. "What happened?"
"The stupid fucking idiot couldn't follow orders!" I snarled, pushing him down onto the couch in the front room.
"I had it!" Tony winced as Trixie wrapped a cloth around his leg and pulled it tight.
"Yeah, it looks like it," she grumbled. Shit! While she was kneeling on the floor in front of Tony, I could see right down her top. A fucking black lace bra? You have got to be kidding me.
"Where is he?" I heard Carlo before I saw him, his voice laced with concern. The doctor was close behind him. "Will you ever learn, Son?" he hissed. "What the fuck happened? I thought we had agreed on Ryan leading this one."
"Tony tried to act like the big man, as usual," Bennett glared. "If it wasn't for Ryan, your son would be dead right now."
"Is that true?" Carlo glared at Tony, throwing his arms up in the air. "You can't win these battles alone! You have to let Ryan help you. How will you ever take over for me if you can't even trust your second in command?"
"I trust him," Tony muttered, looking over at me.
"He just doesn't like me having the control," I added. I fucking knew what it was all about. I didn't want to take Carlo’s place, and the sooner Tony realized that, the better it would be for everyone. I just wanted to fuck his girlfriend...with his permission, of course.
"Just let the doctor fix you up," Carlo stressed to his son. "Trixie, can you show Doctor Banks to one of the spare rooms? Bennett and Adam will help Tony get there." I watched Trixie as she stood, hypnotized by her fucking perfection. Tony was such a lucky asshole to have her, but he didn’t give a shit. He was constantly dipping his dick in any pussy that wandered his way, the fucking idiot.