by Nikki Wild
“Bear, get down!” Dante barked suddenly. The dog jumped down and ran out of the room.
So much for that obstacle, I thought.
Dante turned back to me, the same hunger coursing through my veins reflected in his dark, lusty eyes.
“I’ll take you back to your car,” he growled, his voice so low I almost couldn’t hear him. “After I taste you one more time…”
And then his hands were on me once more, pulling me to him, pushing the sheets from my bare skin, his mouth falling on my skin, so hot, so wet, so urgent, so unbelievably delicious…
Dante’s clubhouse disappeared in the rearview mirror. My arms wrapped around him tightly, and I leaned into his back, inhaling the leathery scent of his cut. I sighed, my voice echoing in my own ears, the helmet he had put on my head before we left muffling the sounds of the world rushing by.
The trees along the dirt road towered over us, a stark contrast to the clear blue sky above us.
We’d hardly talked at all since waking. Which was good, I guess. Because what do you say to someone at a time like this? I didn’t want it to end, but I barely knew him. I couldn’t exactly stay at his cabin letting him devour me for the rest of our lives, no matter how amazing that sounded.
Saying goodbye was going to be hard enough. Instead, we’d let our bodies do the talking for us. Hell, singing is more like it. He played my body like an instrument.
Part of me felt like last night was a dream. A very vivid, very pleasurable, very wild dream. The kind of dream that you never wanted to wake up from. The kind of dream that was too good to be true.
But it was true. And he was still right here in my arms, our bodies vibrating together from the powerful engine between our legs.
But like a dream, it was fleeting, and it was over, and it really was too good to be true.
I couldn’t fool myself into thinking anything different.
But fuck if I wasn’t determined to milk these last few minutes with Dante, even if it was on the back of his bike. He reached back, squeezing my thigh intimately, and I swallowed hard. He’d done that yesterday on the ride over, and yet now, it seemed to say so much more.
The ride back to Otto’s went way too fast. My heart sank when I saw the sign up above. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye, but I braced myself for the inevitable. I’d just jump off the bike, give him a quick kiss, and jump in my car. Rip it off like a band-aid. It was the only way I could think to do it. The only way that would make the pain go away quickly.
When Dante slowed his bike outside of Otto’s, I felt sick with dread.
But then we both saw them at the same time, and instead of turning, Dante kept going. My heart raced as soon as I saw them. Cops. They’d blocked off the parking lot and were swarming all over Otto’s and surrounding my car. One of them was taking pictures. A huge truck from Channel Eight News was on the side of the road and there was a huge crowd of onlookers lining the street.
“What the fuck?” I muttered in my helmet, my arms wrapping tighter around Dante’s waist as he quickly turned a corner and raced out of sight.
After driving for a while, he parked the bike next to Norma’s diner and we pulled our helmets off.
“That didn’t look good,” he said.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, my voice quivering. “Why were they around my car like that?”
“I’m not sure, but we did beat up an entire bar full of bikers. The media and cops don’t usually get involved with that kind of thing too much, though.” He pulled me into his arms and stroked my back. “Listen, everything’s going to be okay. Let’s go get some breakfast and we’ll figure out what to do.”
“Yeah, sure,” I agreed, letting him lead me into the diner. As soon as we walked in, all eyes landed on us. I put my head down as the waitress led us to a booth in the back.
“You two here for breakfast?” she asked, tapping her pen on the pad of paper she was holding as we slid in across from each other.
“Yes, please,” Dante replied.
“Coffee?” she asked, snapping her gum.
“Yes, please,” he said again. She put two cups down in front of us and slowly poured coffee into them. I looked around and saw that everyone was still staring at us.
“Why is everyone looking at us?” I asked Dante after the waitress walked away.
“It’s the cut,” he dismissed. “You get used to it.”
“Oh!” I hadn’t thought of that. I took a sip of the coffee, trying to find some comfort in its warmth. “So what was going on back there?” I whispered, doing my best to ignore the stares.
“Well, those were definitely pigs.”
“But it was just a bar fight! And it happened yesterday. Wouldn’t they be gone by now?”
“Gabby,” he replied, his dark eyes growing serious. “I guess you don’t know who those bikers were. The Iron Godz are the most dangerous club on the East Coast. They’re not to be fucked with. And we fucked with them. Hard.”
“Okay. But why the cops?”
“Not sure,” he said. Was that a glimmer of worry I saw in his eyes?
“Are you afraid of them?” I asked, a ball of frazzled nerves forming in the pit of my stomach.
“Who?” he asked.
“The Iron Godz? And the cops?” I wasn’t supposed to be afraid. I was a Loprinzi. I was supposed to tough it out, remember that I was untouchable, and keep my chin up. But my gut was telling me this was not going to work out so easily.
“Hell, no,” he said with a laugh. “I can handle anything that comes my way.”
Okay, I thought, looking over at him. His confidence was reassuring but I wasn’t so sure myself. For something like this, I needed my father. There was nobody else I trusted enough to take care of this.
“I need to call my dad,” I said, looking around for a phone in the diner. Of course, I didn’t find one because nobody has pay phones anymore these days. “Can I use your cell now?” I asked Dante, just as my eyes landed on a television screen in the corner.
It couldn’t be, I thought, my stomach dropping.
“That’s me…” I whispered, the color draining from my face, as I slowly pointed at the TV, my face staring back at me. The bar. The fight. Dante and I leaving Otto’s together. It played out before my eyes in slow motion. The sound was off, but it was close enough that I could read the caption scrolling across the bottom.
“Missing mafia princess and biker boyfriend wanted for murders of two bikers…” I read, out loud.
“What the fuck?” Dante turned towards the television, then quickly turned back to me, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“Mafia princess?” he asked slowly. “What the fuck are they talking about, Gabby?” His eyes were wide with shock.
“I guess I should have told you who my dad is…”
Leonardo Loprinzi
“You find her, Leo! Find her now, dammit!” My wife, Maria, demanded. “She doesn’t have her phone, or her purse, or any money! She’s entirely at that - that - that biker’s - mercy! Did you see him, Leo? He looked like a thug! There’s no telling what he might do to her!”
“For fuck’s sake, Maria, he saved her life!” I replied. My wife’s fear was off the hook, and frankly, it was annoying as hell. Yeah, Gabriella was missing. But I had faith in my daughter. I knew what a tough broad she was. Hell, she was probably annoying the hell out of whoever she was with, truth be told. And she wasn’t one to be messed with.
“Did you see the way she fought back?” I asked Maria proudly. We stood together in the kitchen of our Howard Beach home, my wife yelling in my face the way only she is allowed to do.
If anyone else had done that, they’d be six feet under before their Ma could shed one tear.
But Maria got special privileges because she was my wife. But even she knew better than to do it when anybody else was around. I let her get away with it sometimes when we were alone. I gave her a pass this time, because I knew she was really worried about our only daughter.
Maria poured herself a glass of red wine, taking a sip and slamming the glass back onto our imported Italian marble countertop. I flinched when I saw a chip of it break off.
There goes another grand, I thought. But what did she care? She didn’t have to do a thing for the money, she just took and took and took, while I put my ass on the line everyday for this family.
“Yeah, I saw the video,” Maria whined. “She kicked those goomba’s asses, but she’s still missing, Leo!” Her voice was grating on my last nerve, but I took a deep breath and patted her shaking hand.
“Everything’s going to be alright, Maria. She’ll be found,” I said. Maria and I had been together over twenty-five years and we’d weathered some serious storms. I had every confidence we’d find our daughter safe and sound. Because nobody fucked with a Loprinzi. Everyone in the state of New York knew better than to lay a finger on my daughter.
“You have to find her yourself, Leo! Get out there now - I know you have connections. But I want you to find her yourself before anyone else does! You have to protect our baby, Leo!” she pulled her hand away from mine, running it through her hair, her eyes full of worry. She shook her head, staring off into the distance, and then shuddering with fear. “You,” Leo, she said pointing her long, perfectly manicured finger at my chest. “You have to find her before someone else gets to her. Who knows what the cops will do to her? Or those other bikers? Leo, go now, please!”
“Alright, Maria, alright, I’ll go,” I relented. “I’ll do this myself. I’ll take Rizzo with me.”
“I don’t care who you take, just make sure our Gabriella gets back here safe!” she demanded.
“Okay, Maria, okay,” I said, walking out of the kitchen and pulling out my phone.
The first person I called was my mistress, Adriana.
“I can’t make it tonight, babe,” I said. She whined in protest, and I rolled my eyes. For fuck’s sake.
“But Leo, we have tickets to a Broadway show tonight!”
“I know, I know,” I muttered. “We’ll go another time. Something’s come up. Family stuff,” I replied.
“It’s always your fuckin’ family, Leo,” she whined. “I’ll go with my girlfriend.”
“Look, I’ll make it up to you,” I promised, making a mental note to buy her a piece of jewelry tomorrow to shut her up.
She hung up on me.
Fucking women, I thought. You can’t live with them, you can’t live without them. Fuggedabout tryin’ to make them happy. It ain’t happening.
I dialed my phone again. I’d deal with Adriana later.
Rizzo answered on the first ring, as always.
“What’s up, Boss?” he asked, his voice full of enthusiasm.
“I need you. Now,” I demanded.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“It’s Gabriella. She’s missing. It’s all over the news. I need to find her right away.”
“I saw that. I’m on my way, Boss,” he promised, his voice clipped and precise, like a perfect soldier.
He hung up without a word and ten minutes later he was at my door, ready to do anything I asked, to lay his life on the line, if necessary.
“Where are we headed?” he asked, as he opened the door of my Lincoln for me.
“Gabriella’s apartment.”
Dante
The fucking mob. Of course she was tied up with the fucking mob. A girl like her? Talking about her daddy all the time?
For fuck’s sake, I’d gotten myself into some shit before but this was serious. Hopefully, her dad was a low man on the totem pole and this wouldn’t be as serious as it could be.
I didn’t stop to ask questions. As soon as I saw her face on that TV screen, I pulled her out of the diner and put her on the back of my bike. I raced back to the only place I knew we would be safe…
We.
Fuck, I’d become a ‘we’ now. Fucking great.
I was surprised the guys weren’t there yet, but it was still early. A million questions were knocking around my head as I’d driven, and I was eager to begin questioning Gabby.
As soon as I turned off the engine and our helmets came off, I let this girl have it.
“What’s your family’s name? Who’s your Dad? Why were you even in the bar last night, Gabby? Who are you working for?”
“What?” she asked, her eyes shining with surprise. “You think I work for the mob?”
“I don’t know what the fuck to think!” I roared, confusion filling my head.
“Well, I don’t! What my dad does is his business. I stay out of it.”
“Your dad? Who is your dad?” I asked again.
“It doesn’t matter,” she hesitated, tearing her eyes from mine.
“Gabby! What is your father’s name?” I demanded.
“His name’s Leo,” she said, shrugging.
“Leo who?” I asked, my heart beginning to race. I already knew the fucking answer. My blood turned cold.
“Loprinzi. Leonardo Loprinzi,” she said finally, her voice full of exasperation. Her pretty eyes glued onto mine and stared me down, daring me to argue with her.
“Loprinzi?! What the fuck!” I yelled so loudly, a pair of crows fluttered out of the trees to my right. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? You’re Loprinzi’s kid?”
This couldn’t be happening. Visions of the past came rushing back like a freight train. The sound of gunshots whizzing over our heads. Her tiny little body shaking under me in fear. Those eyes.
Her eyes…
“Look, it’s no big deal —,” she began, her bottom lip quivering. “And I’m a goddamned adult…”
“— no big deal? No big deal!? Loprinzi’s only the biggest fucking mob boss in all five fuckin’ boroughs!”
“Dante, God! Who cares? It doesn’t matter, look we have bigger problems…”
“Yeah, like the fact that I just fucked Leo Loprinzi’s daughter!” I shook my head in disbelief.
Pain flashed in her eyes and I instantly regretted my words.
“Sorry that it was so bad for you!” she spat at me, turning away from me.
“Gabby,” I groaned, running my hand through my hair. I glanced down the road again to make sure we were still alone. With mobsters, you don’t usually get to see them coming. One minute, you’re alive. The next minute…you’re not.
“Look, that’s not what I meant,” I sighed, turning her back around to face me and pulling her into my arms.
“Well, what did you mean?” she asked, looking up at me. Fuck. I felt like such an asshole.
“Last night was wonderful. But you’re right. We have other things to think about now.”
“If you just take me to a phone, I can call my dad and he can take care of everything. He’s good at that.” She nodded firmly, as if there was no argument to be had.
“So I’ve heard,” I replied, dryly. She hit me on the arm and I laughed, despite the thoughts racing through my head. I couldn’t believe Gabriella Loprinzi was standing in front of me.
I’d waited years for this moment. I’d dreamed about this girl since I was a damn kid. Her eyes hadn’t changed one bit. That’s what drew me in back at the bar, and now all I wanted to do was fuck her again.
But there was no time for that… We had to figure something out and fast.
We were both wanted for murder, after all.
For fuck’s sake! How could this all be going down like this?
“Let’s get back on the bike. Take me to a phone. Come on, Dante,” she pleaded. I looked into her eyes, memories of last night haunting me, memories of our shared past haunting me.
As much as I wanted to do what she asked, the need to protect her was stronger. I needed to protect her, as much as I needed to protect myself - even though I had no idea why the urge to do so was so strong.
I barely knew her, and yet I’d have taken a bullet for her if necessary.
But I also had to protect the club. And protect my family. And protect myself.
“I can’t do that…” I said, turning away and walking into the cabin until I figured out exactly how the fuck I was going to do all of that at the same time.
Gabby
I rolled my eyes as he walked back into the cabin. This was all spinning out of control and if he’d just let me call my dad, I could make it all go away. It was simple. Hopefully.
“Dante, my dad…” I tried again, my words falling flat, but I had to persist. I was sure he just didn’t understand.
Or, if he did, then I wasn’t sure exactly why he was stopping me.
“Stop it! I need to think!” he said, thundering through the door of the cabin. Bear raised his head from his bed, grunted, and dropped his head back down when he saw it was us. Dante sat on the couch and put his head in his hands.
“Look, whatever we did - it was self-defense. Once we tell the cops that, everything will be fine once we talk to them. Hiding isn’t going to help us at all.”
“Are you sure you’re Leo Loprinzi’s daughter?” he asked, snapping his head up, his eyes full of fire. “All that talk of trusting the cops makes me think you aren’t a Loprinzi after all.”
“I trust my dad.”
“Of course you do.”
“Well, what’s the problem?” I demanded.
“I don’t trust him, Gabby,” he insisted. “I don’t know him. If I know anything about the neighborhood, it’s that news travels fast, and I’m one hundred fucking percent sure that your dad is looking for both of us by now. The scary biker that ran off with his precious, untouchable daughter? In your father’s eyes, I’m one of the bad guys.”
“That’s absurd. And even if it were true, all it would take is me explaining to my dad that you saved me.”