Dante

by KJ Dahlen

  “We heard what happened at the restaurant,” Deke began.

  “I forgot Lillian even worked there.” Dante shrugged. “I should have walked out as soon as I saw her but I didn’t. She tried to sit us next to the door beside the kitchen but I walked out on her then. I told her I was never eating there again and that none of my brothers would either.” He shrugged. “I was hoping the restaurant would fire her little dumb ass but they might not. Losing only the Morgan’s business isn’t really going to hurt them that much.”

  Sam snorted, “Maybe not but losing the MC’s business will. I’ll get the word out. That place is dead as far as we’re concerned.”

  Dante nodded. “She must have run to call Abby because before we could get out of there, she showed up. She started bitching about why I was with someone else when I should have been with her. I told her again we weren’t a couple and never had been. I mean I went out with her for like what a week? She told me I couldn’t break up with her, only she broke up with her men. I told her she was crazy. She threatened me and Andi. I told her she better be careful about threatening people so loudly in public. Or she would become the lead suspect if anything happened.” He shook his head. “That bitch is bat shit stupid if you ask me.”

  “I think she’s desperate for some reason,” Andi spoke up.

  The men all looked over at her.

  “Desperate?” Deke asked. “What makes you say that?”

  “Just the look in her eyes tonight. She’s hiding something and it’s big whatever it is.” Andi shrugged.

  Bass just snorted.

  “What do you know about the Stroker’s?’ Bowie asked the older man.

  “I know they got someone else calling the shots,” Bass informed them.

  “Well, that’s interesting.” Deke raised a brow.” Do tell us more.”

  “Yeah, how do you know that?” Sam wanted to know.

  Bass shook his head. “I hang around the track in the pit area. I’m a damn good mechanic and I work on more than one vehicle down there. I’ve been watching everything that goes on behind the scenes. I’ve seen Jed in action and he’s a menace behind the wheel. That boy has no fear or no respect for anything or anyone else out on the track.” He paused then added, “But I’ve heard him on the phone a couple of times. He’s always ranting and raving at someone he doesn’t like very much, but he knows he can’t push this man very far. Then after one call I heard, that boy Luke was asking about what did Mr. A want? I didn’t hear what Jed told him, as I’m not supposed to listen to anyone. I’m just supposed to do my job. But at the time, I thought it was weird. I only just remembered about it now.”

  Sam rubbed his chin and looked around the room. “Well, this is interesting. I wonder who this Mr. A is supposed to be?”

  Bowie thought about it for a moment then said, “I’ve been hearing rumors of a kind.”

  “What kind is that?” Deke asked.

  “Jed’s been bragging about a connection to the mob, could that be possible? Could this Mr. A be his connection?”

  Deke and Sam looked at each other, then glanced around at the others in the room. Deke decided to share some news with them. “Calderone Vincinti contacted me a couple of months ago asking if I had heard anything about a man calling himself Gianni Antonelli. Calderone said he was a poser and he was staging a coup on the Boston seat. He told me he couldn’t locate this man and asked me to watch out for him and if he showed up here to let him know and he would take care of him. He got word the man had some sort of connection here in Troy.” He paused then and added, “I think that Jed’s Mr. A is Gianni Antonelli.”

  “But why would this Mr. A want to mess with a town like Troy? What is his purpose here?” Gator asked.

  Deke shrugged. “I have no idea. But I think we need to find out. If there’s illegal shit going on we damn well need to know about it and shut it down.” Then he looked over to Mountain, “I know I can’t talk you all into coming to the compound, so I’m leaving some of the brothers to watch over you here. Wiley, my Lieutenant of Arms is in charge of them and will have them on rotations.”

  Wiley nodded and looked Mountain in the eye to show he had their backs.

  “We’ll keep your families safe behind the walls of the compound, but you keep everyone here safe. Its late and some of you need your rest.” Deke looked over at Dante. “How’s your head feeling?”

  “It’s not too bad.” Dante shrugged. “For a man, Brady hits like a damn girl. He may have put me out but he didn’t scramble my brains as much as he could have. I have a headache but it’s bearable.”

  Deke swung his intense gaze over to Andi. “And you? Are you all right?”

  “I’ll be ok too. They stitched up my side and the bruises will fade.” Andi nodded.

  “Ok then, let us check this out and we’ll be back tomorrow morning.” Deke got to his feet. “Stay inside and don’t any of you be heroes. At this point, Jed is just desperate enough to do anything.”

  “We have to find proof that will stand up in court,” Mountain informed them. “The cops want him off the streets as bad as we do. He might even have a couple of them on his payroll.”

  “We’ll find the evidence we need, one way or the other.” Deke growled.

  “We might want to check with the gaming commission,” Zipper suggested.

  “And why is that?” Sam asked.

  “Find out who bought the biggest wager on the race where Liam Stroker was killed. Then follow the money trail. I have a feeling we’ll find our mystery man.”

  Deke studied the other man for a moment then nodded.

  Zipper raised his hands up and said, “And yes, I am looking into that.” He grinned. “And a few other leads.”

  “Yeah, well it makes sense there’s someone invisible behind the scenes, Cuz somebody’s paying the bills and I doubt it’s Jed.” Dante nodded.

  An hour later, the house was quiet. Everyone had gone to bed, leaving only the boys outside and inside, hiding in the shadows awake.

  Dante was still awake lying on his bed staring at the ceiling in his room. His thoughts were going round and round in his head and they wouldn’t stop or even slow down.

  Nothing that happened in the last month made sense to him. Hooking up with Abby wasn’t something he would normally do and now that he thought about it, it had seemed staged for some reason. If he remembered it right, she came onto him first. He had tried to ignore her. She wouldn’t quit.

  She was so much younger than he was and he was flattered at the attention she showed him but it never felt right for some reason. Almost like as Andi said, there was a desperation to her actions. Like she had to befriend him and get close to him. They were only together three times in that two week period and to him, that wasn’t enough time to lay claim to him. She had been rushing it from the start and he still couldn’t figure out why. He’d been straight with her just like the other women, telling her he didn’t do serious and he’d already knew he didn’t even really like the woman, let alone have any deep feelings for her. She just ignored it and went on talking plans and serious.

  Suddenly, he heard a sound that put him on alert. His door opening. He didn’t dare move as he kept his hand under his pillow and on his gun. He heard it close again softly and then footsteps were coming toward his bed. Dante turned his head slowly to see a shadow coming toward him. He curled his hands into fists and waited until the shadow got close enough before he made his move.

  The shadow was just out of his reach when a stray moonbeam showed him who the shadow belonged to. It was Andi.

  She stopped just beside the bed. For a moment, she just stood there and stared at him, then she turned to walk back to the door.

  Dante reached out and grabbed her hand pulling her down on the bed beside him. He quickly covered her mouth to stop her from screaming but Andi didn’t scream. “What are you doing here?” he whispered.

  “I wanted to ask you something.”

  “What?”

  “Why d
id you ask me out?”

  Dante was quiet for a moment, then he asked, “Does it really matter?”

  “Yes, I think it does. I mean everyone has said that tonight. So it got me to wondering why? You don’t usually go out with girls like me.”

  “Girls like you?” he questioned.

  She looked away for a moment then turned back to him. “Yeah girls like me, I’m not a size two, and I don’t hang around with the in crowd. I’m not glamorous or pretty with a rocking body. I don’t usually go out of my way to attract men. I live with my grandfather and I make pretty good chocolate for a living. So again, I ask you why did you ask me out? Am I some kind of experiment for you?”

  Dante was quiet for a moment then he said, “An experiment? No not that exactly. My brothers were complaining that I partied too much and it was time to grow up. They reminded me that our mother would not be happy with the type of woman I’m seen with. I knew they were right. Mom would have been so disappointed in the women I was seeing but to tell you the truth I was getting tired of the whole party scene. It just wasn’t any fun anymore. Then Chance mentioned you as being a nice girl. I thought I’d check you out and see what kind of woman you were. When we met, I liked you immediately. I realized I wanted something like what my brothers found with their women, so I took a chance and asked you out.” Dante shrugged. “You may not want to hear that, but I’m being honest here. I didn’t know what kind of woman you were but I wanted to find out. I’m very glad I did. The more time we spent together the more I liked it.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because you are the most honest woman I think I’ve ever met. You are exactly what you seem to be. You tell me exactly what I want to hear, your opinion, you didn’t hide behind the truth. I can ask you a question and get the answer I never saw coming. I enjoyed just talking tonight. You’re freakin’ smart and talented. I learned a great deal about the real you tonight, then it all went to hell. You also didn’t fall apart at how Lillian treated you and you didn’t walk out on me when Abby started in. You stayed the course and that meant something to me.”

  Andi chuckled. “You do know that she hates being called Abby right?”

  Dante grinned. “And that’s why I do it. She corrected me many times. Each time, she told me her name was Abigail not Abby. Like I gave a fuck. I think I called her Abby just to piss her off.” He waited for her to speak and when she didn’t he asked her a question, “Ok you heard my answer so now I’ll ask you the same question, why did accept my invitation? I mean I am a bad boy you know?” He laughed. “Just ask anyone.”

  Andi laughed. “Fair enough. I think I went out with you because you asked me to. I’ve been watching you for a while now, never thinking I would ever be lucky enough to have the chance to go out with you.”

  “You’ve been watching me?” Dante frowned. “How?”

  “Yeah, but not in a creepy way.” She looked away. “I’m mean I never skulked around secretly. That’s not me. Just at like town events. You know the charity events Cassie Tory throws. Then the July fourth thing. You were there. Well, you had your arms around two girls, but still...I’ve liked you for a very long time so when you asked me out, I wanted to go.” She lifted her hand and held it above his chest. “Can I— umm...can I touch you?”

  Dante reached out and gripped her wrist then pulled her hand to his chest. “Yes, please do,” he whispered gently. “Can I touch you?”

  “Yes, please...” she moaned as her fingers barely touched his skin.

  Dante wasn’t as careful with his touch. He wanted to feel her. His hand slipped under her shirt and she shuddered when his fingers touched her skin. He touched her belly and slid up to her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra and her breasts overflowed the palm of his hand. She moaned and leaned into his hands.

  Dante leaned over her and his lips crushed down on hers. A zing of electricity sparked through them both but Dante pushed through it, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She tasted like the item she created. Deep dark chocolate and Dante groaned. Chocolate was his favorite flavor now.

  Then his fingers gripped the edges of her shirt and he ripped the buttons off opening her to his view. He gasped at the sight of her huge breasts. Her nipples were pale pink and hard as pink diamonds to his gaze. He dipped his head to take one of them in his mouth.

  The scent of her arousal surrounded him and one of his hands slipped down under the waist of her pajama bottoms. He bypassed her belly and went right to her core. He felt how wet she was and he groaned again as his fingers slid up and down her slit.

  He lifted his mouth from her breast and looked her in the eyes. “I need to be inside you.”

  She nodded but couldn’t bring herself to speak.

  He kissed her again and his hands roamed all over her. He loved the way her skin felt, just like satin. So dammed soft and pliable. He kissed along her neck and she shivered. He eased his fingers lower and found her to be soaking wet. He knew he should slow down. This wasn’t one of the bunnies or bar girls, he usually went for. He figured she may have had a boyfriend or two even at her age, but he would bet she was entirely clean. All he knew was he wanted her badly and his nature had never been to go slow or wait. Like the racer he was, it was all speed.

  Wasting no time, Dante tore her pajama bottoms off and tugged his boxers down. He pushed her legs open and settled in her cradle. Then he looked at her again feeling something he never felt before. A caution. Hell, he always thrown that to the fucking wind, but with her, he paid attention. “Are you sure you want this?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she whispered as she closed her eyes. “I want you. I may never get another chance at something like this with someone like you.” She almost thought he would push her out of his bed when she came in at first the way he had looked but when she felt him push toward her center, she stared at him in wonder.

  When he pushed his hard cock into her, he frowned as he felt her tightness. When he felt her relax, he pushed the rest of the way inside her. It must have been a while since she’d had sex. She took him in and when he touched her womb, he stopped. She was snug to the point of almost uncomfortable.

  “Oh, my gosh, you’re big,” she whispered.

  Dante chuckled. “I’m not even in all the way, but you’re so tight, I can’t go any farther.” He began pushing in and out and soon they were both lost in the rhythm of the ages. When she hissed in pain as he rubbed the wound on her side, Dante flipped them over and laid on his back pulling her on top of him.

  Andi flushed pink looking down at him and protested, “I’m too heavy for you.”

  “Hush woman, you’re perfect,” he whispered as he pushed himself deeper and grasped her nipples between his fingers. “Oh my god, you’re so dammed perfect.”

  Andi groaned and ground herself on him as she slammed down on his cock. “You feel so good to me. I never felt like this before.” She panted as she rocked her hips. Neither one of them could stop what they were doing, they didn’t even want to try. Then after a few more minutes, she whimpered, “I’m so close.”

  Dante grabbed her by the back of her neck and brought her down to cover her mouth with his own. He slammed into her deeper, harder and faster than before and it wasn’t long before he felt her explode around him. Then he felt her squeezing him. It was glorious, he hadn’t ever had a woman grip him this well. Then all too familiar zing came as his balls tightened and he exploded inside her. He hissed as he flew over the edge of insanity right behind her. Their flight might have been a short one but it was an intense one.

  It was only as he pulled out of her that he noted something was missing. He hadn’t used a condom. Well, hell... this wasn’t good. Usually, that was the first thing on his mind when he hooked up. No glove, no love. Yet, this girl wasn’t like the ones he’d been with he reminded himself again. “Aww honey, we need to talk,” he told her as she slid off him and settled beside him.

  Andi stiffened and tried to get away from him when he said this but he grabbed h
er and wouldn’t let her go.

  “Are you regretting it already?” she cried out softly.

  “Regretting it?” Dante growled. “Hell no, I’m not regretting a damn thing. That was a taste of heaven for me, why would I regret that?”

  Andi looked up at him with a frown. “Then what do we have to talk about?”

  “I forgot a basic rule, no glove, no love. I didn’t wear a condom just then. You scrambled my brain so badly I forgot to put one on. I have never forgotten that before.”

  Andi looked so surprised, “I did?”

  Dante nodded at her and grinned. “Yeah you did, that was awesome, and I’m sorry I forgot.”

  Andi shrugged. “I’m not, it was pretty awesome, but you don’t have to worry. I’m on the pill.”

  Dante shook his head. “Damn, that’s too bad,” he mumbled under his breath. He was shook by his own reaction. He’d always feared knocking any woman up. He hadn’t wanted to be trapped like all those clowns who never used protection. He was too smart for that. But with this woman he found that he didn’t mind this idea so much.

  “That was wonderful,” she whispered.

  “It was better than that,” he murmured in her ear. “But that’s only the start. I want more already. And I intend to get more.”

  Andi trembled. “Promise?”

  “Oh yeah, I definitely want more of you.” He could already feel his body responding to her closeness. He could feel himself grow hard again. He ground his pelvis into her hip.

  Andi moaned and pushed back against him. Dante lifted her leg and slid inside her. As he wasn’t at full size, and there was no resistance on her part. He could feel himself growing as he stroked inside her.

  Andi arched her back and he slammed into her. His hands gripped her hips as his fingers dug into her skin while he stroked inside her. He tried his best to keep his head this time around but soon, he lost his control and he thrust his cock harder and deeper, then he felt her orgasm and he joined her. As he emptied himself deep inside her again, his muscles were taut and he came even harder than before.