The Leone Crime Family Box Set

by B. B. Hamel

  “Do you trust me?” I whispered.

  “Yes,” she moaned.

  I tightened my grip on her throat. “I would understand if you didn’t. I’m not sure I deserve it right now.”

  “I trust you, Dante.”

  I relaxed and fucked her slow. I kissed her, tasting her lips and moved my hand away. I found her fingers and interlaced mine through them, sliding in and out. I bit her lip then fucked her faster, leaning back to look at her body. She kept her legs wide as I released her hand and filled her pussy, making her body bounce, her breasts shake. I teased them overtop her shirt then pushed it up. I leaned forward, licked her nipples, bit them gently, fucked her faster.

  Sweat dripped down her brow as I took her. I pinned her hands above her head and ground my cock against her, deep inside her pussy, filling her up. She moaned and kissed me, and I bit her again, fucking her harder. Her breasts shook faster, her nipples rock hard, her pussy clenched around my thick cock.

  I leaned over her, eyes locked on hers, hand still holding her wrists down. Her moans turned into gasps, my name on her lips, over and over again. “Dante,” she groaned. “Oh, fuck, Dante.”

  I didn’t stop. I gave her what she needed, what we both needed. I felt her clench down and moan, her back arched, her wrists fighting against my hand. I kept her pinned, my cock taking her, and she came hard, her eyes rolled back, her pale skin flushed. Her pussy clenched hard and I growled in delight, taking her faster, taking her harder.

  As her orgasm slowly passed, I released her wrists and grabbed her hips instead. I rolled her legs up and slammed myself inside of her. I growled with pleasure and delight, no longer holding back as I filled her again and again, my body tight and tense, the pleasure building to a peak. I gasped as I came inside of her, filling her tight pussy to the brim with my seed, before collapsing onto the bed before her.

  She laughed softly. We were both sticky with sweat. I could feel every ache and pain again, but for some reason, it was distant.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  “Morning,” I grunted.

  She grinned at me and leaned her chin on one hand. I smiled and looked at her and she leaned closer to kiss me. I grabbed her hair and pulled her tighter into that kiss, letting it linger for a long moment before letting her go.

  “That was unexpected.”

  “Maybe.” I stretched. “But it wouldn’t be such a surprise if you knew what I’d been dreaming all last night.”

  She rolled her eyes then gave me a long look. She bit her lip and pulled the sheet up to her chin. “Are you okay?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.” She tilted her head. “Your face is bruised. And I think… I think there’s blood on your bandage.”

  I looked down and cursed. I got out of bed and gingerly peeled the bandage back. Fortunately, the stitches didn’t look ripped, and I put the bandage back. “It’s fine,” I said.

  She stared at me, her eyes roaming my body. I let her look as I picked up my boxer briefs and slid them on. “Can I expect you to wake me up like that more often?”

  “Probably,” I said. “I’m not good at controlling myself.”

  “I noticed.”

  I smirked at her and stretched again. “About last night—”

  “We don’t have to talk about it,” she said, her voice quiet. She sat up and let the sheet drop. She still wore her t-shirt, but I could see her hard nipples through her shirt. “It’s fine. Really, you don’t have to say anything.”

  “It was too close,” I said. “Twice now, you were almost hurt because of me.”

  “You just wanted to show me a good time. I get it, we’ll just… we’ll have to stay around here. It’s safe here, right?”

  I hesitated. “Safer,” I said.

  “Good. I know it’s just the boring suburbs, but hey, it’s better than getting shot at.”

  I clenched my jaw. The memory of those goons breaking into the office came back, and my outrage flared again.

  And I realized something in that moment.

  I wasn’t dead. They hadn’t killed me. They’d hurt me, sure, but pain was temporary and I’d heal. I’d come back stronger.

  But not if I let them scare me.

  That was always Vlas’s goal, always had been as long as I’ve known him. He’s never been physically powerful, never been good in a fight, but he was smart and vicious. He used fear as a weapon, and it was a weapon that could be just as effective as bullets.

  Maybe even more. Bullets just killed. Fear controlled.

  If I let Vlas dictate how I lived, then I’d let him control me, too.

  That couldn’t happen.

  I turned away from Aida and pulled my clothes on. She watched me without speaking until I looked back at her. “Come on, get dressed. We’re going out.”

  “Where?” she asked.

  “We’re going to see Sergio. It’s been too long since I went there.”

  She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ll explain in the car on the way over. Go on, get dressed. I’ll wait downstairs.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long moment until she sighed and nodded. “Fine. I trust you.”

  “Good.” I left her room and shut the door behind me.

  I wasn’t going to let Vlas scare me. The bastard could throw whatever he wanted at me, I’d break him and protect my Aida, no matter what he did.

  And the first step toward that was to simply live my life the way I wanted to, regardless of what that bastard was willing to do.

  20

  Aida

  We parked down the block from Sergio. Dante wore one of his good suits, his hair pushed back, a little stubble on his chin from the night before. He moved a little gingerly, and I could tell he was still in pain.

  He probably should’ve been in bed, not back in the city. But that didn’t seem to matter to him. He got out of the car, walked around to my side, and helped me out.

  Another SUV drove past slowly as we headed down the sidewalk. I didn’t recognize the guy driving, but he nodded at Dante, who nodded right back. I stepped over a crack and leaned against him before slipping my hand into his.

  “So,” I said. “You’ve been quiet. And you said you’d explain.”

  He smiled a little. “I did.”

  “Are you going to?”

  “Yes, but I want Sergio to hear me too.”

  I laughed. “Of course.”

  He squeezed my hand and dropped it as we reached the bakery. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. It wasn’t crowded since the place had just opened, but there were a couple young guys sitting at the tables with their MacBooks out. The room smelled like coffee and bread, and a huge smile spread across my face. It felt like I hadn’t been in there in a long time, and I actually sort of missed it.

  Dante walked to the counter and leaned against it. A young guy was working this morning and I didn’t recognize him. He was just a kid, dark hair, round baby face, wore jeans and a button-down black shirt tucked in.

  “You new?” Dante asked.

  He nodded. “Uh, Sergio hired me. I’m Marco, his nephew. Well, I’m his cousin’s kid, but I just call him uncle.”

  “Do you know who I am?”

  He nodded again, eyes wide. “Uh, you’re Mr. Dante.”

  “Good. But just call me Dante.” He smiled at the kid and nodded at me. “That’s Aida. You mind getting her a coffee?”

  “Sure, yeah. No problem.”

  “And whatever else she wants.”

  He nodded. “Whatever she wants.”

  Dante winked at me then walked to the doors that led into the kitchen and disappeared through them. I smiled at Marco and he seemed frozen in place, like the fear wouldn’t let him move.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “He’s not that scary.” I laughed a little. “Okay, he’s scary, but you’re on his side. So you’re fine.”

  He nodded twice then tu
rned away and ran over to the coffee machine. I smiled and leaned over to the counter to watch him. He made the coffee with quick practiced motions, and I wondered how long ago Sergio had hired him. Probably right after Dante got attacked that morning, probably needed someone to come in and do the opening stuff that we weren’t doing anymore.

  Poor Sergio. I hadn’t thought about him in all this.

  Marco returned with my coffee and I took it.

  “Do you want anything else?” he asked. “The, uh, pastries are good. Uncle lets me have some after we close since they’ll go to waste anyway.”

  “That’s okay,” I said. “How old are you, Marco?”

  “Sixteen,” he said.

  “That’s a good age. Listen, you’re not interested in your uncle’s business, are you?”

  He hesitated. “Baking bread?”

  I grinned. “Sure, baking bread.”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “Uncle gets up pretty early.”

  “Baking is a good job. You should learn all you can from him.”

  “I don’t know,” he said again. “Maybe… I could learn from Mr. Dante.”

  I sighed. “Now that’s exactly what I want you to avoid, okay?”

  Before I could do more to warn the kid off, the doors to the kitchen opened and the smell of fresh dough and bread came wafting out. Dante nodded to me and gestured.

  “Come on,” he said.

  “Thanks for the coffee, Marco.” I smiled at him and followed Dante back into the kitchen.

  Stainless-steel tables with wooden tops and gleaming counters greeted me. Sergio was standing at a station toward the back, cutting big chunks out of a larger bit of dough. He rolled the chunks, shaped them in the flour, then put them onto a baking pan. When the pan was full, he set it aside, and began the process again.

  “Good of you two to come visit me,” Sergio grunted.

  “Nice to see you too, Sergio. I’m glad you’re still busy.”

  He laughed and didn’t look up from what he was doing. His eyes looked tired and his hair looked like it had more gray in it, but he seemed exactly the same otherwise. His hands moved with a practiced precision, cutting the dough, kneading it, shaping it, and tossing it onto the pan. He didn’t slow down, even as he talked.

  “Always busy,” he said. “It’s my life now. Get up early, bake bread, go to bed early. Not such a bad way to live, all things considering.” He glanced up at Dante then looked back down at the dough. “Compared to some people, it’s downright pleasant.”

  “What have you heard?” Dante asked.

  “Oh, just the usual. You got shot at, you ended up killing a few men.” He slammed a hunk of dough onto the table with a loud, slick slap, then took a deep breath. “And the Russians think you’re a fool.”

  Dante laughed a little and shook his head. “Now why the hell would they think that?”

  “Because you are.” Sergio hit the dough hard with his hands and began to shape it, putting his muscle into the motions. “They’re walking around with axes, and you keep sticking your neck out, begging them to come and cut off your head.”

  Dante laughed again and shook his head. “That seems dramatic, Sergio.”

  “Isn’t it?” He finished shaping the dough and slammed it onto the tray. The whole thing rattled. He sliced off another one, smashed it onto the flour in a big puff of white, and he began to shape it. “Tell me something, why are you here today, Dante? What do you want?”

  “I want to talk,” he said. “About this, actually.”

  Sergio stopped kneading and slapped the dough hard. “You want to talk about how you’re being a fool? Then I’ll gladly indulge you.”

  “Sergio,” I said, frowning, starting to feel a little nervous.

  He ignored me. “What are you thinking, starting a war with Vlas? And don’t tell me he’s the one that began all this. It was your associate that robbed him, and before that, it was your men that pushed against his territory. You’ve been nagging at him for years, undercutting him on the drug market, pushing his protection racket hard. Oh, it’s all been little things, but over time, in aggregate, you’ve been fucking him hard.”

  I stared at Dante, surprised. I didn’t know any of that. From my perspective, this had all come out of nowhere, all because Vlas was a greedy bastard.

  But now I realized there was a long history here that I didn’t know anything about.

  “That’s all true,” Dante said. “But it’s also true that none of it is worth starting a war over. Even all together, even if I had done it all at once. Vlas has been doing that petty shit right back at me, and you don’t see me out there trying to murder him.”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Sergio grunted. “You’ve been through a war before. You know how it goes. Why would you court that?”

  Dante was quiet for a long moment then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sergio. I’m sorry for what happened to you and I’m sorry this is happening again. But I’m the Capo now, and you know what that means. You understand the responsibility I hold.”

  “I do,” Sergio said, his voice calmer. He sliced a piece of dough off and began to shape it. “Vlas tried to kill you after you tried to make things right with him. You can’t just turn away from this.”

  Dante nodded once and leaned against the table. I looked around and found a stool. I pulled it out and sat, sipping the coffee.

  “He did try to kill me last night,” Dante said. “And I’ve been thinking about that. I’m not sure that was a serious attempt, not really.”

  Sergio frowned. “How’s that?”

  “He sent three random thugs,” Dante said. “Three guys with no skills, three nobodies. If he really wanted me dead, he would’ve used his own guys. And I know, they never would’ve gotten into that club, but still. He’d already hired those guys, he didn’t know I’d be there that night. They were probably tailing me for days.”

  I blinked in surprise. “Wait, really?”

  He shrugged. “That’s my guess.”

  “So what was that then?” Sergio asked.

  “I think he’s trying to scare me. And sure, if they succeeded, that would’ve been good. But I think Vlas is trying to fuck with me.”

  “That’s one hell of a way to fuck with you,” I said.

  Sergio laughed. “I agree with her.”

  “Of course you do,” Dante said, waving him off. “She’s smart and we all know it. But the point I’m making is I can’t let Vlas scare me. I can’t let him do whatever he wants and force me to go into hiding. That’ll only show weakness.”

  “And so you’re here to show that you’re not afraid, and you brought her with you to underscore that point.” Sergio tossed the last bit of dough onto the pan and slid it over next to the other tray. He shook his head and laughed. “That’s a fucked-up thing to do.”

  Dante laughed and I stared at the men for a long moment.

  “Wait,” I said. “I’m just here… to prove you’re not afraid?”

  “That’s right,” Dante said. “It’s more than that though. You’re here to show that we’re both strong. That you’re not making me weaker. That’s what he thinks, Aida. He thinks you’re a weakness.”

  “She is,” Sergio said. “But it’s not a bad weakness.”

  “I won’t let him exploit it.” Dante’s fists balled up. “I won’t let him force my hand.”

  “Stop,” I said, standing. “Stop, hold on. I’m just… you’re just using me to show that you’re not afraid? That I’m not a weakness?”

  “Aida,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s not just that. I want to have a life. I don’t want you locked up in that house forever.”

  “Dante, this is insane. We don’t need to risk ourselves just to prove a point.”

  “That’s exactly what you need to do.” Sergio sighed and sounded exhausted. He rubbed his temple and left a smear of flour along his cheek. “I hate to admit it, but Dante’s right about this. Even if this war is fucking stupid, showing fear and weakn
ess would be worse. It would only make Vlas hit you harder.”

  Dante nodded his head. “That’s right. Sergio, what should I do from here?”

  The old man shook his head. He picked up the first tray, took it to an oven, and slid it inside. He grabbed the second one, slid it in to join the first, and closed the door. He brushed his hands on his white apron and turned to face us, arms crossed over his chest.

  “You’re going to have to kill Vlas or a few of his men,” Sergio said.

  I felt my stomach drop. “Wait—”

  “How many?” Dante asked.

  Sergio shrugged. “As many as you can. Show Vlas that trying to hit you has consequences. You can’t let this get out of hand. Kill some of his men, show him you’re not going to be pushed around.”

  “Dante—”

  “All right,” he said, standing up straight. He winced slightly then nodded again. “I can do that.”

  “Just be careful,” Sergio said.

  “What happened to staying out of the war?” I asked, my eyes wide. “What happened to him being a fool?”

  Sergio shook his head. “The boy’s a fool, he already knows it, and the war’s on. Might as well try and win the damned thing and come out alive.”

  I stared at the men and felt a creeping sense of horror wash over me. Sergio may look like a kind older man, especially covered in flour and wearing an apron, but he was a killer, just like Dante. Together, they had so much blood on their hands, I couldn’t even imagine it.

  “I’m getting something to eat,” Dante said. “Aida, you hungry?”

  I shook my head and sat back on the stool.

  “You can stay back here,” Sergio said as he started separating a new hunk of dough. “Go on, drink your coffee.”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  Dante smirked at me and brushed his fingers over my leg as he walked past and headed out the door. I watched him go and realized that I was still living under the delusion that Dante was somehow not a monster.