by Layla Frost
Cheers and applause reached deafening levels when the next round began and Astaire came out swinging. Within moments, Bull was down. It took him a few seconds of the countdown to pull himself up, but even then, he swayed on his feet.
A quick combination of hits had him back on the ground. He stayed down longer before standing. It was no use, though. He had no energy to deal any damage on the rare occasion his fist connected with something other than air.
He fell one last time. Pushing onto his knees, he made the effort to get up even though the people in his corner yelled at him to stay down. He toppled forward, his face hitting the mat.
The ref called the fight, declaring Astaire the winner. It was impossible to hear anything more over the crowd.
A few minutes later, when the crowd had calmed, Theo squeezed my thigh. “People stick around for a while, drinking and celebrating. Want to stay?”
Before I could answer, loud swearing from the ring caught our attention. It wasn’t an unusual thing to hear, but there was something different about the tone.
Bull was in his corner, screaming at one of the people that’d been helping him all night. He kept picking stuff up and throwing it at the guy.
“Cazzo.” Theo lifted me off his lap, though I was already moving to stand. “Stay here.”
Sammy was shoving his way through the crowd like a human bulldozer, but it was still a slow journey.
I stood by nervously as Theo approached the ring. Before he reached it, Bull snarled something and stormed toward Astaire. Since Astaire’s back was to him as he helped pack supplies, he had no clue.
When I caught sight of Bull’s hand, I yelled, “Theo, he’s got a knife!”
“Fuck!” Theo put his hands to the ring and easily lifted himself, but he was on the opposite side and unlikely to make it in time.
Putting my hands to my mouth, I tried again. “Astaire! Knife!”
By some miracle, there was just enough lull in the buzz of the crowd for my scream to be heard. Astaire turned with enough time to throw a forearm out to block most of the knife’s damage, but it still sliced his upper arm. From my distance, I wasn’t sure how bad. All I knew was blood was dripping steadily, splattering onto the mat.
Like it was part of the match, Astaire didn’t seem fazed as he hit Bull in the chest. Even over all the other noise, I was sure I heard Bull’s breath exhale in a rush before he leaned over far enough for Astaire to grip his head and slam it down into his raised knee.
By that time, Theo had made it over to them. My view was soon obstructed by the members of each team, Sammy, and security. The blood curdling scream that came from the area made me happy I couldn’t see anything.
As had been the case for the whole night, the security team worked together to clear the room. I wasn’t sure how the bets or loans worked, but no one was fighting to stick around near a knife wielding man.
Theo came through the crowd, ducking under the stretchy rope and jumping down. “Let’s go.”
I wasn’t about to argue with leaving. Surprisingly, however, I did question him coming. “Do you need to stay? I can wait in a backroom or in the car.”
He shook his head. “It’s handled.”
I nodded and sped up my steps to keep up with Theo’s. Once we were in his car, I asked, “Did someone… You know?”
“Kill him?” At my confirmation, he chuckled. “No, my gattina. I broke his arm, but it’ll heal. He’s banned from the circuit.” He shrugged. “There’s no guarantee his own people won’t do the job, but that has nothing to do with us.”
“Why did we have to rush out then?”
“Sammy and his crew want to get the place clean. Within a half an hour, the place will be empty with no sign anyone was there. It’s a precaution.”
“Got it.” I looked out the window for a moment before returning my attention to Theo. “Can we go to another fight?”
“Right now?”
I laughed. “No. Unless there’s a good one…”
“There’s not.”
“Darn,” I said with a dramatic sigh. “I meant in the future. Can we go again?”
“Of course. You liked it?”
“It was exciting.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, my gattina.” His hand rested on my thigh, his thumb stroking back and forth. Music played softly, but we just enjoyed the silence as we went.
As we neared the house, a ringing filled the car. Theo tensed as he pressed the button on the steering wheel. “Yes?”
“Just had some visitors,” Sammy said.
“Who?”
“Just a couple of beat cops.”
“The crowd or noise?” Theo asked.
“Neither. Said they received a call about an illegal party with hookers and drugs that would be happening around midnight.”
I looked at the clock to see it was just a little past. Had it not been for the knife incident, we’d all have been there. I was willing to bet there’d been more than one hooker and more than a few people with drugs on them.
Plus, some of the staff was armed, and I wasn’t sure how legal their weapons were.
Theo’s grip tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles were white. “What happened?”
“Everything was mostly cleared out by then. Showed them our work order, said we were cleaning the building so it could be shown, and they called Susan to confirm. They laughed it off and went on their way.”
“Good. Remind me to give you, Susan, and Gabe a hefty holiday bonus.”
“Like you’d forget. I’ll be in touch if anything else happens.”
When the call disconnected, Theo swore, his voice harsh and almost scary. “Fuck. It’s the fucking rat, I know it.”
“What work order?” I asked. “Rats?”
“Sammy owns ‘Ring Around the Tub’. It’s a cleaning business, but it’s really a cover for what he does. If he’s ever caught in the building before or after, it gives him an excuse. Like tonight, he was able to tell the cops they were cleaning, and Susan confirmed her real estate company hired them to do that.”
“What does Gabe have to do with it?”
“All those details are his doing. He’s meticulous.”
“And the rodents?” I fought a shiver.
“A rat. A human one, scum as he may be.” Theo rubbed his jaw, something I noticed he did when he was really pissed. “We have a couple police officers who keep an ear out for us. We don’t ask them to do more, and in exchange we clear away some garbage they can’t touch. After Larson, one of those detectives called Luc because they’d gotten a tip.”
“What kind?”
“Basically, the exact time and location I was supposed to be paying the senator a visit. Only I’d moved the time so I could get back to you.”
That’s almost sweet.
“Not everyone knew that,” he continued, “so the rat gave them the original time. We were careful, but it’s never one hundred percent. If pushed to investigate further, I couldn’t guarantee the cops wouldn’t have found something to tie me or Luc to Larson’s death. Especially since the rat kept calling, threatening to go to the news.”
“So you took that deal to say you were on the other side of the city,” I stated as that piece of the puzzle locked in place.
Theo nodded. “You know how Astaire let Bull come after him, waiting for just the right time to fight back?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing with the rat. Keeping my eyes and ears open, waiting for him to fuck up.” He turned into the driveway.
“What’re you going to do?”
“I’m sure Luc is digging now to see if he can find anything. Otherwise, I toe the line a little closer and wait for the fucker to get impatient.”
“And then?” I asked as he turned off the car.
Shifting toward me, he shook his head. “Don’t ask me questions if you don’t want the answer.”
“And then?” I repeated.
He sighed, rubbi
ng his hand down his face before looking at me. The interior of the car was dark, only the moonlight allowing me to see the fury in his eyes. They blazed with fire and hatred, a promise of wrath.
Even though it wasn’t directed at me, I couldn’t stop my sharp intake of breath.
“And then I use him to set an example,” Theo said, his words a promise. “No one causes you pain.” His nostrils flared, his lip curling in a sneer. “No one fucks with us.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lederhosen Unicorn
Dahlia
“Want to go get Christmas stuff?”
Looking up from my book, I saw Theo push away from his desk and stretch.
On days when I had no plans, which was most of them, I went into Amaric with Theo if he was working from there. Sometimes he used his home office, but usually he was out at meetings all day. Even then, he popped home when he could.
“Wasn’t Thanksgiving just like a week ago?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It’s December.”
“Yeah, the first.”
“That means Christmas time.”
My lips curved down in a small frown. Growing up, holidays were pretty much nonexistent. Since I didn’t know better, it’d been easy to feel as if I wasn’t missing out.
Except Christmas.
When decorations and advertisements started earlier and earlier each year, there was no escaping the white bearded beast. Most of the homes I’d been in had tried to do something special, but it had usually been resource center clothes and off-off-brand toys. Every commercial, store, and newspaper had detailed all the latest and greatest must-haves. Kids were filled with excitement for weeks beforehand as they’d listed all their wish list items, and even more so after when they’d confirm which items Santa had left under their tree.
I’d known the truth.
My first Christmas in foster care, one of the kids had told me that Santa only brought presents to him, the ‘real’ kid. When I’d asked the mom, she’d told me it was true her son would be the only one getting good gifts, but it was because she was the one buying them. She’d smiled sweetly, honestly thinking she was saving a four-year-old from disappointment. In actuality, she’d killed one of the last bits of whimsy I’d had.
I had no bad feelings about Thanksgiving, which was why I’d been so excited to celebrate it with Theo’s family. Christmas, however, was a different story.
Correctly reading my expression, Theo stood and came over to where I sat on the couch. Gripping my hand, he pulled me standing before cupping my cheek. “It’ll be fun. Trust me.”
Even though I seriously doubted his words, I shrugged. “Let’s go get festive.”
He gave me a dimpled grin and kissed my forehead. “That’s my girl.”
‘My girl.’
So hot.
Oh, I’m in trouble.
···
“How many lights do we need?” I asked, watching Theo dump a load of them into the massive cart.
He lifted one of the boxes of hanging icicle style lights I’d picked out. “These are the outside ones.”
“I figured as much.” I touched the hanging display strand. “It’d be kind of hard for them to hang on the tree. You wouldn’t be able to see any green.”
“I don’t know, it’s a pretty big tree.”
“True.”
Because Gus had an aversion to any and all plant life, I’d suggested we get a fake tree. It was still giant and full.
“Which tree lights do you like?” Theo asked.
Scanning the shelves, I picked out the most colorful ones they had. I scanned the box. “They blink in different patterns. Fun.”
Theo added a few more boxes to the cart.
“We don’t have to get so much,” I said, still not feeling it. It seemed like a waste to spend so much time and energy on decorations that would only be up for a couple weeks.
“Give it a chance,” he urged for probably the tenth time since we’d begun shopping.
I held in a sigh. “What’s next?”
He held out an arm to gesture around us. “Whatever you want.”
Walking together, my arm linked with his as he pushed the cart, we made our way through the stocked aisles. Every once in a while, I’d grab something hideous just to watch his momentary panic. Sometimes, like with a glittery unicorn in pink lederhosen ornament, I’d actually get the item because it was so amazingly insane.
After adding a few more things, we checked out and loaded the car.
“Ready to go to the next place?” Theo asked.
“There’s more?” When he gave me a look, I added, “I’m giving it a chance. I just thought we were done.”
“You only got two ornaments.”
“Oh. Yeah, good point.”
We went to an upscale home décor store where I picked out a few beautiful ornaments and a table centerpiece.
“No other ornaments?” Theo asked as we got in line to pay.
Shrugging, I tilted my head toward the front door. “I think the unicorn set the bar too high.”
“It’ll be pretty hard to match that level of… uniqueness.”
We paid and got back on the road, only to pull into a Target parking lot a few minutes later. “I’m betting they’ll have unicorn level stuff.”
With popcorn and a giant soda, Theo and I cruised the aisles. He was right; there were a lot of fun decorations. I was even able to find an ornament that looked like Gus. Not wanting to go overboard, I also picked ones that were more traditional and whimsical.
For the first time in basically my entire life, I began to understand the appeal of the season. It wasn’t about what we were adding to the cart, but the fun of it. I got pulled into the excitement and wonder.
Once we were done and back into the almost full car, Theo started driving. “One more stop.”
“Okay,” I said with more enthusiasm than I’d had at the beginning of the night. Even still, when he changed the radio station to Christmas music, I was quick to turn it back. “I’m coming around to the idea of decorations. The music isn’t going to happen.”
His lips curved in a sexy smirk. “Fair enough.”
Heading back into the city, he drove for a bit before finding a spot on the street. We got out and walked a block until we reached an adorably festive shop. It looked like Christmas had thrown up in the tiny store, but in the best possible way.
“Have you been here before?” I asked.
Theo shook his head. “Rosa got the office decorations from here, though.”
“It’s amazing.” There may not have been any unicorn lederhosen ornaments, but there were glittery hedgehogs and Santa hatted sloths, which I quickly grabbed. Plus, some classic ornaments, more outdoor items, and some things for the living room.
Buying more decorations than I thought we had room for, Theo pulled the car around to load it.
“Did you have fun, gattina?” he asked as we headed back home.
I reached over and put my hand on his thigh like he usually did to me. “Yeah. Thank you.”
“For practically twisting your arm into shopping?”
“No. Well, yeah, but also no. Thanks for always replacing bad memories with good ones.”
He covered my hand with his and squeezed. “I’m glad I do that for you.”
And, just like that, the little voice in my head was barely audible.
Theo
Feeling the bed shift for the millionth time in a few minutes, I rolled over and pulled Dahlia to me. The tip of my nose ran along her neck before I pressed my lips to where it met her jaw. “Trouble sleeping?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I woke you. I can go downstairs.”
“Nice try.”
She giggled, soft and sleepy. “It was worth a shot.”
My hand moved to cover her tit over the soft fabric of her sleepshirt. “I can think of a couple ways to tire you out.” Rolling her nipple between my thumb and index finger, I tugged it a little as I bit
down on her neck.
Dahlia wiggled closer to me, arching her back and pressing her ass into my already hard cock. “Are you sure?” She moved away a little. “I really could just go—”
“No.” I cupped her between her legs. She was already wet, and it made my dick ache to be inside her. I missed the wet heat when she twisted to face me and I was forced to let go.
Dahlia slid her fingers from one hand into my hair as she pulled my mouth to hers. Her other hand went between us, wrapping around my dick and stroking the length a few times. She released her hold and ended the kiss. Smiling at me, her fingertips did a maddening little dance as they skimmed my dick. “I’ll just let you get more sleep,” she quickly blurted before jumping out of bed.
I was up and standing on my side just as fast. When she inched toward the foot of the bed, I followed. I paused when she did. Each step, fake out, and shift was mirrored.
Dahlia bunched the bottom of her sleepshirt. As her pussy was slowly exposed, I realized my girl was playing dirty. She tugged the shirt off, exposing her perfect tits and hard nipples, and I nearly fell for her trick. But try as she might to look innocent, her mouth twitched as she fought back a smile. When she threw her shirt and took off in a sprint, I was ready.
I wrapped my arms around her before she even made it halfway to the door. Lifting her off her feet, I tickled her ribs as she kicked and giggled.
“Cut it out!” she shouted through her laughter.
“Make me.”
“You’re gonna end up hurt!” she tried.
“I’ll take that risk.” Dropping her onto the mattress, I followed her down, my knees between her spread legs. I kept my body off hers, though, giving her room to squirm.
Every time she moved, I did, too. She tried tickling me, but got nothing in response. “Not fair,” she pouted. She tried to shimmy across the bed, but I used my arms to cage her in. I was about to spread her thighs farther when her face twisted. “Ouch! Leg cramp.”
I sat back, ass to heels, reaching for her leg to massage it. “Fuck, I’m sorry.”
She grinned. “Gotcha.” Moving fast, she rolled onto her knees and crawled across the bed. She was almost to the other side when I put my hand flat between her shoulders, pushing her chest and face to the mattress. Before I could even lift her hips, she was adjusting her knees and tipping her ass. “It’s about time.” Her words ended with a moan as I rubbed the head of my cock through her wetness.