by Layla Frost
“Good question.”
I rubbed my jaw, not taking my eyes off the man. “What if Ben wasn’t working alone to get vengeance? He’d said the Irish had started making plans. Donnelly aren’t exactly subtle, but they also aren’t stupid enough to broadcast big shit like that.”
“Fuck,” Luc muttered. “I’ll start digging in, starting with how the fuck this could’ve happened.”
Dahlia burst into the room, glancing at the man before her eyes shot between Luc and me. “Where’s Rosa?”
“What?” I asked, my shoulders tightening.
“She wasn’t downstairs when I got here. Did she leave early today?”
“No.” I turned to Luc. “Did you see—”
But he was already running from the room.
“What’s going on?” Dahlia asked, concern etched on her pale face.
“I don’t know, my gattina. But we’ll figure it out.”
“And then you’ll… make them pay?”
I looked at her, expecting to see hesitancy, anger, or even disappointment. Instead, there was determination.
“Right?” she asked when I didn’t respond.
“All this fucking craziness lately? I can’t put you in danger. If you’d have been with me, who knows what would’ve happened.”
“But I wasn’t.” She pointed down at the man who she still wouldn’t look at. “And I took care of it.”
“You shouldn’t have had to. When we get home, we’ve got to talk.”
“Uh oh. Nothing good ever comes after that phrase.”
“About me leaving Amato.”
Once again, Dahlia surprised me. Her brows lowered and she glared at me, scowling and shaking her head. “You and Luc will figure it out, make whoever pay, and then we’ll move on.”
“My gattina, if something happened to you, I’d lose my fucking mind.”
“Then do what you’ve always done,” she said like it was obvious. “Make sure nothing happens to me.” Putting her hands on her hips, she glared again. “No one fucks with us, right?”
In other words, nut up and get your shit together.
She’s got a point.
“I’m going to fuck you the minute we’re alone,” I said as an answer.
“Good. I’ve got all this… energy, and it needs an outlet.”
“Adrenaline. It’ll crash soon.”
“I hope not,” she said as she walked away.
Cazzo.
“Hey guys!” I heard Dahlia say from the waiting room. Her voice was still off, and she knew it. “Does my voice sound weird? I feel like my voice sounds weird. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about how it worked out, but not this happy.”
“It’s just shock and adrenaline,” Dale said.
“That’s what Theo said. He’s in the conference room.”
“The fuck happened?” Gabe asked from the doorway, his eyes travelling across the room.
I shrugged. “This fucker walked in here with a gun pulled, saying something about how killing Ben had been a mistake.”
“And then?”
“And then Dahlia had herself some batting practice.”
“Fuck,” Dale cursed, fighting back a smile.
Gabe didn’t bother and openly grinned. “I can’t fucking wait to tell Tina. She’s not going to believe me.”
“Either of you see Rosa?” I asked.
Their smiles faded, and Dale said, “No. Is she missing?”
“We don’t know. Luc is searching for her.”
“I’m going to get our visitor out. Once we’re gone, I’ll have security lock the building. They’ll tell everyone it is a drill.”
“Good idea.”
As they removed the body, I went to check on Dahlia. “You okay, my gattina?”
She nodded. “I want to help you search for Rosa. I’m worried.”
A door slammed closed. “No need.”
Dahlia
I gasped, jumping up to help. “Oh my God, Rosa!”
Blood dripped down her face, staining her clothes, but she didn’t look hurt.
She looked livid.
I ran into the bathroom and grabbed some paper towels, running them under water. I brought them back out and handed them to her.
“Thanks,” she said, ignoring her bleeding face to blot at her shirt. “This is my favorite fucking blouse.”
“Your face,” Luc said, shaking his head. “Wipe your face.”
“I’m fine. But I really love this blouse.” Giving up, she held the paper towels against her head.
“What happened?”
“These two asswipes—”
“Two?” Luc and Theo asked at the same time.
“Yeah.”
Theo showed her his phone. “This one of them?”
She nodded. “You do that?”
“Dahlia.”
She looked at me and grinned. “This is why we’re friends.”
“Rosa,” Luc said, his voice a clipped warning.
“They came in asking for Theo. Their whole vibe was off, and when I wouldn’t tell them where you were, they pulled guns.” She pointed to the phone. “That one went off to find you.” She moved her finger to her face. “The other did this. But it was weird.”
“How so?”
“He kept making threats, waving the gun around.” Her hands went to her waist.
Luc shook his head, rubbing his palm down his face. “And?”
“I laughed. I may have also insulted his dick size and his mother’s dick size.”
“Rosa Ricci,” Luc growled. “Dad always said that attitude of yours was going to get you in trouble.”
“I’m fine. The man said I was lucky he had strict orders not to hurt me.”
“What? From who?” Theo asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seemed… creepy. He was obviously not a good listener because, after a few minutes, he muttered something about how no one would know. Then he punched me until I was dazed. It’s hazy after that until I was suddenly tied and gagged in Luc’s apartment.”
“Did you check it out?” Theo asked Luc.
He shook his head. “She was right in the living room. Let’s go.”
Noticing the blood dripping again, I gently moved the paper towels from Rosa’s face. It was a mistake which I immediately regretted as I grew woozy. “I think she needs stitches. One of the cuts looks… deep.” I gulped in a breath, ignoring my swimming head.
“I’m fine,” Rosa insisted. “I want to find that fucker. Maybe we can call Astaire or Grenade once we do.”
Theo’s eyes darkened. “That’d be letting him off easy.”
“Dale is going to take you to the hospital,” Luc said.
Rosa stood. “But—”
“Or I’m calling Ma.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Fine.”
“I’ll go with you,” I said.
Wrapping his arm around me, Theo whispered, “I don’t think that’s a good place for you, my gattina.”
“I just won’t look.” I tilted my head to look at him. “At least there I can keep her company, and it’ll give you time to search without worrying about me.”
Slowly, he nodded. “Okay. But don’t pass out and hit your head.”
“Deal.” After giving him a quick kiss, I went back into the bathroom to get Rosa some fresh paper towels. When she switched them out, I turned away.
Uh oh. I’m beginning to think this was a mistake.
Theo
Kicking my feet up onto my desk, I answered my cell. “Hello?”
“Any grandbabies yet?” my dad asked by way of a greeting.
I chuckled. “We just talked a couple days ago. Even if she were pregnant, which she’s not, it’d take longer than that before they were born.”
That doesn’t mean I haven’t been working to convince her to try.
Maybe if I just set the appointment with Doctor Coran…
“An old man can dream,” he said with a dramatic sigh. “How’s the oth
er situation?”
“We’ve got nothing. Luc is still digging into phone and internet history. Once he finishes, I’m scheduling a sit down with Donnelly.”
“Bring bourbon. A good bottle. He’ll take it as a sign of respect.”
“Gabe did some work, found out he switched to vodka.”
“That’s even better. He gets his drink and sign of respect, but also a warning that you can easily get information.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Good. How’s Rosa?”
“Better. I made her take a few days off, but she came back yesterday. She was bored, and the place was a mess without her.”
“Matt wants blood,” Dad said, something I already knew.
“We all do. And we’ll get it.”
Luc was a man on a mission. He’d searched each piece of security footage to find the man who’d hit his sister. He’d only gotten a back and an obstructed facial view of him sneaking out of the same back door Gabe had taken his partner out of less than an hour later.
Rosa wasn’t the only thing interesting I’d found in his apartment.
“If all else fails,” Dad said, pulling me from my thoughts, “give Dahlia a baseball bat and set her loose.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, even if the memory of her cracking the man’s skull with a bat made me furious. She shouldn’t have been put in that situation.
But, sick bastard I was, it also made me hard as a bat.
“Good idea,” I said.
“While you’re taking my advice, you should really think about eloping.”
Crazy old man.
“You know she’s not going to want to be pregnant at the wedding,” he pointed out. “Eloping would mean being that much closer to bambini.”
Genius old man.
There was a soft knock on the door before Dahlia stuck her head in.
“Gotta go, Dad, Dahlia’s here.”
“Think about what I said. Keep me updated. Love you, son.”
“Love you, too.” I hung up the phone before dropping my legs and pushing away from the desk. I didn’t have to say anything before Dahlia walked over and sat in my lap. “How are you, my gattina?”
“Hungry. I was going to start some dinner.”
“I’ve got a better idea. How about a really good burger?”
She grinned. “That sounds amazing right now.”
“I know just the place.” I tapped her hip. “Go pack a bag.”
She arched a brow. “For dinner?”
“The restaurant is a bit of a ride.”
“How much of a bit?”
Smirking, I slowly muttered, “Vegas.”
“Is this about eloping?”
I shrugged.
“Uh huh.” She tried to look serious. “Since I know I’m not driving you nuts with the plans, I take it your dad said something.”
“He possibly brought up some valid points.”
“Right,” she drawled. “Your mom already vowed to never make me mac and cheese again if we eloped. And, I’m sorry, I just can’t do that.” Leaning in, she licked my jaw, nipping at where it connected with my neck. “And I just ordered the sexiest nightie that wouldn’t be here in time if we left today.”
“Fine.” Gripping her hips, I lifted her onto the edge of my desk. I undid her jeans and hooked my fingers into the sides, tugging them and her panties off. “If I can’t get what I really want, I’m at least going to enjoy dessert before dinner.”
I dipped my head between her legs, loving the way she gripped my hair and pulled me closer. All the other stress and shit in my life disappeared as I focused on the taste of pure fucking heaven.
That’s what she always did for me. She made the world fade away. The pressure and weight on my shoulders was lessened. After all the shit I had to do, she was my sweet reward.
Dahlia gave me a little taste of heaven on my way to hell.
When she came, I greedily licked, wanting her back on edge. Once she was, grinding and rocking against my mouth, I tore myself away.
Standing, I undid my pants and freed my dick. And fuck if I didn’t almost come just seeing the sexy way her lips tipped up as she watched me.
Wanted me.
I pushed in, fucking her with enough force to make the sturdy desk creak beneath us.
Putting her hands flat on the desk behind her, Dahlia leaned back and took each brutal thrust. Her pussy was already tightening around me, sucking me back in each time I pulled out.
I’d been addicted and obsessed since the first time I’d seen her. It didn’t matter how many minutes I spent with her, or how many times I fucked her, I’d always be that way.
Addicted and obsessed.
The exhaustion and sadness was long gone from her big cat eyes. In their place was happiness and love. Each time she looked at me, I saw her love. Felt it.
I knew I’d live every day of my life trying my fucking hardest to make that happiness grow. Trying to earn that love.
She was the center of my universe, shining her bright light into my darkness.
“I love you, my gattina,” I growled.
“I love you, my Theo,” she whispered back seconds before crying out.
As her pussy strangled my cock, her fucking smirk was my undoing. I came so hard my entire body and soul felt like it was pouring into her.
When I could breathe again, I gathered her to me before sitting so she straddled my thighs. We sat in silence for a few minutes before she put her head up.
She chewed at her fuckable lip, releasing it to ask, “So, uhh… How good is that burger?”
Laughing, I held her to me.
And I was never fucking letting her go.
Epilogue
Theo
Almost one month later
My steps echoed off the concrete walls in the dark hallway. I was, once again, being dragged away from a drunk and handsy Dahlia.
This made me very unhappy.
I unleashed that anger, yet I smiled, looking forward to what was going to come.
Whistling, I undid a series of locks. I entered a small room before punching in a passcode that opened another door.
Cuffed and fully restrained, a man sat in the middle of the room. His eyes went wide when he saw me.
Gabe and Luc were at a table off to the side.
“I’m surprised you’re here,” I said to Gabe.
“Just planning how much bleach and cleaner I’ll need.” He looked around and grimaced. “I don’t think there’s enough in the world.”
It smelled like shit.
Literally.
“Still not talking?” I asked.
Luc smiled. “Nope, but his fingerprints did. I called in that favor Davis owed for the… missing dealer.”
“And?”
“Ian Calder is a new minion for the Irish.”
“Really?” With things calmed down, we’d nixed the meet with Donnelly to give us enough time to get the information we needed. Maybe that was a misstep.
“Low-low-low level,” Luc added.
“Does your boss know you’re here?” I asked the man.
He was bloodied and bruised, but most of it was old. The beatings had stopped after a couple weeks. Neglect and psychological torture, however, hadn’t.
The man didn’t respond.
“What’s happened so far is nothing compared to what will. Does he know you’re here?”
It was small, but he shook his head.
“There problems within Donnelly?”
He nodded.
“This gonna blow back on Amato again?”
His eyes were dead. There was no pleasure or vengeance left in them. He looked like a shell sitting there as he nodded his head.
Cazzo.
Luc spoke. “Your woman beating pussy of a man who ditched you back at Amaric. Who was he?”
Nothing.
“Fine then.” I looked at Luc and Gabe. “Get him and this room cleaned up. I’m talking sparkly new. Wait until every
bruise is gone. Then pin a sign to him.”
Gabe looked positively gleeful and sickly aroused at the idea of cleaning. He grabbed his pen and pad. “What do you want it to say?”
“Tell them he’s been having friendly conversations with us for the last month.” I looked at the man again. “Make sure you add that he got caught after being taken down by my tiny woman.”
“Got it.”
The man began struggling against his binds, screaming around his gag.
“You ready to talk?” I asked.
He nodded.
Carefully, I undid his gag. “Now.”
“I don’t know much,” he croaked. “New. Low. Drugs and street whore, not call girls.”
“Okay.”
“Some are unhappy with Donnelly. He’s getting greedy and dangerous with lives other than his own. People were whispering about a war. Ben had teamed up with someone high ranking, I don’t know who. All my orders are passed way down to me.”
“What was the plan?”
“You go to war with Donnelly, and take him and his underboss out. Or one of us does and makes it look like you did. Then we restructure.”
‘So you have no clue who?”
“No. It’s like a game of telephone. Whispers go through so many ears, the higher ups are protected.”
“That’s all you’ve got?”
He nodded. “I can help, though. Go back in, say I escaped. Feed you info.”
I walked over to Luc and Gabe. “Stick with the plan.”
“You lied!” Ian screamed, his chair squeaking and scraping as he thrashed around.
I started for the door not bothering to look back as I spoke. “Yeah. And you put a gun in my face and upset my woman. Little late in your life to learn a lesson.”
“What? What lesson?”
Glancing back, my voice was a low growl as I said, “No one fucks with us.”
Dahlia
Five years later
Tapping my foot, I avoided looking at the mirror in the elevator. I still couldn’t help my reaction when I saw it, and it was definitely not the time to get turned on.
The doors slid open and Rosa looked up from her desk. “You just caught him. He’s leaving for a meeting in less than five.”
“You might want to cancel that,” I said as I moved to open the door to his office.