Effortless: A Legacy Novel

by Bethany-Kris

  “Fast cars.”

  He laughed. “Fast cars, Cam.”

  “You’re heading to the airport right now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And you want me to drive you?”

  “Yep,” he said. “Well, we need to stop at my hotel first to grab my bag.”

  “How am I supposed to get back?”

  She assumed the car would need to be left there for pickup.

  Tommaso smiled. “Have some faith in me, Camilla. Do you want to drive this beast, or not?”

  He jingled the keys again.

  “Yes, she does!”

  This time, it was August who called out.

  Tommaso looked far too smug for his own good.

  Camilla snatched the damn keys. “Let’s go.”

  Camilla pulled the Bugatti into the underground parking garage of the hotel Tommaso had been staying at during his time in New York. She assumed he had been staying with Cross, but apparently not.

  “You coming up?” Tommaso asked.

  “Was this in your plans, too?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Get me here for one last fuck before you go?”

  “No, actually I was having breakfast with your brother when they called to say the Bugatti was ready to be picked up. I went from there to the salon, and I’ve got just enough time to get to the airport at the moment. So again, do you want to come up, or are you good here?”

  Okay, so that was a little bitchy of her.

  Tommaso didn’t even call her out on it.

  “Go get your bags,” Camilla said. “I’m good here.”

  “Suit yourself, babe.”

  Camilla did get out of the car to get a second look at it after Tommaso had disappeared into the elevator at the other end of the garage. She traced the car’s beautiful lines with her fingertips, but nothing more. Leaving smudges on its paint job would be a sin, really.

  She had bent down to wipe a speck of dirt off the grill’s emblem when Tommaso’s voice came from behind her.

  “Do you two want to be alone, or …?”

  Camilla stood with a laugh. “That was fast.”

  “I was gone fifteen minutes, actually.”

  She wasn’t even ashamed that she had gotten lost in the car. “It’s one hell of a vehicle.”

  “I’ll remember you like it, then.”

  “And what’s what supposed to mean?”

  Tommaso’s lips quirked up at the corner. “Means nothing, Cam. You ready to head to the airport?”

  For a long while, she simply stared at him. He stared back, unmoved.

  “Don’t make a big deal out of what I’m going to ask, okay?”

  “Depends on what you ask,” Tommaso countered.

  Camilla rolled her eyes. “Just … we can keep in touch, right? While you’re back in Chicago, I mean?”

  “I was kind of hoping we would, yeah.”

  “But we’ll still be—”

  “Friends,” Tommaso interjected, and arching a brow. “You’re not very used to this, are you? The whole friends thing?”

  “Not with benefits,” she admitted.

  “Why?”

  “Someone might catch feelings, or something. Isn’t that what always happens? Somebody catches feelings for the other person and ruins the whole thing.”

  Tommaso chuckled. “Camilla, don’t be crazy.”

  Something akin to hurt stabbed at her chest. “What, like somebody couldn’t feel anything for a girl like me?”

  Instantly, Tommaso’s grin faded. “That’s not what I meant at all.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  “I meant, it’s a little late for either of us to be worrying about that sort of nonsense, Cam. I walked out of your apartment the next morning thinking you were the girl of my fucking dreams.”

  “You don’t even know me, Tom.”

  “Nope, I thought that before I knew you liked cotton candy, or that you want to become a NICU nurse. I thought you were pretty fucking spectacular when you picked me up at a party, and barely even had to try. I like the way you run your life like it’s nobody else’s business, and I like where you come from. I still don’t know a whole hell of a lot about you, but I would like to on your terms. That’s it, and that’s all.”

  A knot formed in her throat at his admission, and her chest tightened. She liked it—liked that he felt something for her, and was willing to say it out loud even if it meant she might bolt like a scared little deer.

  Still, Tommaso stared at her, and kept her pinned in place with the intensity of his blue-gray gaze. “But it’s like this, Cam, you’re just not up for that with me, or anybody. That’s fine; it is, really. Besides, we can keep playing this little game you’ve got going on for as long as you need to, but it won’t make a difference in the end.”

  “I don’t … understand.”

  “I’m not the only one who caught some kind of feelings here, Cam. Otherwise, you wouldn’t give a shit if you ever talked to or saw me again after today.”

  His statement made, Tommaso moved past Camilla to get back in the passenger side of the car. She stopped him by grabbing onto his wrist, and pulling hard enough to spin him back around to face her.

  “You think that’s why I asked if we could keep in touch?” she asked, unable to hide the defensive tone coloring up her words.

  Tommaso smirked, and came close enough to Camilla that he crowded every bit of her personal space. She was forced to look up at him, and every breath she took was saturated with the scent of his woodsy cologne.

  “That’s exactly why, Camilla,” Tommaso said. “That’s why you agreed to be friends. Why you let me break your rules. It’s why you didn’t tell me to fuck off when I came to your school, and why I’m here right now. But we’ll play your game, babe, for as long as you need. You do you, and I’ll be over here doing me.”

  “You’re … you are …”

  Tommaso’s grin deepened. “Need an adjective?”

  “Frustrating, Tom. You’re incredibly arrogant and frustrating.”

  “All of that and more, yeah.”

  His smug smile was still firmly in place. She almost wanted to wipe it right off his face, but she didn’t. It seemed like her mind and body were not in agreement at all. One part of her was as angry as she could ever be—indignant that he called her out like that—while another part was extremely turned on.

  “This does not accurately reflect how I feel right now,” she told him with narrowed eyes. “Just so you know, Tommaso.”

  “What’s this?”

  “This!”

  She reached up and grabbed his jaw, letting her manicured fingernails dig into his olive-toned skin as she pulled him in for a kiss that burned straight through her body. Like a fucking forest fire that had just caught a breeze, the intensity kicked up in her blood stream, thickening the heat in her body with every strike of his tongue against hers. It burned out of control, and devastated every rule and line she had in those moments.

  He had been right.

  She hated it.

  His kiss reminded her of the way he fucked—strong and brutal. Every inch unforgiving and demanding. All hot and not a taste of sweetness to be found. Enough to make her wet and weak at the same damn time.

  Tommaso groaned a sexy rumble as one of his arms wrapped around her back. He dragged her even closer to his body, and then grabbed her ass. In one moment, Camilla had been standing on the ground. In the next, she was lifted and sat down on the hood of the Bugatti.

  She was all too aware that they were in a public underground garage, but that didn’t seem to matter to her overheating body at the moment. Unashamed, and needing some kind of friction to soothe the sudden ache between her thighs, she widened her legs to let Tommaso slip in between them and get closer.

  His erection grinded against her jeans. Like a silly, horny teenager getting her first taste of what pleasure might feel like, she moved her hips to feel more—to get more. She fisted his blazer and kept him t
ight against her body. His fingers dug into her backside, pulling her into the hard ridge of his cock.

  Rhythmic and constant.

  Firm and persistent.

  Tommaso’s lips ghosted over her throat, and his teeth left bite marks on her collarbones. He sucked on her neck as she trembled, and probably left a nice mark behind there, too.

  As his mouth drifted to her ear, Camilla felt ready to explode.

  All his sinfulness came back in a blink.

  A few quick words.

  Pretty slut. And, gonna come rubbing on me like this? Where’s your self-control, Cam?

  With him, she had none.

  Camilla couldn’t find it in herself to be ashamed.

  Not at all.

  It was only when Tommaso’s lips found hers again, and he kissed her hard enough to make her mouth go numb, did the pressure finally release. She orgasmed with nothing but the pressure of his dick rubbing against her clit through her jeans.

  And somehow, Camilla wasn’t even surprised.

  “Holy fuck,” she mumbled into Tommaso’s neck.

  His laughter rumbled all over her body in the best of ways. She was still rocking her hips against his groin, and trying to get the last bit of that feeling she could. Thankfully, the garage was still empty, and she considered getting down on the ground to her knees right then and there to repay the favor.

  Tommaso’s fingers gripped tightly onto her thighs, and stopped her from moving. “Christ, you have got to stop, Cam, before you make me come in my pants like a damn fool.”

  Breathless, she tossed her head back and giggled. “Like you just did for me?”

  “Hey, that takes skill. It doesn’t take anything at all to do it for a guy, thanks.”

  She shook her head, and he kissed her mouth softly. The sweetness in the action made her still.

  Tommaso didn’t miss it for a second. “Hey, what’s that for? Why’d you go cold like that on me?”

  “I … I can’t take you to the airport,” she said quietly.

  Tommaso kissed her quivering chin, and then her frowning lips. “Why not, babe?”

  “Because you were right about what you said earlier. I’m just not sure what I want to do about it. I haven’t been sure since the day we went to Luna Park. That’s why I avoided you.”

  “Already figured that out, Cam. That doesn’t change anything.”

  “It does for me, Tom. So we’ve got this great physical attraction, like nothing else, and I don’t want to get it confused for something else. You know? I need to figure out if it’s something else, or just nothing playing games with my head.”

  “Camilla—”

  “I can’t figure it out when I’m still messing around with you on the physical side of things. That’s all.”

  “All right.”

  That was all he said.

  All right.

  Not like he was pissed off, or even disappointed. Actually, he smiled at her, and then kissed the tip of her nose in the sweetest way. Camilla didn’t even do sweet because she was far from it, but here Tommaso was … and shit, it only made him that much more attractive.

  “I’ll call a cab to take me back to the salon where August has my car,” Camilla said. “You should go—don’t want to miss your flight.”

  Tommaso pushed away from Camilla with a chuckle. “No worries on the cab. I’ll call one for me. This car is rented for another week—they don’t do these luxury brands by the day at that place. Shame to waste it, right?”

  Camilla let out a laugh. “Seriously?”

  “Someone said you liked fast cars, babe, and I couldn’t pass it up.”

  Every single word he spoke was another fissure crack inside her walls. Every touch, smile, and move he made was another fist clenching around her heart.

  Camilla was not ready for this kind of thing.

  She didn’t know how to do this kind of thing.

  Tommaso was unfazed. “Drop the car off to your brother when you’re done with it at the end of the week. He knows where it has to go.”

  “You’re killing me here, Tommaso.”

  In ways you can’t possibly know.

  He only smiled again.

  “Call me or something, Cam. Keep in touch. You know you want to.”

  She didn’t say yes.

  She didn’t say no, either.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE PINK faded super quick, and the ends were dry, so it’s a bob now, Camilla’s text read.

  Tom laughed as he read over Camilla’s latest message. It had only been two weeks since he left New York, and this was one of the few messages Camilla actually sent him. He didn’t initiate contact because he figured she had shit to settle on her own. If she wanted to talk to him, she would.

  And she did.

  A bob, huh?

  Her reply came instantly with, No bangs, and wavy.

  Tom was heading into the warehouse where the Conti crew usually worked out of. Other than his friend, Lou, and Adriano, the warehouse should be empty of other foot soldiers. Some were working their usual places—dealing, stealing, or whatever else.

  A couple of them had some kind of scheme planned for boosting a truck just outside of the city limits. They wouldn’t be back until later—when the whole crew would gather to handle the stolen goods—and Tom was grateful.

  He was in no mood to deal with their defiance and ignorance today. Their nonsense had lessened since he came back from his break, and the time away had given him back some patience to handle it better should it come up again.

  For now.

  Tom supposed it helped that Adriano had stepped back from the crew a bit. Now, Tom was no longer the secondary Capo answering to Adriano, but rather, the head of the crew giving orders and making business for them. He wasn’t sure whose idea that had been, and all Adriano offered was that he had other things to handle for a while.

  It was one thing for the men of the crew to disrespect a secondary Capo. A guy who had a title, but who also didn’t have a whole lot of say or control to begin with where the crew was concerned. Well, it was something else entirely now that Tom had the run of the place.

  Given his propensity to walk a thin line where patience was concerned, Tom had a feeling the guys on the crew would likely be careful for a while. Test him out, maybe. See how far they could push before he snapped back.

  Just how it was.

  He lifted the bay door to the warehouse as he looked back down at his phone. His first inclination had been to ask Camilla for a picture of the new hairstyle, but he hesitated.

  Fuck it, he told himself. She started this conversation, so he took that as a sign she must have wanted to chat.

  Show me, his next text said.

  Tom shoved the cell phone into his pocket as he crossed the warehouse floor. Lou worked at the other end moving boxes to the far wall out of the way for later. His friend forgot his task as he saw Tom coming in his direction.

  “You’re not done yet?” Tom joked.

  Lou leaned on a metal table. “Hey, if you wanted fast, you should have got one of the other pricks to do the job.”

  “Do you want to be one step closer to getting arrested, or doing grunt work and staying out of trouble?”

  “Point taken.”

  Tom had also delegated this particular task to Lou for another reason. It allowed him five minutes alone with his friend without anyone else from the crew standing there to listen in like a bunch of cafones. He didn’t need Lou taking shit from the other guys because the two were friends.

  In his pocket, his phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Likely Cam. Tom was already pulling the phone out when Lou spoke again.

  “Shit, I haven’t seen very much of you since you got back from New York. How was that, by the way?”

  “Interesting,” Tom said, his attention now distracted by the photo loading up on his phone. “Very interesting, man.”

  To say the least.

  “Business, or …?”

  T
om glanced up to find his friend watching him curiously. Lou was not like Tom, really. His friend hadn’t been born into mafia royalty like he had. Lou was just another foot solider; a kid that had come from Nothing, Chicago, and found easy money on the streets. He got mixed up in some business with Adriano’s crew when he was fourteen or so, and the rest was history where his career in the mafia was concerned.

  The two had met when Tom was a teenager following his uncle around. They had made fast friends, and here they were years later.

  “New York is New York,” Tom said. “Anytime someone from Chicago goes there—unless it’s the boss—we all defer to whatever family we’re there to deal with, you know? We don’t have much pull or say there. So, no, not business.”

  “Just personal, huh?”

  Tom looked down at his phone, and a slow grin spread over his face. Personal. Damn right. Every bit of that trip had been personal in too many ways to count for Tom, and it seemed like it wasn’t entirely over yet.

  Not if the picture he was looking at was any indication.

  Camilla had taken a shot from her painted red smile, and down her naked chest. She had pulled her black lace bralette down over her ribcage, and he could see the high-waist, skin-tight pencil skirt covering the crossed legs. Her tongue was peeking out through her grin, and the tip graced her upper lip.

  Like a damn tease.

  Pink, hard nipples with new studs in the barbells. A single diamond dangling from a thin chain around her delicate throat. A throat he really wished he was holding onto at the moment while he fucked her cunt, mouth … ass. Fuck, he didn’t really care as long as his dick was wet and inside Camilla.

  Shit.

  Yeah, he had gone there to that filthy place in his mind quick, fast, and in a real damn hurry. To be fair, he blamed her and this picture.

  She hadn’t lied about the bob, either. Platinum blonde, still, but she had lost the pink fade. The bob ended an inch or so below her jaw line, and had a soft, beachy wave to it. The very tips of the strands still held a faded touch of pink, but it wasn’t as vibrant as it had been just two weeks earlier.