by Sam Crescent
“You remember about five weeks ago, Galiza had a secret meeting? Remember? I’m telling you. That church right there is exactly where that meeting was at.”
“You’re positive.”
“So fucking positive right now. I can guarantee that’s where it was at. I swear to you, Vince. This is the place.”
“If that’s the case, whoever knew about this meeting was the person that told the reporter.”
“Yep, so now we need to know everyone that was involved.”
“I’ll talk to Galiza.”
“I know you and I believe this is an inside job, but will he accept that it is?”
“He’s got no choice.”
“Vince, you’re looking at one of his sons. I know he’s an asshole most of the time, but it’s still one of his sons. His flesh and blood.”
“Look, this is going to be a decision he has to make. We can only point him in the right direction.” Vincenzo ran fingers through his hair. “I’ll talk to him.”
“You still want me to set up the meeting with Gabe?”
“Yeah.”
Whichever way this went, there was a huge chance this was going to get really, really ugly.
Pulling away from the curb, he headed back toward the city.
He thought about Arika and what she was doing. He did keep a tab on her even at a distance. In order for him to keep her safe, they couldn’t be together. No matter how much he craved her. Going to her apartment had been a big fucking mistake, something he shouldn’t have done. It had been a long day. At the time he didn’t want to go back home to where the memory of her still lingered. He’d wanted to be selfish and to have her to himself.
Women had come and gone from his life. He used them for a bit of pleasure and walked away.
The last time he was with Arika, he knew he had to walk away, as otherwise he wouldn’t leave her. He didn’t understand these feelings, and keeping her at a distance was the only option. For the first time in his life, he felt for another human being. All of his life, he’d not cared about anyone or anything. He’d done more to end lives.
Arika was the first person he’d ever saved.
He didn’t know what would have happened that night if it had been anyone else. If he’d have shot them and left them for dead. It didn’t matter now. Arika had been the one shot, no one else.
He dropped Daniel off where he needed to be and made his way back across town. Pulling up outside of a jewelry store, he climbed out, and went to see if anything caught his eye. Women loved diamonds and jewelry.
Entering the shop, he saw a piece that instantly reminded him of Arika. It was a simple heart-shaped necklace that was sweet without drawing the eye. He bought it without batting an eye at the price. Next, he went to a florist and made sure they delivered the necklace and some roses.
After he’d fucked her body and left, it was the least he could do.
****
Arika smiled across the table at her date. She thought the word lightly. Jesse was one of Rachel’s friends who she’d been asking constantly for her to go out with. On a Friday night rather than work overtime she sat opposite this rather nice-looking man. He seemed kind of nervous considering he was Rachel’s friend.
“So, Arika, what do you hope to do when you … erm…”
“Grow up?” Arika asked.
“That’s not what I meant. Not in the slightest. Rachel told me you were going to college, and you know, putting two and two together I put my foot in it.”
She chuckled. “Well, I’m not completely decided. I’ve thought about teaching and then about writing. I don’t know. I’m taking an English degree at the local college. I don’t do it full-time as I have to work, but I love studying.”
“And you love English. Please just stop me.”
“It’s fine. This is really nice,” she said. “This restaurant.”
“Thank you. It’s Italian, and who doesn’t love it?”
She forced a smile, instantly thinking about Vincenzo.
Very bad move.
Very, very bad.
She wasn’t a big fan of pasta or this restaurant. Sipping her wine, she smiled at him. “So, what do you do, Jesse?”
“Rachel didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head. “I got, ‘He’s a great guy. You’re going to love him. Everyone loves him.’”
Jesse’s face went bright red. “I wouldn’t say everyone loves me. I’m an accountant. Don’t worry though. I won’t bore you with all the details.”
“That must be … challenging?” She laughed. “I really don’t know what else to say to that.”
“It’s numbers. A lot of numbers. The pleasure of your company is certainly a refreshing change.”
“Thank you.”
He held up his wineglass, and she clinked her glass with his.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something and wasn’t entirely sure what. Glancing over Jesse’s shoulder, she froze. Vincenzo was sitting at a table with a blonde in front of him.
Biting her lip, she forced herself to look away.
“What’s wrong?” Jesse asked.
“Nothing. Nothing at all, why?”
“Do you know someone?”
“No. This is the first time I’ve been to this restaurant. There’s no one here I could possibly know. So, accounting? You must meet all kinds of interesting people.”
Jesse started talking, and Arika tried to listen to what he said.
Inside her heart was breaking.
Was that his girlfriend?
His date?
What?
He couldn’t have her in his life, but he could go on dating everyone and everything.
Don’t judge.
You’re on a date as well.
She had no intention of this date ending anywhere other than with a thank you. There’s no way she could be jealous of Vincenzo being with someone else while she was doing the exact same thing.
Eating the pasta without really tasting it, she found herself glancing past Jesse’s shoulder.
Vincenzo had seen her as well. Each time she looked in his direction, he was staring right at her.
After she finished her meal she excused herself to go to the ladies’ room. Passing the tables, she steered clear of Vincenzo’s, entering the bathroom. Going straight to the sink, she stared at the perfect white porcelain, her stomach twisting and turning.
“I had no idea you’d be here,” Vincenzo said.
“This is the ladies’ room. It’s for women only.” She held onto the counter. The last time she saw him, she’d vowed that no matter what, she wouldn’t cave to him again.
“You looked a little upset when you left your date.”
She took a deep breath and looked up at him. “What do you want from me?” she asked, staring at him through the mirror.
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what I am, but I’m not okay. Nothing right now about any of this is okay. It’s really not. You’re dating someone, and I’m here with someone else.” She bowed her head and felt that pain that hit her.
“This doesn’t mean anything. She’s work. That’s all, just work.”
Arika looked up at him and felt the tears in her eyes. “Then why does this hurt? It was supposed to be one night together. You can’t tell me we can’t be together and then be at my apartment waiting for me. Fucking me when it suits you and leaving. I don’t want to be used.” He went to speak, and she held her hand up. “I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy it. I liked it but not this. Not what happened after. It’s one night or it’s not, Vincenzo. What is it?” she asked.
“You’re not wearing the necklace I sent.”
“I’m not wearing jewelry I don’t have a right to. I won’t do this. Please, leave me alone.”
“I’ve tried to leave you alone.”
She closed her eyes, feeling him step closer.
When his hand landed on her hip, she didn’t f
ight him off.
She didn’t want to.
“It was supposed to be one night. One night neither of us would ever forget.”
“Then back away,” she said.
“I can’t. I want to touch you. I think about how good you feel against me. The tightness of your pussy wrapped around my dick.” His hand left her hip, moving between her thighs. She gasped as he slid beneath her panties, moving them out of the way to touch her. “Do you ache for him or for me?”
“I don’t know him.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“You should run the hell away from me.”
“Then why can’t I?” she asked. “I don’t want you to stop.” He slid two fingers to the knuckles inside her, and she cried out, hungry for more of his touch. She heard the metal of his belt as he released his pants. He lifted up her skirt, tore her panties aside, and then slid in deep.
She cried out his name, knowing she should say no but hungry for more.
“Oh, fuck, baby. I knew you’d feel so good. When I saw you enter with him, I wanted to fucking kill him. You know what I’m capable of.”
“You don’t want me. I can’t wait around forever for a one-night thing.”
“This is not a one-night thing. You know that. I don’t want you to go home with him.”
“I’m not going to.”
“Not with my cum inside you. I’m going to fuck you and then you’re going to go out there, finish your dessert, go home and wait for me.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I will find you, Arika, and then you will wish you hadn’t tested me.” He fucked her hard, slamming inside her, and she pushed back, crying out and not caring if someone was to come in and see them.
She needed this.
Needed him.
He’d become her addiction, and she couldn’t have enough.
He drove her crazy.
When his teeth grazed her neck and she felt his cock pulse within her, she knew coming on this date had been a huge mistake.
Staring in the mirror at their reflections, Vincenzo looked right at her.
“I want you to remember me inside you. Feel me.” He pulled out of her and put her panties back into place. He rubbed his hand against her pussy, feeling his cum fall from her as he smeared it into her. “Don’t disobey me.”
With that, he kissed her neck, and was gone.
Returning her attention back to the sink, she fluffed up her hair, covering the spot he’d been kissing, and washed her hands, patting her cheeks with some of the cold water.
She hated going back out to her date.
Jesse was waiting.
He’d gotten her a chocolate mousse.
“Sorry I took so long.”
“No problem. I was wondering how you’d feel about a walk before I take you home?”
She looked toward Vincenzo and saw him watching her.
“Erm, I’m kind of tired, to be honest. I’m so sorry. I’ve been up late studying.”
“That’s perfectly fine. I have work to do as well.”
She forced a smile to her lips, hoping the meal would end.
Part of her wanted to take that walk just to piss off Vincenzo, but that didn’t feel right for her to do. She had no doubt he’d hurt Jesse in some way, and she wasn’t so mean-spirited to put him in that kind of danger.
When the time came for the check, she wouldn’t let Jesse pay for her part. She shared the payment and followed him outside.
He helped her into the car and his gentlemanly ways made her wish she could ignore this yearning that Vincenzo had created. She wouldn’t give Jesse hope when she knew that all it took from Vincenzo was one look and she was all his. That wasn’t right to anyone.
Chapter Eleven
Vincenzo waited inside Arika’s apartment, sitting where he had the last time he was there. Seeing her at the restaurant with another guy, he’d wanted to commit fucking murder in front of a room full of witnesses. He was certainly not on a date himself, but gathering information for Galiza, and still he’d not been able to focus on that woman. He didn’t date, nor did he take his time like that with a woman. When Galiza asked him to do a job, no matter how much he hated it, he did it. He’d rather kill people than date, but he couldn’t pick what to do. After fucking Arika in the bathroom, he’d gone back to the table and finished his meal. When the woman had given him the information he needed, and then asked if he wanted to go back to her place for dessert, he’d told her no.
He’d dropped her off and come straight here.
If she didn’t arrive soon, he wasn’t going to be held responsible for putting that fucker in the ground. Arika belonged to him, no one else.
At the sound of her keys turning in the door, he waited. She entered seconds later, and he found he was able to relax. Not a hair was out of place and she didn’t look like she’d been ravished either.
“You really need to stop breaking into my apartment,” she said.
“It’s not breaking in if I have a spare key.”
She slammed her door closed, and he raised a brow as she locked each bolt until she was secure in her apartment. It was ridiculous to think of the number of bolts on the door keeping her safe. All he needed to do to get inside was throw his weight against the door and he’d be in.
He didn’t tell her that because he had an idea that she already knew it.
“You’ve got to stop doing this,” she said, turning back to face him.
“Doing what?”
“This. It’s not fair. You told me it was too dangerous to be part of your life and yet here you are, watching me. Waiting for me. We had sex in a restaurant bathroom, Vincenzo. Doesn’t that clue you in to the fact that we need to be careful? That we have to stop doing this?” She pressed her fingers to her head, looking so confused. “I don’t even know what you want from me anymore.”
He saw the sadness in her eyes as he watched her. She put her bag to one side, and he thought she’d come and sit with him. She went straight for the kitchen. Getting to his feet, he walked the few steps that would take him to her kitchen. Her apartment was so small.
“You need to make a decision,” she said, filling a kettle with water.
“This life is not easy.”
She put the kettle on the stove. “I get that it’s not easy, but you’re bringing me into it each time you come to visit and I can’t deny you.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t do that, Vincenzo. You know why.”
“Maybe I’d like to hear it.”
“You want to hear it, fine? Because I happen to like you. That regardless of how we met, when you touch me, I can’t think straight. I don’t want to think straight. All I want is to be with you. I’ve never been the kind of woman that would go on a date while screwing another guy on that date. I don’t want to be that person. But I can’t seem to help myself with you.”
“Then what do you want, Arika?”
“I want you to make a decision. To either be part of my life and accept that you can’t seem to stay away from me too, or leave.” Her chest was heaving with every single indrawn breath.
She looked positively stunning.
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” she said. “I … I want you. I’m not going to turn you down. I enjoy what you do to me, and I also like spending time with you. When you were taking care of me, those few weeks were amazing. This isn’t because of who you are either. I’m not asking for a lifetime.”
“And what if I was?”
“What do you mean?”
“In the mafia, there is no escaping or getting out of it clause. If you’re in then you’re in for life. That’s what I can offer you.”
“I just want you, Vincenzo. Not your title or anything else. I just want you. I don’t care about what you do. I like you. I know I shouldn’t because you’re a bad guy, but you’re a bad guy to them, not to me. You’ve never hurt me, and I know you never will.”
; He rounded the counter and stood right in front of her. Tucking some hair behind her ear, he tilted her head back and stared into her eyes.
“I’ve never cared about anyone or anything. I bring death to everything I touch, but with you, that didn’t happen. I didn’t kill you. I protected you. I helped you. I don’t want to kill you or to stop seeing you. I’ve tried that. I’ve tried to stay away, and I can’t. I know to be the better man that I should walk away. Never see you again, but I can’t do that. I want you more than anything else in the world, Arika, and for that reason, I’m going to do the selfish thing, and keep you.”
With that, he slammed his lips down on hers.
She gasped, moaning as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Reaching past her, he turned the stove off, and then lifted her up in his arms, carrying her to her bedroom. The small apartment space only required a few steps to get to every single location.
Dropping her to the bed, he removed his jacket, stripping down naked before tackling her clothes. She ran her hands up his chest as he got her naked before he shoved her back down to the bed.
Taking hold of her hands, he pressed them above her head, smiling down at her.
“I just want to make one thing clear.”
“What?”
“When we’re together and you’re underneath me, then I’m the one that is in charge. I’m going to be the one to take care of you.”
“Okay.”
“I want you to quit your job.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not going to happen.”
“Arika.”
“No. You’re this big mafia dude and fine, whatever. If something happens to you and I’m left alone, I’ve got no way to protect myself. I know my apartment’s small and that my furniture is on the worn side, but I can afford this. I’m not going to stop working because you want me to.”
“Even if I offer to send you to college full-time?”
He saw the temptation there, and she surprised him when she shook her head.
“You don’t want that?”
“I’d love that, but I’m not changing my plan. I’m sorry, Vincenzo, but that’s the way it has to be. I don’t want to quit work. I’m not with you to take care of me. I’m with you because I like you, a lot.”
He reached between them, grabbing his dick and sliding it between her wet slit. Bumping her clit, he moved down, finding her entrance and then filling her in one hard thrust, making them both cry out. “It’s like you were made for me, baby. All me and no one else.”