Bend: A Dark Mafia Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  “Mom,” Kaley said. “Please. My baby.”

  The woman stood, tears running down her face. “I never wanted this,” she said. “I begged him to let you keep Alexei. I begged him. The only reason Alexei is here, now, is because of me.”

  “I know,” Kaley said softly. “Your only mistake was marrying a monster.”

  Kaley’s mom put the baby into Kaley’s arms. I nodded at her. “Thanks.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “Are you my grandson’s father?”

  “Yeah,” I grunted. “Vince.”

  “Vince. Nice to meet you. I’m Vera.”

  “Come on, Kaley,” I said, pulling her along behind me.

  We quickly went back up the stairs. Rafa was waiting there and nodded.

  “Let’s roll,” he said.

  Gunshots rang out again, and Rafa stumbled back, small bursts coming from his chest.

  “Fuck!” I yelled, shoving Rafa down. I rolled out and came up firing.

  Anatoli Kozlov collapsed to the floor, riddled with bullets. I felt a sharp pain in my right leg, but that didn’t matter.

  I dove on Rafa and tore off his vest.

  No blood.

  He coughed. “Undressing me already, boss?” he asked weakly.

  “Shit,” I said. “You’re okay.”

  “Bulletproof vest.” He grinned. “Hurt like fucking hell though.”

  I laughed, relief washing over me. “Come on,” I said, helping him up.

  “Vince, your leg,” Kaley said.

  I felt it before I saw it. In the mayhem, Anatoli must have gotten a bullet in me.

  “I’ll live,” I said. “Come on.”

  I helped Rafa up and we moved out the back door and back out into the night. Kaley followed closely, holding Alexei, holding our son.

  “Getting shot fucking sucks.”

  I had my legs propped up on the couch, and despite the painkillers, my wound still throbbed.

  After getting back to the mansion, I went right up to Arturo’s rooms. He was pissed, but my bleeding bullet wound convinced him that I meant business. After a short discussion, he agreed to let Kaley stay under my protection.

  Next stop was the fucking doctor, who gave me a nice long lecture on taking care of my body better while he tore a bullet from my calf and stitched me up.

  Kaley laughed. “Aw. My poor, big man.”

  “It hurts,” I grumbled.

  She rocked Alexei in her arms. “Want me to make it feel better?”

  “Is he asleep?”

  “Not yet,” she said, smiling.

  “Tell me what you’d do to me first then,” I said.

  She smiled devilishly and put Alexei down in his little chair. She came over to me and crouched down next to me.

  “I’d take that nice, thick cock of yours between my lips and suck you nice and hard,” she said softly.

  “Go on,” I grunted.

  “I’d suck you hard and sloppy, just the way you like it. I’d moan of course, because it makes me dripping wet sucking your cock. I’d let you lift me up and turn me around, and you could just rip my leggings open.”

  “What next?” I asked.

  She reached down and grabbed my hard cock. “Next you’d slide this thick cock between my legs and fill my tight little pussy up,” she said, and she slowly stroked me.

  “Fuck,” I said. “You drive me fucking wild.”

  “I’d moan and say your name over and over, because your cock fills me just perfectly,” she said. “I’d work my hips while you fucked me rough, pulling my hair, slapping my ass. You like that, don’t you?”

  “Fuck yes I do,” I groaned.

  And then Alexei decided he wanted to be a part of the fun. His cries made Kaley laugh and stand up.

  “Guess we’ll have to wait,” she said, picking him up.

  “Being a father is hard,” I said.

  “You’re always hard,” she said back, smiling. “You’ll be okay.

  “Hey,” I said. “Come back here.”

  She crouched back down, looking at me.

  “I love you,” I said, and I meant it.

  “I love you too,” she whispered.

  I kissed her, pulling her and Alexei against me. She was laughing and smiling and I thought she might be crying, but I couldn’t be sure, because all I could see was my beautiful baby’s mother, the only light in my fucking life.

  I pulled back and kissed Alexei’s head. “I love you too, little man,” I said.

  She laughed, smiling.

  And I felt okay.

  Despite the fucking wound on my leg, I felt good. I felt right. I could be a father. I could be more than that with Kaley.

  Maybe it took me a while to figure it out. Maybe I had some work to fucking do to get there.

  But I was in love with her, and I wanted to raise my son the right way. He didn’t deserve to grow up without a daddy, and I was going to be that man for him.

  I had never expected this.

  But now that it was here, I could never imagine anything else.

  Chapter 37

  Kaley

  Five Months Later

  “What are you doing?” he said. “Get down from there.”

  I laughed at him. “I can change a light bulb.”

  “What if you fell, in your state?”

  I laughed again, shaking my head. “I’m not feeble, you know.”

  But I let him take my hips and guide me down the ladder. He kissed my head. “Stay. I got it.”

  I gave him the bulb with a smile and watched him climb up. It was annoying that the fixtures were so high up in our room, but I couldn’t complain. Living in the Barone compound had its perks.

  Such as the handsome man who took care of me, Vincent Mori. I never expected he’d turn out to be so caring, but there he was, changing a bulb for me.

  “Done,” he said, climbing back down.

  “Bravo.”

  In the other room, Alexei began to cry.

  “I got it,” he said, quickly walking off.

  I laughed, following him. “You don’t have to do everything, you know.”

  “I do when you’re like this,” he said.

  “I’m pregnant; I’m not dead.”

  He shrugged, holding Alexei. My little boy had grown up so much over the past five months that it was absolutely amazing.

  “I hope you’re having a girl,” Vince said.

  “Why?”

  “Because this guy is going to be a hard one. I can already tell.”

  I laughed. “What makes you think that?”

  “Look,” he said, pointing. Alexei was crying because he had smashed one of his toys to pieces.

  I laughed, shaking my head. “And you think a sister will help?”

  “Girl might soften him a bit.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said, shaking my head.

  It had been months since Vincent had rescued me from my family and brought me back to the compound. We’d moved in together on that day and begun our life together.

  And it was incredible. Every day with Vince was better than the next. The war raged on, but it wasn’t about me anymore; I knew that. It was about the complicated politics of Chicago’s gangs, and one girl and her baby couldn’t really do much about that.

  So I trusted Vince, and I loved him.

  And my life was one wild ride after the next. We took care of Alexei, and when Alexei went to sleep, Vince made my body feel things I thought I’d forgotten. Fortunately Alexei was turning out to be a heavy sleeper, because I couldn’t exactly stay quiet.

  And Vince was turning out to be an amazing father. He’d had a lot to learn at first, but he wanted to figure it out and wanted to be there. The biggest part of being a father was just showing up, and Vince did that.

  Sure, he still went out with his crew. He still did dangerous things, but I asked him not to tell me the details anymore. I didn’t want to know which of my family members he had killed recently or how close he had come to getti
ng another bullet in him.

  I just wanted to be with him. And one day, when he’d stopped using condoms and I’d realized that I didn’t mind, I knew we’d be together forever. Maybe we weren’t married yet, but we were an unconventional couple.

  And besides, he kept telling me that a ring was coming. He felt bad that he hadn’t made an honest woman out of me yet.

  I didn’t mind. I was just happy I had another of his babies coming. That was better than a wedding or a marriage. It was more real, more binding.

  He’d always be mine, and I’d always be his.

  Slowly, Alexei stopped crying.

  “Now, you be good,” Vince said, putting him back down to play.

  He came over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist as we looked down at Alexei.

  “Our kid,” he said.

  “I know,” I answered softly. “We’ll have more soon.”

  “Hey,” he said, and I looked at him.

  He held up a little black box.

  “Vince,” I said.

  “Listen to me,” he said. “I want to make this real. Be my wife.”

  “Okay,” I said, laughing. “Okay.”

  He opened the box, and the ring was incredible. I slipped it onto my finger and felt something deep inside me.

  It was contentment. I was happy, safe, and content.

  “I love you,” I said.

  “I love you too.” He kissed me hard.

  I was going to marry the bastard who’d gotten me pregnant. I never thought I’d end up with him, but I couldn’t imagine it any other way.

  Because Vince was perfect. Dirty, smart, sexy, exciting, and a great father. We had a comfortable life in the compound, and hopefully one day we’d get a house of our own.

  But for now, I was happy. I couldn’t ask for more. I had friends in Nat and Louisa, and I had my family.

  After everything, I had finally come home.

  In Vince’s arms, with Alexei playing nearby and another baby growing inside me, I was home.

  THANK YOU!

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  Bastard SEAL: A Bad Boy Romance

  Chapter 1

  Tara

  My backpack felt heavy as hell as I tossed it into the backseat of my car. I groaned as I climbed behind the wheel, feeling exhausted.

  I sat there at the wheel for a minute, staring into the distance. I was in the student parking lot of Purdue University after my first day of my senior year, or at least my second attempt at my senior year.

  I was beyond tired. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I never guessed exactly how difficult. Nobody told you that raising a baby while trying to go to school full time, even with the help of your amazing parents, was pretty impossible.

  But I had to do it. I knew that if I didn’t get my own education and further myself, I’d be doing Mason a disservice. I needed to be able to get a good job to support him. He was all I had, and I was all he had. Being a single mother wasn’t easy, especially a single mother in your early twenties.

  I never imagined this would happen to me. I always saw those reality shows about pregnant teenagers, and I always assumed that they were just really dumb. They weren’t using protection, or maybe they weren’t taking their birth control properly, or something along those lines.

  But there I was, a virgin, and the first time I had sex I got pregnant. We used a condom—I distinctly remember him putting one on—but a few months later I wasn’t feeling good, hadn’t gotten my period, and sure enough I was pregnant.

  I finished as much of that semester as I could, but eventually my parents made me stop going to classes and focus on having my child. They were amazing, my parents. Roger and Celine Bright were supportive, kind, patient, and basically I would be totally lost without them.

  I started the engine and headed home. Fortunately my hometown of Dayton wasn’t too far from campus, and so I could commute to school every day while my mom watched Mason back home. I hated leaving Mason alone with my mom, but she understood and encouraged me to get back to classes to finish my degree.

  One and a half semesters’ worth of credits, that was all I needed, and then I was finished. As I headed home, exhausted from staying up most of the night with Mason, I felt for the first time like I couldn’t do it.

  But of course I was going to. No matter how tired I got, I had to get my degree if I wanted to have a future for Mason.

  Fifteen minutes later, I was pulling into the driveway of my parents’ house. It was two stories with blue shutters and white siding all around it, just like most of the other houses in the neighborhood. I climbed out of the car and grabbed my backpack.

  As I walked into the house, the smell of my mom cooking hit me like a hammer. I breathed deeply, smiling for the first time all day, and headed into the kitchen.

  Mason was sitting in his little bouncy chair, smiling up at my mom as she worked at the stove.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said.

  “Honey, you’re home!” Celine walked over and kissed me on the cheek. “How was it?”

  “It was great,” I said, and went over to Mason. “Hello, big boy. How was Grandmommy today?” I asked, picking him up. He smiled and laughed at me as I bounced him, and suddenly the whole day seemed completely worth it.

  “He was good today,” Mom said. “Even took a nice long nap.”

  “Oooh, took a nap,” I said to Mason. “Sleeping during the day but not at night? Naughty little boy.”

  He just cooed at me and I laughed.

  “Dinner in fifteen,” Mom said.

  “Okay. Thanks.” I took Mason out into the living room and sat down with him in my lap.

  As I looked into his piercing blue eyes, couldn’t help but think about Mason’s father.

  Emory, the total stranger, the ghost. He had swept into my life and overwhelmed all my defenses, and he had given me one of the best nights I’d ever had.

  Lindy hadn’t believe me at first. When I got back to the room the next morning, she was in full-on panic mode and had even called the front desk demanding that they find me. I’d laughed and told her not to worry.

  It wasn’t until I showed her the note that she finally believed me. Tara Bright, life-long virgin, had gone home with a total stranger. She wanted to know every single detail about the guy, and so I told her: mysterious, tall, bright blue eyes, muscular, tattoos, intense, amazing. That description failed to live up to the real Emory, but I figured I’d never see him again.

  And I was absolutely right.

  Emory was like a ghost. When I found out that I was pregnant, it was obvious who the father was. I’d never had sex before and hadn’t had it since him, and so it must have been that very first time. I called up the resort where we had stayed and asked if they had a record of a man named Emory staying there, but they said they didn’t. I couldn’t tell if that was because they didn’t give out that sort of information or if he had given me a fake name, but I assumed the latter considering I probably cried on the phone for ten minutes to that poor woman.

  I tried everything after that, even hired a private detective, but nobody could find a thing about this ghost named Emory, and eventually I gave up.

  I couldn’t spend my life hunting for a man that h
ad completely disappeared. I had to focus on my new life, and that new life was Mason.

  As I bounced Mason and made faces at him, I heard the doorbell ring. “I got it,” Mom called out. I heard her open the door and then some voices, and then Lindy walked into the living room.

  “Hey, girl!” she said, coming over toward me.

  I grinned at her. “Hey yourself.”

  Mom went back to cooking as Lindy sat down on the couch with me.

  “I heard Celine was cooking dinner, so I got my ass over here,” she said.

  “Oh good. I’m sure you were expected.”

  “Please. Celine always expects me.”

  I laughed. “How’s it going?”

  “Good. How was class?”

  “Tiring,” I said honestly. “This little guy decided he didn’t want to sleep well last night. Right, Mason?”

  Lindy laughed. “May I?”

  I handed Mason over to her and she bounced him. “I can’t believe how big he is now. What is he, five months?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Sleeps through the night most nights, but of course not last night.”

  She laughed. “Well I’m proud of you for getting back out there.”

  I smiled at her. “Thanks, Lindy.”

  Lindy had been amazing. She finished her degree and got a job working as an administrative assistant in Purdue’s alumni division, which meant she was still living nearby. She came over all the time and spent a lot of time with Mason, and we joked that she was basically like his second mother.

  I’d decided to make that a little more official when I made her Mason’s godmother.

  “How were your classes?” she asked.

  “Good. It felt weird being back there,” I said honestly. “I remember being an actual college student before this little guy.”

  Lindy grinned. “Yeah. Feels weird being graduated. I still sometimes think I’m going out to a kegger over the weekend.”