by Jade Kuzma
“Yes, it’s me,” I said with a smile.
“Why’d you pick this place?” he said as he looked around the bar. “If you didn’t wanna be spotted, you could’ve picked a shittier one.”
“It’s not just that. There’s no smoking in this bar.”
“Smoking?”
He raised an eyebrow. The confusion on his face made me wonder how he would react when I told him.
“Why would you care about something like that?” he asked.
“It’s just… important. There’s… something I need to tell you, Roman.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“Not here. Let’s move…”
We moved to a booth in the corner. It was so dark in the bar that I was sure that the people there could barely see us.
Roman took a seat across from me and held his hands out.
“What is it?”
“Roman, I…”
I looked away from him, unable to hold his stare.
Why is this so hard?
I’d been going over it in my head the entire day but now that it was time to say it to him, I couldn’t find the words. There was still some doubt in my mind. Some doubt that told me he wouldn’t respond how I wanted him to.
Roman never expected something like this. How could he? There was no telling if he wanted this, despite how strong my feelings for him were.
“Mia.”
Hearing him say my name was as wonderful as anything I could ever hear. But I still couldn’t look up at him.
“Mia, you can tell me anything. You know that you can.”
I took a deep breath and turned my head up. He gave me a kind smile, which was always strange to me, considering the tough and rugged exterior that was always present.
“I care about you,” I said. “I care about you so much. You’re not like anybody I’ve ever met before. I feel safe when I’m with you.”
“That’s why Burke hired me.”
He managed to make me smile despite how heavy my heart was.
“It’s more than that,” I said. “There’s something else about you. Something that I can’t explain. I don’t know if I’m just attracted to you or it’s something more—”
“It’s something more,” he cut me off. “I know that it is. Mia, when I was with you, I’d never felt so free. I didn’t have to hold anything back. You were honest with me. You’re loyal to your family. I know it’s hard for you. I would never put you ahead of myself.”
That’s it.
That was why I cared so much about him.
“Everybody else in my life thinks they know what’s best for me,” I sighed. “But nobody bothered to ask what I want. You did that for me. I would never force you to make a decision for me either.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. His brows furrowed, Roman stared at me intently.
“What are you saying, Mia?”
“I…”
I sighed another deep breath before I continued.
“…I wasn’t feeling well recently. After I left Ivory, I was always tired. I was feeling sick. I couldn’t keep my food down. The symptoms have only gotten worse.
“The family doctor gave me a checkup and said that…”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong with me but he suggested that I… I’m pregnant.”
I paused after I said it. Roman stared right at me, his eyes unblinking. Even though there were other people in the bar, I couldn’t see or hear anything else but him.
“I was late. The doctor gave me a test to make sure.”
“What did the test say?” he said calmly.
“…It’s positive.”
Roman nodded slowly in understanding. I kept trying to read his face but he was still emotionless.
“Burke?” he said.
I scoffed at the thought.
“I haven’t even kissed him,” I said. “I barely know him.”
“Then it’s mine.”
“It’s yours. You’re the father.”
I imagined saying those words to Roman ever since I got the news. It was different now that I’d actually said them to him.
In a dirty bar, in a town nobody knew existed, far away from my own home, I felt a flood of emotions wash over me. It swirled around in my stomach and rose up into my chest around my heart. I swallowed to keep everything down but it didn’t help much. My eyes started to fill. I had to blink to hold everything back.
“It’s yours,” I repeated.
I smiled softly at Roman as the tears kept fighting their way out of my eyes.
Please…
I was desperate for him to respond. I wanted him to tell me what I wanted to hear. I needed him to say something.
He didn’t say anything though. He just stared at me with a smile slowly forming on his lips. I bit my lips to stop my own smile from growing even wider.
“It’s yours,” I repeated again.
“It’s mine.”
He rushed over and wrapped his arms around me. I melted in his embrace, pressing my head against him. I couldn’t help but sob into his chest.
“What am I going to do?”
“It’s all right,” he said as he ran his hand over my head. “I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you. Everything will be all right.”
I’d dragged Roman into a complicated situation. He could’ve turned around. He could’ve run away. But he was here, by my side, comforting me when there was no one else.
“Come on,” he said as he stood up. “Let’s get out of here. There’s no need for you to be in a place like this.”
“Okay…”
I got up from my seat and walked out of the bar with him. Roman’s bike was in the parking lot to the side of the building. I walked toward his bike with both of my arms wrapped around him. He kept an arm around me, protecting me and keeping me warm even though it wasn’t cold tonight.
“Palazzo.”
An unfamiliar voice stopped Roman and me in our tracks. We both turned around and saw four men standing there. I didn’t recognize any of them. They looked like four punks. I wouldn’t have thought much of them if it wasn’t for the way they stared at us. Calm, menacing glares with bad intentions.
“Mia Palazzo.”
The lead man repeated. The four men started to circle us.
“What do you want?” Roman said to them.
“Stay out of this,” the man said. “We’re here for the girl.”
“I don’t give a shit. Get the fuck out of here.”
“You’re in no position to talk. We’ve got orders to take the girl no matter what.”
Orders…
This wasn’t the first time I was targeted in Ivory. Despite all of my precautions, they’d still managed to track me down.
“I’ll give you one last chance,” the lead man said. “Give us the girl and we won’t hurt you.”
“I’ll give you one last chance,” Roman said. “Walk away and maybe I won’t kill you.”
“Tough talk from a man who’s about to end up in a hospital—”
“Roman!”
I shouted out as the lead man swung right at Roman. Roman moved me aside and swung back at the man after dodging his punch.
A sickening thud filled the air as the man fell to the ground.
“Roman! Look out!”
I yelled out again as two of the other men converged on him. My mind started racing with all of the worst kind of thoughts. But before I could worry about Roman any further, the third man walked up to me and wrapped his arms around me.
“Let me go!” I shouted.
“Shut up, bitch!”
I kept kicking my feet, trying to break free from his grip. I flailed until my heel caught him right between the legs.
Bullseye.
The punk collapsed to the floor in a heap, squealing like a little boy in pain.
“Fucking bitch…” he muttered.
He struggled to try and get up to his feet. I kicked him acros
s the face and knocked him onto his back. Then I turned my attention back to Roman, who was still busy with the two men who were trying to take him down.
“Roman!”
They were wrestling him to the ground. Roman wouldn’t have had a problem with either man but with two of them, Roman was constantly having to turn his back.
I felt helpless. I wanted to jump in between them but there was no telling what they would do to me.
“Stay back!” Roman shouted to me.
One of the men managed to slam his fist hard into Roman’s face and force him to a knee. My heart sank in my chest as I started to fear the worst.
But Roman would never let me down. Not so easily.
The other man tried to finish Roman off, but Roman responded by throwing a punch up so hard that it snapped the man’s head back. He stumbled back a few steps and fell to the pavement with a thud.
The last man swung at Roman but he was too slow. Roman grabbed his arm then flipped him over onto the ground, slamming him to the asphalt to join the others that had tried to attack us. They all seemed to be out of it except for the man who tried to attack me.
Roman rushed up to him and grabbed him by the collar.
“Who told you to do this?” Roman said.
The man gave Roman an angry stare.
“Who?” Roman said as he shook him.
I’d never seen Roman so upset before. I slowly inched toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. He jerked toward me and his face suddenly softened.
“Roman… We have to get out of here… Please…”
Roman let out a frustrated sigh then shoved the man back down to the ground.
“Come on,” he said.
I hopped onto Roman’s bike right behind him. I squeezed my arms around him as we sped off down the road.
“Where are you staying?” he shouted back to me.
“We can’t go back there. Not with someone out to get me.”
“Then I’ll go back to my place—”
“No. They probably already know where you’re staying, too. It’d be only a matter of time until those guys found you. We have to go somewhere they can’t find us.”
After a brief pause, Roman responded.
“Hold on tight.”
His chopper sped up and we raced through the streets, leaving the thugs who attacked us in the dust.
Chapter 21
ROMAN
I took Mia to the garage where I was spending most of my time these days. Whoever was trying to get a hold of her was still out there. I had to do everything I could to get them off of our tails.
I’d never ridden so fast before. It didn’t take long until we were inside and the garage door was slammed shut. I flipped a switch and the lone light on the ceiling illuminated the small room.
“We should be all right in here for a bit,” I said.
Mia was shaking where she stood.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said, her voice quivering. “I-I didn’t think anybody was following me. I took every precaution. I was so sure—”
“Hey.”
I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tight. Despite the circumstances, it felt so good to have her pressing her head into my chest. It was as if nothing else mattered when I was with her. It didn’t matter how bad things were. As long as I was with her, I would face anything.
“Do you have any idea who it could be?” I asked.
“No,” she said as she shook her head.
“Maybe some enemies of your father.”
“My father has made a lot of enemies in his time,” she scoffed. “But he’s always silenced them before anything happened. This is the first time anybody has ever tried to get to me.”
“Has anything happened in the city?”
“No… I…”
She paused. We both looked at one another. She came to the same realization that I had.
“The only time this has ever happened was in Ivory,” she whispered.
“Maybe it’s me,” I said. “Maybe they’re trying to get to me because of my involvement with you. That guy I beat up the first night I met you.”
“That can’t be it. I’m sure you’ve been in fights before. You’ve made enemies.”
“Yeah… MCs don’t hold grudges like this. If they have beef, they handle it themselves. They don’t hire people to do it. But who else could have done it?”
I thought about it for a second but Mia interrupted me.
“Arthur. It’s Arthur.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? Arthur came to Ivory to do business. He has a monopoly on the drug trade here. It’s no secret that I’m engaged to him. Not after everybody saw us together at the party.”
“They’re trying to get to him through you.”
Mia nodded softly. The frown on her face made my heart skip a beat. All of the shit she’d been through… I gritted my teeth, determined to pull her through it.
“What do I do?” she said. “What do I do—”
I rushed my face to hers and kissed her to quiet her. She didn’t resist, pushing toward me so that she could push her tongue into my mouth. Her taste… So familiar. I wondered how I went so long without it.
There was no more holding back.
Our lips locked together, we put our hands on each other. She took my shirt off. I did the same with hers. She fumbled with my belt while I peeled her skirt down.
I kept moving forward until she ran into the workbench right behind her. I cleared a space for her then sat her up on top of it. Her skirt already on the floor, Mia had only a tiny pair of panties to stop me from seeing the rest of her.
I locked my eyes on her as I pulled her thong down completely. No words. No emotions. Just heavy breaths and deep stares that said more than words ever could.
She gasped as I put my hands on her knees and forced her legs open. Her scent filled my nostrils, making my mouth water.
I fell to my knees and rushed my tongue to her clit.
“Ahh!”
Mia cried out, her voice shaky as I worked over the pink nub. It swelled underneath the long, slow licks I gave it. I kept my hands on the insides of her thighs so that I could get as deep into her as I could. Feeling her writhe on the bench before me was as good as being inside of her.
“R-Roman…”
She stuttered, her voice trembling while she tried to brace herself. Her hands dug into my hair and gripped tight. Her hips started to buck. I pushed my tongue down her slit and into her folds. Her pussy was slick with all of the honey dripping out of her. I licked every drop and swallowed it down like I was in a desert, dying of thirst. Mia wasn’t a mirage. She was the oasis I needed to quench my dry throat.
“Roman… Oh, God…”
Mia kept squealing in delight. Her breaths got caught in her throat before forcing them out. Her moans echoed off the walls of the small garage, loud enough to encourage me to work even harder.
“Roman… You’re gonna make me come…”
It only made me work my tongue even more furiously on her. I moved my tongue with long lashes over her clit before working down to her pussy, licking up everything that continued to leak out of her. Knowing that she was just wet for me made my cock hard with an anticipation only she could satisfy.
“I… Fuck…”
She sighed softly as her body started to convulse suddenly. She fell back against the wall behind her, making a mess of all the tools that hung there. She shook back and forth as her legs seized up in my grip. I kept my tongue on her and licked her sensitive nub until she slowly started to come down.
Mia kept panting deep breaths as she tried to recover. I trailed kisses up from her pussy and toward her navel. I pulled her bra down and unveiled one of her tits. My mouth consumed the swollen pink nipple and pulled another gasp out of her. Mia’s breast was perfect in my hand as I cupped it. I kept sucking on it, sending more orgasmic aftershocks through her body, then finally made my way back up to her face.<
br />
I kissed her and slid my tongue into her mouth, letting her taste all of the sweetness that I’d just enjoyed. At the same time, I tugged my underwear down just past my ass, enough to free my cock.
I pulled away and pressed my forehead to hers. My eyes locked on hers, I lined my cock up with the pussy that was calling out to me.
“Fuck me, Roman… Fuck me—Ungh!”
I cut off her filthy mouth and shoved my dick as deep as I could into her with one hard, deep stroke. The whimpers coming out of her with every forceful thrust were so innocent but seductive all at the same time.
She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer. I leaned into her, pressing my chest to her body so that I could bury myself as deep as I could. Every thrust made the workbench underneath her tremble like it was going to break.
I didn’t give a shit what happened though. I would tear the entire garage up just to satisfy the craving that I had for her. I couldn’t shove my dick deep enough inside of her. I couldn’t fuck her hard or fast enough. All I could do was try as best as I could to give us what we both wanted.
“I missed this,” she whispered. “I missed this so much.”
Even though she could barely focus, through the wonderful agony I knew she felt, she grinned at me. A devilish little pixie that knew just how seductive she was. I smirked back at her, thumping my cock into her.
My smooth hilt rubbed against her folds. The wet sound of our bodies clapping grew louder and louder. Flesh slapping against flesh was the music I longed for but never thought I would hear again with her.
“You missed this?” I said. “You missed when I fucked you?”
“Y-yes… I missed it… I missed your cock… I missed your body… I missed everything about you…”
She pressed her lips to mine. Sloppy kisses tangled our tongues together. It joined the sound of my cock continuing to slam into her.
I couldn’t hold back for much longer. I’d been holding back ever since she left. Now that she was here, with me, everything that was building inside of me was finally ready to release.
My balls tightened up against my body. My cock swelled so much that it was almost painful.
Her pussy was tight but slick. It rubbed against my shaft and sucked me in with every thrust.