by Kyanna Skye
“Me, too,” she said, smiling up at him.
He began to thrust harder and more deeply inside of her and though her lungs beckoned her to moan under his power, she felt one final question forming within her before she could surrender to their complete ecstasy.
“So… what does happen next?”
She watched him as he continued to slide in and out of her with building power and sweat began to form on his face, the veins throbbing in his neck, but the look on his face remained that of one who was not being twisted by lust.
All he could do was smile at her. “I suppose we’ll find out together, won’t we?”
She smiled back at him and finally, having her last question answered, she surrendered completely to him.
***
When the gates to the prison opened, she was waiting for him on the outside. He was dressed much like a man that looked ready to enjoy his first taste of freedom. He wore a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, along with a pair of loafers that she thought looked positively adorable on him. His hair was neatly combed, the bulk of his body was only lightly contained under his clothes, and over his shoulder, he carried a small duffle that she was sure was filled with the few things that prison would issue him on his discharge.
She smiled at him as his approached, stopping just short of where she now leaned against the passenger door of her car, but close enough to lean in and kiss her if wanted. He didn’t, but she wanted him to. In the growing sunlight, he looked handsome, a free man… one that would never again know the inside of a prison’s walls if she had anything to say about it.
A wicked smile passed between them. The memories of what they had shared only two nights ago were still fresh in her mind and she was eager to relive those memories. She happened to have a motel room waiting where she was eager to give him his first true taste of freedom and all of the comforts that came with it.
“You didn’t tell them,” he said matter-of-factly.
She shook her head. “No… I didn’t.”
He gently reached up and touched her chin with the tip of his finger. “They’ll mark you as a failure for this, Jamie. You know that, don’t you?”
Yes, she knew that that was true. And she knew that they would say that Jamie Lombardo had a job that lasted only a few weeks at one of the top law firms in the country and she failed on her first real assignment. She had been given a chance to swim with the sharks and instead she turned out to be nothing more than chum in the water. That was what they would say.
But somehow, that seemed like something that she could live with when compared to sending Mr. Rizzuto – Dominic – back to prison for what she weighed as a crime of equality. He had done no less than what had been done to him and he’d opted to pay the penalty for it. It was a very un-attorney-like thing to think, but she admired him for it and believed that he had been right to do as he had.
“Yes, I know,” she said. But she found something interesting about that realization: she didn’t care. She had her little bag of tricks, she had some small experience now, and she knew that she could find a new job anywhere if anyone was just willing to give her a chance. “Come on,” she said, indicating her car. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Once on the road, all she could do was smile. It felt like the world should have been ending for her, but it didn’t. The world felt like new, like something that she had never expected to find when she looked out her window this morning. She had Dominic with her and somehow, that felt like enough. True, she had just ruined what had started out as a good career, but that was something that she had no care to worry about now.
“Can I borrow your phone?” Dominic asked as they drove. “I need to make a call.”
Jamie was curious about that for a moment, wondering who Dominic might need to call just now that he was out of prison. But she had no worries about it. “Sure,” she said, passing him her cell.
He dialed a number and put it on speaker, “You’re going to want to hear this. Just don’t say anything.”
She grew curious but did as he instructed.
The phone rang only once before a voice on the other end answered. The voice that answered was curt and irritated, like one being disturbed when they wanted not to be. And it was a voice that she recognized all too well that turned her blood to ice in the course of a second.
“Yes?”
Mr. Desoto? Her eyes went wide with shock as she looked at her lover, who only winked at her and put a finger to his lips, indicating that she should remain quiet.
“Jack,” Dominic began with a jocund familiarity, “how are you doing today?”
“Mr. Rossi,” said Desoto, his tone changing instantly like a grinning lackey would in the presence his master. “I take it that you were able to leave prison without incident, sir?”
Rossi? Jamie realized but was more shocked to hear the half-owner of her law firm refer to a recently released convict as ‘sir’.
“I did indeed. And I have to congratulate you; Ms. Lombardo was a complete success. I think she’ll do well for us,” Dominic said, reaching out and taking her right hand.
She felt a chill creep down her spine. Suddenly it felt like she was riding in the car with the devil, but again she heeded his words and said nothing, her curiosity overcoming her caution. What? What the hell is going on? What’s happening?
“She didn’t snitch on you, sir. She reported failure to me yesterday evening. Even with as much as a leaned on her, she didn’t give you up. I believe that she’s one that we can thoroughly rely on, sir,” Desoto responded.
Dominic smiled at her, the expression deeper than what a professional relationship should have warranted. “In more ways than one, I’m sure.”
She blushed, but she still felt a curiously bewildered sense of fright about her. How does Dominic know Desoto? What does he mean that I’m one that they can rely on?
“How’d the buyout go?” Dominic asked, his tone becoming more businesslike.
“Worked like a charm, sir,” Desoto went on. On the other end of the phone, Jamie could hear the ruffling of papers as though the squat man were pouring through files. “Now that you’re out, the board pressed Lester to resign since he failed to recover the missing money before your release. They’re convinced that the money is irretrievable. It worked just like you said it would. The remainder of the balance in your squirrel program was more than enough for the buy-out and it was funneled into the firm’s finances… you bought Lester’s share of the controlling stock that finances the firm.” There was a chuckle of joy on the other end. “You now own half the controlling interest in Lester & Desoto, Mr. Rossi.”
Dominic’s smiled deepened and he brought Jamie’s hand to his lips and gently kissed it. “Sounds good, Jack. Is Ms. Lombardo’s office being cleaned out?”
“Lester is packing up as we speak, sir. She’ll be free to move in when she comes back. I’ve arranged for a meeting with her and I can–”
“No, that’s alright, Jack,” Dominic cut in. “It’s my responsibility. I know where she’s staying in town. I should be the one to tell her myself. Give her a chance to get used to the idea of her new position.”
Jamie felt a prickle of excitement surging in her heart that was rivaled by a tickle of fear. Her curiosity was running rampant now and the desire to speak and get some answers was growing stronger inside of her.
“Very good, sir. When can we expect you back?” Desoto asked.
Dominic looked at her, his eyes scanning the length of her body and she could almost feel him undressing her with his eyes. Part of her wished that he’d skip that part and go straight to using his hands. “A day or two,” he replied. “I want to enjoy myself a little before I settle in. Maybe unwind some knots.”
“Sounds good, sir. Will there be anything else?”
Dominic froze for a moment, his face looking slightly dour. “My agreement with the Bonnano’s?”
“Still intact, sir. After something like this, how could they not honor the agree
ment?”
Dominic nodded. “Alright, that’ll be all then, Jack. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” He clicked the phone off and the silence that filled the car was heavy enough to crush granite to gravel. But after the silence lingered only a moment, Dominic finally said, “Okay, you talk now.”
“What the hell was that all about?”
Dominic sighed. “Remember that deal I told you that I made?”
She vaguely recalled hearing about it the other night on the roof. “Something about having to do things you don’t like to get what you wanted?”
He nodded. “Those relatives that I told you about that helped me out after my mother died and my father went to prison? It was the Bonnano’s that helped me. My cousin was the one that owned that vineyard that I told you about. They were sympathetic to my dilemma. They had a bone to pick with Lester & Desoto and I offered them the means to level the playing field.”
She digested that for a moment. “So, you do work for the Mafia?”
“Like I said, I do now.”
“You might want to explain.”
He went right into it. “The client that Lester & Desoto represented that sent my father to prison was a, shall we say, adversary to the Bonnano family. They were none too happy when my father got sent away, it was bad for business and they were looking for a means to reconcile the damages. When I was old enough I agreed to get them control of the firm for what they did; since the Bonnanos they did like my father after all. I was motivated and I’d shown them what I could do and so they agreed. But in exchange, I have to turn control of the firm over to someone whom they know that they can trust.” He gestured to her.
“Me?!” she asked, stepping on the gas harder than she meant to and revving the engine hard for a few seconds before calming down. “You want me to run the firm for the mob?”
“No, you just to have run it in a way that they know you can’t be bought by someone with deep pockets like they were when my father was sent up. We had to test you, Jamie,” Dominic said apologetically. “The papers that you published in school… getting people to tell you what they know without directly asking them… they were enough to grab the attention of a lot of people who would happily put them to more selfish uses. We just wanted to make sure that we got them first. Those tricks of yours are skills that we can use, especially in a business like legal representation where the stakes can be high. We knew that you could do it, but what we weren’t sure of was how you would conduct your loyalty. That’s why I had you picked to counsel me.”
“You?!” she asked, her heart beginning to rev faster than the engine of her car. “You picked me to be with you inside?”
“If you chose to tell Desoto what you knew, we’d know that you couldn’t be trusted and we’d just send you on your way. Getting you to find out where I’d hid the money was never an issue; it was just the bait since Jack knew what I’d done with it all the time. But we did want to see how well your theories held up in the field. And from where I stood, someone that wasn’t as familiar with your work as I was wouldn’t stand a chance. I’m seriously considering putting you at the head of a seminar where you teach these little tricks to people that work for us… er, sorry, work for you now.”
He held up a patient finger. “But you told Jack that you’d failed. You were willing to take the blow to your career for me.” He kissed her hand again. “I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with you over this whole thing, but I–”
“Wait, wait, wait,” she said, trying to maintain control. “Love?”
He kept his gaze fixed on her. “Yes. Love.”
She was silent a moment, uncertain as to how to respond. She had never tried to define what they had before now and was thankful that he had beaten her to it.
“Is that wrong?” he asked, his tone becoming frightful.
She thought about it for a moment. No, it wasn’t wrong. She had a good man in her life now, and obviously, her future was secure. But working for the mob? Somehow she got the feeling that it wouldn’t be working for the mob so much as working for Dominic Rossi.
She had no problems with that.
“No,” she said, “not at all.”
His look was pleasing. “I’m glad to hear it.”
She licked her lips anxiously. “So, this was all just another magic trick, wasn’t it? Misdirection… sleight of hand… smoke and mirrors and all that?”
He shrugged. “What can I say?”
She felt a warm feeling pass over her heart, wondering what other tricks that he might have in store. And she was anxious to find out.
They drove on.
The End
Billionaire’s Marriage of Convenience
Being a charming, billionaire playboy in Russia isn’t all it’s cracked up to be for Dominic Strokowki. He was trained his entire life to take over the family business after his father retired, but tragedy strikes and his world is suddenly flipped upside down. After his parents are killed in a tragic accident, he is forced to pick up the pieces, alone, but a secret amendment to his father’s will just might change all of that. He learns that before he can inherit his family’s empire, his birthright, he must marry and have a child.
That’s where I walk in. Well, crash in, really. Dealing with my own string of tragedies, I thought I had it all figured out until my mother’s death changes everything. I struggled to put myself through Harvard Law School, only to be rejected time and time again. That’s when things become truly desperate. Jobless, penniless, alone, I’m about to lose my childhood home when fate throws me into Dominic Strokowski’s path.
I am desperate for help to crawl out of the mountain of debt that is threatening to destroy my life, and Dominic needs a wife, fast. It seems like the perfect solution to both of our problems, but things soon heat up when we both realize that our hearts are on the line. Will I be willing to take the chance and risk it all for love?
Chapter 1
The law firm of Hawke and Harrison request your immediate presence in the matter of the reading of the wills of Mrs. Talia Sullivan-Strokowski and Mr. Dominic Strokowski III.
Dominic read the words for what must have been the fiftieth time. That was it. The only words printed in deep black ink on the soft vellum that had been on the equally blank envelope. Not even a signature. But he was familiar enough with his father’s lawyers to know that they, and their clients, prized inconspicuousness above all else.
His parent’s names looked like those of strangers. He didn’t recognize them, still couldn’t comprehend them even after weeks of knowing. His mother and father were dead. He was alone.
It was still so hard to believe. His parents weren’t that old, both in their mid-sixties. Hadn’t been that old, Dominic corrected himself. Their private jet had crashed, some unexplainable technical failure that cost the lives of his mother, father, and the pilot that had been steering the plane. It was supposed to be just a quick trip to Tokyo and then back to Russia. Back to their palatial home just outside of Moscow. They never made it back.
As he stood up from the massive, red mahogany desk that used to be his father’s, Dominic stalked out of the office with the lawyer’s letter still crumpled in his hands. It was a long flight to Boston from Moscow, where his father’s law firm was located. Where they were summoning him. It was also where his mother grew up, before falling in love with the enigmatic billionaire and moving with him to Russia to start a new life.
He knew she still had family there, but they had basically cut her out of their lives when she’d moved away. It was something his mother had never gotten over, he knew. Dominic slowed as he walked to the long, carpeted hall to where his bedroom was in the west wing of the house, noticing the gilt-framed photograph hanging on the wall.
It was a picture of them, of his parents. He grabbed it off the wall, staring at their familiar faces, feeling a lump of emotion form in his throat, threatening to choke him. He swallowed it. He was head of the family now, the only one besides his younger sister who wa
s back in boarding school in England. He was also head of the business, and it needed a strong leader. Someone who could step into the giant hole his father left behind. But he had been trained and tutored his entire life to take over running the business after his father retired.
Dominic choked up again at the thought. His father had never gotten the chance, a freak accident ending his life way too soon. Gently, he hung the photo back on the wall and headed to his suite to pack. He was already calling the private airstrip to get a jet ready for the long flight to Boston.
*
“…Do you have any questions for us regarding the final amendments to the will, Mr. Strokowski?”
Dominic stared blankly at the legal document, then up at the lawyer who sat staring at his from across the large desk. Against his will, his light blue-grey eyes were drawn back to the papers in his hand. There was a lot of legal jargon mixed in there, but basically, it declared that he would never be able to inherit the family’s business unless he was married with a child, let alone have access to any of the vast fortune stashed in several banks across Europe.
He sawed out a harsh, bitter laugh. There was no humor in it.
“Is this real? Is this even…possible?” Dominic struggled to make sense of it. Why would his father do this to him? He was only thirty-three!
“Yes, Mr. Strokowki, it is completely real, possible, and binding. As of now, all of your family’s assets are frozen, except your own funds, of course. Your father also allowed for a small stipend to be released each month until…” The beady-eyed lawyer cleared his throat, “Well, until the terms are met.”
“The terms are met!” Dominic exploded. “You mean until I’ve trapped myself into some loveless marriage and somehow procured a child!” He ranted in angry Russian for several minutes as he paced the large office. After a few minutes, he regained some measure of control.
With a stiff nod at the blank-faced lawyer, Dominic turned and made his way hastily out of the room.
Chapter 2