by Cala Riley
Uncle Tony appreciated the extra protection Bash offered. Of course, he also yelled. A lot. Especially since he told me to stay in Brooklyn. There are clubs in Brooklyn, he says. Why couldn’t I go to one of them, he asks.
Too late to go back now.
All he kept repeating was that I got myself into something I wouldn’t be able to get out of. Then he would start cursing in Italian before starting at the beginning all over again.
I sigh as I glance across the street and see the same unfamiliar man watching the house. When I first tried to go back to work, Uncle Tony sent me home, much to Gina’s displeasure. After three days, he caved and let me work again. I hoped that by going out more that I might see Bash. I needed to tell him to call off his men and I couldn’t do that if I didn’t see him. I am kicking myself for not getting his number.
I chuckle at myself. Like he would have given it to me anyways. I glance back out the window as a plan hatches in my mind.
I grab the to go mug of coffee I filled and head out the door. Instead of turning right to go to work I walk right up to the man in the car. He is already rolling down his window by the time I get to him.
“Hey. I’m Sofia, although I am sure you know that. What’s your name?”
He hesitates and I sigh. Not as easy as I thought.
“Well here. I thought you might like some coffee. I was also hoping you might give me a ride to work. My ankle is hurting me and since you are going that way anyways.”
He looks at me with suspicion. I don’t blame him. That last bit about the ankle just kind of popped into my head. I am sure he saw me take the steps with ease.
He looks around then barks at me.
“Get in.”
I give him a quick smile as I pass in front of the car and slide into the passenger seat. He messes with his phone for a moment before putting it to his ear.
“She’s asking for a ride.” I hear him grumble into the phone.
I am noticing that this man has a lot of anger to him. Part of me thinks I might have something to do with it.
“She says she hurt her ankle.”
I roll my eyes at the skepticism in his voice.
“Oh, is that Bash? Let me talk.”
I snatch the phone out of his hand before he can react. He looks like he is about to reach for me, but I jump out of the car as I push the phone up to my ear.
“Hello, Honey. It’s been a while.”
Grumpy, as I have decided to call him, jumps out of the driver’s side and growls at me.
A deep chuckle comes from the other end of the line.
“Hello, Sofia. I think I will just leave the honey part out when Bash asks for an update.”
“Oh, hey, Lorenzo?”
“Yes. I see you are causing my man some trouble.”
“I wouldn’t say trouble per se. I was just hoping to talk to a certain man who seems to be avoiding me. Although, hearing your man growl is kinda disconcerting.”
The lighthearted Lorenzo leaves in a moment.
“Put him on the phone.”
“No. I want answers, Lorenzo.”
“Put him on the phone, Sofia. I will talk to you after.”
“I don’t know if I should trust you.”
“Damn it, Sofia. Stop being stubborn. I promise okay?”
“If you don’t keep your promise, I will hunt you down and use a paring knife to slice off both of your balls.”
“Damn, Sof. Ok. I got it.”
I cast a glance at Grumpy who is now just openly glaring at me. I slide the phone across the hood of the car and he narrows his eyes at me. He picks it up and puts it to his ear.
“Yeah.”
For the next couple of minutes, I watch as an array of emotions flash over Grumpy’s face. Finally, he speaks.
“Understood.”
Then he hangs up the phone.
“Hey!”
Before he can respond, my phone rings in my purse. I pull it out and see an unknown number.
“Answer it.” Grumpy mumbles as he slides back in the car.
“Hello?”
“Kept my promise. Do you trust me now?”
I chuckle. “Trust has to be earned, Lorenzo. I will give you points for keeping your promise, but you have a long way to go to earn my trust.”
I slam the car door shut and start walking towards work.
“Noted. Are you walking?”
“Yep. Now are you going to answer my questions?”
“I thought your ankle hurt.”
“Stop changing the subject. Where’s Bash?”
“I suppose right now he would be at his home, but I am not his keeper so I can’t really say. Is your ankle hurt?”
“You are no help. I need to talk to Bash. What’s his number?”
“Answer my question, Sofia. Is your ankle hurt?”
“I will answer your question when you give me Bash’s number.”
“You are being difficult. What do you want to ask him? I am sure I can help you with whatever you need.”
“Can you order your men to stop following me? Oh wait, you are one of those men. I am guessing that you aren’t lurking around today since you called me. Where’s Giovanni? I bet he is around here somewhere.”
I look around as I turn the corner where I normally see them. As I thought, Giovanni is standing outside the bodega with a couple of men smoking a cigar.
“Oh, there he is.”
I continue to walk towards him.
“You need protection. There is no discussion to be had. Bash won’t do what you want either.”
“Fine. I want to talk to him anyways.”
“He is busy. He doesn’t have time to talk to you.”
I stop in front of Giovanni and he quirks an eye brow at me. He looks slightly concerned and another, most likely ill advised, plan comes to mind.
“You are a complete asshole. Don’t call me again.”
Giovanni immediately stiffens as I hang up my phone and I watch as the men around him do the same. I’m angry, but not angry enough. I think about someone kicking a puppy and I feel my anger rise. With that anger, the undeniable prickling feel of tears comes.
“Sofia. What is it?” Giovanni looks around as if the threat is near.
“I need to talk to Bash.”
His eyes soften.
“He is busy. I can get a message to him though.”
Now that the tears are in my eyes, I let them fall. I walk forward and cling to the lapels of Giovanni’s jacket.
“Please. I just need to talk to him. I don’t need to see him. Just hear his voice. Please Giovanni.”
He pulls his phone out and dials a number.
“Sofia is here. She needs to speak with you.”
He doesn’t say another word. He just hands me his phone. The tears dry up as I put it to my ear.
“Bash?”
“Sofia. Is everything okay?”
It sounds like he is moving and my suspicions are confirmed when I hear a door shut.
“I’m fine. We need to talk. I want the guard dogs let off the leash.”
“What? Who hurt you? Tell me what is wrong.”
“What is wrong is you have me being followed around and yet you didn’t even ask if I was okay with it. I appreciate you protecting my friends, but you don’t need to protect me. I am fine. Call your guard dogs off.”
“Sofia” he growls at me. “I was in the middle of a very important meeting. You had Giovanni call me for this? Give him the phone. I will deal with you later.”
“No. You will deal with me now. You leave me without a way of contacting you and make decisions about my life without my knowledge that’s not going to fly with me.”
“Sofia! That is enough. I don’t have time for this. Tell Giovanni his punishment will come later.”
“No! You won’t punish him. He thought I was in danger, which was because I made him think that. As for not having time for me, you damn well better make time for me. I won’t put up with th
is disappearing act you put on. If you want to make decisions about my life, you will not then disappear and leave me no way to yell at you for them.”
I hear him take a couple of deep breaths. I had turned my back to the guys and I turn around to find only Giovanni standing there. He looks angry.
“Are you working today?”
The calmness in Bash’s voice scares me. I can take his yelling. I can watch him kill someone. Hell, I can even take him pointing a gun at my head. All without feeling a hint of fear. This calmness I hear in his voice now sends a chill down my spine.
“I do.”
“Fine. I will pick you up at 8. Tell your Uncle you will not be home tonight.”
“W-what? Why?”
“Because we are going to have this discussion that you seem to think is so important. Tell Gio to stay with you today. I will see you later.”
He hangs up before I can get another word in. I look up to Giovanni and hand him his phone.
“You shouldn’t lie about being in danger. It could get someone killed.” Giovanni glares at me.
“If Lorenzo would have just given me Bash’s number, it wouldn’t have been a problem.”
“Lorenzo? When did you see him?”
“That was him on the phone when I walked up.”
I look down and see dozens of missed called from him.
“You are playing a dangerous game, Sof. I hope you know what you are doing.” Gio shakes his head at me.
I hope I do too.
Chapter Six
Bastiano
I check the clock. 8 PM on the dot. I glance around the parking lot.
CO
I get the text from Gio seconds before he walks out of the front door with Sofia in tow. My dick hardens at the thought of our earlier conversation. The woman drives me crazy. Something about that smart mouth makes me want to shove my cock in it until she can’t say anything snarky to me.
I shake myself out of my thoughts. Thinking about her lips wrapped around my cock wasn’t a good idea. It always leads to me thinking about her in other compromising positions which doesn’t help the problem I have in my pants right now. I adjust myself as Gio opens the back door for Sofia.
She slides in next to me and gives me a smile. She looks slightly nervous which has me on alert. She has never shown anything but confidence in front of me. Even when telling me about her past, she never looked anything less than confident.
Gio shuts the door and then gets in the front seat next to Lo.
“Good Evening, Sofia. How are you?”
I decide not to ask her what is wrong. The last time I did, that turned into a mess.
“I’m good. How was your day Bash?”
She raises an eye brow at me. There’s that snark that gets to me.
“It was good up until some immature girl pulled a prank and pulled me out of a very important meeting.”
Her eyes flash with anger.
“Maybe that WOMAN wouldn’t have had to pull you out of some stupid meeting if you had given her a way of contacting you instead of having her watched without her permission.”
She folds her arms across her chest. She is still dressed in her work outfit which means her tits are now pushed up giving me the perfect view of her cleavage.
“If you wanted to talk to me, Gio would have given me a message.”
“My eyes are up here, buddy.” She taunts. “How could I trust him to give you a message? I don’t know anything about him.”
I bring my eyes to hers.
“If you need me, tell anyone of my men and they will get the message to me. Even if you just tell them you want me to pick up eggs and bring them to you, they will deliver the message to me.”
She rolls her eyes. “And why would they do that?”
“Because I ordered it and when I give a command, every single one of them obeys.”
I watch as she shivers at my words. I reach out and trail my finger over her shoulder and down her collarbone.
“I wonder what it would look like if you obeyed for once. Are you always so disobedient or are you just a bad girl for me?”
She shudders, which tells me she likes my words, but at the same time, she swats my hand and glares at me.
“I don’t just blindly obey. My last boyfriend tried that and it didn’t work out so well for me. I am my own woman, if you don’t like that, then take me home and disappear. That’s what this whole discussion is supposed to be about anyways.”
She turns to look out the window.
“You know most people would be scared to hit me. Hitting a Don is like a cardinal sin. You could lose your hand for that.”
She turns back and looks at me. “Go ahead. If that’s what it takes to get my life back to normal, then I am all for it.”
I shake my head at her. She is fighting so hard against this, yet she so clearly wants me. I don’t understand her.
“I have better use for your hands than cutting them off. You are safe for now.”
“Like what?” She inches closer and slides her hand up my leg. My already hard cock twitches as she inches closer. “You want my hand to touch your cock? Maybe wrap my lips around it and suck you down my throat?” She leans into my cheek and whispers in my ear as she firmly grabs my cock. All the blood rushes to my dick as I faintly hear her words.
“Not in this lifetime, buddy. You might be some mafia king, but that doesn’t mean you can have me.”
She squeezes tightly to the point it hurts, but then releases me quickly before sitting back in her seat and turning to look out the window. I rub myself to ease some of the lingering pain as I glance up at Gio and Lo. Lo is fighting a smile, but Gio is ramrod straight in the front seat. He doesn’t look back or make any movement. He has barely spoken to me since Sofia’s stunt today. I think he is beating himself up more than I am at this point.
“Where are we going?” Sofia asks.
“My home.” I grit out through my teeth.
“Where are we?”
“You weren’t paying attention? And you want me to suspend your protection detail. You could get kidnapped and would you even be able to tell where you are?”
“Probably not since usually when you get kidnapped they either throw you in a truck or dark van and put a potato sack on your head so you can’t see. I don’t think my paying attention now would help in that situation.”
“That smart ass mouth is going to cost you one of these days. Keep it up, Tesoro.”
“Whatever. I have already been told I have a death wish and I have some whack FBI agent most likely hunting me. My mouth is the least of my worries currently.”
I clench my fists at the mention of her situation. It is the whole reason I have been having my men watching her. It is also the sole source for my anger recently.
“More reason to have someone watching you. Wouldn’t want one hair on that pretty little head of yours to get hurt.”
I reach out and touch her hair.
“No need to go soft on me now, Bash. You forget, I saw you…” My hand flies out to cover her mouth.
Her eyes widen. I don’t know what she was about to say, but many incriminating conversations have been taped within cars. I learned from my predecessors’ past mistakes. We only talk in code now and it changes often.
“Watch what you say, Tesoro. You never know who is listening.”
She pushes my hand away.
“I was just going to say I saw you in action asshole. You can be a real jerk you know that?”
Her words say one thing, but her eyes say that she realizes her mistake. She was about to say that she saw me kill someone.
“So, I have been told on multiple occasions. We are here so stop your fussing.”
“Why are we here?”
“You wanted to talk, didn’t you?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, we need a secure place to do that. My house is the best option. Let’s go.”
Gio already has her door open as Lo opens mine. I gestu
re him to go ahead and walk around to Sofia. I hold my arm out to her.
“What?”
She asks like she’s dumb.
Who knows, maybe she’s never seen how a real man treats his woman.
“Take my arm. Let me escort you.”
She glances up at the house and back to me before taking my arm.
“This place is a fortress. You really live here?”
I chuckle. “I do.”
“You have guards at your gate. Don’t think I didn’t see the men up in towers every couple of yards. What are you do afraid of?”
I lean down and kiss the top of her head.
“Not a damn thing Tesoro, not a damn thing.”
Sofia
I stare at the house in front of me. This is the biggest house I have ever seen in person. You would think a movie star lives here. Instead, you have a mafia king and his cronies.
“Well that’s good I suppose. How do you afford all of this?”
“It’s my family home. It is paid off so all we pay are insurance and taxes. Plus, the clubs do very well.”
I am shocked. I somehow forgot he owns clubs.
“How long has it been in your family?”
We stop at the front door and he turns to me.
“My family? Two generations. THE family? Since the property was purchased in 1927. They build a much smaller house then and it has been added onto since then.”
“It’s a mansion, Bash. Who needs this much room?”
He shrugs as Lorenzo comes out.
“All clear.”
“Did they just check the house for you?” I ask, surprised.
“Not for me. For you. I would have normally gone in with them, but I wanted to make sure it was safe before we went in.”
“Who the hell could get through that security system?” I gesture to the sentries he has posted up.
“You would be surprised at how shallow some loyalties run. You can never be too careful. There are a lot of monsters that would be more than happy to see this home belong to another.”
I narrow my eyes at his cryptic words. I get why he is talking in riddles, it just annoys me. I unknowingly almost implicated him in a murder in the car, so I just keep my thoughts to myself.