Hidden Deceit: A Mafia Romance (Corrupt Minds Book 2)

by Camille Alexander

  ELEANORA

  I needed the break before university started again. I was grateful for the rest. I spent the summer holidays enjoying our new home. Bria and I lay by the pool in the day, and Joe and I spent happy evenings entertaining friends and family.

  I was in the kitchen late one afternoon preparing the evening meal. I’d given the servants the afternoon off. I wanted to have my husband all to myself.

  It was a lovely space. White marble counters, an island in the middle of the room, and floor to ceiling cupboards gave us a paradise in which to create delicious Italian cuisine. The large windows overlooking a verdant green garden, filled with roses and the large pool, bathed the kitchen in light. It was my happy place. I picked some parsley from my herb pots on the window sill. I had planted my own chili bush, their green and red bullets beckoning me to pick them. I added a few to the sauce.

  “Where are you, gorgeous?” Joe’s voice echoed in the entrance hall.

  “In the kitchen, love.” I’d prepared his favorite pasta, and I’d opened a bottle of wine so it could breathe.

  “Oh, my goodness, it smells incredible in here. Is that my favorite sauce I smell?” He wrapped his arms around me as I rinsed the lettuce over the sink. “If you’re trying to seduce me, you had me at ‘I do,’ sexy,” he teased as he nibbled my earlobe.

  He kissed my neck, working his tongue down my shoulder blade to my exposed back. I was wearing a bikini and a sarong, as it was still as hot as Hades outside. The light breeze brought the welcome air into the kitchen as he pulled at the strings of my bikini top, freeing my breasts so that he could run his fingers around my nipples.

  “Who needs Arrabiata Linguini when I have my delicious Ella?” he whispered into my ear. My body was tingling all over as he turned me to face him.

  “You better eat it and love it,” I threatened playfully. “It took me all afternoon to prepare.”

  “I’ll consider this my antipasti, gorgeous, and I must warn you, I’m starving.”

  Joe bent down to kiss my perky breasts, my nipples so hard they ached. He took one into his mouth, and my arousal kicked into high gear. He then trailed his tongue around the other nipple, igniting a fire on the inside of my thighs. I reached for his shaft as I slowly unzipped his pants and pushed them down onto the floor. He stepped out of them and caressed my hair.

  Then came the burning question. “Do I smell chilis?” he asked. Good thing he reminded me too. A chili willy is never a pleasant experience, not for him nor me.

  “Good save.” I giggled.

  I dropped to my knees and took his large, throbbing rod into my mouth, my hands wrapped around his firm buttocks. He threw back his head as he moaned and moved his hips rhythmically to my movements. Joe tasted so good, salty and sweet. He gently broke free from my grip, picked me up in his arms, and set me on the island in the middle of the kitchen. The white marble was cool and welcoming, almost as hard as my husband as he thrust into me, my wetness welcoming him into my core.

  Joe kissed me passionately as we pushed and pulled until we were in the grips of our orgasm. He called my name when he came, and I whispered his as we reached the apex of our lovemaking. A warm sensation filled my body as I surrendered to my husband. He was magnificent.

  “I think we better have a shower before our second course,” I said as I smiled at him.

  “I don’t know if I can be trusted in a wet, soapy space with you, my darling.” He carried me to the bathroom, my legs still wrapped around his waist as I lay my head on his broad shoulder. How could one woman be so deliriously happy? Surely it wasn’t possible.

  JOE

  I was married to the sexiest woman alive, I thought as I carried my Ella to the master bedroom. The warm water of the shower played on our bodies as we held each other tightly. I buried my face in her black hair as I washed her back with luxurious soap. She was perfect. My soapy hands caressed her firm breasts, then her round, tight buttocks. The sensation aroused my loins, yet again. To my delight, Ella was ready to rock my world once more.

  I carried her wet, glistening body to our bed, laying her face down on the satin sheets. I bit down gently on her buttock cheek—she wiggled playfully.

  “Have I been a naughty girl, sir? Are you going to punish me?”

  “Rotten! You’ve been a rotten girl.”

  I slid her across the satin sheets towards my waiting sex pistol, hard and ready for action. She gasped as I slid into her again, and together, we moved frantically until we came. This is fast becoming my best day ever.

  “Best antipasti ever!”

  Ella laughed as I crashed onto the bed beside her. We lay there for a while, relishing the afterglow of our passion.

  “Okay, sex bomb,” I said as I slapped her on the buttock, “let’s eat.”

  Ella had prepared my favorite dish to perfection. After I’d stuffed myself to the hilt, we took our wine and sat in the living room. The doorbell rang unexpectedly.

  “Expecting anyone, my love?”

  “No,” Ella said. “I hope whoever it is won’t be offended when I tell them to leave.”

  “Ooh, feisty. I like it.”

  “I better get the door, my sex bomb. I can’t have you maiming the neighbors.” I left Ella on the couch and mozied over to the door.

  ELEANORA

  Joe entered the living room, followed closely by Gino. I was less than impressed. What did the slug want? Couldn’t it have waited until the next day at the office?

  “Hello, Ella, you’re looking lovely as ever.” He leered at me with his creepy eyes, making my skin crawl.

  “Hi, Gino. To what do we owe the pleasure?” I hoped my face spoke volumes of my disdain for him.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, but I had an urgent matter to discuss with Joe.”

  “Darling, would you excuse us for a moment?” Joe’s eyes were apologetic.

  “Of course, my love.”

  I left the room and made my way to the kitchen. I cleared away the plates and leftovers, washed the few dirty dishes, and made my way outside, where I sat under the gazebo near the pool. The sky was awash with twinkling stars, and the full moon transformed an ordinary summer’s evening into a fairytale land. I called Bria from the outside line.

  “Hi, there. How was your special dinner? Did you get your dessert?” Bria made kissing noises into the phone as I laughed.

  “Boy, did I ever.”

  “One day when we’re wrinkly old and gray, you can tell me about it.”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  “Not that I’m not happy to hear from you, Ella, but why are you on the phone with me while your stud is dying to ravish you?”

  “In one word? Gino! I can’t shake him from my life, no matter what I do.”

  “Ugh! He gives me the creeps. What does he want?”

  “I don’t know yet. He and Joe are in the living room, talking. I escaped to the gazebo before I could tell him what I really think of him. Am I being a colossal bitch, Bria? Sometimes I feel guilty about hating him. Poor Joe has enough on his plate without me complaining about his sleazy half brother.”

  “It must be hard on both of you, Ella. I don’t envy you, having to put up with Gino and his lowlife friends. Gino is lucky to have you as his sister-in-law. Had it been me, he’d be sleeping with the fishes!”

  I laughed at the nutter. Bria always managed to say just the right thing when I was feeling down. She knew me so well, and I loved her for it.

  Joe came walking toward me from the kitchen.

  “I better go, Bria. Joe’s coming. I’m dying to know what Gino wanted. Thanks for the chat, love you.”

  “Love you back.” And on that note, we hung up.

  “Hey hon, everything okay? What did Captain Chaos want?”

  “Nothing that couldn’t have waited until tomorrow. I swear that guy intentionally antagonizes me. It’s his new hobby.”

  “I’m sorry, my love. Anything I can do to help?”

  “You could always put
the wrong mushrooms in his Pasta ai Funghi—completely by accident of course.” Joe gave me a devilish smile.

  “Well, I am a new bride . . . we do make mistakes.”

  We laughed and chatted while we finished our wine.

  “Darling, I don’t want to put any more pressure on you, but you need to put Gino in his place. He thinks that because he is a few years older than you, he can lord it over you. I see the way he speaks to you. It pisses me off.”

  “I agree. But now is not the time for me to make waves. My father is trying his best to get to know his son, and I don’t want to burden him with childish rivalry. When the time is right, I’ll put Gino in his place, I promise.”

  “Well, don’t wait too long or Bria and I will kick his grumpy ass to the curb.”

  “I don’t doubt that for a minute, my clever girl.”

  Chapter Seven

  JOE

  I hadn’t seen Fabio in a few weeks. I missed my wingman. Life was more complicated with Gino in the picture, and I needed a buddy to cheer me up. Ella was amazing but sometimes a man needs his best buddy, and I was ready to let my hair down. The girls were at our house doing wedding preparation things, and Fabio and I went down to our local club after a vigorous game of soccer.

  “What’s on your mind, Gianni Rivera? I know something’s up when you wipe the soccer field with my ass. Come on, spill it.” Fabio took a large gulp of his Peroni as he waited for me to speak.

  “Well, now that you ask, I’m up to here with Gino and his bullshit. Ever since he’s come on the scene, my family has been walking on eggshells. He’s a bully and he’s made me his target. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to knock his block off, but I don’t want to make my father’s life any more difficult than it already is.”

  “Fuck, that’s heavy, bud. It’s no secret that Gino isn’t the warmest, fuzziest guy I’ve ever met, so I sympathize with you.”

  “Ella is insisting that I put the asshole in his place, but I think it’s too soon for that.”

  “Ella is right, Joe. If you keep tap dancing to his tune, he’s never going to respect you. Don’t think of it as adding to your father’s problems. He’d hate it if he knew how Gino treats you. You are his whole world, Joe. Do what you must. Fuck Gino; he’s an idiot.”

  “Words to live by, my horny friend, words to live by. Cheers!”

  ELEANORA

  The living room floor was covered in bridal magazines. Bria and I had finished a bottle of wine by the time the boys got home.

  “Ugh! You guys smell of sweat and cheap beer.” Bria kissed Fabio hello.

  “She’s not wrong,” I said, as Joe threw his smelly soccer shirt at me.

  “Yes, yes, cool your jets, ladies; we’re heading for the shower.”

  “What does a guy have to do around here to get a bowl of pasta?” Fabio asked as he left the room.

  “Cook it your bloody self, you lazy shit!” yelled Bria after him.

  “Ah, come on, babe. Your sexy man is starving! I’ll thank you later, I promise.”

  “Okay, you big baby. I’ll throw something together.” I laughed as Bria and I hit the kitchen.

  “Thanks, babydoll!”

  “He’d be lost without me.” Bria chuckled. “Who knows how he managed without me for so many years?”

  I put a large pot of water on the stove, then rummaged around to find something to make for dinner. When in doubt, whip out the whole peeled tomatoes, I heard my mother’s voice in my head. I opened a can and added it to garlic, basil, and parsley fried in olive oil. A few pine nuts later and dinner was served. A mound of grated Parmesan and warm garlic bread finished it off perfectly. The boys were impressed.

  “That’s me for the night. I’m poked. Ella, thank you for a super supper.” Fabio got up and stretched his legs.

  “Poked, hey? Don’t you mean you are off to poke?” Joe grinned as Bria blushed.

  “Joe!” He smirked as I chastised him.

  “I think we’ll call it a night.” Bria rose, smacked Fabio’s butt, and kissed Joe and me goodnight.

  “I hope I can walk tomorrow. Thanks for kicking my ass at soccer. With friends like you, who needs enemies?”

  “What can I say? Ella is my muse.” Joe leaned over and kissed me.

  “Ugh. Get a room, you two!” Bria put her finger down her throat in a jocular gesture.

  “Okay, get out, I want to ravish my wife.”

  JOE

  I limped into the office the next morning. It was probably the soccer and not the vigorous sex. Married life was turning out to be a pretty good deal.

  “Good morning, Joe.” My father was an early bird. He was probably halfway through his workload already.

  “Buongiorno, Papa. Come stai?” I gave him a big hug.

  “Sto bene grazie, my son.”

  “Good. I wanted to chat with you about a few new projects I’m working on, Papa. Is now a good time?”

  “Si, come to my office.”

  As he opened the door to his office, Gino was sitting on the sofa. He smiled at my father and grinned sardonically at me when my father wasn’t looking.

  “Ah, good morning, Papa,” he said as he came over to kiss my father on the cheek.”

  “Good morning, Gino. I didn’t know you were coming to see me, my son.”

  My father’s words stuck in my throat—‘my son.’ I was jealous, I admitted to myself. For as long as I could remember, my father was all mine. Now, I had to share him with this asshole. It didn’t seem fair.

  “I’m sorry about that. I was in the office, and I wanted to talk to you. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Of course we fucking mind! You can’t just walk in here whenever you please, asshole.

  “Of course not. Please, sit. What’s on your mind?” Ever the gracious man, Papa sat down at his desk and waited for Gino to speak.

  Gino looked at me and hesitated.

  “Don’t be concerned, Gino. Joe and I make decisions together. You can discuss anything with him.”

  “Alright,” he said, but he didn’t look happy. “I’ve been offered an opportunity to invest in new business. I wanted to talk to you about partnering with me.”

  “What kind of business is it, Gino?” I wasn’t going to let him talk my father into some harebrained scheme. Hoorah for my master’s degree!

  “It’s a boat charter business. The owner has recently fallen ill, and he’s offered it to me at a good price.”

  “We’ll need to see the financials, and Joe will do due diligence. If it’s profitable, we’ll talk.”

  “That’s fair. I’ll get the documents to you later today. Thank you, Papa.”

  There it was again, the bitter pill stuck in my throat.

  “Arrivederci.” He left the room, and I wasn’t sorry to see him go.

  “What do you think of him, son?” My father sat behind his desk, weaved his fingers together, and waited for me to speak. I had to be careful about how I answered him.

  “He wouldn’t be my first choice for a brother, but I suppose he’ll grow on me. And you, Papa? What do you think?”

  “He’s my son and I’m glad to have him in my life, but something about him doesn’t sit well with me. Then again, he was brought up by Abriana and her family, not the best role models, I’m afraid.”

  “He's definitely a little rough around the edges.” I was being polite.

  “Thank you, Son, for welcoming him to the family. I realize this can’t be easy for you. I’m proud of you.”

  “Thank you, Papa. I’ve got your back.”

  “Now, what did you want to talk to me about, Son?”

  ELEANORA

  The auditorium was packed. It was early in the morning, and not everyone was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I suspected the large party on campus the night before may have had something to do with the sad looking zombies slothing in their seats.

  I was feeling particularly wicked, probably the orgasm I’d had before breakfast. I slammed my books down o
n the table and reveled in the startled responses I got from the students. Ah, what goes around . . .

  “Good morning. I hope you’ve had a good weekend. It’s crunch time this week—I want to see if you’ve remembered anything from your last semester. Please, pay close attention to the work I’m giving you today; it’s important.”

  I loved my job. It was more fun than work, and I enjoyed torturing the students, occasionally of course. I’d be spending my afternoon in the lab, researching new data, expanding on the thesis I’d done for graduation.

  Someone at the back of the auditorium caught my eye. I focused to see beyond the light of the projector as I tried to identify the new face. I was a super-recognizer—I never forgot a face. Oh, for fuck’s sake! What does he want?

  Gino sat at the back of the class, watching me instruct the zombies on GMO Technology 101. It was bad enough that he was harassing Joe and me at home, now he had to come to the one place that I got to exercise my curious mind.

  My good mood trashed, I finished the lesson in record time. Gino stayed behind as the students emptied out into the hall. Oh, yay! One on one time. Lucky me.

  “That was very impressive, Ella. I had no idea you were such a bright spark.”

  He came over and sat on the edge of my desk. I made a mental note to sanitize the spot later.

  “I’m surprised to see you here, Gino. What brings you here?” I avoided eye contact as I packed my books away in my satchel.

  “I’ve been deprived of a family for so long, I thought I’d pop by and see what you do for a living.”

  I call bullshit! “That’s very thoughtful of you. You must be a very busy man. Thanks for stopping by; it was good to see you,” I lied through my teeth.

  “Actually, I’m having a slow afternoon. Can I buy you a coffee in the university café? I’d love to get to know more about you. I am your brother-in-law, after all.”

  I’d rather eat shards of glass. “That sounds lovely, thank you, Gino. But I’m spending the afternoon in the research lab and I’m late already. Perhaps next time?”