Rules of Bennett: The Complete Collection

by Ember Michaels

  “He’s probably too busy being pissed,” Bennett said with a frown.

  I looked up at him. “Pissed? About what?”

  “I announced that I was no longer associated with the Moreno Family and a lot of his connections have been dropping like flies. He’s probably too busy trying to salvage his relationships instead of worrying about what I’m doing right now,” he said.

  I frowned. “I didn’t know I missed the announcement,” I said.

  “I didn’t want to wake you,” he said with a shrug.

  Bruce, Saint, and Nyxin all stood in the garage, looking to us when we entered. They all nodded in acknowledgement, Saint walking over to open my car door.

  Nyxin stood behind the car, his eyes following my every move. I smiled sweetly at him as I approached and just when he gave me a small smile, I walked up to him and punched him in the stomach.

  “What the fuck was that for?” he wheezed, bent over.

  “For officiating my marriage,” I stated, smiling at him again before slipping into the backseat of the car. Saint snorted and Bruce disguised his laugh as a cough. Bennett only shook his head, taking a moment longer before entering the car, no doubt probably to apologize on my behalf. Doing something like that would’ve earned me a trip to the Retribution room, but all Bennett did was slide onto the backseat next to me and order the driver to go.

  I smiled and settled into my seat. Maybe this queen thing had its perks.

  The forty-five-minute drive felt like eternity. I watched the passing scenery outside the window, occasionally looking over to Bennett, whose eyes were practically glued to his phone majority of the time.

  I rolled my eyes. “We haven’t even been married twenty-four hours and you’re already being a terrible, inattentive husband,” I said.

  He raised his hard gaze at me, lifting an eyebrow before his eyes softened and he grinned. “Terrible, inattentive what?” he asked, cupping his ear with his hand.

  “You heard what I said,” I countered.

  He chuckled and put his phone in his pocket, sliding over closer to me. I leaned away from him as he put his arm around me, but he only pulled me closer.

  “Is this enough attention for my gorgeous wife?” he murmured.

  I smirked and put my hand on his chest, pushing him back a little. “Attention doesn’t require you to invade my personal space.”

  “You weren’t thinking about personal space when I was balls deep inside of you last night,” he teased, kissing my neck.

  God, I fucking hated him. I hated how he could make something so vulgar sound so sexy. The partition was still down, and Bennett still planted kisses on the heated skin of my neck, my heart racing in my chest. Not wanting to show that I was slowly becoming unraveled, I scoffed.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” I mumbled, which only made him chuckle.

  “Say what you want, but I know how your body reacted,” he said, the tip of his nose nuzzling my neck. “How you begged me for your orgasm…how your sweet pussy squeezed my cock…”

  I bit my lip when his hand squeezed my thigh. This man was the fucking devil in more ways than one. I didn’t want to be hot and bothered at my first meeting with other important people, but Bennett didn’t seem to care. His hand traveled up my leg, his hand cupping my pussy through my pants.

  “Don’t,” I whispered.

  “What’s wrong, baby doll?” he teased. “Don’t want the driver to see you come undone for me?”

  I shivered under his touch, his lips leaving a trail of hot kisses along my skin. He unbuttoned my suit jacket and continued placing kisses along my collar bone. My mind wanted to fight him off, but I couldn’t deny the pleasure that skated up my skin as he lowered my crop top and strapless bra and stroked my nipple.

  “Does it turn you on to know that my panties are going to be soaked for this meeting?” I murmured when he bowed his head and took my nipple into his mouth.

  He looked up at me and grinned. “Maybe,” he said and latched on. I ran my hands through his soft hair, grinding against his hand that was still in between my legs. I knew I probably needed to stop him; I was wearing white and I didn’t want to ruin my clothes. I was so lost in his actions that I hadn’t even realized the car stopped.

  “We’re here, sir,” the driver said.

  “Fuck,” I breathed. My pussy tingled with need, wanting to feel him deep inside me. Bennett slowly unlatched his mouth from my nipple and smiled.

  “Was that enough attention, beautiful?” he asked.

  I pushed him off of me and fixed my clothes. “You’re an asshole, you know that?” I mumbled, which only made him chuckle.

  “I give you the attention you said I wasn’t giving you and now I’m an asshole.” He shook his head. “You women are confusing.”

  “You know what I’m talking about,” I said. “You got me all horny and now I have to sit through a brunch and try to ignore the tingling happening between my legs.”

  He leaned over and kissed me. “Don’t worry; I plan to fuck you on the way home,” he said and winked. “Let’s go ahead and get this meeting over with. I’d hate to leave my wife horny for too long.”

  I fought the urge to cringe. Just like that, the mood was gone. His wife. I now had to play nice with him in public, and a part of that pissed me off. He seemed to call me his wife every chance he got. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to fuck with my head and taunt me about how stupid I was to sign papers without reading or if he just wanted me to grow comfortable with the title.

  I looked down at the ring on my finger. Once upon a time, I used to think I’d be the wife of a successful head chef. I thought my life would’ve been simple and filled with love and children. As I got out of the car and looped my arm through Bennett’s, I knew my life was anything but simple. The fairytale I thought I’d have for my life would always remain a fairytale. I was now a wife to a dangerous mafia boss, ruling alongside him as his queen. This meant that I now had a permanent target on my back, collateral damage and the perfect weapon to use against him.

  “You okay?” he asked, breaking into my thoughts.

  I nodded, unable to formulate words as I suddenly became nauseous with nerves. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about what my new position would put me at risk of. Wilson already killed my sister and she wasn’t even married to Bennett before her death. It was only a matter of time before he came after me, too.

  Wanting to take my attention off of the negative, I looked to Bennett. “What am I supposed to do when I get in here?” I asked. “This is all new to me.”

  “Wives don’t usually say much. The other wives will probably want you to chat with them while the men talk business.” He looked at me and frowned. “But you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

  “I don’t want to make the family look bad,” I said.

  He grinned. “Well, look at the queen already being protective of her family,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist. “It’ll be fine. I won’t overdo the marriage thing. It’ll look fake.”

  Thank fuck for that, I thought to myself. We entered a restaurant, Bennett whispering something to the hostess, who nodded. We followed the hostess to an outside patio where only six other people sat. I looked back at the line outside and then back at the empty tables still on the patio.

  “We have this whole patio booked for the next two hours,” Bennett said, ushering me toward the table.

  Everyone at the table looked to us, the men standing to their feet. I smiled and politely spoke to everyone who shook my hand, the women acting a bit snooty and unwelcoming.

  “Everyone, I’d like for you all to formally meet my wife Aurora,” Bennett said, pulling me closer to him. I gave him a small smile, biting my tongue to keep from snapping at him.

  “Nice to meet you, dear,” an older gentleman said with a nod and a gentle smile. He looked like someone’s cute grandfather, not a dark, menacing mafia boss. The soft wrinkles in his face didn’t make him int
imidating. His suit fit a bit snug on his round body, his jaws jiggling whenever he spoke. “Please, both of you have a seat.”

  Bennett and I sat at the last two remaining chairs, the waiters coming out of nowhere with glasses of wine.

  The older gentleman clasped his hands, waiting for the waiters to disappear again before he spoke. “Bennett already knows who we are, so I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Chase Hilcrest, head of the Hilcrest Family. This is my wife Veronica.”

  He gestured to the woman who was at least twenty years younger than he was. She looked at me with what seemed like disgust, only giving me a tight nod in acknowledgement.

  “What a bitch,” the small voice mused.

  Right, I thought, forcing myself to focus.

  A younger gentleman with piercing green eyes, red hair, and freckles spoke next. “Jerry Fabiano with the Fabiano Family,” he said, not even bothering to introduce the young woman that sat next to him. She dropped her eyes down to her glass, her shoulders sagging a bit. Her chestnut hair was pinned up into a messy bun, her black dress plain and not very flattering for her thin body. She didn’t say a word as the next man spoke up.

  “Poor girl,” the small voice said. “I’d be more upset about being married to someone who looks like Carrot Top than being ignored. They had to have been an arranged marriage. She’s way too pretty to be with an idiot like that.”

  I fought the urge to snort as they continued.

  “I mean look at his face. Doesn’t he just have the kind of face that makes you want to sock him? I bet he was bullied in school. What an asshole,” the voice said and tsked.

  Shh, not now. I need to concentrate, I scolded.

  “I’m Jacob McIntyre of the MMD Family,” he said and gestured to his wife. “And this is my beautiful wife Daniella.”

  The saying that “beauty was in the eye of the beholder” was definitely true, as I wasn’t too sure what was “beautiful” about her. Her make-up was caked on to her face that it looked completely unnatural. Her fake boobs were huge and didn’t fit her frame, just as her inflated lips didn’t fit her face. She looked as if she belonged in Los Angeles though, appearing as the usual fake Barbie-types that walked the streets. She smirked at me as she took a sip of her wine.

  “I think I saw you before,” she said, her words coming out slow.

  I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think we’ve met. I don’t get out much,” I said with a small smile.

  “Oh no, I definitely saw you. I think it was a video where your ‘husband’ shot jizz all over your face after you sucked him off,” she said. If this were a group of random people, this would’ve been the moment I ran away to hide my embarrassment. But this wasn’t a group of random people. This group were the bosses of mafia families that Bennett wanted to do something with, and I didn’t want my own feelings to get in the midst of that.

  Just as I was about to open my mouth to speak, Bennett spoke up for me. “I won’t tolerate any kind of disrespect toward my wife,” he stated. Though his expression was neutral, his voice was firm. “You know I think highly of your family, Jacob, but your wife is out of line.”

  While I was glad that he’d taken up for me, I was angry all over again that he’d really leaked the video. Even though it felt as if it was so long ago, apparently it was still fresh in some people’s mind.

  “I apologize about that, Bennett,” Jacob said and looked to me. “I’m sorry about that Mrs….”

  I glanced at Bennett, who still had his eyes trained on Jacob and Daniella. “Moreno,” I finally said. “It’s Mrs. Aurora Moreno.”

  Bennett grinned at me and rested his hand on my knee under the table before training his eyes back on Daniella. “Is there anything you’d like to say to Aurora, Mrs. McIntyre?” he asked.

  Jacob ground something out under his breath, which forced a tight smile on Daniella’s lips.

  “I’m sorry for offending you,” she said tightly. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

  I didn’t respond, only picking up my wine glass and taking a sip from it. Chase clapped his hands to get our attention and gave us a small smile. “Now that everyone’s well acquainted, let’s get down to business, shall we?”

  “Sounds good,” Bennett said with a nod. “So, I’m sure you all have seen the announcement by now, but I’m no longer apart of the Moreno Family.”

  Chase nodded thoughtfully. “I’ve been hearing many rumors about Wilson, rumors that aren’t good and are bound to cause unrest with multiple families. You got out at a good time,” he said.

  The news didn’t surprise me in the slightest. Wilson had managed to get himself into shit without even trying most times.

  “I haven’t heard of everything he’d gotten into lately, as we’d been dealing with in-house issues,” Bennett said. “But thank you for informing me.”

  “Of course,” Chase said.

  “My wife and I,” Bennett said, gesturing to me, “decided to go our own way and create our own family. I have no doubt that Wilson is going to have a target on my back for leaving his organization, so I want to create an alliance with three families that aren’t sworn enemies and who also have just as much power and connections as I do.”

  “We already did a lot of business with you, so you have our alliance without question,” Jerry said.

  “Thank you for that,” Bennett said.

  “I’ve worked with the Moreno Family for many years,” Chase started and sighed. “Your grandfather and great grandfather were great men. I don’t know what happened when your father took over. Things seemed to go downhill quickly and never recovered. I couldn’t associate with the things he did.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Bennett said. “Now you can understand why I had to separate myself from that.”

  “Of course, of course.” Chase ran his hand along his fat jaw. “I can see that you aren’t the same man as your father. I won’t put you in the same category as him until you give me a reason to. You have my alliance.”

  “Thank you for your good faith, Chase,” Bennett said with a nod. “What do you say, Jacob?”

  “The only thing I’m concerned about is the inevitable war that will happen between you and the Moreno Family,” he said. “We’re recovering from a war ourselves and can’t afford to be pulled into another one so soon.”

  “I don’t bring other families into my fights,” Bennett said. “Besides, there’s already a war with my father.”

  “He said it’s because you want to kill him for his spot,” Daniella quipped. I rolled my eyes. As I looked around the table, I realized I was the only one wearing a pantsuit. The other women wore dresses, Veronica and Daniella’s dress looking as if they were going to a club after the meeting.

  “I’m sure that’s what he said, but he and I know the facts,” Bennett said, coolly.

  “And what are the facts?” she continued.

  I cocked my head to the side. “Are you in the mafia?” I asked her.

  She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m married to a boss,” she stated matter-of-factly.

  “But are you a member of the mafia? Like a sworn in, pledged member?”

  She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “The mafia is no place for a woman.”

  “Then maybe you should be quiet while we’re trying to conduct business,” I stated, my voice firm.

  My fingers itched to wrap themselves around her throat and squeeze until she was lifeless. I envisioned her covered in blood after I stabbed her over and over again, her big wide eyes open but staring at nothing.

  “Who the hell are you to tell me what to do? You’re no better than any woman sitting at this table,” she snapped.

  I smiled. “I’m Aurora Moreno, queen of La Fedeltà. I’m not just his wife; I rule alongside him as the head of our family as a member.” I looked to Bennett. “On second thought, I don’t know how I feel about having an alliance with the MMD Family. With a talkative wife, there’s no telling what kind of information we can trust them with.”
r />   “I can assure you my wife won’t be a problem,” Jacob quickly interjected, but I shook my head.

  “You can’t even keep her mouth closed right now and you expect for Bennett and me to trust you with information that you could use against us?” I asked.

  Bennett squeezed my knee under the table in what felt like a warning. But when I looked at him, he grinned. “She has a point,” he said.

  “Allow me to have a word with her for a moment,” Jacob stated, his voice tight. He roughly grabbed Daniella by the arm and walked away a few feet. They weren’t completely in earshot distance, but we could still see them.

  “I don’t know why he won’t drop that bimbo,” Jerry muttered before picking up his wine glass. “Her mouth was why an important gun deal fell through.”

  “So, you’re in the mafia, are you, dear?” Chase asked me, completely disregarding what Jerry had said.

  “Yes, sir,” I answered.

  “Well, good for you,” he said with a nod. “It’s not very often that I meet women who are in the mafia, especially when they are married to the boss.”

  I cut my eyes at Bennett with a slight frown. It wasn’t like I willingly married this asshat. I’d just wanted to join the mafia to help kill Wilson, not make a matrimonial vow to Bennett. Either way, it was something to fight about later, not in front of families we were trying to align ourselves with.

  “She’s something special,” Bennett said, his hand moving up my thigh. I discreetly slapped it away, but it didn’t stop it from moving into dangerous territory.

  “My father used to work for his, so I guess it’s just a family tradition,” I said with a tight smile.

  “Oh? Who’s your father?”

  I swallowed hard. “Sergio DuPont,” I said, praying my voice didn’t tremble as my emotions threatened to strangle me.

  “Ah, I knew that was why you looked so familiar. Good man, he was,” Chase mused with a nod. “How is he these days?”

  “Dead,” I said, my voice flat. Bennett’s hand on my leg stopped moving, but I didn’t dare look at him. I couldn’t bear to see him gloat or appear proud that he was the reason my parents were dead. It was hard enough having to accept that I was married to him; I couldn’t deal with him boasting about what he’d done without even having to say a single word.