by Penelope Sky
Vanessa was a strong woman, so she must be attracted to strong men. I fit that description perfectly, even if I wasn’t the most moral person. I did criminal things, but that didn’t lessen my strength and protectiveness.
I overheard Conway tell her exactly what he wanted, to have her marry a strong man who could take care of her.
I fit the bill.
She knew it.
I knew it.
We finished dinner then Vanessa excused herself to the restroom.
I got the bill and paid with cash—because I paid for everything with cash. I was eager to leave that public establishment and get back to my place. I preferred Vanessa in just her panties and in my bed. In a restaurant, all the men could look at her. I had to pretend to be okay with it—even though I wasn’t.
She was mine.
A brunette walked over to me, her eyes making contact with mine. She was sitting at a table with a few other girls, and as she came closer, she smiled like she knew exactly who I was.
I didn’t recognize her.
She stopped at my table. “Hey, B. How are you?”
Her face still wasn’t ringing a bell, but she obviously knew who I was. When I picked up women out on the town, I couldn’t introduce myself as Bones—not without looking like a weirdo. So I went with the first letter in the name. I told them I had a crazy long name that no one could pronounce, so I stuck with B. “Good. How are you, sweetheart?”
“Great. I’m out with some friends tonight. When I saw you over here, I just wanted to say hi.”
No one just wanted to say hi. She wanted something from me. Since I still didn’t know who she was, I assumed we’d slept together one time and then moved on. Maybe she was interested in another round. If Vanessa walked out of the bathroom and saw this, she’d flip.
I grinned at the thought. “Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a good night. I’m just waiting for my wife to come out of the bathroom.” I thought I would be a nice guy and get rid of her so she didn’t have to deal with Vanessa.
I knew my baby was a little crazy when it came to me.
“Oh…you’re married?” she blurted. “I…I didn’t see a ring.”
I looked at my left hand and made a fist. “I don’t usually wear one with my line of work.” My eyes glanced to the bathroom, and I saw Vanessa step out, all curves in her tight black dress. Her eyes scanned the room then settled on me with the brunette. It took her a few seconds to deduce what was going on.
Yep, she was pissed.
I couldn’t wipe the smug look off my face. “Have a good night. My wife is on her way now, and she’s the jealous type…”
“Oh, gotcha.” She gave me a smile then walked back to her table to her friends.
She never told me her name.
Just as she walked away, Vanessa arrived and dropped into her chair. With pursed lips, irritated eyes, and a mood that could black out the sun, she wasn’t pleased by what she’d just seen. “Hitting on a man when his date goes to the restroom…real classy.”
I couldn’t even pretend not to enjoy this. “Your face is getting so red.”
“Is not,” she said defensively. “I just don’t appreciate people who pull that stunt.”
“What makes you so certain she was even hitting on me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Cut the shit.”
I got hard in my slacks watching how upset she got. She was even more possessive of me than I was of her.
“Let’s go.” She rose to her feet and snuck a look at the brunette who’d made a pass at me, who happened to be looking this way.
When I was out of my chair, Vanessa grabbed my hand and interlocked our fingers together as she walked out of the restaurant. She’d never shared affection with me publicly, and we certainly had never held hands, but now our fingers came together. My hand was twice as big as hers, but they still lined up the right way. She pulled me out of the restaurant, like a horse pulling a carriage ten times its weight.
How could I not enjoy this little tantrum? It was hilarious.
We made it outside then walked to my truck, still holding hands. The brunette was long gone, but Vanessa didn’t hold her embrace.
“Are you always this jealous?”
“I’m not jealous.”
I cocked an eyebrow, seeing the way her nostrils were still flaring. “I thought you were going to throw a fist back there.”
“I should…to teach her some class. You don’t go after a man when his woman is in the bathroom. It’s rude and trashy. She’s lucky I didn’t dump that wine bottle on her head…”
I chuckled. “This is hilarious.”
“It’s not funny. I don’t care that she was hitting on you. I just think that was really rude.”
“If you get this upset every time someone is rude, then you must live a bitter life.”
She dropped my hand, her attitude flaring up. “How would you feel if some man hit on me while you were in the restroom?”
“That would never happen.”
“But what if it did?” she pressed.
“Trust me, it would never happen.” No man would be stupid enough to cross me. I terrified any man I came into contact with, and even if they thought Vanessa was their soul mate, they still wouldn’t cross that line. I was over two hundred pounds of solid muscle. I was a goddamn beast. Unless the man packed enough ammo for a war, provoking me was a death wish.
“And if it did, would you be upset?”
If a man hit on Vanessa while I went to take a piss, they would be dead. I’d smash their skull into the table until their brains turned into a dish to be served. Not only was she my woman, but the behavior would be disrespectful—and I didn’t allow that shit to fly. “Not sure.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”
“Admit you’re jealous, and I’ll reconsider my answer.”
“I’m not jealous,” she repeated.
“Fine.” We arrived at the truck, and I opened the passenger door for her.
She stared at me in surprise. “I didn’t know you had manners.”
“Don’t get used to it.” I shut the door behind her and got into the driver’s seat. I started the engine, cranked the heat up so Vanessa wouldn’t be cold, and then drove back to my apartment.
She stared out the window as we sat in silence.
She shattered the quiet with her gentle words. “Alright…I was jealous.”
I grinned even though her words weren’t a surprise. “And I’d be even more jealous.”
She kept her gaze out the window, not looking at me despite her confession.
I already knew how she felt about me, so admitting this didn’t make much of a difference, but seeing her in action was sexy. I liked seeing the rage on her face when she saw me chatting with the brunette when she stepped out into the hallway. She got so mad so fast.
“So…was she hitting on you?”
“Kinda. We slept together before, and she was stopping by to say hi.”
Her head snapped in my direction. “You could have kept that information to yourself.”
“Why? I don’t lie.”
“And she wanted to sleep with you again?”
“I think that’s where she was going. But I’m not sure. I couldn’t even remember her name.”
“How could you not remember the name of someone you slept with?” she asked incredulously.
I shrugged. “There’s too many to even count…let alone remember.”
“You’re disgusting.” She turned back to the window.
“I’m disgusting?” I asked incredulously. “How many men have you been with?”
“None of your business.”
“No, tell me.” She thought she could judge me, but I could judge her just as easily.
“I remember all of their names. That’s all you need to know.”
“Two? Three?”
She refused to answer.
“Come on, baby. You know how to fuck a man, so you have some ex
perience. Four? Five?”
“I didn’t ask your number. So why are you asking for mine?”
“Just curious.”
“It’ll only make you jealous.”
I laughed because it was absurd. “I get jealous when men look at you. I get jealous when I think about sharing you. I get jealous if your hand is between your legs instead of me. But I don’t get jealous about the men before me. They’re all nothing compared to me. I’ll wipe away their memory by the time I’m done with you—if I haven’t already. They were just practice so you’d be ready for me. Men don’t get jealous of boys.”
She slowly turned her head back to me, her green eyes reflecting the lights from the dashboard.
I held her gaze for a moment before I turned my eyes back to the road. “You want to know how I got rid of her?”
She didn’t ask.
“I told her I was married—and my wife is really jealous.”
“Why were you trying to get rid of her? I thought you liked to torture me.”
“No.” My hand moved to her bare thigh, my fingertips slipping slightly underneath her dress. “Why would I want to be with a woman I don’t even remember when I can have the one woman I’ll never forget?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat, her eyes on the road ahead of her. Her thighs tightened together slightly, and her breathing picked up a little. She ran her fingers over her hair. “Drive faster.”
“Can’t wait to have your way with me, huh?” I asked with a slight grin.
She unbuckled her safety belt then scooted to the middle seat between us. She pressed her body into mine and started kissing my neck and jawline, her hand moving around my chest and to the top of my slacks. “Yes.”
I held her against my chest in the elevator, her legs wrapped around my waist with her arms locked around my neck. She kissed me with possession as I ground her pussy against my hard dick in my slacks.
Her dress was pulled up to her waist, and her thong was visible in the reflection of the metal doors. I wanted to pin her against the wall and fuck her right then, but I knew I wanted all of her, naked on my bed so I could take my time and enjoy her.
A man could fuck hard, but he should never fuck fast.
The doors opened, and I carried her inside, feeling her want me so desperately her hands shook. She was jealous, possessive, and so deeply attached to me that there was no plausible explanation to make sense of any of this. She hated me, but she wanted me so much she could barely breathe.
Made no goddamn sense.
Maybe she and I would never make sense.
I pulled my kiss away even though she looked heartbroken the second my embrace was gone.
“I left something for you on the bed. Put it on and wait for me. Face down, ass up.” Lingerie wasn’t a fetish of mine, but I loved having Vanessa put it on obediently and wait for me. It made me feel like I really owned her, had power over her.
She trailed her hands down my chest before she walked away, her hands pulling her dress up over her ass and thong.
I watched her ass shake until she disappeared in the hallway, my cock so hard it nearly burst through my trousers. There was nothing I wanted more than to pull my belt out of the loops and tie her to my headboard. I wanted to take over her body like it was a physical possession. I wanted to restrain her, to teach her that I could give her rights and then take them away.
But I promised her I wouldn’t do it again.
I would keep my promise, but I would definitely revisit the conversation.
I poured myself a drink and let the fire move down my throat and into my belly. Picturing her getting dressed, pulling on the teddy and garters, made my cock press harder into my fly. The sexiest woman I’d ever been with was waiting for me, pulling on the lingerie I chose for her so she could be everything I wanted.
Letting her live was the best decision I’d ever made.
Just as I finished the glass, I heard the sound of the elevator.
It hit the bottom floor and then started to move up again.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my forearm and then slowly walked to the system. It was rising because someone had entered the code into the panel.
The code that only I had.
I’d never told it to Max.
And Vanessa didn’t know what it was. I made sure she didn’t watch me enter the seven-digit pin.
My heart started to pound in my chest because I didn’t understand what was going on. It could just be a malfunction of the elevator and wasn’t caused by any specific event. Maybe there was nothing wrong at all.
But something told me otherwise.
I hit the button to the camera and saw who was standing inside.
Joe Pedretti and four heavily armed men.
Jesus Christ.
The closest gun I had was in my office, which was at the very end of the hallway. All I had near me was knives from the kitchen. I would run down the hall, but the doors were about to open. If they searched for me, they would find Vanessa.
And I knew exactly what Joe would do with Vanessa.
I’d rather die than let that happen.
The doors opened, and the smug look on Joe’s face made my heart fall into my stomach. I didn’t know how they’d tracked me down or even figured out it was me, but maybe I’d underestimated them.
And overestimated myself.
I stood with my arms by my sides, refusing to beg or run. I held Joe’s gaze without a hint of fear, keeping a stoic expression while I figured out what to do. I was outnumbered, and even if I did have a gun, there wasn’t much I could when we were this close to each other.
All four guns were pointed at me.
Joe was the only one who kept his pistol aimed at the ground. “Weren’t expecting me?” He spoke with a heavy Italian accent, his arrogance escaping in his tone. He was in a black suit with a black tie, looking like an important man.
But important men didn’t need to look important.
“If I were, I would have prepared a nice cheese board and some wine.” If this was how I met my end, it wouldn’t be on my knees, and it wouldn’t be with fear. I’d be the shit-talking asshole I’d always been.
Joe’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. “It’s easy to pretend when the adrenaline is going. But once the fear replaces it, I don’t think you’ll be so quick with the jokes.”
“It wasn’t a joke.”
One of his men cocked his gun.
“Ooh…scary,” I said sarcastically. “You must mean business.”
He smacked the butt of the rifle into my face, making me bleed instantly.
I didn’t react at all, not even to wipe the blood away. “That’s not how you use a gun, little man.”
He clenched his jaw then pointed the barrel right at me. “Then let me show you—”
“Hold on.” Joe pressed his gun toward the ground. “I want him on his knees. This is an execution, after all.”
I couldn’t call for backup, and I couldn’t communicate with Vanessa. I hoped they didn’t know she was there with me. I suspected they didn’t because they would have searched for her the second they walked inside. They were under the impression I was alone. They would kill me then leave—and leave my baby alone.
That was the ideal outcome.
I was about to die, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew I would die young. In my line of work, you didn’t live long. Something always came up and bit you in the ass. I’d let my emotion cloud my judgment, and now I was about to die without getting the retribution I wanted in the first place.
It was disappointing.
“On your knees.” Joe nodded to the ground.
“I prefer to stand,” I said sarcastically. “But thanks.”
He nodded to his two men.
They came up behind me then kicked both of my legs until I was forced to the ground. Then they tied my wrists together, keeping my hands secured behind my back so I was helpless. My face would crash into the floor the second the bullet was in my brain.
I would bleed out all over my apartment.
That’s how Vanessa would find me.
Two men remained behind me while the other two kept their guns pointed at me.
Joe placed his gun in his holster. “I’ve managed to trace you back here. But I haven’t figured out your motive. Why did you try to kill me? That has remained a mystery to me.”
My eyes caught something in the periphery. Vanessa’s form appeared in the hallway, wearing the black lingerie I’d asked her to put on. I didn’t look directly at her to give her location away.
I wanted to tell her to hide.
I saw her image disappear a second later, knowing she’d run for it. This was the ideal situation for her. She couldn’t pull the trigger herself, but Joe would do the dirty work for her. She wouldn’t even have to watch. She would just hear the gunshot, wait for them to leave, and her freedom would be restored.
This would just be a bad dream.
I wished I could say something to her, apologize for the way I’d treated her. She was an innocent person who happened to be the daughter of the man I hated. She did nothing wrong, and as I got to know her, I recognized all of her wonderful qualities. She didn’t deserve what I’d done to her.
I actually felt remorse.
But that didn’t matter anymore.
I looked into Joe’s face. “You killed my mother.”
“Your mother, huh?” he asked. “I kill a lot of people, so you need to be more specific.”
“She was a prostitute. It was Christmas Eve. Her name was Lara. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She was beautiful. You fucked her, killed her, and then left her body in a dumpster. I was a small boy at the time, so there was nothing I could do about it. But once I became a man, I decided to punish you for what you did.”
“And how did that go?” Joe asked with a laugh. “Now you’ll be murdered in your own palace. I wonder how long it will take for someone to realize you’re missing…since you don’t have anyone.”
I felt the pain in my chest but ignored it. Vanessa said something similar to me once, that I only kept up my vendettas because I had nothing else to live for. No family and no friends…I was just alone. I had nothing to lose.
“I don’t feel bad for killing your mother. If she didn’t want to die, she shouldn’t have been a whore.”