by B. B. Hamel
I turned and left the room, shutting the door softly behind me.
Something still felt wrong about this. I agreed with my own thinking, that making peace made sense in this situation. But still, it seemed too convenient. I couldn’t understand what the Spiders had to gain from peace. That was bothering me the most. I couldn’t see their motivations, because they seemed so unpredictable and random.
There was no face to the Spiders. Right now, it was just an organization. Entering into peace talks, even if they failed, would humanize them.
They had everything to lose in this and nothing to gain. But something had to be happening to pressure them to the table.
I walked back toward the room. Up ahead, Cassidy was leaning up against a wall, her one leg cocked back. She smiled as I approached.
“How did it go?”
“He said he’d think about it.”
“So better than you expected.”
“True.” I stopped in front of her and crossed my arms. “You’re not telling me something,” I said.
“What?”
“Listen, Cassidy. I don’t know what you’re holding back or why, but this whole thing seems like a trap. Even you have to see that.”
She nodded slowly. “I see it.”
“So why are we trying to make this happen?”
“You’re right that I’m not telling you something.”
I sighed. At least she had admitted it.
“I need to know everything if you want me to help you.”
I could see that she was torn. She looked away, down the hall, and then back toward me.
“I can’t say it,” she answered finally. “I’m sorry, Rafa. I trust you more than anyone else, but what I’m holding back is too important to say. I promised I’d keep it a secret, even from you, and I’m going to.”
I clenched my jaw. “Must be a pretty important person to promise that to.”
“It is important. And if you knew, or anyone else knew, all of this would fall apart. I think this peace is real, Rafa.”
“I want it to be, but I don’t trust these people like you do. After everything that happened, I don’t fucking get it.”
She stepped toward me, frowning. “I know. I don’t blame you.”
“They nearly fucking killed me.”
She reached up and touched my face, staring into my eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t need you to be sorry.” I reached up and grabbed her hair, pulling her slightly closer to me. “I just need you.”
She took a sharp breath. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You want me to trust you? I already do. But you’re my priority. That child is my priority. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
I kissed her, pressing her up against me, tipping her head back. She kissed me back, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. We pressed ourselves together, and it suddenly hit me that this may be one of the last times we could do this before shit went down.
I pulled back and took her by the hand, dragging her behind me. I went up to the first door I found that wasn’t an apartment and tried to open it, but the door remained locked. Cassidy swiped her card and the door instantly opened.
I glanced at her but didn’t give a fuck. We stepped into the empty room, and I shut the door behind us, locking it with the manual slide lock.
I barely took the time to register where we were. It was clearly a storage room, but it took me half a second to realize what it was storing: boxes and boxes of ammunition.
I didn’t care, though. I grabbed her and pulled her against me, kissing her hard. She didn’t seem to mind either as she kissed me back. I pressed her up against a storage rack, the bullets rattling in their boxes, and began to unbutton her pants. She groaned as I slipped my hand down beneath her panties and found her soaking pussy.
“Fuck I love how fast you get wet,” I whispered as I kissed her neck.
“I can’t help it.”
“Good. I love that you know what I want as soon as you see me.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you. I want every inch of you.” I slipped my fingers inside her, and she gasped, groaning. I kissed her again, hard and desperate, like a man drowning.
There was a big secret between us, but I didn’t care. It didn’t really matter. I knew in this moment that what I had said out in the hallway was true. Cassidy was my priority, and maybe she had been since the moment we met. Now that she was probably carrying my child, I would never let anything happen to either of them.
That thought only made me want her so much more. I worked her pussy, my fingers rolling along her soaking spot, rubbing her swollen clit. She reached forward and unbuckled my belt, moaning as she kissed me, and managed to work my pants down. She slipped my cock from my briefs and began to stroke me as I worked her.
It was desperate and dirty, and exactly what I fucking needed.
“I can’t wait,” she whispered. “I don’t want to wait another second.”
“What do you need?”
“I need you inside me. Rafa, please.”
I grinned and pressed my fingers inside her. She let out a low moan.
“Say please again.”
“Please,” she groaned.
I pulled my fingers back and grabbed her hips. I turned her around and quickly pulled her shorts and panties completely off. As she stepped out of them, I began to lick her pussy from behind, wanting a taste before she got what she wanted.
She moaned, holding on to the rack as my tongue slipped up and down her spot. I pressed my tongue inside her, working her in circles, loving her taste. I squeezed her hips and slapped her ass as I licked her, working her. She was groaning, and I could tell her legs were shaking from the pleasure rocking through her core.
I stood, my cock hard as fuck. Nothing made me harder than her ass in the air, her dripping pussy waiting for my cock to fill it up. I took her hips and slowly pressed my thick cock deep between her legs.
She gripped the rack and dipped her head down, moaning. “Oh shit,” she said. “Fuck, Rafa.”
I grunted, loving the way our skin felt. Nothing was better than my bare cock inside her as I slowly began to work her, my cock sliding in and out. She was dripping wet and warm as fuck, tight like a vice, and her ass was the perfect roundness that made me want to bite its perfectly smooth spot. I gripped her hips, pushing deep, and leaned forward. I took her chin and tipped her head back.
“You’re mine,” I said. “Every inch of you is mine. What’s growing inside you is mine. You’re my fucking girl.”
“Yes,” she groaned as I slowly worked her. “I’m yours. I’m all yours, Rafa. Please.”
She began to twist her hips, working back against me. I knew what she wanted. I knew she wanted to ride my thick cock until she came, and I was going to give it to her. I began to work in and out, letting her do most of the work, letting her set the pace.
She twisted and worked her back, her ass sliding up and down my cock. I slapped her and she groaned, working faster as I grabbed her hair. She loved it when I tipped her head back and slammed myself inside her, fucking her rough.
She gripped the rack harder, the bullets all rattling in their boxes, clinking metal and gunpowder. I fucked her tight pussy hard, loving the smell of her, the sound of her, the sensations as they ran along my nerves and through my skull.
I gripped her hips harder, fucking her fast and savage. I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to hear her come, needed to feel her tight pussy contracting on my cock as she lost control of herself. Nothing made me feel better than watching that.
I pulled her hair back and watched the length of her spine slam back against me, her muscles working faster, her hips rolling along my length. I pressed deep inside her, working with her, loving the soaking, slick feel of her cunt wrapped around me. I could barely breathe as sweat slowly trickled down my chest.
“Rafa,” she groaned. “Keep going. Fuck, keep going.�
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“Come on, girl.” I slapped her ass. “Work fucking harder. Give me what I want.”
She groaned, gripping the metal shelves, pressing back against me. I grunted as her ass slammed against my cock. I slapped her ass harder, harder, fucking her deep, making her take my cock, making her mine.
She tipped her head forward, and I watched the muscles in her back tense. Her moans got louder, lower, and I knew she was close. I fucked her harder, holding her hips as she bucked against me, fucking her relentlessly.
She came hard as I continued to slam myself into her. I could feel my own orgasm rolling around in my mind, getting closer, building through my veins.
I held her hips hard as I fucked her, her orgasm washing through the room, and I came. She tipped me over the edge, and I filled her up, coming deep inside her.
We continued moving that way, slowing gradually until finally I pulled out of her and stepped back, gasping.
She turned and threw her arms around me, kissing me. I held her and kissed her back.
This was what I needed. Maybe I hadn’t realized it, but it was the important thing. I needed a woman who could push me, fight back, who was strong and independent and smart. It helped that her pussy drove me fucking wild, and I couldn’t get enough of it once I’d gotten a taste.
We got dressed in silence, enjoying each other’s company. I loved watching the lines of her body as she pulled her panties back on, smiling shyly at me.
We left the room, holding hands.
31
Cassidy
The decision happened fast, and there was no real time for us to prepare. Only a few hours after Rafa had spoken with Arturo, we were told that the peace deal was going down.
I got out my laptop as soon as I heard and began to search for the Spiders. I knew it was mostly just a cover, since Louisa was probably listening in. She knew what was happening, and I hoped she knew what she was doing.
I hated keeping this secret from Rafa, but I was doing this for him. If the mob and the Spiders kept fighting, we would never get away from it. There would always be a war, even if Arturo and them no longer cared about me. Rafa would be stuck in it, and he’d always be in danger.
If there was peace, there was one less thing I had to worry about. I didn’t want the father of my child to get killed after all.
That wasn’t fair. I didn’t want Rafa to get killed for selfish reasons. I wanted him, needed him, and I was realizing it more every day. He was kind and strong, the kind of man I knew could take care of me but wouldn’t object when I wanted to take care of myself. The more I peeled back the violent mobster outside, the more I saw him for what he really was.
Kind, handsome, and strong. He knew something was happening that I wasn’t telling him, and yet he didn’t push. He trusted me.
The Spiders took over my computer eventually, but there wasn’t a conversation. This time, it was just a date, a time, and a place.
Rafa frowned at the screen. “Tomorrow night. In the warehouse district.”
I nodded. “Makes sense. Empty and remote.”
“Hard to plan on such short notice.”
“That’s probably why they picked it.”
He grunted. “I’ll tell Arturo.” He stood up.
“Wait,” I said. “There’s one more thing.”
He sighed. “Please don’t tell me that there’s another twist.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “No twist.”
“Okay. What is it?”
“I want to come to the meeting.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“I have to come, Rafa.”
“Even if I said that was okay, it’s not up to me.”
I gave him a look. “We both know that you could make it happen.”
“I don’t want to make it happen.” He crossed his arms and stared at me, exasperation clear on his face. “You just keep wanting to dive headfirst into danger, don’t you?”
“It’s not that.”
“It is, though. I can’t protect you if all you want to do is risk your life.”
“You don’t need to protect me. Not with this.”
“That’s what you said about the Spiders before.”
“I wasn’t wrong. You were the one who almost died.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m not just protecting you. I’m protecting our baby, too.”
“I do get it, but I need to be there.” I stared at him, hoping he’d understand. “Please, Rafa. This is the last thing I’ll ask.”
He watched me for a few seconds before finally relaxing his posture. “Okay,” he said. “Against my better judgment, again, I’ll do what you ask. But this is the last time, Cassidy.”
“Thank you.” I smiled and kissed him on the lips.
“You’re welcome. Now I need to go let Arturo know about this.”
“Good luck.”
He nodded, turned, and left the apartment.
The mob was more like an army than a loose organization of criminals, especially as it mobilized to go to this meeting.
There were at least a hundred men, each of them well armed and wearing body armor. They were terrifying men, the sort of men you imagined were in the mob. They were the soldiers, the lowest level of the mafia, and the most dangerous. Each man was a killer, and each man was paid well for it.
I didn’t know the plan, but I could clearly see that the mob was moving out in force. The Spiders had never expressly forbade this, so I assumed they would show up in force as well. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I could tell that it wasn’t going to be good.
I stood off to one side in the shade, watching everyone get ready. I kept looking around nervously, trying to find Louisa, but she was nowhere to be seen. I actually hadn’t heard anything about her since I saw her in the stream, and I had to assume she was busy with her own preparations.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
I turned around, startled. Vince smiled at me.
“Oh, yeah. It is.”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Good for you. I assume Rafa was pretty pissed about it?”
“He was.”
Vince laughed and stood next to me. We stood there in silence for a minute, watching the preparations.
I liked Vince. He seemed different from the other men, not more reserved, but more serious. He seemed to understand something that nobody else did, or at least he always had that expression. I felt comfortable around him, though I didn’t really know him.
“Rafa likes you a lot,” Vince said finally.
“I feel the same way about him.”
“Good. So you’ll listen when I say this.” He looked at me, his expression hard. “Don’t get yourself killed.”
“I don’t plan on it,” I said, taken aback.
“Good. So when Rafa says run, you’ll fucking run. If he says to scream, you’ll scream. Right?”
I nodded once. “Right.”
“Good.” He looked back over at the men. “Are you really pregnant?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I haven’t taken a test yet.”
“Take one as soon as you can. Don’t hold this over his head.”
“I’m not. He chose this. He wanted this.”
“That was before.” He shook his head. “He cares a lot about you, Cassidy, but who knows what that man really wants.”
He nodded at me and then walked away, leaving me stunned and confused.
What had Rafa said to Vince that would make him come to me like that? I couldn’t imagine it. Rafa seemed so excited for me to be pregnant, and now Vince was suggesting otherwise.
I didn’t know what to feel, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it. The men were climbing into trucks as the bosses called out orders. Vince was in the midst of them, rounding them up, getting everyone moving.
Someone waving caught my eye. It was Rafa, standing near a big black truck. I wave
d back and tried to smile, but I was shaken.
I headed over to him. The lights of the truck blinded me for a second.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready.”
“Come on.” He climbed into the driver’s seat.
I got in the passenger’s side. As soon as I was in, we started rolling out. It was eleven, an hour before the meeting was scheduled.
“The plan is simple,” he said. “We’re getting there early and the guys are setting up. We’ll stick here, in the car, until it’s close to time. We’ll meet up with the other bosses and watch what goes down.”
“Fine,” I said.
“You okay?” he asked, glancing at me.
“I’m fine.”
He nodded and concentrated on driving, not pressing me any further. I couldn’t tell if he noticed my apprehension around him, but that didn’t matter. He probably thought I was just nervous about what was going to happen.
I was nervous, of course. I’d never done something like this, and I knew it was going to be dangerous. Hell, everyone kept telling me that I was stupid for wanting to come along.
But this was happening because of me. I couldn’t stay away. I wasn’t that kind of person. Even after everything, I still had to put myself out there and see things through. Rafa seemed to understand that.
Maybe he did, or maybe he didn’t. I thought he understood and wanted me anyway, but maybe Vince was right. Maybe he was only doing this out of some kind of pride or obligation.
I hated that Vince had thrown me for a loop at this final hour. Things were about to come to a head, and I’d learn soon enough if I really was pregnant or not. I hadn’t questioned things until this moment, heading to the most dangerous meeting of my life.
The caravan headed out of the compound and through the city. Nobody stopped us, and we blew through every red light. I assumed the police had been bought off, and if they had been, it was incredibly impressive. It was just another example of how much money and power the Barone family actually had.
We arrived at the spot around eleven twenty. The cars pulled up, and everyone got out. Orders were called out as I stood next to our car. Rafa conferred with a few guys I didn’t recognize, and I just stood around and watched.