Kane: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Mob Daddies Book 2)

by Alexa Hart

  “Shh,” Maddie whispers to the box.

  “Maddie!” I say.

  “Hmm,” Kane says as he gently lifts the top. “What could this be?”

  As he opens the box, the puppy pops its head out and yaps again.

  “Ta-da!” Maddie says. She scoops the puppy out. “Isn’t he cute.”

  “It’s not what you think,” I say. “I told her we needed to take it to a shelter, not give it to you as a gift!”

  Kane picks up the dog. He looks a little silly, like a man holding a live grenade, but the puppy yaps and rubs his head against Kane’s large rough hands.

  Maddie nods. “Candy Kane likes you.”

  Kane coughs. “We are not calling him that,” he says.

  “But we’re calling him something, right?” Maddie says. “Because we’re keeping him? Please, please, please!!!” She jumps up and down, clapping her hands.

  “I thought this was a present for me, not you,” Kane says.

  “I’ll do all the work,” Maddie says.

  Kane sighs. “And he gets a tougher name.”

  Maddie nods. “Not a problem. We’ll name him Thor or Nails or...I know ...Monster!”

  The doorbell rings and Kane looks up with surprise. He looks at Maddie and then at me.

  “Don’t look at me. I don’t have any other animals being delivered,” I say.

  Kane looks at Maddie. “There better not be a pony named Kane Junior waiting at the other side of the door,” he says. He goes to open it and Maddie and I are giggling behind him when we see who it is. Trixie Marino is standing in the doorway wearing a red halter top and tight black leather pants. She holds out a bottle of wine.

  “Hey, Trixie!” Maddie calls out enthusiastically. “What are you doing here? We got a dog!”

  “You did?” The puppy yaps at Trixie’s feet and she carefully steps over him in spiky black boots. “Kane you keep surprising me,” she smiles at Kane and then turns to me. “I guess thanks to you our wild boy is a changed man now. A real standup citizen.”

  “Trixie,” Kane’s voice is tempered, but the edge is there.

  Trixie smiles too sweetly at Maddie. “I came to wish your dad a happy birthday.”

  I step forward and scoop the puppy up. “Hi,” I say. I can’t help but notice again that Trixie is gorgeous. Thick black hair and a perfect hourglass figure.

  She walks past Kane and hands me the wine bottle. “Be a dear and open this for us would you?”

  “Um, sure,” I say dumbly, taking the wine.

  “I can do it,” Kane says. But Trixie grabs his arm as he starts to walk by and she tugs him back. “Sit here with me and Maddie,” she says. They sit down and Trixie puts her arm around Kane, even leans in and fixes his collar. “Summer you don’t mind. You’re so good at being helpful.”

  “Sure,” I say.

  Back in the kitchen I open the wine bottle and cut the cake. Before I head back in I take the present for Kane, the framed photograph, and shove it under the sink. Giving it to him in front of Trixie feels like a bad idea.

  Trixie stays most of the evening. Maddie falls asleep on Kane’s lap and he carries her up to her room with the puppy at his heels. While he’s gone, Trixie smiles the kind of smile at me that makes me want to run for cover. She comes over and sits next to me.

  “So, Summer,” she says. “What’s your secret?”

  “My ...secret?” I ask, taking a sip of water and really, really hoping Kane hurries back down.

  “Yeah! Until a few weeks ago, he was coming over to my house most nights. But lately…” she smiles at my obvious look of surprise. “He’s been elusive.”

  “He was staying with you? But we're ...married.”

  Trixie laughs. “You say that like you believe it! Of course, he asked Julie to marry him when we found out about Maddie, but that’s only because he was being honorable. He’ll never do it for real. He’s always been adamant about that. And he’s also one to enjoy a variety of women, you know, sometimes at the same time.”

  “You know about the contract?” I ask. Nobody was supposed to know except Maddie.

  Trixie sips her wine. “Of course! At first, I was really upset about the whole thing. But then he explained about the little act. So I wanted to come out here and see for myself,” she sighs.

  “See what?” I ask.

  “How you two are getting on,” she sips her wine. “And I feel much better now.”

  “You do?” I ask.

  “Yes. Because there’s no way you can keep a man like Kane. He’ll get bored of you fast. And he hates the clingy type,” she says this with a smug attitude. “He’s never really been yours, sweetie.”

  “Everything okay?” Kane comes down the steps.

  “Peachy!” Trixie says. “Now get your coat.”

  “Why?” Kane asks.

  “I got some of the gang meeting us down at the Black Diamond.”

  “Trixie,” Kane looks exasperated.

  “Come on,” she says. “Danny’s got the crew together. It’ll be fun.”

  He comes over and stands next to me. “We don’t have a sitter.”

  “Sure you do,” she says. “Isn’t that Summer’s job!”

  “Trixie,” Kane growls. I can’t believe it. At some point, Kane told Trixie the truth, even though I couldn’t tell Uncle Rudy. I feel so deflated I nearly cry right then and there. Instead, I keep my hands busy by starting to clear the plates from the coffee table. “It’s fine. You should go. I have to get up early anyway. You two go have fun.”

  “The early bird gets the worm! Come on, Kane. You heard her,” she wraps her arm around his. “Let’s have some fun.”

  She hooks her arm around him and leans in to whisper something in his ear. He shrugs on his coat, chuckles, and just like that, they are gone. I head back into the kitchen and stuff the picture deep in the trash along with my pregnancy test.

  When I finally cry myself to sleep later that night, Kane is still out partying with Trixie.

  Chapter 20

  Kane

  The bar is brimming with the usual crew, including Danny and a few of the boys from Vinnie’s team and even Harry. I try to ignore the proprietary way Trixie takes my arm and leads me around. She’s been going too far all night, but tonight is not the night to confront her.

  “Not drinking?” Trixie says as she sidles up to the stool next to mine.

  I hold up my beer. “Is this not a drink?”

  “The Kane I know drinks whiskey on his birthday,” she says. She hands me a small glass of whiskey.

  “This Kane wants to go home. I have a puppy to deal with, and Maddie,” I say.

  “And a wife,” Trixie says. “You sound like a boring old man.”

  “Birthdays make you older, Trixie,” I shrug. Truth is, I want to get home to Summer.

  Trixie frowns and puts her arm around me. She’s drunk. “Danny, get over here,” she says.

  Danny comes over. I try to shrug her arm off my shoulder but she hangs on. Danny gives me a scathing look and I try to convey that I am not happy about it either.

  “What’s so funny,” Danny asks.

  Trixie snorts. “I was just trying to imagine the librarian here.”

  “Don’t call her that,” I say. I glare at Danny. “You told her.”

  Danny shrugs. “She eavesdrops. You shouldn’t have spent so much time avoiding your wife at my house if you didn’t want her to overhear you.”

  In the corner near the pool table, two men shout at each other and a large bouncer rumbles over and takes one by the arm.

  Trixie sips her drink. “No need to be defensive. I mean come on, if it weren’t for the bakery, she’d never have given you a second look. She’s worse than Julie.”

  I frown. “She’s nothing like Julie.”

  Trixie laughs. “No, you’re right. She’s got brown hair instead of blonde. And she thinks she’s in love with you.”

  “Trixie,” I warn. “Enough.”

  Danny eyes me.
“You always said the key to everything was not mixing business with pleasure.”

  “I’m not.”

  “He got a dog,” Trixie says.

  “You what?” Danny looks surprised.

  “It was a sneak attack,” I say. “Maddie found it.”

  “You’re breaking a lot of your own rules,” Danny frowns.

  I want to deny all this, but I can’t. The truth is, Harry called me earlier today. It was why I was late getting home. Julie and her parents got the report from the caseworker and decided to drop the case. Harry said it was because they knew they didn’t stand a chance. We were too convincing as a happy family. The problem was, even I was starting to be convinced. And I don’t want to tell Summer. I don’t want it all to end.

  Later, the whiskey warming my veins, Danny comes and sits down next to me. “Listen, I didn’t want to say anything before, but Angelo’s back in town and he’s been showing up and saying shit.”

  “What kind of shit?” I ask. After the wedding, Harry and I sent Angelo on a one-way trip to Las Vegas to stay with his mother.

  “He’s been talking about you and Summer. How you bought her for the bakery.”

  “I didn’t fucking buy her! That piece of shit. I should have sent him to an early grave.”

  “The problem is, people know where to find Summer. The bakery isn’t a secret, and you’ve made some enemies. We all have. The more she’s associated with you, the more of a target she becomes.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with wanting...more,” Danny says. “But in our business, it’s always dangerous. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing. Not that I want you with my sister, but at least she knows the world we live in.”

  “Don’t worry. I have no intention of dragging Summer down.”

  “That isn’t what I said,” Danny shakes his head.

  “But it’s true.” I take another gulp of whiskey and let it burn down my throat. The idea of Summer in danger makes me sick. Whatever game I’ve been playing with Summer has to end. And it needs to end now.

  “If she’s as into you as Trixie thinks, she may not just walk away.”

  “Don’t worry, Danny. If there is one thing I know how to do, it’s be the bad guy.”

  I shake my head. I already know what I have to do, I just dread it. I down the whiskey and order another.

  Chapter 21

  Summer

  When Kane gets home, he’s drunk. He undresses and crawls into bed next to me and he reeks of whiskey.

  I want to confront him, to make him deny what Trixie implied. It’s obvious she’s jealous. But I also don’t want to know. I’ve already decided if it’s true, I can’t stay here. But feeling Kane against me, I know I want him one more time. One last time.

  In bed, Kane doesn’t talk either. He starts to rub my back, his hands making their way to my ass. His hands move to the front of my panties and slip inside the waistband. He palms my clit and shoves my body closer to his. As he slides his fingers inside me, I gasp. I hate that I am turned on and jealous as hell all at the same time. Maybe I don’t trust him as much as I want to.

  He pulls my head to the side and kisses me, his tongue sliding into my mouth as his fingers continue to play with my clit. He continues to stroke me and I moan again. I feel him behind me, but unlike the gentleness I’ve come to expect these last few weeks he is rough. He kisses the back of my neck and thrusts his already bulging erection against my ass. There is a neediness to him that I want to believe is just that he’s drunk, but it seems more than that. And I am needy too. I want this to mean he wants me as much as I want him.

  He pulls my t-shirt up and roughly cups my breasts, stroking me until my nipples are hard and tender. Then he shoves my panties down and I can feel his erection rubbing up against my ass. My body reacts to his touch and it feels so good. We’re both desperate, and I don’t understand why, but the need is bigger than both of us. My breathing is faster and I let myself forget everything and just grind my ass into his cock. He sweeps the hair from the back of my neck and he pulls me harder against him, his lips kissing my neck as we move up and down against each other, the friction of our bodies against each other driving us both crazy.

  “You feel so fucking wet, Princess,” he growls. “Nobody gets as wet for me as you do.”

  I close my eyes and move against his fingers but even as the pleasure begins to grow, I find myself trying to make sense of this. I turn my head back toward him and he lifts his own head so he can kiss my mouth hard. This isn’t the Kane I know. Rough. Almost cruel. He slips his tongue into my mouth as his fingers stroke my clit. I gasp and my body wants him to continue even if my brain wants to stop. He wraps his other hand around my breasts and shoves me even harder against his cock. Our tongues are stroking each other’s mouths and my breathing is ragged as he continues to drive me into climax. His fingers move faster, and I close my eyes.

  “That’s it, baby,” he says as he strokes me. I buck against him but he holds me tighter, squeezing a nipple until I cry out.

  “Tell me what you want me to do, Princess?”

  “I want you to fuck me,” I say. “Like you fuck Trixie.”

  I don’t know why I say it, except maybe that I want him to get angry and deny it. Instead, he freezes for a moment like I’ve slapped him. But instead of assuring me it isn’t true, he sits up in bed and flips me on my stomach, raising my ass in the air. His movements are angry and rough and I hate how turned on I am. He puts one hand on my head, pushing me against the pillow. He slides my soaking panties all the way down to my ankles as my body still convulses from the last orgasm. It won’t take much to do it again.

  “This is how Trixie likes it,” he says.

  He takes my hips in his hands and sitting up on his knees, he slides himself into me from behind. I can feel him deep inside me and he starts to thrust into me hard. At first, I don’t know if I can handle his strength, but as he thrusts in and out I find my body rocking to meet his, my ass higher in the air. The friction feels amazing and I am groaning into the pillow, desperately clawing at the sheets as he pounds into me. I orgasm again and again and then I feel Kane shudder and cry out on top of me.

  Afterwards, he rolls over so he isn’t facing me. I turn away from him.

  “You’ve really been sleeping with Trixie this whole time?”

  He pauses for a moment and then turns to face me. His eyes are a little glazed from drink and sex, but they are as cold as his voice. He looks like the man who busted up the bakery for the first time since that night.

  “You mean fucking?” he says. “Of course.”

  “You said I belonged to you,” I say. Tears are welling in my eyes.

  “You do. Or you did.”

  “What does that mean?”

  He shrugs. “Contract is over. And you performed beautifully. Really went above and beyond. But I mean, Princess, sometimes a man needs to be with someone who knows what the hell they’re doing.”

  “Fuck. You.” I say. A part of me believes he’s lying. Knows it. And if I told him now about the baby, I might shake him loose from whatever is going on. But then I think about how he might just do what he did with Julie and ask me to stay married for the baby. Even if I want that, I don’t want to trap him into it. And I just don’t know which version of Kane to believe. The tears are falling now and I let out a small sob. This seems to be the last straw for him. He stands up and starts getting dressed.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I hate when women cry,” he says. “It’s fucking pathetic. I’m going to go see Trixie. You should be gone when I get back, understand?”

  “Not a problem,” I say, my anger in this moment bigger than my sadness.

  He closes the door and I listen, stunned, as he goes down the steps and out the front door. I’ve been a total, complete fool. I cry myself to sleep, exhausted and heartbroken.

  Chapter 22

  Kane

  The
last few days have been hell. Maddie hates me for letting Summer leave. I miss Summer like hell, and there aren’t enough bad guys in this city to punch into oblivion to feel like I didn’t make the worst mistake of my life lying to her and hurting her the way I did. Which considering my history, is saying something. Also, in a pathetic attempt to get back on Maddie’s good side, or maybe because the damn dog reminds me of Summer, I’ve kept Monster and he’s also pretty pissed about Summer being gone. He’s chewed up an accent pillow and peed all over the rug. Today I came home to find he’d knocked over the kitchen trash can and spilled coffee grounds and trash all over the goddamn floor.

  I start sweeping up the mess when I see it. It must have been shoved pretty far down, but the little monster puppy went through and dragged everything out. A pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test.

  The puppy gnaws at a small wrapped package. I take it and unwrap it. A framed photo of Summer, Maddie, and I. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  When I found out that Julie was pregnant, I felt dread. Not because of Maddie, though I’d be lying if I said I thought at the time I was ready to be a parent. I was young and stupid and Julie and I barely even liked each other. But the dread wasn’t about that. It was about being tied to Julie for the rest of my life. The dread of being tethered to another person. But this time, I am relieved. I had thought Summer would be better off without me, and she probably still would be. But I realize I don’t care. It’s selfish, but I want Summer. I want Summer and this baby and a future, whatever the hell that might look like, however dangerous it might be for all of us.

  I grab my keys and run out the door, grabbing Monster on the way. He’s yapping like crazy. This little puppy is my new favorite creature in the world. I just pray to God it isn’t too late.