by K. D Clark
She wrinkled her nose and sat up on the couch. “Is that really something you brag about?” she asked.
He wanted to laugh. She acted so naively as if not knowing how this world worked. She stayed perfectly still as he leaned close to her. He pushed her hair to one side exposing her neck. She smelled like a mix of tequila and fresh fruit. Dangerous with a hint of sweet. His teeth skimmed her ear, and she took in a deep breath. Goosebumps rose across her neck.
“And what do you brag about?” he whispered.
She swallowed before straightening her spine and turning to face him. After a moment her lips lifted into a sadistic smile much like his own. Taking him by surprise, she hooked a leg around his waist and pushed herself up so he had no choice but to sit back on the couch as she straddled him. His dick was rock hard underneath her. He instantly grabbed onto her hips. He loved the way her smooth skin felt under his rough hands. He lifted her shirt up to travel his hands up her back. She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Her tits were exactly how he’d imagined—perky and perfectly shaped like two raindrops. He groaned as she moved her hips against him. His dick strained against his pants and he knew she could feel it. He moved one hand from her back to feel between her legs. She’d completely soaked through her panties and she was now smearing her juices across his pants.
“Fuck,” he groaned. She was the most perfect women he’d ever seen. Her body was curvy in all the right places. Her stomach was flat and slightly toned despite the fact that he hadn’t seen her workout once since she’d gotten here. He pulled at the sides of her panties so she’d take them off. He never wanted to taste a woman as much as he wanted to taste her.
She leaned close to him, mimicking his earlier approach.
“This is what I brag about,” she whispered into his ear.
He stiffened.
She laughed and got up from his lap, grabbing her shirt on the way. She picked up her cup from the coffee table and went back into the guest bedroom, leaving him shocked and confused.
*****
“I got a guy,” Lucas said.
Gio sat across from Lucas at the desk in the back office. After taking a cold shower and rubbing one out, he’d gone back to the club to meet Lucas. He was pissed at Avé for the stunt she’d pulled and she was all he could think about. He needed to focus on business. They currently had a crew without a capo and he needed a solution fast.
"Yea who?” he asked. The Manhattan crew had more unmade men than made and he wasn’t ready to trust anyone to take over as capo.
"Jayce."
"The kid? You’ve got to be shitting me," he said, leveling Lucas with a glare.
“Listen, he's good. I’ve been throwing an extra pound at him each month and he's outselling everyone without getting into any of the clubs.”
"So what? He can sell. That doesn't mean he can lead a crew. He's what 18?” Giovanni asked. Giovanni had earned his button at sixteen and taken over a crew by the time he was eighteen but he’d also been born into this life. It was a lot harder to learn if you were coming in from the outside.
"19. He can make money,” Lucas said.
A moment of silence passed between the men. At the end of the day, this business came down to two things—money and respect.
"That crew is not going to respect him,” he said.
"Give him a chance.”
"You vouching for him?” Giovanni asked. If Lucas was going to put his neck on the line for this kid then Giovanni had to at least give him a chance to prove himself.
“Yea, I’m vouching for him.”
Giovanni sighed. "Fine. Bring him to New York and get him on the up and up. We'll see how he does. If he can get the respect, fine we'll let him run it.”
Lucas smirked. “He’s already on his way.”
“Of course he is.”
Giovanni’s phone vibrated against the wooden desk. He waved at Lucas, letting him know their meeting was over. He waited until Lucas had left to answer the call from Wes.
“What’s up?”
“I got a lead, a brothel in Staten Island,” he said.
“What we waiting for?” Giovanni asked.
If they had eyes on Liam, he wanted him to be taken out. Or at least dragged back to the club so Gio could handle it himself.
“It’s owned by the Irish,” Wes said.
“Fuck.”
He didn’t want a war with the Irish and if he went in and bombarded one of their brothels that was exactly what he’d be asking for. Also, he would need the go-ahead from Cassandra and he didn’t feel like explaining to her that he was putting everyone’s life on the line for Avé.
“Stay on it. Let's wait until he leaves. He’ll have to come out for air eventually,” he told Wes.
He couldn’t invade the brothel but he could wait in the wings. If he had to guess, Liam was probably frequenting Irish establishments on purpose for this exact reason. Liam had to know that Gio was trying to avoid a war.
“Got it.”
Wes hung up and Gio ran a hand over his face. He really needed to sleep.
Avé
She slipped her feet into a pair of heels that matched her pencil skirt and blouse before pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail. She hadn’t seen Giovanni or Wes the rest of the weekend. The only person in the house was her and Justine. She had to admit Justine wasn’t bad company to have but she felt a ping of jealousy when she thought about her and Gio sleeping together. She hadn’t confirmed it but there was no way someone as beautiful as Justine was walking around his house all day without them having sex. She had no reason to be jealous but her logic didn’t stop the tightness in her stomach. Sometimes she wondered what Justine was even there for if they weren’t sleeping together. The house was probably spotless most of the time since it was just Gio. Justine meal prepped some of his food for the week which contained chicken breast and usually some form of vegetables. Avé figured he had a pretty strict diet which was what helped keep his body in pristine shape.
She assumed someone new had been keeping an eye on her while Gio and Wes were gone but she didn’t leave to confirm it. She’d spent most of Saturday sleeping off her terrible hangover. She couldn’t remember anything after leaving the club but she did remember her interaction with Gio. She had still been drunk but she couldn’t blame that on what she’d done. She couldn’t deny she was attracted to Giovanni and it made her frustrated. She was trying hard to stay away from the life but she kept getting wrapped up in it. Wes had slept with her almost every night since she’d come to the house except this weekend. At first, she’d been worried that she might have said something wrong in her drunken state. Then as time had gone by it had turned to anxiousness. The only thing that had calmed her was that she’d heard Gio come in late last night while she’d already been in bed. If something had happened to Wes he would have told her. Wouldn’t he?
She slung her purse over her shoulder and opened the door only for a man dressed in a suit to greet her on the front porch. He nodded at her and followed her down the porch steps to the driveway. Like she assumed they had someone else keeping watch while they went out and did who knows what. If she was being honest she felt left out. It was her life at risk so shouldn’t she know what was going on? Had they found Liam? Was she still in danger? She got into the car as her babysitter got into an all-black Mercedes and followed her out onto the street. She got to her building and took the elevator up to her floor. Sienna was already there with paperwork spread across her desk.
“Busy morning?” Avé asked as she set her things down and logged into her computer.
“Johnson is working on a big case. Some big name guy out on bail for racketeering.”
Ave scoffed. “That sucks. What’s his name?”
“Um…” She riffled through some documents before finding what she needed. She brought the paper close to her face and then her mouth dropped open. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
“It’s Liam.”
/> It was like a huge bucket of cold water had been splashed on top of her head.
“Liam, Liam?” she asked as her heart beat heavily against her chest.
Sienna nodded. “It will be fine. I know you two had a tough break up but it will all be held in the courtroom. I doubt he’d need to come here for anything.”
Positive thinking, but that wasn’t Liam’s style. He was trying to find a way to get close to her. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone?
“He probably just needs time to get over…”
Avé drowned her out as she searched in her purse for her phone. Giovanni and Wes needed to know. If Liam was trying to corner her at work she couldn’t be here. With shaky hands, she gathered up all her stuff.
“Where are you going?” Sienna asked.
“I…ah have a doctor’s appointment I forgot.”
She rushed away from her desk before Sienna could ask any more questions. She frantically pushed for the elevator. When the doors opened with a ding, her heart felt like it stopped in her chest. He was dressed in a three-piece suit, not as nice as the suit Giovanni wore but it still looked expensive. His black hair was gelled back. His green eyes were wide and slightly red. He looked thinner than he had just a couple of weeks ago but maybe it was just her imagination. He smiled, showing off his teeth.
“Well hello, Avé,” he purred.
Her stomach clenched with disgust. He stepped out of the elevator and stood close enough to her that if she breathed heavy enough her chest would be touching his. Luckily for her, she’d forgotten to breathe.
“How’s it going at the mansion? I heard it’s a nice place,” he said, his voice coming out smooth and relaxed.
Fuck! Not only did he know where she worked but now he also knew where she was living.
“Liam! How’s it going?” Johnson said from behind her.
Liam's eyes shifted away from her. “Oh just catching up with an old friend.”
“You two know each other?” Johnson asked coming to stand right beside her, oblivious to the current state of panic she was in. He reached out to shake Liam’s hand. She took that as the distraction she needed and jumped into the waiting elevator.
“Where are you going, Avé?” Johnson asked.
“Doctor’s appointment,” she rushed out while repeatedly pushing the elevator button, praying that the door would close faster.
“I’ll see you around, Avé,” Liam said right as the doors slid shut.
She didn’t breathe until she got out to her car and was on the road to the house. Her fingers shook against the steering wheel. She didn’t know what she was going to tell her boss but she couldn’t go back. Not when Liam was deciding to show up whenever he felt like it. He’d taken away her apartment and now her job. Her anxiety started to be replaced with anger as she got closer to the house. She just wanted this to be over. By the time she opened the door her face was bright red. Giovanni was standing by the door as if waiting for her.
“What happened?” he demanded. His arms were crossed over his chest and his eyebrows fused together.
She closed the door harder than necessary. “My job. He showed up at my job out of all places, not in another dark alley, or out on the street. No right there in the open.”
“Fuck!” Gio cursed, a tick moving in his jaw and his biceps tightening. Before she could say anything else he pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear. He paced the room as his nostrils flared. It put a bit of a simmer on her own anger and she had to admit it kind of felt good to give it over to someone else. To have someone help her shoulder the weight of all this.
“He’s at her job. Now. I want him picked up. We’ll suffer the consequences later. I’ll handle it.”
He hung up the phone and stuffed it back into his pocket before his dark eyes turned to her. He had the face of someone who wanted to kill. The face of someone who had killed more men than she wanted to think about. She took a step back, a little overwhelmed by his anger.
“You’re not going back,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I’m not going back because I don’t want to,” she said, making it clear that he didn’t get to tell her what to do.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Are you always this fucking difficult?”
She didn’t answer because she figured he didn’t really want her to. They just stood there a moment looking at each other. He was a big ball of testosterone and muscles.
“Wes will take care of it,” he said but she wasn’t sure if he was saying it to her or to himself.
She pulled out her phone and walked around Giovanni to call her boss. She leaned against the kitchen counter and listened to the phone ring.
“Hello?” Mr. Walker answered. He was one of the older lawyers and was part owner of the entire office. He had a round pot belly that jiggled a lot when he laughed. He usually helped with the more complex cases but despite how hard he worked he was always in a good mood.
“Hi, its Avé. I left early this morning I forgot I had a doctor’s appointment.”
“Oh yea, Johnson said you ran out of here pretty fast,” he said.
“I was in a bit of a rush.” She cleared her throat. “When I got to the doctor's office it turned out I have a pretty bad fever. They think I might have an infection of some kind. I think its best if I take the rest of the week off if possible. You know so I don’t get anyone else sick.”
It was a poor excuse but considering she’d never missed a day of work it wouldn’t take much for him to buy it.
“Oh no that’s a bummer but we’ll be fine here. I hope you feel better, just send over the doctor’s note when you get a chance so we have something on file. ”
“Thanks, Mr.Walker.”
She hung up and walked back into the living room area. Giovanni was sitting on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees as he wrote out a text message. She thought about turning back around and going into the bedroom.
“Sit,” he said, not even turning around to look at her.
She did as he’d said, coming to sit on the couch beside him. After a minute he put the phone down.
“What did you tell your boss?” he asked, finally turning to face her. His shoulders were relaxed now and he didn’t look like he wanted to kill someone.
“That the doctor said I should take the week off. They can’t ask specifically what's wrong I just have to send them a doctor’s note.”
He nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “How?”
He scoffed. “Can’t you just let someone take care of things?”
She shook her head. It wasn’t in her nature to just allow someone to take over parts of her life. He bent over the coffee table and opened up a jar. The smell of weed filled the room as he did.
“Where’s Wes?” she asked.
He ignored her and continued putting the weed into a pipe.
“You aren’t going to tell me?”
He leaned back on the couch, lit the pipe and breathed it into his lungs. “He’s taking care of some things.”
She rolled her eyes. “How vague.”
He exhaled, causing a cloud of smoke to fill the air. She pulled out her phone and sent Wes a text message. She didn’t like the fact that he was possibly out there dealing with her crazy ex-date while she was sitting on the couch while Giovanni got high.
“Is this what you do while your men are out on a limb for you?” she snapped, unable to keep the venom out of her voice.
He took another hit before setting the pipe down and glaring at her. She thought he was going to say something but after a moment he picked the pipe back up and passed it to her. She scrunched up her nose.
“Maybe it will help with that stick up your ass,” he said.
“Fuck you.”
He pushed the pipe closer to her, and she shook her head.
He sighed. “Wes is fine. He got to your job and Liam wasn’t there. He’s searching the streets for him now.”
S
he let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
He tilted his head to the side. “You worry about him?”
“Wouldn’t you be worried about anyone who was risking their life for you?”
He smirked at her and took another hit of the pipe. This time when he offered it out to her she took it. It was out of character for her but from how fast Giovanni had gone from pissed off to at peace she was curious. Her neck was starting to hurt from keeping her shoulders bunched up so high. She put the pipe against her lips. He flicked open the lighter and turned the flame to the side so it could heat up the weed.
“Inhale,” he said.
She did, inhaling her lungs with the smoke. She pulled the pipe away from her lips and immediately started to cough. Giovanni grabbed the pipe from her and set it on the table. She coughed until her eyes watered and her lungs burned.
“This is your idea of fun?” she asked.
He sat back on the couch and she found herself doing the same.
“Where’s Justine?” she asked.
He shrugged. “She might be off today. Why do you care?’
“I don’t but don’t you think she’s a little young?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
He stared at her blankly for a moment as if trying to figure out what she was talking about.
“You think I’m sleeping with her?” he asked after a moment.
“Well aren’t you?” She couldn’t imagine that Justine was really just there to clean an already spotless home.
“Why do you care who I put my dick in?”
She shouldn’t care. It was none of her business who he did or didn’t have sex with. She shouldn’t have even brought it up.
“Just forget I said anything.” She scooted closer to him until they were almost touching. His lips lifted into that arrogant smile of his but he didn’t say anything. He grabbed the remote and flipped on the tv. Her eyes started to feel heavy as she tried to concentrate on it. Her head lolled to one side and she rested it on his shoulder. She was wading into dangerous territory but at the moment she didn’t care. She liked the comfort that his body was currently providing. His smell of cologne mixed with weed. His body heat keeping her warm. As if reading her mind, he grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over both of them. At that moment she felt the safest she had in a week.