by Bella King
I grabbed his thigh to keep myself from falling over, pushing myself back up, but keeping my hand there. Holding his like that made me feel more powerful. In fact, the most powerful I ever felt was when I had been riding his cock in the master bedroom. It was thrilling to fuck a mafia boss.
“You sure about that?” I asked, my voice laced with slight sexual undertones.
Caleb glanced at me. “You’re one to talk. You’ve been living on the dangerous side so long that you don’t even realize how dangerous your life is. I keep telling you. Our lives aren’t that much different.”
He was right, yet again. Being a cop was dangerous. So much so that I didn’t even realize how risky my actions had been last night. Doing stuff like that was second nature to me. I always took more risks than necessary in order to close a case at work. That translated into risks in my life outside work too. It was hard to decouple them.
That was the case with Caleb as well. I could see that he wanted to use mafia tactics to seduce me, but they came off as harsh and unwarranted. I think a simple date would have done nicely, but then again, I would have never agreed to go with him if he hadn’t taken me the way that he did, much less made love to him the way I had.
I had to give it to him. His game was working far better than I thought it would, but maybe that’s why he was the boss and I was a lowly cop whose own supervisor didn’t believe her when she was snatched up and shipped out to Italy. He had me beat by a mile.
“Hey,” Caleb said. “We’re here.”
I looked up to see the car sitting idle in the parking lot of an upscale breakfast place. It was a nice change from the dreary hotel that I had slept in, and I looked forward to stuffing myself with an authentic Italian breakfast.
I jumped out of the car fast enough for Caleb to think I might be running away again, but I circled around and waited for him to step out with me. He must not have been as hungry as I was, because he slowly walked up to me and offered his arm. I took it, wishing he would hurry up already, and we walked into the bustling interior of the breakfast shop.
There were croissants already on the table when we sat down, so I snatched one before my ass hit the red cushioned seat and shoved it into my mouth. Caleb looked amused, but waited until I was done chewing to start talking.
“We’re at a crossroads here, Kalila,” he said, drumming his fingers on the sleek wooden table between us. “We have some serious decisions to make.”
“I’ve already made them,” I said, straightening my back and taking a large gulp of water.
“Have you? Then this talk will be easy,” Caleb said, crossing his legs. “But I would like to be more truthful with you. There are some things that you still don’t know.”
I leaned in, cautious but interested in what he had to say. “Oh really? Tell me then,” I demanded.
He nodded, taking a deep breath. “I told you that your police unit doesn’t actually want to end the mafia’s involvement in your neighborhood. Well, it goes a bit deeper than that. I suspect you’re not going to be welcomed back the way you think you will if you choose to return.”
He had my attention. I perked up and frowned. “Explain,” I said grabbing another buttery croissant and taking a large bite from it.
“Your police department has been peddling the drugs from their busts to boost their own private income. Your supervisor, who I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is involved, has been building his stash of dirty money for years. Those officers who were killed on the job? They were his movers. It’s dangerous to move stuff like that, especially when it’s stolen from my boys.”
“Why should I believe you?” I snapped back, feeling sweat forming under my armpits uncomfortably fast as he revealed this information to me.
“The stolen drugs are easy to spot. Nobody had cocaine that pure. Nobody,” Caleb stated confidently. I could tell he took pride in the fact. “Derick is the ringleader, which took me longer than I care to admit to figure out. He’s your supervisor, correct?”
I nodded, already overwhelmed by what he was telling me.
“Then you’re as good as dead if you go back. You got too close. You’re covered in gasoline and Derick is the flame. You won’t last 24 hours back on the force. I promise,” Caleb said, leaning back and crossing his arms. “So,” he said, the faintest trace of a smile flickering across his lips, “What is your plan now?”
I placed my head in my hands and groaned, feeling defeated. “What the fuck?” I growled into my palms.
“I can have Derick picked off, if you know what I mean, but I’d rather take down the whole operation. I need to get married. I need to get out of this,” Caleb said.
I looked up at his intense gaze, seeing the honesty in his eyes. I didn’t think he was lying, but I was heartbroken over this. I had trusted Derick. I thought I was doing something pure, but it turns out that I was working for the enemy. There were no good guys here, only demons in disguise.
I nervously ran my fingers through my hair. “I need proof,” I said, my hand trembling as I tried to breathe normally.
“I will show you proof, Kalila, but you should eat first,” Caleb said softly.
“Okay,” I replied quietly. “And if I do marry you, we’re going to put these people in jail, right?”
“Anything you want,” Caleb said with a smile. I could tell that he meant it.
Chapter 18
Nothing is worse than betrayal.
I tried to enjoy breakfast with Caleb, but my brain was giving me a hard time. I didn’t doubt that he was telling the truth, but I still wanted to see proof because it was so difficult to stomach the fact that Derick was behind a drug-smuggling ring while being head of the department. Hell, if Caleb’s story was correct, then he was the one who had the previous head killed so that he could take his place.
Thinking about it was almost enough to kill my appetite, but I knew that I had to eat to have the energy for what I was going to see today. I had some hard decisions to make, but if I really wanted to be the hero, it looked like I might actually have to marry Caleb after all. That was crazy.
I kept looking up at him as I shoveled eggs and bacon into my mouth, barely tasting it as I swallowed without much chewing. Caleb was everything I had wanted in a man and more but getting past his dark history was going to be a challenge.
I saw so much crime and death on the streets because of the mafia. It may have also been the police department, but they wouldn’t even be there if not for Caleb and his crew. Now, Caleb was willing to throw all that away, but why? To save himself, to be the hero, or just as an excuse to marry me?
Living in luxury with Caleb would feel wrong if the crime in my city wasn’t fixed. With how close I had grown to him, the idea of getting married wasn’t that farfetched, but we would have to make some serious deals if I were to justify doing something so drastic. I wasn’t willing to run away from the horrors that occupied my home streets. I was a bigger person than that.
I saw Caleb’s proposal in a new light. If he had explained it to me this way the first time, I would have been more agreeable from the start, but I don’t think that’s what he really wanted. I believe that he actually wanted me to fall in love with him for reasons other than my own selfish heroism streak. I found that fascinating.
Caleb drove us back to the mansion, where there was already a crew working on the torn-up grass around the house. I felt a little guilty for how I had made my exit, and more than a little embarrassed that I was back so soon, and willingly at that.
I was coming back with a new mission this time, though. I was no longer a victim or a captive, I was a free woman who needed to do the right thing. It was time for me to swallow my pride and take the situation as it truly was. The right thing was to marry Caleb, but first, I needed to spend more time with him. I was willing to take the chance and see if I would actually fall in love with him. The funny thing was, I already had. I just didn’t realize it yet.
“I have video footage of Derick moving a b
rick,” Caleb said when we were in one of the many entertainment rooms of the house. “It wasn’t easy to obtain, but this is definite proof that he’s involved.”
I crossed my arms, leaning back on the tan sofa as sunlight shone through the window and cascaded across the comfortable room. Caleb was standing in front of a wide television with a remote in his hand, the sunbeams shining around him like he was a glowing gift from god.
“Play the tape,” I said, my brain going back to work mode. I felt like I was back at the police station, about to review crime tapes with the rest of the team. It was a comforting feeling, like I was in control again.
Caleb clicked the remote, and the TV turned on. There was already a paused video on, with a date and time permanently encoded in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Caleb pressed the play button, and it started.
On the screen, I saw Derick carrying a large black duffle bag over his shoulder. His stance and stride were impossible to miss, but the camera caught his face as well, as he walked toward a person near the edge of the screen. Money was given to Derick, and he gave the bag to the stranger. That was the end of the video.
“This doesn’t tell me anything,” I said, looking over at Caleb skeptically.
“There’s more,” he said, a smug look on his face. “Watch this one,” he said, clicking the remote and playing another video.
This time, the video showed Derick talking to a group of thugs, and there was audio. I heard Derick’s familiar voice from the speakers around the room. “I have a lot more product than I was expecting, so we’re going to have to move it quick if we want to get it all on the streets before the week is up. Feel free to discount it if you have to, but I expect it to be out of here by Sunday. Any questions?”
The group of thugs shook their heads, but then one spoke up. “What about Caleb? He snatched up one of your guys.”
“Kalila?”
A shiver traveled down my back as he said my name. I wasn’t expecting this to be about me.
“Yeah, that girl.”
“I don’t think she’s a threat to our supply, but I’ll make sure she’s either killed there, or dead when she gets back. I don’t want her playing hero,” Derick said, his voice deep and serious.
Tears welled up in my eyes as he dismissed the thugs and Caleb stopped the video. The betrayal stung a lot more than I thought it would, and Caleb was right, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would be dead if I returned to the police force.
Derick was a traitor, and the fact that he was willing to kill anyone who interfered with Caleb’s mafia operations made me feel like throwing up. I couldn’t stand to watch any more of the incriminating videos that Caleb had waiting for me. That had been enough to show me the monster that Derick was. I just wanted this to stop.
“I’m not going to go back,” I said, a tear rolling down my cheek.
Caleb walked up to me slowly as my head hung down and the tears began to fall onto my lap. He put his finger under my chin and lifted it. He was blurry in my vision from the tears, but I could see that his face had concern painted on it.
“I’m not going to let them hurt you, Kalila. We’re going to end this, all of it. The mafia is done. The killing is done. The drugs are done. I’m taking my father’s estate and you’re coming with me,” he said, his voice gentle as he spoke to my crying face.
“Caleb,” I said, looking up at his strong jaw and focused eyes. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “We still have a mafia to dismantle.”
I laughed through the tears, whipping them from my puffy eyes. I couldn’t think of a better man to bring down the mafia than the mafia boss himself. It was time to set things straight, and Caleb was the only man I could trust to do this, ironically.
Chapter 19
Love is a flower that blooms overnight, but the seeds must be planted long before that can happen.
My mind was made up, but I didn’t want this to be so quick that I felt rushed into it. Caleb had grown on me with how real he was with me, but I wanted to know more about the man behind the mafia crown. I wanted to know the true Caleb, so I asked him to date me.
He agreed, of course, and that set us on a course to spend countless hours of quality time together, feeling the small cracks and grooves in each other’s personalities, laughing together, and making love nearly every night. It only got better from there.
After a few nice dinners and lovemaking sessions, I needed to know more about his backstory. How had he gotten to be a mafia boss, and why did he want to quit now? He had covered that briefly in the past, but I felt it appropriate to move a little deeper on the subject before I committed a lifetime to him. It seemed only fair.
So, over another fabulous dinner and several glasses of red wine at his mansion, I sprung the question on him. “Caleb, why did you join the mafia?”
He looked amused, curling his lips up in a devilish grin. “Money.”
I laughed. “No, really.”
“Money,” he repeated. “That, and it runs in the family. I was moving drugs before I even knew I was. My father used to duct tape bags of them to my chest when we traveled. That was before all the airport security got stringent.”
I placed my empty wineglass on the white tablecloth that was stained with dark splashed from my sloppy drinking. “Your father did that? Did you like him?”
“He’s alright,” Caleb said, passing the bottle of wine to me.
I poured myself another full glass and put the bottle back down between us. “You said you didn’t know him that well.”
“I didn’t. He used me a lot when I was young to help with his drug empire, but things started to get dirty and he separated me and my mother from his business. We didn’t see him much after that, but I wanted to be just like him. My mother hated that.”
“Do you still talk to your mother?” I asked, growing curious as to why he had never mentioned her before.
“She’s dead. My father retired after she was killed. He doesn’t want me to lead a woman into the same fate, so he said that I could have his estate when I got married, as long as I retired with it. After that, it’s smooth sailing.”
“I’m sorry about your mother,” I said, sloshing the wine around in my glass solemnly.
“Don’t be. Karma comes around to kick your ass eventually, but it taught my father a hard lesson. Crime fucks with your whole family. You have to get out before you try to build one. I’m learning from his mistakes. Nothing bad will ever happen to you,” Caleb said, his voice strong and firm. I could tell that he meant what he said. He had a strong protective streak in him. He would certainly make a great husband and father, and that seemed to be what he really wanted.
“So, no more mafia then. Won’t you miss it?” I asked, taking a large sip from my glass.
Caleb laughed, leaning back in his chair. “No way. Money is only good if you have people to enjoy it with. As it stands, everyone around me just wants to take it from me.”
“I guess that’s not a fun way to live,” I said, realizing that being in such a high position of power came with a lot of downsides. “Was it lonely?” I asked, taking another sip of wine.
“Very,” Caleb said, leaning in and staring into my eyes again. Every time he did that, I felt a rush of arousal. It was impossible to stop now, especially once I was so relaxed and comfortable around him. His ice-blue eyes had turned warm, like tropical oceans, and I wanted to experience him again. I was horny as fuck.
“Do you want to go to the bedroom?” Caleb asked suddenly, as though he could read the lust in my eyes.
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yessir.”
Caleb chuckled. “That’s my Kalila. Let’s go.”
I was all over him even before we got to the room. I clawed at his shirt, tearing it open and wrapping my body around him like a snake. I wanted him to badly to wait. Caleb couldn’t even walk to the bedroom with my coiled around him like that. He took me in the hallway.
Nobody was there
to see, and even if they were, I didn’t care. I was living for the moment, soaking in every drop of Caleb’s passion like a flower in desperate need of watering. I needed him, and I never realized that until I finally gave in to his plan, but I needed him so badly. I was already deeply infatuated with him, and every thrust of his hips and whisper into my ear brought me closer to a love so deep that it would be unbreakable.
Each time Caleb took me, it was like my world was collapsing in on itself, and he was the only thing that existed anymore. I wasn’t right in the head, but I knew that. None of this was normal, but I didn’t want it to be anymore. I had lost everything, but I had found something much greater.
My eyes explored Caleb’s tanned tattooed skin as he hovered above me again, pressing his cock against my panties. I bite into his flesh, but he didn’t yelp and pull away. He leaned into it, enjoying the sting of my teeth as I left a mark in his chest.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me back when I was done, looking into my soul and licking his lips. “I’m going to fill you up, Kalila. I’m going to fuck you so hard right here on the floor,” he growled, a guttural and primal proposal flowing from his tongue.
I ate it up. I even took off my panties while he had me held in that position, eager for him to stick his thick manhood inside of me. I couldn’t wait, and I wouldn’t wait. I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him inside of me.
Caleb never took his eyes off mine as he sunk between my legs, parting the glistening wet folds as he dove in deep and filled every detail of my pussy. I couldn’t control myself around him, and I didn’t want to. As soon as he got inside of me, I gasped and moaned like it was the first time experiencing such incredible pleasure. It might as well have been, the way that he made me feel every time.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention as he kissed my neck, moving up slowly to the erogenous zone underneath my eye. He took my earlobe into his hot mouth and sucked it, sending waves of euphoria through the muscles in my aching body.