Strapped: A Second Chance Mafia Romance (4 page)

But I’m not done yet, not by a long shot.

Panting, I force myself into a sitting position, and I press my lips up against Marco once more. I know that he won’t be expecting what comes next from me, which will make it even better.

Pushing him lightly, I allow my hand to travel downwards until it reaches the throbbing erection that I can feel pulsating against his jeans. I stroke it lightly, loving how it feels underneath my hand, and from the way that Marco starts moaning, he likes it too.

So I take the next step and I slide the zipper down, freeing him from his material prison. As I hold his naked length between my fingers, Marco pulls back in shock. “What are you... what are you doing?” He pants in shock.

I send him a seductive smile, and then start to move my head down on him. Now that I can see him a little more clearly, pulsing with need, I can’t wait to get my mouth around him and to make him feel as amazing as he always has done me.

I wrap my lips hungrily around him, taking him in as far as I can go. He’s eye-wateringly big, which means I can only take so much of him in, but that doesn’t seem to bother Marco one bit.

“Oh fuck,” he grunts excitedly. “You’re fucking amazing.”

This gives me the encouragement that I need to start moving my head up and down, flickering my tongue all over him. His head fall back in pleasure as I manage to take him to the knife’s edge of desire, which only encourages me more. It’s still shocking to me that someone as sexy as Marco can be turned on by me – I enjoy that almost as much as everything else he does!

Soon he buckles, crying out my name in ecstasy, and fills my mouth with his sweet, salty desire.

“You,” he gasps, as I pull back to look at him once more. “You really are something else, Liv Markson. What am I going to do with you?”

That prospect alone has me shivering with yet another round of desire.

2
6th November 2010

“
F
abbri
?” The police officer calls out in a sarcastic tone of voice. “You’re free to go.”

“I am?” I ask wearily, pulling my head up from my hands, where it has been resting in despair all night long. I’m still in shock that I’ve been arrested, and that hasn’t been helped by the long night of questioning, and the separation from my cousin. “Really?”

“Yep.” He sends me a smarmy grin that causes my insides to crawl in disgust. Who the fuck does this guy think he is? What a fucking dickhead – just because I’m a loser from a shitty part of the city, doesn’t give him the right to instantly judge me. Asshole.

The loud, metallic sound of the door unlocking isn’t as welcome as I assumed it would be, because I know that what I have waiting for me on the other side of this room is my very pissed-off grandmother. She might be a lifesaver, and the one person I can truly rely on, but she will kick my ass for this one. She knows that I can do better, and she expects more from me, so she’ll be furious that I’ve allowed Johnny to drag me along into his craziness. She loves him too, but she always refers to him as ‘the idiotic one’. Not any more though, I suppose, now that will be both of us.

I hang my head in shame as I wander back into the outside world, feeling like something of a changed man even though I haven’t actually done any jail time. Being locked up in a holding cell isn’t exactly the same as being in prison, but at this moment I cannot tell the difference.

“What the...?” By the time I do glance upright, I realize that it isn’t my grandma’s old banger waiting for me, but it’s a very posh BMW – one that I know well. It belongs to Judge Alan Markson, who also happens to be Liv’s father.

My heart sinks as he leans across the seat for me to see him, and he indicates for me to step inside. This is the last thing I need! I have no idea what this man is doing here for me, but I can guarantee that I won’t like it.

“Hello, sir,” I say respectfully, as I slide into the passenger’s seat of a car that’s much nicer than anything I’ve ever been in before. “Thank you for picking me up.”

“I also freed you,” he replies coldly, while starting up the engine. “And I have my reasons for that.”

At first, we cruise along the roads in a very stilted silence, until I can take it no more. This man wants something from me, and I need to know what before it drives me insane.

“What are your reasons?” I ask him nervously. “What did you mean by that?”

He sighs deeply, as if he’s completely exasperated with me before starting. “I think we’ve already established by the events from the last couple of days that you are not good enough for my daughter.” He pauses for a second, giving me the opportunity to argue, but instead I pin my lips tightly shut, knowing that he’s right. “She has a bright future ahead of her, one filled with promise, one filled with a great career and a happy life. One that doesn’t involve you,” he clarifies, just in case I didn’t get that part. I’m not sure quite how thick he thinks I am, but I would have to be insanely stupid not to get the thinly veiled warning he’s sending in my direction. “So I think it’s best for everyone if you leave her alone now. Do you get what I’m saying?”

I pause for a beat, allowing the insane thoughts that are spinning around in my mind to settle, before saying anything. I know that I need to be smart here, so that I don't jeopardize my future even further, but I cannot agree to what he’s saying either. I can’t give up Olivia – she’s the love of my life, and I don't think that I’ll be able to breathe without her, never mind exist.

“Are you being purposely ignorant?” Mr. Markson asks me, with an anger in his tone. “Or are you plain thick?”

I start shaking, barely able to control myself and I know in that instant that if I don't leave now I’ll hit him – and if I punch him, I’ll get sentenced very severely.

Breathe in... breathe out...

Breathe in... breathe out...

Breathe in... breathe out...

“I said do you understand?”

With that final push, I can keep it in no longer, so I shove the door open and I make my way outside, ignoring the massive, ice cold drops of rain that splash across my body.

“Hey!” Alan yells out from behind me, the rage evident in his tone. “Don't you walk away from me!” But I keep on going, unable to even look at him. This might enrage him further, but it’s preferable to the alternative. “You will keep away from Olivia,” he insists. “Or you’ll regret it for the rest of your miserable little life.”

The further I walk, the wetter I become, but I barely even notice that. My thoughts are only on Alan’s words. Is he right? Should I keep away from Olivia? When I’ve thought about our future before, it’s only been about me and her, I’ve never seen the bigger picture.

But now I’m thinking about it all.

She will have a great job, and a nice house, and all that junk. I’m just gutter trash, deserving of nothing. I won’t be able to afford to give her the life she deserves, no matter what I do, so maybe I should get out now before I get left behind, before I become something that she resents...

* * *

1
^st
October 2014

I
slump back
into my seat in the booth that has always been ‘ours’ for many, many years. Teasers is a strip club owned by one of the mafia members, so it’s almost as much of a part of us as each and every member. Sure, the names and faces of the groups might change over time, but it’ll always be ours.

The strippers are so used to us, and vice versa, that we all know each other by first name. Of course, most of us have all hooked up with one another at some point, which helps, but aside from that we’re all like a twisted little family.

I try to listen to what one of the guys is trying to tell me, but my mind is undeniably elsewhere, thinking about Olivia. It seems that it doesn’t matter how hard I try to stay away from her, to let her live the life that I know she deserves without someone like me, but I can’t seem to stick to it. She’s just so damn tempting.

And after that amazing blowjob she gave me, completely by surprise, I don't think I’ll ever be able to keep away from her again.

In fact, I might just blow this off right now and go and hang out with her...

Ring, ring.

I roll my eyes in frustration as my phone blasts out in my pocket, because I know for a fact that it’s going to be work.

“Yo,” I call into the receiver, trying to disguise my annoyance. “What’s up, Carmine?”

“Dude, we have a rat, and he needs to be dealt with.” His tone is all business, which makes me even more frustrated. “Tonight.”

“Okay,” I sigh, resignedly. I guess I won’t be carrying out my own plans after all. “Who, where, when, etc...?”

“He’s named Justin Hall, I’ll text you his address. No slacking this time, get it done.”

His warning is enough to have me a little worried. I screwed up once when I first saw Olivia in Jesters, and I really can’t afford to make that mistake again.

“I won’t,” I promise. “I’m on my bike now. I’ll get it done within the hour.”

* * *

I
stand
outside Hall’s home, breathing deeply while I steady my thoughts. I’m good at killing, it’s what I do best, so it isn’t that which has me worried. It’s just the recent upheaval in my life that has me pausing.

It’s Olivia – she’s affecting me in ways that I haven’t experienced in a very long time.

Bang, bang, bang.

I hammer on the door quickly, wanting to get this done, then I shove it open without giving him the chance to answer. People like Hall always know that we’re coming, and they will do anything to hide...

But it seems like I’m wrong when it comes to this idiot. He’s simply standing in the middle of his front room, with bloodshot eyes and a ridiculously blank expression on his face, making him look like a total idiot. I roll my eyes in disgust when I notice the joint between his fingers, and the obvious smell of cannabis that’s consuming his apartment.

“What... what...?” He stammers slowly and frustratingly.

I don't feel like I have the patience for this tonight, not when my head is all over the place, so I snap quickly, getting it all out. “I know that you’re a rat,” I tell him. I like to explain to people why I’m killing them. I want them to know what they’ve done before I end their life, so they know that what I’m doing is fair. I have an odd sense of justice like that. “You’ve fucked over some of my boys, and for that you have to pay.”

He so clearly doesn’t get it because he’s off on another planet somewhere, so I pull the gun out from my belt and point it at him.

“No,” he throws his hands into the air instantly, finally understanding. “No, dude, I didn’t... I haven’t...” He’s practically pissing his pants, which makes me laugh loudly and mirthlessly. “I didn’t mean...”

“Didn’t mean what?” I ask nastily. “Didn’t mean to involve the cops in something that was nothing to do with you? Didn’t mean to fucking behave like a dick? What?”

“I... I...” A single tear rolls down his cheek, but I have no empathy for someone like that, so I point the gun and pull the trigger.

Everything slows down in the way that it always does when I’m about to witness a death that’s been caused by me. The bullet leaves the gun and travels through the air, finally meeting its destination and snapping through Hall’s skull and sending him flying backwards until he hits the wall behind him. Blood splatters everywhere, making an incredible mess of this guy’s home, which gets even worse as he collapses to the ground.

I step closer to him, just checking that he’s dead, and from the way that the back of his head has been completely blown out, I think that it’s obvious he is.

“That’s what you get,” I whisper quietly to myself, justifying my actions. “Don’t fuck with the Carbone clan.” This is how all of Umberto’s enemies end up – dead – which is why I never want to become one.

With that, I make my way quickly from the building, needing to escape before the cops show up. Someone will have heard the gunshot and filed a report, even with a silenced weapon, so it won’t be long until they’re here. I know that Umberto has the cops in his back pocket, but I don't want to be caught at the scene of the crime anyway. That wouldn’t be good for anyone.

As I sit on my bike, and speed along the road, I make a decision to myself that I’m going to go and see Olivia after all. It might not be the smartest decision that I’ve ever made, but I need to see her. I need to get tonight out of my system, and the only way that I can do that is by seeing her.