Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 282(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
No one else matters. Not my aunt. Not any other conventionally attractive, billboard-worthy women like those checking him out in the cafe.
Just me. Only me.
“I love how curvy you are. That wasn’t just a general statement. I was talking about you, Arria.”
Suddenly, he’s inside of me. This comes as a vague rush of heat and sensation. I quickly move my hand up and down, chasing the pleasure, biting down so I don’t make any noise. I end up biting my pillow when the orgasm shatters through me. My clit is throbbing.
I gasp, letting my head fall back.
Crap. What the hell did I do? What’s wrong with me?
The regret hits immediately, without delay. A first-class package slammed right into my psyche. I open my eyes, staring at the shadowy ceiling, telling myself that’s the last time I’ll ever do that—the last time I’ll ever think like that.
He’s my uncle. Even if he wasn’t, I’ve got plans for the future that don’t involve finding a relationship at this point in my life. He’s twice my age. I don’t really know him.
Okay, that’s true. I don’t. But I want to get to know him. Every part of him. That’s the problem.
CHAPTER 8
NICO
I’m finishing some pro bono work when I get a call from Don Caruso—not Enzo, the so-called mafia prince. This is Dominic Caruso, the king, the man who wanted to use and abuse my wife before I stepped in and ‘made her mine.’ He’s the reason I’ve spent so long living a lie. We never talk these days. Leaving the mob life in one piece without ratting is a rare thing, a miracle, and I pulled it off by working and paying my way free.
I can’t ignore the call. “Hello,” I say, answering.
“Nico, my boy,” Dominic says. He’s using his fake nice-guy voice, the one that’s fooled far too many. They always seem so shocked when the sadist emerges.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I say, kicking back in my desk chair, forcing a smile to my face so that I hopefully sound good-natured with my tone.
“Can’t a man check in with old friends?” As if I’m buying that. “I understand you met with my son two days ago.”
Two days since the meeting, since I slipped up, since the texting with Arria that night. So far, we’ve been avoiding texting each other. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been in my thoughts, hounding me, tempting me.
“Yes, I did,” I reply.
“That’s good,” Dominic says. “I’ve been thinking about the old days recently, Nico.”
“Oh, right?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened with me, you and Lucia. It was a classic story of unrequited love, wasn’t it? I’d fallen for her, and I’m sure, had she not already given her heart to another, she might’ve fallen for me too. But, alas, she had given her devotion to Nico the Nightmare. There was nothing I could do, no course of action I could take that would cause a favorable outcome for me. I was stuck, so I did the reasonable thing and made the appropriate business decision. You see, Nico, that’s what I value above everything. Honesty. Business. I believe people can do great things when they combine honesty and business. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
I swallow, nerves gripping me. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this. Adrenaline pumps through my body. I haven’t missed the ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. I used to live in this state constantly, a never-ending cycle of it.
“You did the right thing,” he continues when I don’t reply immediately. “Your arrival and honesty were both appreciated. You told me you and Lucia were already involved in a serious relationship but that you had kept secret for obvious reasons. You told me you wanted to buy your way out of the life. I would’ve laughed at you, but you offered me a fee so absurd, so outlandish, that I had to accept. In truth, Nico, I never thought you’d be able to pay it.”
It had taken three years of sleeping three or four hours a night, taking every job I could get, legal and illegal. I did it without compromising my morals, and I’ll always be proud of that.
“I respected you for offering me that deal, Dominic,” I tell him. “I was one of your most effective enforcers—”
“You were the most effective,” Dominic cuts in. “If I wanted some civilian intimidated, a woman scared, I’d send the others. But if I needed a big fish caught—the Cartel, other families, men who could actually fight back—I’d send in Nico the Nightmare.”
“I always preferred those jobs,” I tell him honestly. “The risk was higher, but it left my conscience cleaner.”
“I always respected that about you. Your moral compass. Again—your honesty. If you want my truth, Nico, it was your honesty that saved you many, many times. I detest liars. So many have lied to me in my life, lied directly to my face, and expected me to swallow their shit. But you always told me the truth. If I offered you a job you didn’t like, you told me straight, no, I won’t do that. It simplified things.”