“Calm the hell down, Angie.” He turned her so her back was to his chest, and he had her arms behind her back. “Calm. Down.” And then the sound of a shot firing had everyone shouting. One of the Gondalo bastards was standing, a bullet hole in his chest, but his arm straight and his gun pointed right at Joey.

  Little Johnny stepped up right behind the fucker, pointed his gun at his head, and blew his brains out. The guy fell to the ground, but it was the gasping, gurgling sound that came from Angie.

  “Oh shit, she’s shot,” Alex said.

  Joey set her on the ground and cursed. “Goddammit, Angie. You should have stayed away.” She may have been a pain in the ass, and a possessive psycho at times, but shit, he had never wanted to see her like this. The guys stayed back as he held her. The blood was pooling underneath her, covering his legs, and smelling metallic. The bullet hole was in her chest, and Joey knew the fucker had been aiming for him, hoping to kill him, too. But clearly the bullet was lodged inside of her, and here she was dying in his arms.

  “Joey,” she gurgled out, and blood sprayed from her mouth. And then right in front of him the life left her. He looked at her, staring at her lifeless eyes watching him back.

  “We need to get out of here,” Little Johnny said and stepped up beside the guys. “The cleaners are here, and I am sure the cops will be showing up soon.”

  “They’ll get anything that might lead them back to us out of here,” Alex said. “I got the woman, but we have to go, Boss.”

  Joey nodded, but before he could take Angie, Alex was lifting her out of his arms. Niklo had Kelly tossed over his shoulder and stared at Joey pointedly.

  “It’s time to go, brother. Marra needs you.” Niklo’s words penetrated his foggy brain and heavy body, and he nodded.

  Marra. His woman.

  “Let’s go.” And he led his men out of there just as Luciano and his crew walked in.

  17

  Niklo sat at the table nursing a bottle of whiskey and grimacing as the back alley doctor that came to help out in these situations pulled the bullet out of his shoulder.

  The shit that had gone down at the club had been intense and wild, and although a few of their guys had been shot, no one was dead from their side.

  The Gondalo crew on the other hand, was, and Angie, that crazy bitch, but God rest her soul, was now lying in the back office. She had been young and beautiful, and had grown up in the neighborhood. Truth was, Niklo had had a thing for her back in the day when he was young and dumb, but when she had gone after Joey he had shut those emotions down right away. Good thing, too, because she had gotten crazier as the years went on.

  But even though she had been off the hinge most of the time, and so fucking obsessed and possessive of Joey when she had been his side woman, he did feel sorry that she had been involved and lost her life.

  The sound of the bullet landing in the metal tray was music to Niklo’s ears. “About fucking time,” he said on a slur, the whiskey hitting the spot but not numbing the pain enough. He was a tough man, prided himself on that, but fuck, a bullet lodged in anyone’s body was going to bring the biggest, toughest man down.

  “Don’t be a pussy.”

  Dr. Lucoma was an old as fuck physician that had been working in the neighborhood, and with the Bacellis, for a long-ass time. Niklo looked over his shoulder at him, saw the doctor take a long swig from his silver flask that Niklo knew was filled with scotch, and then grabbed his Cuban cigar. The puff of smoke that came from the old fuck was thick and heavy.

  “You are one grumpy asshole, you know that?” Niklo said, and took a drink from his own bottle.

  “I might be a grumpy asshole, but I’m damn good at what I do, and have been taking care of your stubborn, accident-prone ass for the last thirty-two years since I pulled you out of your mother.”

  Niklo started chuckling and faced forward again. Joey had gone back to his apartment in the city to be with Marra, Little Johnny had gotten patched up and headed home with some scantily clad stripper in tow, and Alex was sitting across from Niklo smoking a joint and staring at the bandage that was turning red on his bicep.

  After the shootout where all of Carlos’ men in the house had been taken down, including that little fucker, the cleaners had come and taken care of the bodies. Luciano had been in attendance, and Niklo could only imagine the twisted things the man would come up with to get rid of all of that flesh and bone.

  But the cops had been called, as expected, by someone in the rundown neighborhood. That was surprising, too, because for as shitty as Chawston had been it had to be one of the strippers that had escaped because no fucking way a junkie would have called.

  But despite the death that the police would have to muck around in, nothing would come back to them. They always made sure that if something couldn’t be cleaned up afterwards, they were still safe from prosecution. Black-market weapons, people on the police force paid to steer things away from the Bacellis, and other tactics were always used to protect the family.

  “I want to get so fucking trashed that I can’t even walk straight,” Alex said and stared at Niklo. He brought the bottle of alcohol he was drinking up to his mouth and took a long sip.

  Yeah, Niklo was feeling that way right about now, too.

  “Hey, what ever happened to Saneyea?”

  Just hearing that name had everything inside of Niklo moving to the past. He may have wanted Angie at one time, but when he had met Saneyea ten years ago, a lot of shit had shifted inside of him. “Man, that’s in the past. I guess you weren’t updated on all that.”

  Alex shook his head. “You going to tell me?”

  “Keep it clean and covered for the next couple of days,” the doctor said, handed Niklo a bottle of narcotics, and headed out of the room.

  Once the doc left Alex stood and walked over to Niklo, handed him the joint, and then leaned against the wall. Niklo took a long inhale, not really into smoking pot, but right now he was amped up about the Gondalo shit going down, and then about Alex bringing up Saneyea.

  “I have a feeling there is bad blood there?” Alex said and took back the joint. “I mean last I heard, which was ages ago and right before I went in, was that you and Saneyea were getting hot and heavy.” Alex took a hit, kept the smoke in for a few seconds, and then exhaled. The smoke billowed around his face for a second before dispersing.

  “No bad blood. She just wanted different things from me, and when I wouldn’t comply with what she wanted she left.” Niklo shrugged, reached for the joint, and took a long hit. Honestly, that had been years ago, but he still loved Saneyea, still thought of her and wished he would have made different choices. But, that was life, he couldn’t change it, and all he could focus on was the family.

  Harboring things that he should have done would only hold him back, and he had shit that he needed to focus on now.

  With that he got off the table, put a shirt on, and he and Alex headed out to get obliterated.

  18

  Marra grabbed another square of gauze, dipped it in the water and peroxide solution, and cleaned the cut on Joey’s throat.

  “You are so lucky he missed your jugular,” she said, and although she knew he was aware of that, the feeling of standing on a ledge came back to her. Thinking that he could have died, and that the last year had been wasted because she had let her mind control her heart, made her feel slightly sick.

  He hadn’t told her what had happened, or how he had gotten the blood on his clothes or the slice in his neck, but she could guess. And when he had said things were safe for her now, that she didn’t have to be worried about anything because he would always watch over her, she knew he had killed people tonight.

  She knew she should have been horrified, disgusted, and run from him, but the thing was he had done these things to ensure she was safe, and that the ones he cared for were as well.

  How could she hate a man that went to great lengths, even if they were morally wrong and illegal, to ensure the ones he loved were protected?

  He held his hand on hers, stilling her, and looked into her eyes. The emotions that passed across his face were hard and cold, but there was also sadness and regret. “Angie is dead, my men are hurt, and the image and thought that kept passing through my mind was that I wanted to be here with you so nothing could touch you.”

  She swallowed, feeling empathy for the woman that had lost her life today. Even though she hadn’t known Angie, and had only experienced her crazy, erratic screaming, that was still a life lost. Marra felt the water drip down her arm from the new square of wet gauze she held, and didn’t know what to say. All of this was new when it came to allowing herself to feel for Joey, but she wasn’t a fool into thinking there wouldn’t be bumps along the way.

  “This life that I lead is gritty and hardcore, and I can’t expect you to be okay with it.” He cupped the side of her face. “But I want you, Marra, and I don’t think I can just let you walk away.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I can’t let you walk away.”

  Maybe she was dumb or desperate, or maybe she just wanted him so badly that she was blind, but either way she knew she wouldn’t go anywhere, because being with him, in his arms, seemed so right, and nothing else in her damn life had ever felt like this.

  19

  Six months later

  Marra closed up Vincenzo’s for the evening, went into the back bathroom, and looked at herself in the mirror. She had some flour on her cheek, coffee grounds on her apron, and her hair was a wild mess around her head.

  Joey was supposed to meet her here in about twenty minutes, so that didn’t give her much time to get cleaned up.

  In the last six months since after she had awoken in his apartment, and he had come back to her with blood on his clothes, things had changed with them. She had made it clear from the beginning, well, after everything had happened, that if he was serious about being with her, then she had some rules of her own. She was not to be an easy piece of ass.

  If he wanted her, then it was only her. And then he had laughed at her, and when she had been about to bitch him out, he had cupped her face, leaned in close, and said there wasn’t anyone else for him, and hadn’t been for the last year.

  Her heart had dropped, her belly had flipped, and she had gotten this stupid smile on her face. For all the rough and tough attitude and lifestyle that Joey was in, he was sweet and gentle with her, and showed her a totally different side.

  She fixed her hair, cleaned her face, and took her apron off. And when she headed out of the bathroom she saw Joey standing by his car by the curb, his outfit looking sharp, his sunglasses on, and his black jacket moving around his knees. He looked so devilishly dangerous, and he was all hers.

  After stepping outside, she moved toward him. Even after six months she still felt these little butterflies in her belly when she was around him. He never talked about what he did, but he also didn’t glorify it. He was a crime boss, and although she didn’t know if she would ever be okay with that, she accepted it because she had fallen in love with the man he showed her.

  “Hey, baby.” He embraced her right away, ran the tip of his nose up her neck, and inhaled deeply. She loved when he did that, because she felt like his prey and he was memorizing her. “Ready for dinner?” he asked against her head, and she nodded. Truth was she could stay like this all day.

  They were a couple, but he was so much more than that to her, and it was evident by the touches from him, the words of possessive dominance that he whispered to her, that she was more to him, too.

  He pulled away from her only long enough to open the passenger side door of his SUV, and then he was closing it behind her. She watched him walk around the front, stop before he made it to the driver’s side, and glance up at her.

  He winked, gave her a lopsided grin that totally changed the hard exterior he exuded, and then finally climbed in the vehicle. They sat there for a moment, and when he reached over and grabbed her hand, her heart picked up beat.

  “You get to pick what movie we watch and where we eat,” he said on a grumble, and she knew he hated when she got to choose because she always went for the low-key places to eat, and the chick flicks.

  After she told him the restaurant to eat at and movie she wanted to see, he pulled out into traffic and headed out of town. She may still have her own life, live by herself, and take care of herself, but Marra realized that her world had certainly taken a turn for the better when it concerned Joey.

  Maybe one day they would move onto the next level: marriage and babies, and a life where she couldn’t ignore the business he ran. But right now she was liking the way they were moving forward, slow and steady, and that he was allowing her to set the pace as well.

  He might be dominating and controlled in every aspect of his life, but with her he was giving her the space she needed to fully realize that if this was what she wanted, she had to jump fully in.

  He certainly wasn’t the man she’d envisioned herself being with, but whether it was fate, destiny, or just her finally opening her eyes, she was at a good place in her life right now. Love tended to do that to someone, it seemed.

  Who would have thought being with a boss for one of the most feared Italian crime families in the country would feel so… right?

  Epilogue

  One year later

  The last twelve months had gone by faster than Joey had ever known was possible. But maybe that’s what happened when a person was happy, when they had the one person by their side that completed them.

  Marra was his, always would be. Over the last year he’d grown even more possessive of her, his alpha-ness so consuming there was no doubt she felt it with every fiber of her being.

  Joey had to always make sure she was protected, the darkness he harbored inside of him making sure she was safe above all else, especially after everything that had happened the past year.

  He wanted her as his wife, the mother of his children, and he’d have all of that. Marra might not be a part of his world in the grand scheme of things, but she was too immersed in him, in the life they shared, that she’d always be engrained in it no matter what. And it was because of that, Joey would make sure she was taken care of.

  Joey knew what type of man he was, the type who was considered a hardened motherfucker, the one who made his living off crime, made his money from illegal—and some legitimate—venture. He was also the type of man who made sure anyone who thought to cross him knew exactly the wrath he’d inflict on them.

  He wrapped his arm around Marra’s waist, bringing her naked body closer to his. “Mine,” he whispered against the crown of her head, loved the lemon scent that always surrounded her. He’d fucked her good and thoroughly just an hour before, but shit, he was ready for her again. He slid his hand down to cover her belly, wanting his child growing there one day, and one day soon.

  He moved his hand over her hip to cup the roundness of her ass, his other palm moving to the front to cup her pussy. She hummed right before a moan left her when he started rubbing her clit.

  He closed his eyes again and inhaled, knowing he’d never get enough of her. Enough. His dick was so damn hard, digging into her lower back, demanding to be buried deep in her pretty, tight cunt.

  “Joey,” she moaned and turned so our chests were now touching, as she was looking at him with a drowsy expression.

  He ground his cock into her belly, loving the little sound she made from the contact. Pulling back slightly, he let his gaze slide down her body, loving the curves she had, her full breasts, her lush form.

  She’s gorgeous and mine.

  Her breathing was changing slightly, increasing, becoming harder, faster with her arousal. Her breasts rose and fell, her nipples hard, the tips a dusky rose.

  “How wet are you for me, baby?” he said in a low, deep voice, and Joey felt his own desire rising higher.

  Her breathing hitched and she whispered, “I’m so wet.”

  He gently pushed on her belly so her back was to the mattress, her legs spreading on their own.

  “Show me how primed you are for my cock, Marra.” He looked at her cunt, how open and wet she was, how pink. He knew how tight she was, her inner muscles squeezing his cock so much it was like a fucking vise.

  Joey grabbed his cock, stroked the length from root to tip, felt the pre-cum start to form at the crown, and used it for lubrication to jerk himself off. For long seconds all he did was stare at her, gave her a little show so she could see exactly how worked up he was, how much he wanted her.

  Her cunt was red and swollen, and so fucking wet for him. His dick would slide right in, spread her wide, stretch her good. “Wider for me, Marra,” he grunted.

  She made a small noise, and his dick hardened even more if that was possible. Joey moved between her thighs, placed his hands on her inner thighs and kept them spread open.

  He moved his hands closer, slipped his fingers through her folds, coating the digits with her cream. He made sure they were nice and saturated, then lifted them to his mouth and sucked them clean as she watched him the entire time. Joey was starved for her in every way imaginable.

  “I need more,” he demanded. And then he had his face buried between her legs. He licked and sucked at her, swallowed her arousal, growling for more. The moans that came from her fueled his dark desire.

  It wasn’t until long seconds passed that he finally pulled away from her delicious pussy, but he wasn’t nearly done. He had a finger lodged in her tight, wet body a second later. While staring into her eyes, he pumped that finger in and out of her, pre-cum dripping from his cockhead.

  He scissored the digits in her pussy, stretching her good and hard, making sure she was ready to take his cock. Marra moaned for more, squirming under his touch, lifting her hips so her pussy was sucking at his fingers.