4. Bodey

CHAPTER 4

Bodey

" P lease tell me who I'm messing with." I grin, violence brewing from the pit of my core.

"I'm uh, you know." The asshole ticks with his head to the side and slight raise of his shoulders. "I'm a made guy. The family. You can't mess with me. Scarponi will have your nuts in a vise."

"Scarponi?" He gives me a slight nod of his head. "Do you mean Louis Scarpella?"

"Yeah, that's it. The boss, see? He likes me in pristine condition, so take your hand off me."

"Pristine condition for what? To hit the streets and sell some ass? No one would buy you for free. I wonder why Louis didn't tell me that when I took over his territory, some balding fat pervert of a landlord attached to a rundown motel needed to be protected. Wait, are you paying for protection?" I ask him.

This property isn't in any of the books, but I'll gladly take it and flip it like I plan to do with the dealership.

"What?"

"You know, a grand a week to stay in business and make sure no one hurts you since you need to be in pristine condition," I tell him with a glance at Summer, who's taking joy in seeing this shitball put in place. "Summer, go ahead and grab a few things. You're not staying here anymore."

"What? You can't do that. She has a lease. I'll take her to court if she breaks it," the scumbag shoots back.

My temper flares, and I wrap my hands around his throat, squeezing until he turns red. Just when he looks about ready to pass out, I release and allow him to breathe. "If you're protected and you've been paying protection, I haven't seen any payments made to Mr. Scarpella. That is if you're telling the truth."

"I may have misspoke," he admits.

I nod. "I don't like liars. You can pay me back for lying to me about Mr. Scarpella, or I can talk to Louis myself and see what he wants to do with you."

His eyes fill with fear. "Please, no, don't do that. Don't bother with Mr. Scarpella. Um, let's make our own little arrangement. I can pay you two hundred a week."

"No. I want Summer out of her lease as of today. Whatever deposit she put down, she'll get back within the next week, or I'll come back here to squeeze it out of you." A gentle squeeze of my hands around his throat as a friendly reminder. He nods vigorously. "Good, now apologize for making Summer uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry, Sums, really I am. You're just a beautiful girl, and I wanted to spend a little time with?—"

I shake him like a broken toy to get him to stop talking. "Summer, go and get some things together. You're coming with me. Hurry up."

I glare at her, and she moves quickly into the three-story building. It sits between a bar and a motel, with the strip of casinos not too far away. The rain is still pouring down as I finally let go of the greaseball. His shirt is drenched, but even the rain can't hide the yellowing sweat stains under his arms. The rain pelts the top of his horseshoe hair with a slick comb over.

"Does she owe you rent?" I ask the guy as he stands there, I'm sure too frightened to move.

"No?" he replies with a question.

"I'm not going to kill you if she's behind on bills. I don't like leaving unsettled debts."

"But you like causing them, right? You know how much rent I'm going to lose?—"

I cut him off with the back of my hand pressing firmly against the top of his arm to silence him. "Two months at the most. A casino worker is going to come here in a few weeks to rent the space. You're going to call his references, and as long as you get me on the line, you'll put that guy in the apartment. Then you'll truly be protected by the Scarpella family."

"Wait, no," he stammers. "I didn't mean to?—"

"To what? To lie? Of course, you did. It's just that you had no idea who you were messing with." I throw his own words back at him, to his disappointment.

Summer comes bounding out of the front door with a bag hanging off her shoulder. Stretchy yoga pants replace the skirt she was wearing as she hustles to get back inside my car. She doesn't look back at her landlord or the place she's been calling home.

"I'm sorry, what's your name? I want to make sure I spell it correctly in the book," I ask the guy.

"Rinaldo Esposito." He sighs with his head hanging low.

"Good. Now, Rinaldo, don't be a slouch. It's key to have good posture if you're going to be in pristine condition, protected by Bodey Calisi and the Scarpella family."

"I really didn't know, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize now. Stand on your words as any man should, Rinaldo. It's been nice doing business with you. Stay out of that apartment, too. No one goes in or out unless I give the okay. Please don't make me come back out here, Rinaldo." I head back to my car without giving him the chance to object.

Inside the car, Summer rests her head against the seat with her eyes shut.

"Thank you, Bodey," she finally says as I turn the car on and drive to a casino on the far side of the boardwalk. I like the distance from the other businesses.

"I didn't do that for you," I lie because a part of it was for her, but it was mostly for me. I know she doesn't have anywhere else to go, and when she doesn't send money back to her mother right away, Paulie's going to come try to collect it. Rinaldo will give me up, and then Paulie will have to come see me if he wants his money.

"Thank you anyway. That asshole's been trying to get into my pants since I moved in. I always pay my rent to make sure he never boxes me into a corner, but today, after losing that sale, I was sure I'd have to give that asshole my virginity."

"Virginity? No one's been inside that beautiful pussy of yours yet?"

"No, just your fingers, Bodey." She huffs out a breath of exhaustion, her gaze turning out the window. "It's not that big of a deal, you know? It's just sex. I'm just not in any rush to sleep around. You see what dick does to Debbie."

Hearing her call her mother by her first name shows me how far their relationship has fallen.

"Does she call you for money a lot?"

"It depends if Paulie's having a streak of luck. If he wins his poker games, he doesn't beg for money. If he doesn't, then I send her a few bucks to cover the utilities or part of the rent."

"You're not supposed to be taking care of either one of them. You're not even supposed to be living on your own, Summer. What the fuck happened?"

"You left!" she explodes. "You got locked up, and I realized what I'd done."

She pauses as she finally lets her tears fall. I reach over to console her, but she snatches her hand away to wipe away her tears.

"When I realized what Paulie made me do, I hated him. I hated Mom for hanging onto him, for loving him more than she loved me. I hated myself for not telling the truth. I told her that I couldn't stay there, not with him. When I threatened to leave, she manned up for once and dropped Paulie. We left Chicago and came to Atlantic City."

"Paulie followed you guys here."

"Yeah." She keeps her gaze out of the window as we pull into the casino garage, taking the elevators into the lobby and then another up to the penthouse suite. "This is beautiful. How can you afford all of this?"

"I worked for it," I tell her. "Come here. I want you to see something. Best view of all the casinos."

There's nothing but the ocean outside the window. The dark gray storm clouds consume the sky as I stand behind Summer, my hands exploring her silhouette before one dips inside of her pants. She didn't put on a new pair of panties.

"Good girl," I whisper in her ear, nipping it to get that beautiful yelp of delight out of her. My fingers can't help but search for that warm welcome of pussy that now belongs to me. Revenge lingers over my actions as I slip inside of her walls. I don't like being lied to or people lying about me.

"Open your mouth, Summer," I tell her, and she obeys. Her jaw shifts as I slip my other fingers inside of her mouth. Two between her lips and two inside her slit. I keep the rhythm the same between them as she moans, the momentum builds as I jerk my hands away from her.

I pull her away from the large windows to kneel in front of her, where I yank her sweatpants down for her to step out of them. The second my tongue grazes her pussy, her back arches, and I have to use my hands to stop her from stumbling back. I have to palm her ass to keep her in place while I devour her pussy like a man stranded in the desert begging for a sip.

The sweetness of her orgasm coating my tongue is delicious. When I finger her while sucking on her clit, I can feel her orgasm building for another more powerful release. As soon as I feel her on the edge of that climax, I stop immediately.

"Wait, no." She jerks out of the erotic trance. "Please don't stop."

"We'll finish when I think you're ready."

"I'm ready now. I know I am. I want to have sex with you, Bodey."

"Summer," I growl, pulling my knife out of my pocket. "You have no idea what you're asking for."

"I do." Her eyes light up with desire as she watches the blade from above me.

I run the tip down the side of her ribs to the hinge of her hips and around the back to her ass. I tap the spot I like. "No, you don't. If you did, you'd understand that doing this, letting me inside you, means me leaving a mark on you for the rest of your life. Your pussy will never be the same, and you'll wear my initials for anyone to see you belong to me."

"If I let you do that, will you finish? Will you let me finish?" She's practically begging, and this is not how I want to brand her as mine. I don't want her begging for it, for a simple release to lead to something permanent.

"You're not ready, Summer." I move closer, kissing her pussy like I'm kissing her lips. Making love to it with my mouth as a reminder of what's to come. I pull back again abruptly and tease her, to her disappointment. "I know you're not because branding you means you belong to me. It also means that I belong to you, and I can't belong to a liar."