Chapter Nine

Renzo

“We coming over tonight?” Rico asked as we walked back toward the apartment after what felt like a never-ending day full of excuses for why local businesses couldn’t pay up this month.

I didn’t always work as the bagman. That was shit left to lower men in the organization. But we’d been having a lot of problems with the neighborhood lately, and everyone figured maybe people needed to see my shadow darkening their doors.

It wasn’t like they paid for nothing.

Sure, shit was a lot different in my old boss’s day. Back when he charged these people fucking impossible fees for “protection” that never really came.

It was all just an intimidation game.

I wanted to do shit differently when it was my time to run shit.

Which meant that I knew the faces of every shop owner, their wives, their kids. And I made sure all my men did as well. So if anyone seemed to be bothering them, we stepped in, we did something, we made sure these businesses got what they were paying for. More than they were paying for, actually, since all I initially promised was that they wouldn’t be robbed. And if they were, that I would handle that shit for them.

So, yeah, getting told all the work we were putting in wasn’t worth the couple grand they owed us? Not fucking acceptable.

Honestly, until Rico spoke, all I wanted to do was go home and go balls deep into Lore’s perfect fucking cunt.

The problem was, I almost never closed off my apartment if people wanted to gather. Doing so right after I got married to someone a big chunk of my crew didn’t approve of, that shit was only going to fuck with the morale of the whole organization.

“Sure,” I said, glancing across the street toward where a man was looming over a woman, watching until, suddenly, she threw her head back to laugh, then took his hand and pulled him inside.

I couldn’t prevent every case of street harassment in Brooklyn, but I tried to be aware of that shit when it might be happening around me.

“What kinda food do you want?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said, shrugging. Anything that we provided, the people ate up.

“Anything in particular your wife would want?” he asked, the words landing like a punch, actually stopping me in my tracks for a second.

My wife.

I couldn’t get used to that word, that concept, despite how hard I fought for it to happen.

The ring still felt strange on my finger, but it had started to become a part of me.

But hearing the girl in my bed with her sweet mewling sounds and her loud moans as I touched and teased and fucked her referred to with her title, yeah, that shit was still foreign as fuck.

What struck me even more, as Rico’s brows rose as he waited for an answer, though, was that I had no fucking idea what Lore ate.

I’m assuming she did. Eat. I mean, she wasn’t wasting away or shit like that. But I didn’t know what she liked to eat. What she drank. How she took her coffee.

I didn’t know shit about her.

“Anything is fine,” I repeated, trying to shake off the slimy sensation that started to move over me.

“Alright,” he agreed, heading off to get the food ordered, and likely start calling around, letting everyone know to head over.

By the time I talked to Elian about how the shakedown went, several people had already ridden the elevator up, ready to drink and eat and hang out.

“What?” I asked, seeing a strange look in Elian’s face.

“Nothing, boss,” he said.

I knew he was lying through his fucking teeth. But I couldn’t question him in front of everyone else.

So I opened the door, letting everyone spill inside.

Lore was nowhere to be seen, but I never actually did find her in the common areas of the apartment. She was always in the bed.

But, yeah, I really only came home late, so I guess that made sense. Surely, she moved around the apartment during the day.

Another thing I didn’t know about her.

I shook that thought off as soon as it formed, not wanting it to take root.

“Boss,” Cinna called, making me turn to find her standing there, her long hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing an all black outfit of skinny jeans, a tee, and a nice-looking leather bomber jacket. “Got what you asked for,” she said, reaching into her pocket, and sliding a box across the island toward me.

I snatched it up, shoving it in my pocket.

“What?” I asked, feeling her look at me, something unreadable in her gaze.

If there was one person in my organization that I didn’t want to play cards with because they had a fucking wicked poker face, it was Cinna.

I guess when you were a woman in any male-dominated field—let alone one as violent and unpredictable as organized crime—you had to lock your thoughts and feelings down tight.

“Is this some Costa hatred shit still?” I asked, already getting tired of that narrative.

It was done.

We were allies.

They had to fucking accept it.

“No,” Cinna finally said, the word clipped and hard. “No, it’s not about the Costas. Not all of them,” she added, giving me a hard fucking look that I couldn’t suss out before turning and walking away.

The fuck was that about?

“What’d you say to sweet Cinna?” Dav asked, coming up to the island, passing me a drink I fucking sorely needed after this frustrating-ass day.

“Sweet Cinna?” I balked, snorting at him. “There’s nothing sweet about Cinna. I’m pretty sure she’d rip your balls off for suggesting that.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure there’s at least one thing really sweet about Cinna,” Dav said with a wicked smirk.

I didn’t see Cinna that way.

She was a capo, like any of my other capos.

Not the subject of some sexual fantasy.

Clearly, though, that wasn’t something felt across all the capos and soldiers in the organization. Dav wasn’t the only one who would happily take the woman to bed if she offered.

But she never did.

I didn’t know who Cinna fucked, but it wasn’t any of my men.

I guess that made sense.

As much as I liked to think my crew wasn’t sexist and backward like other organizations, I could understand that Cinna would think that men in the crew would lose respect for her if she fucked them.

“That woman is immune to your charm, Dav,” I said, sipping my drink.

“Oh, I’m wearing her down,” he said, his easy confidence an aura he wore around him all the time.

“Sure. Sure you are,” I agreed, shaking my head at him.

“Food!” Rico called, coming in with his arms piled high with boxes of pizza, and one box on top that likely had subs or meals inside.

“That yours?” I asked as he pulled one of the foil-wrapped hot subs out of the top box, and placed it on the top of the microwave.

“No,” Rico said, rummaging for paper plates. “Elian caught up with me and told me to order an eggplant parm,” he said. “For your wife,” he added in a way that suggested he thought that I’d given the order for Elian to talk to Rico about what she wanted.

But I hadn’t.

Elian, it seemed, knew my wife better than I did.

Something bubbled up inside me, a sick, swirling sensation it took a long moment to recognize as fucking jealousy.

The fuck was that about?

Elian was as loyal as they came.

There was no way he was being inappropriate with Lore.

But, still, he knew shit about her that I didn’t.

And, apparently, I didn’t like that.

“Right. Yeah, thanks for grabbing that,” I said, my gaze slipping toward the bedroom door, wondering if she was going to show her face.

She didn’t seem like the partying type.

She was so fucking shy and quiet.

I didn’t see her happily joining a party full of strangers.

“When am I going to get to use my charms on that wife of yours?” Dav asked.

“Never,” I declared, getting a smile out of him.

“Hey, you picking up reading?” another of my men asked, waving a thick fucking hardcover book around.

A book.

Lord knew I didn’t enjoy reading.

But, clearly, Lore did.

I was surprised by the joy I felt at seeing something of hers sitting around in the common area, evidence of her existence outside of the bedroom.

“Don’t touch her shit,” I said, voice casual, but he brought the book over to me, setting it on the island.

“It’ll get spilled on over there,” he said, shrugging, and walking off.

I reached for the book, a fucking solid tome with the book page edges painted to make a scene featuring some sort of castle.

I didn’t know shit about book genres, but the art on the cover gave me fantasy vibes as I moved it out of the kitchen, setting it on the table just inside the door.

Had she brought the book with her, I wondered as I joined the party, but found myself too distracted to focus. Or had she gone out shopping?

The thought felt strange.

As if Lore existed only in my bed, and not as a person who moved around freely.

Not that I wanted her to be a fucking prisoner in the apartment. I guess I just… hadn’t given any thought to her walking around my neighborhood.

I lowered myself onto a bar stool near the pool table, pretending to pay attention to a story one of my men was telling, but I felt far away.

It was sitting there, when there was a gap between the music and a lull in conversation, that I heard it.

This apartment had been renovated, sure, but the building was old. It had its quirks.

Like the shower plumbing making a strange, high-pitched, whirring sound when the water was turned on.

Which meant that, one floor above me, Lore was in the shower.

Naked.

Alone.

“Fuck it,” I murmured to myself as my cock started to thicken at just the idea of her. I threw back my drink, set the glass on the bar, then made my way upstairs.

Hearing the water slapping against the tile floor, I toed out of my shoes and socks, then reached for my shirt as I went to the bathroom door, turning the knob, and making my way inside.

Lore was turned away from me, letting me take in the fine slope of her back, the soft flare of her hips, and her sweet round ass without her even knowing I was there.

It was the sound of me kicking the door closed behind me that had her suddenly whipping around, eyes huge.

Even seeing me, she rushed to cover herself, wrapping an arm around her chest, hiding her tits, and pressing her thighs together.

Won’t lie.

That was cute as fuck, considering how well I already knew her body.

I reached down, unfastening my button and zipper, then pushed my pants down my legs.

I got to watch as realization dawned on her as I stepped out of the feet, then grabbed the waistband of my boxer briefs, yanking them down as I got closer to the shower niche.

She might be shy as fuck, but she couldn’t seem to stop her gaze from sliding down my body. And just the trail of her eyes over me felt like a fucking caress.

But then her gaze landed on my straining cock, and her lips parted as she sucked in a deep, greedy breath.

Greedy.

For my cock.

For me.

Fuck, if that wasn’t a good thought.

I moved into the niche, closing in on her as she leaned back against the cool tile, still covering herself.

“Don’t you think we’re past this, mouse?” I asked, reaching for her wrist, and drawing her arm down from her breasts. “Already seen all of you,” I reminded her as my hand slid up her arm, then across her chest, feeling the little shiver that coursed through her as my fingers teased over her breasts, her nipples hardening as goosebumps pricked her skin.

“I’ve already touched every inch of you,” I added as my fingers teased down her belly. “I’ve even tasted you,” I reminded her as my fingers slipped between her thighs, finding her already fucking drenched for me. “Did you forget?” I asked, finding her clit, and teasing it with a pressure too light to be anything but fucking torturous.

“No,” she whispered as her gaze held mine, feeling bolder than usual with her growing desire.

“Couldn’t fucking think straight,” I told her as my thumb stayed at her clit, and my fingers drifted down her sex. “Knowing you were up here… all wet for me,” I told her as my fingers slid inside her perfect pussy.

My other hand moved out, reaching for her hand, pulling it forward, and wrapping it around my aching cock.

Her tentative touch sent a jolt of need through my balls as her delicate fingers closed around my length, then tentatively stroked.

“Just like that,” I murmured, leaning in to press my lips to the spot on her throat she liked. “There you go,” I groaned as she gained confidence, working me faster, her pace matching how my fingers were fucking her.

Up this close, her little kitten noises were fucking hypnotic as her hips rocked against my palm, begging for more.

Begging for me.

“Your pussy is greedy for my cock, isn’t it?” I asked, straightening to watch her gaze as I said those dirty words, loving the way her cheeks went all pink, but her eyes went fucking molten. “Mouse?” I prompted when she didn’t answer me.

“Y…yes,” she whimpered as my fingers turned inside of her, teasing across her G-spot.

A sound rumbled from deep in my chest as my fingers slipped out of her, my gaze holding hers as I lifted them and slipped them in my mouth, tasting her.

“So sweet,” I murmured before reaching down, lifting her leg, and pinning it to the wall as I moved inward, pressing my throbbing cock against her pussy, letting her wetness coat me as I rubbed against her clit until she was whimpering and writhing, her hands lifting to grab my arms, her nails digging little crescents into my flesh.

Gaze on hers, I slid down, paused for just a second, then slammed deep inside. I swear I could feel her choked moan in my balls as I took every inch of her.

I paused, taking a deep breath, trying to find some fucking control.

But I couldn’t seem to find any, withdrawing, and slamming deep again.

There was no reservation in Lore, though, her hips rocking even as I was buried deep, like she couldn’t fucking get enough of me.

Which was fitting.

Because I couldn’t get enough of her either.

“You feel so fucking good,” I groaned as I fucked her, feeling her tight walls hold me close, begging for more. My gaze held hers, seeing the sweet pleasure teasing across her pretty face. “No one else will ever know how good this feels.”

Her whimper at those words destroyed what was left of my restraint, reaching down to grab her other leg, then wrapping them both around me as I slammed her back against the wall, fucking her hard and fast and deep, her moans filling the bathroom, filling my ears, doing something to me that I didn’t understand, and was too fucking close to coming to care.

“That’s it,” I groaned as her walls got painfully tight, making it almost impossible to keep thrusting. “Come around my cock.”

Like she was waiting for that permission, she did, coming hard, her whole body spasming with the intensity of it as she clung to me, arms and legs wrapping me up, her face buried in my neck, crying out her release over and over.

And, fuck, if that wasn’t the best thing I’d ever heard in my entire godforsaken life.

“Fuck,” I groaned, pulling against her hold until her feet fell to support her, letting me pull out just in time, coming hard and hot on her belly as her pretty eyes watched me, lips parted.

My arm slammed into the wall when I didn’t completely trust my own damn legs to hold me up, like she’d taken all the fucking strength out of me for a moment.

The water cascaded down my body as I stood there.

It was a loud chorus of laughter downstairs that seemed to break the spell, making me step back, looking at Lore standing there pressed against the wall, just out of the water’s reach, my hot cum dripping down her perfect body.

Mine.

That was the thought that crossed my mind as I looked at her.

And it was that same thought that had me turning and walking out of the shower, grabbing my towel, and wrapping it around me, dripping water all over the bathroom as I left, snagging my clothes along the way.

Mine?

What the fuck?

I wasn’t a possessive man.

I never wanted fucking ownership over someone else.

I roughly dried off, then slipped back into my clothes, feeling the bulge in my pocket, and remembering the box Cinna had slipped to me earlier.

I stepped back into my shoes, then walked over to the other side of the bed to place the box on Lore’s nightstand.

Finally, I went back down to the party, trying like fuck to drown out that voice in my head that just wanted to keep repeating it.

Mine.