Chapter 8

Eight

Lili

I wake to the moonlight and the sound of men talking. Pale light glints off the marble flooring, making the room feel like a shimmering pool. I glide from the bed wondering if there's anything to pull on. I find the walk-in closet full of clothes in my size. Jeans, dresses, T-shirts, and elegant silk blouses. Panties and bra sets line multiple drawers. Shoes for every event imaginable line a section of the closet too. Bastian did not miss a detail.

I opt for a matching set of white panties and bra then turn to the other side of the closet.

Buttoning one of Bastian's dress shirts closed, I pad barefoot toward the sound of voices.

I step out of the hallway to find Bastian looking out over the city skyline, a drink in one hand, and the other running through his hair. He hasn't seen me yet, so I take my time to appreciate his fine form in lounge pants and nothing else. In all my time, I've never seen him in anything but three-piece suits. Hell, I don't think I've seen him without his weapon holsters firmly in place, either.

The sight of him relaxed is new and I like it. I also like knowing I had a hand in putting him in a ruffled laid-back state.

Con is in the kitchen making coffee while his two brothers are watching something on a laptop with the voice muted. The three brothers are dressed in fresh suits and have their guns where they always have them—one tucked into the back of their pants and two more in the same shoulder holster Bastian uses.

"What are you watching?" I move in behind the couch Arthur and James sit on.

James jumps and slams the lid closed. I let out a heavy sigh and lift my gaze to find Bastian considering me from across the living room.

"Lili, sweetheart, are you hungry?"

I ignore his question. "You might as well let me see. You want this to work, I need in. I can't only know one side of your life, Bastian. It's all or nothing." I don't waver in my stance, nor do I break eye contact. He sets his drink down on the edge of a beautiful grand piano. Without a word he moves around it and settles his impressive size on the bench.

"Let her see, gentlemen," he gruffs out before playing a melody on the white and black keys I've heard him hum before. It's calming and sweet. Everything this moment doesn't feel like. For some reason, I'm afraid a glass shoe is about to fall, and my universe is about to come crashing down around my feet for a second time.

"Thank you," I mouth to Bastian. He gives a soft nod and turns back to the keys.

James opens the laptop and pulls the video up again.

"Be warned, this is graphic," he says like a big brother who thinks his little sister can't take the sight of blood.

Earlier today, he would be right. I learned a lot about my limits in a brief span of time.

"Noted. What am I looking at?" I ask.

Con comes over and hands me a cup of coffee and a slice of fresh bread. His smile is gentle and the kindness in his eyes belies the rough life he leads. One day I hope he can find the happiness I've found with his boss.

James points at the screen. "Yesterday after the Accandis men left here, they both went back to their club. Noah took a couple of hookers to the back and his father retired for the evening in the apartment they own above the club."

"Disgusting. Trash with no class. I'm not surprised. And the other brother?"

"Good observation," Bastian says as he continues to stroke the piano keys.

"Liam went to a meeting. We followed him to a warehouse where I took these while Con recorded with his phone."

Arthur holds up a phone. I take it and flip through a handful of snaps showing Noah talking to someone in the middle of a dark warehouse. Only the lights of two cars throw light into the cavernous belly of the dilapidated building. I pass the phone back to him and continue watching the video. Crates of weapons sit around them with a couple popped open.

But that isn't all. Women kneel along the far wall. I can barely make out their slight forms in the poor lighting.

But their whimpers are deafening.

"Are those women getting trafficked?"

Fear grips my heart. I look to Bastian who has stopped playing. He considers me and the anger in his eyes sends me back a step. The ire in him isn't for me though, I quickly realize. It's for the women and the truth that he almost handed me over to those monsters. Self-loathing spreads over his face.

"Do we call this in? Do you have any cops on your payroll? What happened to those women?"

Before now I am almost embarrassed to say I didn't notice the bruising on Con's and Arthur's knuckles nor the ones that color their faces.

"You fought them, didn't you? That is why Liam came here early? You spooked him into acting."

James nods, but it's Bastian who speaks.

"He knew if I found out about him breaking our contract that I would call off the wedding."

Con gives off a nervous laugh. "That little Irish prick knew we were watching and thought a few of his men could take us down. He left them to finish us and rounded up others to come here."

I join Bastian by the piano, and he pulls me onto his lap.

He touches the end of my nose with his. "Men, if you don't mind I would like a few moments with my lover. I'll join you shortly." He takes the coffee mug and untouched bread from my hand.

"Join them? Do you have to go?"

I don't see the men leave the living room, but I feel the energy shift once we are alone. It's calmer.

"Bastian, what's going on?" I ask in a hushed tone.

His hands settle around my waist. "This nightmare isn't over. I still have to deal with the other brother. While he is still out there, the Accandis crew will always have a target on our backs. I can't let that happen."

"What does that mean?"

He stands and pulls me toward the bedroom. Inside, moonlight bathes our bed in a silver light.

"It means I have to correct my mistakes. There will always be someone gunning for us, but this one I won't allow to keep staining this earth with their presence. I do a lot of crime. But trafficking I cannot allow. Especially in my territory. Eliminating their threat to us is something I should have done instead of betraying your trust in me."

Oddly enough, I understand. I don't like it, but I know this is his way of life.

"Please don't judge me by all my actions. Some come with the lifestyle and there's nothing I can do to change the blood in my veins. This is the real me, Lili."

"I don't want to change you any more than you want to change me. We will find our balance."

Hooded eyes find mine in the dim room. He turns on a bedside lamp and it peels back enough of the darkness to show the man who bled for me needs me.

Releasing the buttons on my borrowed clothes, I let Bastian's shirt pool on the floor at my feet. My panties and bra come off next as my stepfather looks on. In the quiet of the night, I let my emotions shine through for him in our cocooned silence.

There's no time to prepare or to resist, only feel.

His lounge pants come off and he leads me to the bed. Taking my hand, he spreads me over the rumpled duvet.

In one swift movement I roll us over, taking the top. His smile is fucking heart-melting.

I reach under me, lift, and slowly sink over his hard shaft. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I've been wet for this man since he started playing the piano.

"Fuck, yes," he growls and inhales deeply. We're a mess right now with so much up in the air, but the past and the future mean nothing right now. We are alive, breathing, and finding peace in each other's arms. I'm going to focus on that for one selfish moment in time.

"You're my life, Lili . " The love in his voice fills my heart. But his soft words don't match the possessive streak I witness blaze across his face. His cock fills me completely, swelling with need. My pussy grips around him and as I raise up, his eyes shutter closed.

"I don't deserve you." Bastian's hands skim over the sides of my waist. He falters when his touch comes over my stomach. "One day my children will grow here. I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you or our family."

"I believe you."

Conviction scribes his words as a heartfelt promise across my mending soul.

Holding my gaze, Bastian sinks in until there's nothing left to give.

I lean forward and he kisses me deeply, stealing my breath away. He moves slowly, stroking us both with deep thrusting pumps. Every time he draws out and I take him back in, my heart rate doubles. And so does my love.

His thick cock slides through my juices so deep I feel I've lost possession of my heart completely.

Our lovemaking is slow and gentle. I can't help but feel this could be the last time I hold my lover in my arms.

He slowly takes me in the moonlight. Where earlier was all about the fastest way to have each other, this is different. The passion is just as strong, but both of us take our time enjoying each other's bodies.

He moves a hand between us and when he pinches my clit just so, I lose it.

I scream out my release and let my climax hit. He doesn't stop, doesn't break pace. He continues driving into me through my climax, making my release more powerful. All the while his dark eyes hold mine.

Harsh breaths break free from my chest. My legs are shaking along with every other body part. But there's no floating down and easing my feet back to Earth. Not with Bastian. He promised to steal my breath away, and he's working hard at keeping his given word.

The friction is so delicious. Butterflies kick up in the pit of my stomach and I quiver. "Daddy," I moan, holding his hand over my heart.

One last thrust and my womb fills with his seed. Pulse after pulse, I take all he has to give. Masculine groans fuel the full-body shudder that washes over me.

"I love you, Lili Irons. Until God takes me and throws me into the pits of hell for my crimes, I will love you." He gathers my hair, winds the long lengths around his fist and brings my lips to his. I willingly fall into his loving embrace.

He pulls me in and turns us over to where his body covers mine as we rest on our sides. We can shower later. Right now, I just want to lie in his protective arms.

"Yes," I whisper into the night. "Yes, Daddy. I will marry you."

My eyes close, and it's hours later before I wake. The sun is just hitting the horizon. Sheets drape around me and there's a note on the side table. I sit up, bringing the sheets with me.

I pick up the thick piece of paper and read the first line scribed across the front.

"I might have ruined your body for another man, but you've torn my heart from my chest."

The sweet words make me smile though I wish he was telling them to me himself.

I don't know what makes me flip the card over, but when I do I find another line that makes my heart swell with love for my mafia daddy.

"Keep my heart close and protect it with your love, my sweet Lili. You are its keeper now and forever."

Tears well in my eyes. Sun glints off something shiny and it draws my eyes to my hand. Sitting on my ring finger is a diamond ring on top of a gold band. He must have slipped it on while I slept.

"Oh, Bastian. Where are you?"

"Right here, my sweet Lili."

I gasp and lunge off the bed. I get halfway to him before I stumble to a stop.

I take in his disheveled look. The blood on his hands. The worn look in his eyes. Bullet holes catch light. One through the side of his pant leg and the other through his freaking collar.

I swallow. I don't have to ask what happened.

"Con, James, and Arthur?" I hold my breath. I can't lose any more people. Maddox will forever be missed. His brothers mean more to me than just friends. They are my family. My hands tremble. My heart…oh, God! It won't stop racing. I shake my hands to force them to stop trembling but it's not working.

"Alive, my Lili. Wounded and asking for you. But alive. And you are safe. The Accandis family's rule is over. You are no longer in danger."

Tears stream down my cheeks. I fall into Bastian's open arms and give up a silent prayer of thanks.

"It's over, Lili. It's over." Bastian rests his chin on the top of my head and his relief bleeds through his words and into me.

A million questions enter my mind, but I know it's better to leave all the death and destruction for level twelve. Here, in our home, is a safe place.

"I believe you, Daddy. I trust you and from here on out I want only love and light for us."

He takes my lips in a claiming kiss, and I feel consumed by a man who thinks he ruined me, But, in reality, he completes me.