The cleaners are going to charge me out of the ass for this, too. I don’t really give a fuck though. Whoever he was, he was way out of line. We have two of the top Anastasio captains on the gun back at Pops’ place. The understanding was that any funny business meant their brains become swiss cheese. So what the fuck was an Anastasio doing tailing me?
“You’re scaring me,” says Aubriella.
“Don’t be scared, doll. No one is going to touch you while you’re with me. I don’t care who they are.”
“That’s not what I’m scared of.”
I meet her eye, but have to look away. I know she needs me to be calm and convince her that I’m not as mad or as dangerous as it might look. The truth is I am. I’m pissed as a bull and my blood is boiling. Only good pussy and killing get me this worked up.
“Come on, I’m going to drop you off with your friend. You’ll be safe there. I’ll get a crew to watch the place.”
“What?” she asks, struggling to keep up as I half-run back to the car.
“I’ve got to end this, once and for all. I can’t have you tagging along. It’ll be too dangerous.” We push through a crowded section of the street until we reach my car, which has a ticket in the window for illegal parking. I rip the ticket free and toss it to the ground before helping Aubriella in the passenger side. I glance over my shoulder once and then get behind the wheel. The blood on my hands is still wet and smears all over the wheel. Aubriella is shaking, so I reach to put my hand on her forearm. The words of reassurance die in my throat when she pulls back, leaving us both to stare at the bloody handprint I left on her arm.
Seeing it wrenches at my gut. I should promise to change for her, promise that I’ll leave behind all the violence and crime. I should, but I can’t. I can’t leave behind who I am, the best I can do is try to protect her from it. The first step is finally telling her what’s going on. At least some of it. “I pissed off the Anastasios a few years back. They killed my brother to get revenge, but they’ve never been happy with that. They want more. Now it looks like they’re willing to piss all over tradition to get me back. I need to end this, once and for all.”
She swallows hard. “Will you be safe?”
I squeeze her thigh. “I’m too pissed to die right now. Besides, I still owe you the night of your life back at my place.”
“Vince, this is serious. I don’t want to joke about it.”
“I’m not joking. You’re going to cum so hard you won’t know what day it is.”
She finally grins a little, looking down and then reaching for my hands, but stopping short when she remembers they are soaked in blood. Her face is unreadable and her voice is quiet. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I’m going to be ruthless. That’s all I can promise.”
She bites her lip, hesitating before finally stretching over to hug me tight, ignoring the blood soaking through to her clothes. Her delicious scent fills my nose. I let myself picture what I’ll do to her when I have time. It’s strange, I’m normally happy to let women run away when they see the real me. That’s just how it goes. Either I fuck them and forget them, or they catch a glimpse of the monster inside of me and can’t find the door fast enough. Aubriella’s different. She’s afraid of me, I know she is, but she’s still here. Above all, I just want to keep her safe, but beneath that? I want to fuck her so good that she forgets to be scared, that she keeps coming back like I’m a drug. Is that really all I want? Fuck if I know. This girl has me second guessing myself, and I never do that.
I park outside her friend’s apartment. Aubriella gives me a strange look.
“I’m not even going to ask how you know where she lives.”
“If knowing it helps keep you safe, I know it.”
She sighs and leans forward to give me a quick kiss on the lips. The kiss is a little stiff and oddly mechanical, but I don’t read much into it. She’s probably just freaked after watching me gut that guy in the alley. A few minutes alone with her will smooth all the coldness out of her. I palm my hard dick. Just thinking about it makes me antsy. I want to get all this over with and get her back to my place to show her what real sex is like, none of that rushed shit we’ve had to make do with until now.
I watch her jog up the steps to the apartment and let herself into the main stairwell. I watch for a few more minutes until I’m satisfied that no one was following her. Then I make the call I’ve been waiting to make.
He picks up on the first ring. “Boss…” It’s Jimmy. He sounds shaken. Jimmy never sounds shaken.