Chapter 24
24
GIDEON
“I want to see Rowan.” My lower lip quivers as I plead. “Please.”
“We can’t, Gideon. He’s with his family now.”
“We’re his family!” I grabbed Father by the sleeve and cried. “You let him go. Why did you let him go?!”
“One day, when you’re older, you will understand that decisions must be made.”
“I’ll never understand. You let him go. You let him go!” I slammed my small fists against him angrily.
He grabbed me by the shoulders, his blue eyes boring into mine. “Every minute I forced Shannon to stay, was a minute you were in danger. The McKenzies are not weak. They would have come to take them away and killed us in the process. I had to choose and I chose you. Do you understand, son? I chose you.”
A s I’ve done for several days, I stare at my father’s portrait, the question of how he could have let my brother go blaring in my mind.
A choice. It always came down to him choosing. How could I be angry with him for that? He had to choose one son, or lose both.
Yet, all these years later, knowing how dangerous his life was, I still cannot comprehend it. I thought I could. I’d made peace with.
Everything changed the moment I found out Sofia is carrying my child. My blood. A piece of me I’d burn down the world for.
Nothing and no one could ever separate me from them. My hands roll into fists at the very thought of having anyone take them away.
Father allowed it. How? Why?
I grab my phone and re-read the message I sent to Rowan shortly after the battle for his territory.
Me: How are you?
Rowan: Good. You?
Me: Disappointed. I need a brother.
Rowan: I do too.
Me: Then come back.
Rowan: Someday.
Me: The alliance will kill me.
Rowan: The alliance will never hurt you. I won’t let them.
A smile paints across my face at my brother’s response. We’ve talked a lot since then, that just happens to be the first time he showed loyalty to me.
In return, I was there when he asked. Another alliance member was turned away by Luca last week. Gavin Alexander, Sean Murphy’s brother, was in trouble. His casino in Las Vegas was overtaken by none other than Marco Tadesco, the coward who was too afraid to take his father’s place in Chicago. He would rather steal Gavin’s empire than to claim his own because it would put him on my hit list.
Didn’t make much of a difference in the end. Rowan asked me to help Gavin take back The Red, and I did. It was fun fighting along my brother once more. Having been the one to put a bullet in Marco’s head was just the cherry on top.
As far as Gavin was concerned, I promised to leave him in peace. I’d forgive his brother’s transgression against my father for two reasons. One, Gavin cut ties with the alliance. Two, because there’s something I need that only he can provide.
A temporary hiding place for Sofia.
“I thought you were going to get me a jacket.” Sofia comes into the study with the silk cloak I ordered for her. “This is something I’d wear to the opera, not outside with jeans.”
I extend a hand to her, motioning her to come to me. She glances at Father’s image, as she always seems to, her eyes narrowed.
“He doesn’t bite,” I tell her.
“I don’t like the way he looks at me.” She exaggerates a shiver.
“He’s dead, Sofia. Come.” She shakes off whatever feeling has come over her and plops down on my lap. I kiss her neck and breathe her in, my hand resting on her tummy. “How is she?”
“She?” Sofia pulls away and arches a brow.
“That’s what you call her.”
“Well, that’s because I hope she’s a girl and makes your life hell.”
I chuckle. “A boy could do that too.”
“Not at the same level. I promise, if you don’t feel old now, you’ll definitely age with a girl. That’s what Pops used to tell me, anyway. Said that I gave him gray hair.”
“I rather think I’d look good all gray.”
Her lips pull tight, but she loses the battle not to smile. She brushes the hair at my temples. “Mmm, yes, I think so too, unfortunately.”
“Is it bad that you’re attracted to me, Little Bird?”
“Yes,” she replies without hesitation. Then, she digs her fingers into my hair and jerks my head back. “I hate that I want you.” She licks my neck, from clavicle to jawline. “I want to kill you because of it.”
I push my hips upwards, pressing my dick into her ass. “Go ahead and kill me. I want to die with a grin on my face.”
She straddles me and her lips crash onto mine. We’re instantly hot and panting. I slide my hands under her shirt, desperate to touch her soft skin.
“Yes,” she moans when I slip her bra over her nipples and graze them. She bites her lower lip and arches into me. “More. Just… more.”
Her nipples have been extremely sensitive since she became pregnant. Since I got her pregnant. Fuck me, the thought of her growing our baby makes me dangerously possessive. I want her more now than I ever did. I want to claim her inside and out. I want her to know that she’s mine. Always will be. That if I have my way, she will have many more of my children.
“Mine,” I growl into her ear, and it must do something to her because she bucks against me, her core grinding over my shaft. I divest her of her clothes fast as I can. “All fucking mine.”
“Shut up and fuck me. But not here. Not with—” she looks at the painting. “Not with him watching us.”
Her legs wrap around my waist as I stand. I nearly trip over a chair in my eagerness to get her somewhere, anywhere, with a flat surface. Then, I do trip when she undoes my zipper and button, and my pants pool at my feet.
I roll as we go down, so that she’s on top of me and protected from the impact. My head hits the marble floor of the foyer, and I see stars.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” She attempts to check me, but I stop her when, in one thrust upward, I enter her. She gasps and her fingernails dig into my chest. “Oh God!”
My brain might be woozy, but I don’t need to think much to fuck her. As long as my instincts remain intact, I’ll be fine.
She begins to ride me. Apparently, her concern for my wellbeing vanished the moment my dick slid inside her. She shoves her breasts in my face and I greedily suck as she moves against me wildly, taking from me whatever she wants.
“Don’t stop. Whatever you do, don’t fucking stop!” she demands.
She lifts off my dick and places the head at the entrance of her puckered hole. We’ve only done this once, but the feel of it remains engraved in my memory.
“Are you sure?” I ask her.
“Fuck yes. I’m so turned on, I need something more.” She gathers wetness from her sweet pussy, and makes herself slick for me. Then, she presses against her tightest spot again. This time, she’s able to take me past the head. It’s so snug around my cock that I might explode before I’m all the way in. “Yes,” she says in a guttural tone that tells me she’s enjoying this as much as I am.
“A little more?” she offers.
“Please,” I manage to grunt.
Before I can move, she impales herself fully. I lose breath. Lose the ability to think. My world goes slightly fuzzy as she begins an upward and downward motion. It’s slow. It’s overwhelming. It’s fucking torture.
She reaches back and squeezes my balls, making me hiss.
A naughty smile pulls at her pretty mouth. “Do you want to come?”
“Yes.”
“Ask nicely, and I’ll let you.” She stops all movement, waiting for my response, my balls still in her grip. Her lips curve up more as she patiently sits there, my dick embedded to the hilt in her ass. Evil wench.
Meanwhile, I’m sweating. She’s got me by the balls, quite literally, and all I have to do is say please.
I’d happily say anything she wants at this point.
“Please, make me come,” I beg.
That extremely mischievous part of her is in control now. And I fucking love it. She bends over me. “Suck on my nipple. The harder you do that, the harder I’ll fuck you.”
She does exactly that, pumping up and down, faster and faster the harder I suck, until I release with a growl. I fill her with more cum than I ever have, so that when she’s done and has had her last bit of fun with me, she stands and it trickles down her legs.
A giggle escapes her as she stares down at me.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
“This. Everything. A couple of months ago I tried to run from you in this very spot. Now, if any of the staff were to come in, they’d think I took advantage of you.”
The idea of someone coming in and seeing her buck naked has me frowning. I stand and scoop her up in my arms. “Come on, woman. If anyone sees you like this I’ll have to carve their eyes out, and I’d rather not hurt my people.”
I take her upstairs and put her in the bath. As I wash her, she relaxes. It seems as good a time as any to bring up something I know she’s not going to like.
I clear my throat. “I’m leaving for a few weeks.”
“Weeks?” She frowns.
“I’ve got business in Florida.”
“Ferryman business?”
“It’s all?—”
“I know.” She lifts a hand to stop me. “Luca won’t be there this time, will he?”
“No. Sergio Ramos isn’t a part of the alliance. He won’t have their backing.”
Remaining pensive for a moment, she asks, “You’re going to kill him?”
“I’m going to negotiate his death,” I clarify.
She laughs, but there’s no humor in it. There never is in these matters. “How does one negotiate someone’s death?”
“He’s holed up. I have to lure him out. For that, I need someone close enough to him to make it happen.”
“Don’t you get tired of always plotting?”
“Yes,” I answer honestly.
Letting out a long breath, she hugs her legs to her chest and rests her cheek upon her knees. “Weeks all by myself. You’ve never left me alone so long.”
“I’m not leaving you here alone.”
She lifts her head. “I’m coming with you?”
And here’s the part she won’t be pleased with. “You’re going to Las Vegas.”
“Wait. What?” She sits up, water splashing everywhere.
I wipe the droplets off my arms. “I’ve made arrangements for you to stay in a guarded location.”
“A guarded location? Where?”
“The Red Hotel and Casino. A former alliance member owns it. It’s highly secured.”
“I don’t want to go. Leave me here,” she demands. “I’ll be happier.”
“It’s not up for debate. You will stay at The Red. I’ll join you in a week.”
“All my things are here!”
“You can take them with you.”
“Not the dark room!”
“Sofia.” I inject as much authority as I can into my tone. “It’s for your own safety.”
The glare she casts toward me would have been fatal were I a weaker man. As it is, it’s hard to maintain eye contact.
“You’re all the same,” she hisses and abruptly stands. “Actually, that’s not true. You’re far worse than any other man in my life. Overbearing. Controlling. Kidnapper. I hate you.”
“It’s too bad you feel that way, because you’re stuck with me forever.”
“Then I’ll hate you forever.” She steps out of the tub, slapping my hands away when I try to help. Dripping wet, she stomps out of the bathroom.
I remain there for a while, partly hating myself too. She’s right, I am controlling. But I’m also afraid. Paranoid.
Sofia is pregnant. The stakes have gone up. Everyone around us is a possible vulnerability. Including Scarlet. Especially her. She’s too close to Maisel. Although she tries to hide it, I know she’s kept in touch. Should the alliance weaponize this connection to her, she could be compromised. I can’t risk that.
Over the last two weeks, I’ve given a lot of thought to the way I’d handle this. The only way is to remove Sofia from the house long enough that Scarlet believes I’ve hidden her away somewhere else.
And maybe even then, I might not bring her back until I’m certain no one will ever find her.
It takes two days to make the necessary arrangements for our long trip. Two days in which Sofia barely utters a word to me.
When she doesn’t pack, I’m forced to pack for her. She watches me with angry eyes. In fact, she’s so furious with me that when we leave through the garage, she’s too busy glaring to look around the space she’s been curious about for months.
Henry drives us to the hangar where my private jet awaits. The cold air hits her, whipping up her hair. She runs her palms over her arms and shivers. When I place the cloak I bought for her around her shoulders, she pulls away from me.
The entire flight is the same.
Gavin sends a car for us once we arrive. All the while, Sofia stares out the window. I reach for her hand and she snatches it away.
“You cannot be angry with me forever, Little Bird,” I say.
“Watch me.”
“I couldn’t leave you there. Not for this long. I’ve already explained that to you.”
“Well, I don’t believe you. There’s more to it, I’m sure.”
Of course there is. But how do I put into words what I barely understand myself?
“We’re here, sir,” the driver says when the vehicle comes to a stop near a private side entrance of The Red Hotel and Casino.
“Please, give us a moment,” I request.
The man nods and leaves the car.
“Sofia—” Before I can say another word, she throws herself on me.
Straddling me, she cups my face. “Please don’t go. Don’t leave me here with these people I don’t know. Take me home.”
“The Red is highly secured and I can be here in a second if needed. I’ll be gone a week, at most.”
“Please.” She kisses me, deep open mouthed kisses that have me rock hard instantly.
I grab hold of her hips as she begins to grind on me, a futile attempt to stop her because I don’t actually want to. She hasn’t let me touch her in two days and I have to. I need to.
My hands slide under her cloak and find the waist of her slacks. I tug at them, dragging them over her ass, panties and all, but can only go as far as her knees. She’s forced into a squat position that works perfectly for me as I free my cock and impale her.
We both moan, both of us desperate for this connection. I guide her up and down over my shaft, faster and faster. It isn’t making love. Not about pleasure. I’m not even sure it’s fucking. It’s a needful joining that has us both lost to anything but each other in this moment.
When I come, she presses herself into me more, as if she wants to take me as deeply as I can go. Then, she remains like that, with me inside her, for several minutes.
I caress her cheek, her neck, her breasts. She shuts her eyes and drops her head back and sighs.
“I’ll call every day,” I promise. Lifting her shirt, I draw her bra over a nipple and kiss it reverently. “When I do, I want you to remember my tongue. My teeth.” I bite her. “I want you to touch yourself for me, Little Bird. Will you do that?”
She looks at me, watches me as I take her breast into my mouth. “I’ll do that. But in return, I want you to keep your hands off your dick. No touching. No coming. I want you to think of my tongue, my teeth, on you, and I want it to hurt.”
I stop and peer into her eyes. “If that’s what you wish.”
With a growl, she gets off me and pulls her pants back on. Then, without waiting for me to assist her out, she exits the car.
Gavin and his men are waiting at the entrance. I nod at him and he gives me a look that says he’s not thrilled about helping me, but he’s on the hook.
“Gideon,” he greets.
“Gavin,” I reply. “I trust all security measures are in place.”
“She will be safe and comfortable, I promise.” To her, he says, “Welcome to The Red. We’ll make you feel right at home.”
“Until someone yanks me from it,” she answers, rudely.
Gavin lets out a breath. “Right. If you’ll follow us.”
She makes to go after him, but I tug on her arm and stop her. “I’ll be back before you know it, Little Bird.”
“Just go,” she says, her voice tight, before she leaves me standing there, staring after her.