CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Griffin
A va. Ava. Ava.
I want to ring her cute little neck. What the hell is she trying to prove driving to the park on her own? At least she took her guard, not that she’d get past all three of them if she tried to leave the house. Or the eight others on the street.
She’s trying to get a rise out of me, and I won’t give her any ammunition. I had some stupid fantasy when I got out of the shower that I’d find her on the bed naked, legs spread begging me fuck her.
She wasn’t even in the bloody house!
I’d given her guard simple instructions that appear to have backfired. She can go anywhere she wants so long as he is with her. I didn’t restrict her movements and relied on his judgment that he would keep her from doing something dangerous or stupid.
She grew up in this world and so far, it appears she understands the importance of her safety. Better than marrying some spoiled billionaire or celebrity’s daughter who only wants to party and take risks.
Zeke confirms they drove to the park, saying something about stopping for drinks and snacks. Snacks?
I arrive at the park, and for a few glorious moments, I’m back to being just me, and not the head of a massive crime family on the brink of chaos. Only, we’re making headway in that department. Connor assured me again last night his team of capos are roaming the neighborhoods quelling dissent and trouble.
He and Shane arrive in separate cars, sweet rides they’ve had forever. Connor emerges from his Lamborghini with the wind in his hair. Shane climbs out of his Corvette, a toy he bragged about a couple of years ago.
I consider telling them to get new cars to tone shit down. Manhattan isn’t Astoria. We’re running a criminal organization in a new neighborhood where we don’t have the cops and Feds in our pockets yet.
My Escalade is only a few years old and with the black-on-black trim package, it blends into other high-end cars used for carting around celebrities. I’m also comfortable in it. Although, I haven’t driven it in months. Gus gets that pleasure.
“Have you seen—” I stop, spotting a limo pull up and out pour the Greeks.
I spin toward my brothers. “What are they doing here?”
“I invited them,” Shane says, stretching. “Atlas heard me reserving the field. Said he and his brothers played at Uni. Remember, we’re a family now. People need to see us together. Getting along.”
“What’s Ava doing here?” Connor says, pointing like that’s more of a shock.
I turn around and every cell in my body roars to life. She’s wearing lime green silk shorts that are ridiculously short and a body-hugging white T-shirt. Looking closer, I can see her tits bob freely.
She’s not wearing a bra.
Biting my lower lip, I tamp down my anger. She’s doing all this to get a rise out of me.
Something’s rising all right.
Again.
Shane waves over the Greeks and when Ares gets close, he pulls me in. “What is Ava doing here?”
I glare at him. “She wanted to play.”
“With six men?” he grinds out but gives her a wave, like he’s a little afraid of her, too. “And you let her leave the house like that?”
I see the joy in pissing off someone who’s so easily rattled. Ares is ready to explode, so I keep my cool.
“Besides me, you, and your psycho brothers, who cares what she’s wearing?” I push him aside to go to her.
Getting closer, I notice she’s going through a shopping bag leaning over the bench.
“You could have waited for me?” I pull her aside, and I swear I smell both our cum juices from the bathroom playdate.
She didn’t take a shower, and this earthiness is getting to me. “I saw you didn’t have a cooler packed. I was making myself useful.”
Make yourself more useful and get on your knees to suck my cock.
God, I have to stop.
Inside the paper shopping bag are two six-packs of energy drinks, cut-up fruit, and pretzels.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do this. I wouldn’t have asked you to do this because you’re a woman. We just don’t cater our stupid game.”
“Why is it stupid?”
“Because we just come out here to blow off steam.” I shrug.
She smirks. “Isn’t that what all the women you’ve been fucking is for?”
I grip her chin. “How many men have you fucked, Chewie?”
“Chewie? As in Chewbacca?” A laugh breaks from her chest, her full fuckable lips spread wide. “Still like me au naturel ?”
“I fucking love it.”
Being a brat, she takes out the phone Shane gave her a few weeks ago. “Let’s see if I can get a package of razors delivered to the house before we get home.”
I grab her arm, my chest bumping into hers. Feeling those tits against my pecs, I growl, “No bra? Do you want to get hurt?”
“I was going for distracting.” She jiggles them.
“You wanted to distract my brothers?” My voice cracks. “What about your brothers?”
Her shoulders slump as she covers herself. “Yeah, I didn’t know they’d be here.”
Smiling, I lift my dark blue sweatshirt over my head and shove it over hers.
“Thanks, I was a little chilly.”
“I could tell.”
“You, too.” She pinches one of my nipples straining through the black, ribbed tank top.
“Are you two discussing your first dance?” Connor saunters over. “We only have the field for two hours.”
“Right.” I pin her next to me. “Ava’s playing.”
“Nice.” Connor flashes her a flirty grin.
“Wait, if my brothers being here is a surprise, who were you going to play?” Ava asks.
“We just come out here to kick the ball around, stay loose, tackle each other.” Connor grunts. “Now I guess we have to actually play and try to score goals.”
“I’ll play goalie.” She slips out from under my arm. “Good luck. They’re ruthless.”
Seeing this is real, Atlas talks some woman who’s gawking at him from a blanket doing yoga into being their goalie.
For the next ninety minutes, I’ve worked more muscles than I have in ten years. These fucking Greeks make it a brutal game. It’s miraculously tied six-six. Ava is shite at the goal, but it’s a hard net to cover. God bless her, though, she dived for the ball like a champ, caught a few, but mostly missed. The woman covering the other goal did about the same.
The ball rarely got down to either goal, though. All we do is kick the ball away from each other and volley it back and forth. I only had the ball long enough to pass it to Connor or Shane and drive it down the field a few times. But we kept Ares and his brothers in check.
Then out of nowhere, Shane gets it and twists to outsmart Ambrose. I stare in amazement as he makes a run for the Zervas net. Connor and I take off, signaling we’re open to pass because that big, mean, motherfucker Ares is on his tail, trying to mow him down.
Ares gets his foot just at the right spot between Shane’s feet and my brother goes down. Hard. When he lifts his head, his nose is bleeding. Fury in his eyes, he lunges for Ares.
Fuck.
I bolt that way and get between them.
To my surprise, Ava is there, too, holding her brother back. But when he shrugs away, she follows Shane off the field. We’re all wiped out and sweating. The next group who reserved the field is warmed up. Altas saunters over to the woman he abducted to play and leans on the post talking to her like he’s not some crime boss.
God, I remember those days. Just talking to a lass, wanting in her pants, and nothing more. Our lives are forever changed thanks to my appetite to head my own syndicate after years of working for one.
As soon as I found out I had to marry Ava Zervas to stop the war, my walls went up. Under no circumstance would I allow myself to like her. To fuck her. To give her anything a husband gives a wife besides money.
Boy, I’m 0 for fucking 3.
Right now, I want more of what we did this morning. I bet she does, too. Looking for her, I only find my sweatshirt strewn on a bench.
I immediately think she grabbed her guard and went home alone. The same way she came here, acting like I don’t mean anything to her. But she’s with Shane. Tending to his nosebleed. He’s sitting on a bench and she’s...wedged between his legs, her tits against his chest, holding a napkin against his face.
Anger pushes me forward, but by the time I get there, Ava’s moved.
“Is it broken, doc?” I ask with clenched teeth.
Shane holds the napkin and lowers his head. “No.”
“Then why were you on top of him?” I bark at Ava.
“I was helping him.” She looks around. “You also didn’t bring a first aid kit.”
“We’re not ten,” I snap. “No snacks. No bandages. I’ve left here with a gash on my leg that didn’t close for five days. I toughed it out.”
She shrugs. “Suit yourself. I’m going home.”
I cackle low and controlled. “You’re coming home with me.”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant.”
“I meant in the car with me.” I grip her arm.
“Griff,” Shane says with tension in his voice. “It was nothing.”
And I fucking know that. My brothers would never betray me. This little siren is trying to get under my skin, so it will be easier to let her go.
But it’s not fucking working, and I know just the way to prove it to her.