Chapter 4
SAINT
“Get up, stronzo.”
My brother Priest looms over me, looking annoyingly chipper for whatever the fuck time of morning this is.
“Who are you calling an asshole, asshole?” I mutter before pulling my pillow over my face.
And that’s when I smell her.
Damn. My face smells like Isla’s pussy. I inhale deeply, annoyed that I’m not alone to enjoy the remnants of last night, the lingering reminder that I spent all evening fucking a ridiculously gorgeous woman and came more than I ever have in my life in the span of one evening.
The pillow is snatched away, and then the curtains open, sending blinding sunshine streaming in the windows.
“What are you doing?” I growl, wincing as I shut my eyes tight. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“We have things to do today. Did you forget? You, me, Lucky, and Scorpion. We’re having a bros day.”
Shit.
I did forget.
Because I crawled into my bed around 5:30 a.m. and passed out.
I throw an arm over my eyes, further blocking out the light. “Why does the bros day have to start so early in the goddamn morning?”
“It’s not early. It’s nine. That’s why I came looking for you.”
I’m not impressed. We’re here for Priest’s wedding, but this is also a week off for me. Much-needed after all the shit we’ve been through over the last year.
“The door was locked for a reason,” I tell him.
“It was also unlocked for a reason. You’re never still sleeping at this time of the morning. For all I knew, someone clipped you in your sleep.”
I move my forearm and shoot him a glare with one eye. “You couldn’t be so lucky. Just because we’re majority owners of this place now doesn’t give you the right to run around unlocking all the doors. What if I wasn’t alone in here?”
“Actually, it does give me that right, when the door in question belongs to my consigliere. And you are alone, so the second part of your argument can also fuck off. Now, get up. We’ve got shit to do.”
I sigh. “Then get out, or you’re about to get the kind of show I don’t think you’ll like very much.”
“You have fifteen minutes,” Priest warns me before heading out of my suite and leaving me in peace.
I don’t waste any time in getting my tired ass out of bed and heading to the shower, where I reluctantly wash all traces of last night off me.
As much as the sex was off-the-charts incredible, Isla and I are a one-and-done thing.
I know her room number, but I won’t be knocking on the door.
I also won’t be back at the bar, just in case I’m tempted to go another round.
Tomorrow is the wedding, and then I’ll be flying stateside to run the ship while Priest and Luna enjoy an extended honeymoon. I can’t afford to be distracted.
A one-night stand is all I can manage. Anything else? It’s too fucking dangerous.
After a quick shower, I dress and towel-dry my hair before heading out to meet up with my brothers. Today is Priest’s bachelor party. It’s all about my brother. Not anything else.
So why the fuck can’t I get a pair of green eyes out of my mind as the elevator doors close in front of me?
I really need to think about something else, so I whip out one of my burner phones and check for messages from back home.
We don’t anticipate anything going wrong while we’re away, but this is also the first time all three of my brothers and I have been out of our territory at the same time since we were kids and our dad took us to Florida to try to make up for our mom walking out on us a few years earlier.
That trip ended with me having a black eye, courtesy of my old man.
Lucky spent most of the time crying, Scorpion was pissed at the world, Priest was quiet and angry, and I was hell-bent on running the fuck away from it all.
I got as far as the hotel lobby until our dad caught me and hauled me back to our room while the shocked desk clerks watched.
But he was Don Andriani, so he threw some money at them, threatened to have them chopped up and tossed into the nearest concrete foundation as it was being poured, and got the fuck out of town. No one ever said shit. Not even Zia Maria when we got back home.
With the ugly past chasing my hard-on, I make the short walk out of the hotel and into the sunshine to Priest’s bungalow.
In preparation for the big day, he and Luna have his-and-hers digs, complete with their own wait staff twenty-four seven.
They’re being serious about the whole not-seeing-the-bride on the big day bad-luck thing.
Like my big brother, I don’t bother to knock at the bungalow door. I just walk right in as Priest is finishing up scolding our two younger brothers.
“No one’s allowed to drink tonight,” he announces.
“The fuck?” Lucky demands.
“It’s the wedding Luna’s been waiting for, and I don’t want you assholes to be hungover and fuck it up for her.”
“How would she know if I’m hungover?”
“You’d be puking in the sand,” I point out.
Lucky’s the youngest. He’s a hothead with a wild streak that our father did his damnedest to beat out of him. It didn’t work.
“I haven’t puked since I was eighteen,” Lucky defends himself, frowning.
Like this is a badge of honor or something.
“No drinking,” Scorpion tells Lucky. “Don’t question the fucking don.”
“He’s not the don here. He’s just our brother.”
“I’m the don everywhere I go,” Priest says in a commanding tone, “and if you don’t act like a fucking grown-ass man, I’ll send you to Connecticut when I get back.”
“Jesus, not Connecticut,” Lucky grumbles.
“And no women either,” Priest adds, giving me a pointed look.
I hold my hands up in surrender. “Why are you looking at me?”
“Johnny said you left the bar with a blonde last night. Plus, you slept in, and you looked like you got clawed up by a feral cat when I woke your ass up.”
Shit. I do have fond memories of Isla sinking her nails into my shoulders and raking them down my chest as I was balls deep inside her. I hadn’t taken notice when I showered and dressed; the bathroom mirror had been steamed up.
I shrug. “Maybe I rescued a stray yesterday.”
He snorts. “Yeah, you’re just the patron saint of good fucking deeds.”
“I agreed to be your best man, didn’t I?” I run a hand through my wet hair. “Look, I promised Luna I’d behave. And I’ve stayed out of trouble.”
Priest glares at me. “So far. I mean it, stronzi. None of you ruin this for me, or I’ll have you clipped.”
“Luna would never let you have one of us killed,” Scorpion says mildly. “She’s too softhearted.”
Priest looks us all dead in the eyes, one at a time. “Who says she’d ever know?”
“No women,” I agree easily.
There’s only one who interests me anyway, and I’m not stupid enough to pursue her a second night. I’ll just want another and another after that, and then I’d still want more. Isla is damned addictive.
“No drinking tonight,” Lucky says, “but what about this afternoon?”
“No drinking until the ceremony is over,” Priest growls, “or I’ll cut off your balls and feed them to sharks.”
Lucky goes a little pale. He was probably drinking his face off at the club last night anyway. I understand. This is the most freedom we’ve had in years. We’re still the Andrianis here, but we don’t have to look over our shoulders.
We’re not sitting ducks in the middle of a city teeming with rival Mafia factions.
After our war with the Revellos died, things settled into a lull.
But no one who’s been in this world long enough believes that a lull will fucking last. In the city, we’re on guard, on edge.
We’re strapped and at the ready for whatever shit may go down.
Here in paradise, everything is slowed down.
There’s a false sense of peace. I guess I fell into the trap myself last night with Isla.
“Fine,” Lucky mutters. “But what are we doing today if we’re not drinking? Strip club? At least that would be fun.”
“Jesus.” Priest shakes his head. “Luna would kill me. Do I look like I want to be murdered in my sleep?”
“Well, fuck me.” Lucky shakes his head, clearly not impressed by the day ahead of us.
I can’t say I blame him. I love my brother, but being at Priest’s mercy and jumping through whatever hoops he’s arranged for us isn’t exactly my idea of fun.
“You’ll survive,” Scorpion tells him.
“We’re going snorkeling,” Priest announces.
Lucky starts to grumble again.
“It’s going to be fun as fuck,” our eldest brother snaps, interrupting his complaining. “Now get some trunks on and meet me in the lobby. We’ll be taking the boat I recently acquired, and we’ll be gone all day. We’ll get back in time to get a good night’s rest for the wedding tomorrow.”
“A good night’s rest,” Lucky repeats under his breath. “Maybe we can braid each other’s hair and have a fucking pillow fight before we go to sleep too.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Priest is serious about this, and even if he is being a bit of a groomzilla, I love my brother.
I love Luna like the sister I never had.
The two of them have been through hell, and they almost lost each other in the middle of the brutal, all-out war between a faction led by Amedeo the Animal Revello and our crew.
“Stop whining and go get your trunks on,” I tell Lucky, smacking him on the shoulder.
“Ouch.” He rubs the place where I hit him, turning a glare on me. “Don’t bruise me. The ladies won’t like it.”
“No fucking women,” Priest growls.
“After the wedding is over,” Lucky stresses, giving our brother a shit-eating grin. “Wouldn’t dream of it before you say I do for the second time.”
“This is the one that matters. The last time was under duress. This wedding is about Luna and what she deserves.”
“Come on, Luck.” Scorpion and I start dragging him from the bungalow.
“I’ll make sure that we’re all waiting in the lobby in ten minutes,” I promise Priest over my shoulder.
“See that you do. You’re going to like the fucking snorkeling trip. We’ll see some fish and coral and shit.”
“We’ll fucking love it,” I say and then push my youngest brother out the door.
But as the three of us head back to our separate suites to change, I’m not thinking about coral reefs or tropical fish or even making my brother happy.
I’m thinking about her. About her hard nipples and the way she arched her back when I sucked them.
About how sweet she tasted and how she came all over my face when I bit her clit.
About being buried deep inside her and how her eyes were the bright green of spring grass.
Yeah. It’s a really good fucking thing that Priest laid down the rules.
Or else I’d probably be back at her door tonight, knocking even though I know I shouldn’t.
I’d be stripping her naked and making her come over and over until neither one of us could think straight and I sank my cock so deep inside her, it felt like I’d never leave.
At least we’ll never cross paths again. Temptation won’t be within reach. In a few days, I’ll be back at home in the frigid end of winter, driving through the icy March streets that are as much a part of me as the blood in my veins.
I’ll be back where I belong, and Isla will be thousands of miles away, wherever she lives.
Nothing but a memory.