Chapter 5 – Sage
“ I ’m sorry,” Noah begins. “Do you two know each other?”
“We fucked, and she disappeared,” Elias bellows, garnering a few looks from people nearby.
“Tell the whole room, why don’t you!” I huff. “And it’s called a one-night stand for a reason.”
“Do all your one-night stands give you multiple orgasms? Do they fuck you until your eyes cross and your brain stops working? Isn’t that what you said to me after the fifth round?”
The shock of running into Elias battles with lust. My cunt remembers every inch of that man; the way it stretched around his cock as he pounded into me, his strong hands as they held my hips, and his greedy mouth on my lips, my throat, my clit .
“Is this the unbelievably earth-shattering mindless sex guy you told me about that you met at a club in Brooklyn a few weeks ago?” Noah asks.
I narrow my eyes at my best friend, and she counters with a raised brow.
She said that—out loud—on purpose.
I glance at Elias, and his chest puffs with pride. He smirks, the asshole.
“You mean the club I own? Underground Park Slope?”
“Yes! That’s the one!” Noah giggles. “Oh, Sage... after what you told me... why would you ever deny yourself another night with The Boss?”
“The Boss?” Del asks, clearly amused by the drama.
“Yes, why, Sage?” Elias locks eyes on me, but I refuse to look at him because I know the moment I stare into those pools of blue, I’ll want to fall into his arms and beg for forgiveness for leaving him.
Not to mention how fucking handsome he is tonight.
He’s wearing a black suit that fits his large chest and beefy arms like a glove.
Underneath is a red dress shirt with a matching pocket square and a black tie.
He’s clean shaven, and his black hair is slicked back, except for the small strand that always seems to hang down over his forehead.
“Anyone going to address Sage calling Elias ‘The Boss’?” Del reiterates.
“Because he owns the club, obviously,” I say, eyeing Noah, begging my best friend to save me despite her being the one to throw me to the wolves.
Elias’s smirk grows to a full-fledged smile. God, I hate him.
God, I want him.
“Or is it because I owned your pussy? Made that cunt sore and stretched to fit my cock that no other man will be able to live up to the job of pleasing you like I did.”
This cocky mother fucker. I mean yeah, sure, it’s true, but he doesn’t need to know he’s a sex god sent down to torture me. He doesn’t need to know how much I’ve been thinking about him for the last three weeks, touching myself when I’m in bed, or in the shower, or in the stockroom at work.
I walk up to him, nose raised and chin high. The top of my head barely reaches his jawline. Crossing my arms, I say, “I’ve had better.”
“Okay,” Noah says, grabbing my arm. “While what’s happening between you two is... interesting, the show’s about to begin.”
“What show?” I ask, scrunching my nose.
Noah takes my hands in hers. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to tell you before. Please don’t be mad.” She turns to Elias. “Can you watch over her? She means the world to me.”
I open my mouth to ask what the hell she’s talking about but the next thing I know, my best friend is treating Elias like a doll and moves the massive man to stand next to me. She lifts his arm to snake it around my waist.
Seriously, Noah?
I try to wiggle out of his hold, but he clings to me tighter.
Goddamn it.
This was not supposed to happen tonight.
All I wanted was to have fun… to hang out with my bestie who I’ve barely seen in the past few weeks because she’s been preoccupied with her neighbor.
Also... she nearly died a little over two weeks ago when her apartment building blew up moments before her and Del were about to walk in.
They claim it was caused by a gas leak, but I can tell Noah is holding back information from me.
She has secrets. I’ve always felt there’s something dark and dangerous about her. She constantly tells me she’ll off my ex-husband, masking the offer as a joke, but her face tells me she’s serious.
Not to mention her father sounds like an awful man based off the things she’s told me, like sending her away after her mother died because he couldn’t deal with raising a child on his own.
Refusing to speak to her about what happened.
That’s all she’s revealed to me about her past, and the fact that her father tries to control her life, even as an adult.
I didn’t even want to come to the man’s party, but Noah promised me we’d get to hang out.
She’s never broken a promise to me .
We met at our job. I’m a part-time server at a bar in Midtown East and Noah walked in a few months ago needing a bartending gig. We clicked immediately. She’s outgoing, confident, beautiful. She’s also tough and doesn’t take shit from anyone.
She’s inspired me to be stronger, to stick up for myself.
I’ve been working to claim my freedom and individuality back since leaving my ex, and Noah has been my personal cheerleader.
And now my best friend is on stage, confessing to the crowd that her real name is Noemi Lenetti, and she’s not dead.
What? Not dead? What does she mean?
Ok. Yeah, she definitely left out a shit ton of details about her past.
What the actual fuck is going on?
I need more booze, but the arm around me won’t budge, even when I squirm and try to step away from the massive man who smells like mahogany, vanilla, and something roasted... like a cozy night by the fire, eating vanilla Christmas cookies.
The man’s warm, too. I want to lean my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. I want to cuddle up to his side and fall asleep.
“Let’s go,” he says to me and releases his hold.
The freezing air of the ballroom washes over me at his absence, and I shiver .
Back to reality and pretending to hate this man so I can keep him at a distance.
It’s really for the best.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I spit out.
Elias grabs my hand and tugs. I attempt to use my weight to prevent us from moving, but my heels on the marble floor give me no traction.
“And I’m not leaving you here by yourself after the daughter of New York City’s most powerful crime boss just announced she’s engaged to the enforcer for a rival mob,” Elias whispers next to my ear.
He maneuvers us through the crowd, his hands on my hips and his body near flush with my back.
“Wait, what? Noah’s engaged? To who?”
“To my brother.”
I whip my head back around to see Noah hugging Del’s arm.
“Del?”
How did I miss that part?
Right, I was in shock from my bestie’s confession.
And I was daydreaming about Elias .
“Wait. Del’s your brother? Hold on. Did you say Noah’s the daughter of a powerful crime boss? And what do you mean by rival mob? WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ENFORCER?”
I’m going to have an aneurysm .
“Who the fuck are you? I thought you were a nightclub owner. Is your name even Elias? You know, when I Googled Underground Park Slope owner trying to find information on you, Elias didn’t come up.”
“You Googled me?”
“Who’s Johnny Goode?”
“I’m Johnny Goode, owner of Underground Park Slope. I’m also Elias Carter.”
“What? I don’t understand. What the fuck is going on?”
Elias’s grip around my waist tightens. We’re the only ones leaving, not that anyone is paying us attention. They’re all wide-eyed, staring at the drama unfolding on stage.
Holy shit, Noah is engaged .
I am going to kick her ass tomorrow.
I mean, I knew her and Del were spending a lot of time together, but fuck.
Engaged?
Mafia?
Oh, God, what have I gotten myself into?
“Don’t act dumb, Reine. You’re friends with Noah. You know exactly what’s going on.”
“I don’t—”
My throat aches, and pressure builds behind my eyes. Goddamn it, here come the tears. I press my palm to my chest, my heart thumping frantically against it.
I’m about to lose my fucking shit .
“Elias,” I say, a sob claiming my voice.
He stops walking, hearing the tears. I’m full-on crying now. We’re out of the ballroom at this point, and the hallway leading back to the extravagant lobby is empty. Elias grabs me by the chin, his concerned blue eyes observing mine.
“You didn’t know?”
Tears roll down my cheeks. God, I hate when people see me cry. I cried way too damn much because of my ex, and I promised to never let myself get so weak to do it again.
Then I remember crying isn’t weak.
It’s natural. It’s needed.
Like right now because this is all too overwhelming.
“You didn’t know?” Elias repeats when I don’t answer.
I shake my head.
“Fuck, Sage.”
He sighs and clenches his jaw. He seems hesitant about what to say next, maybe battling with telling me nothing... and telling me everything.
“Your best friend is the daughter of New York City’s most powerful mob boss. I’m the leader of the QBM, a rival mob. My brother, Lance, is my enforcer. Noah announcing their engagement is going to shake up our world, and I want to get you out of here to somewhere safe.”
My brows furrow as I process this information.
It doesn’t seem real .
Elias is…
ELIAS IS A MOTHERFUCKING MAFIA BOSS?!
Not Johnny Goode, club owner.
Wait. Johnny Goode? Like Johnny B. Goode , the Chuck Berry song?
Seriously, Elias?
It’s as if I’ve been dropped into the plot of a mafia movie.
Or a sexy mafia romance book.
Okay, wow. I am clearly going insane.
How the hell do I always end up in these situations? First, I divorce Chase for turning to a life of crime. Now I’ve managed to fuck a mafia boss and become best friends with the daughter of another mafia boss?
I should go. I should be terrified and run away from this man.
But I’m not, especially with the way he pushes my hair away from my face and uses his thumbs to wipe my tears. Which only makes me want to cry more because it’s been too long since a man has treated me so gently.
I won’t let them. Chase went from loving to controlling. Now I push men away. I’m the one who needs to be controlling.
At least, I was until I met this infuriating man.