BAY
When we get home that evening and Alex starts making dinner, I step out into the yard with the burner.
Ennio picks up after five rings.
"I’m listening." His cool voice slides through the speaker, a voice I haven’t heard in almost two years.
"I have an excellent memory for names."
I swallow, because his tone sends a chill through me, dragging up memories I had pushed away.
For these past two years I’ve kept my distance from everything that happened before, from the darkness and the shadows, because Alex lit up my entire world and covered everything else, stitching up every wound.
In a way he turned me into someone new. He put me back together, I stopped being that broken, traumatized teenager breathing revenge.
I clung to him the way someone stranded in Antarctica would cling to a heater, because it’s the only thing keeping them alive. That’s what Alex is to me. Everything. Life, light.
As small as he is physically, he’s just as huge to me as the entire universe. However, Ennio represents that period when I existed in shattered pieces, which is why I have to take a moment to calm myself and steady the tremble in my nerves when I talk to him.
"Interesting that you’re calling. I was thinking about you recently. I saw your name on the list of artists performing at Sound Fest."
I’m a little stunned.
"How do you even know I’m playing there, do you follow that event?"
"My cousin Luigi is one of the co-organizers."
"So the mafia is involved in the music business too?"
There’s a short pause, then Ennio speaks with emphasis. "What mafia. It’s just a family business."
I already noticed he dislikes that word.
"Right, sorry, that’s what I meant."
"Yes, we have investments in many areas of entertainment. These days you can’t run a company with only one profile."
"A very reasonable approach. Will you be at that concert?"
"Yes, we have a special VIP box."
"That’s great, drop by backstage, it would be nice to see you."
"Excuse me?"
"I mean… sorry! Of course I understand that being seen together in public wouldn’t be the smartest idea," I correct myself quickly and clear my throat.
He answers with pointed silence.
"But I’m actually calling for another reason."
"Did you kill someone again?"
I let out a muffled, slightly nervous laugh. Gosh, good thing I’m taking this call outside, because someone might hear me. The two years since my killing spree feel like an abyss.
"No, not this time, this is a completely different request. The real estate development branch owned by your family, Ferro Development, is selling small houses near the campus where Alex and I want to study. At the moment we don’t have the full amount to buy one, and since we’re only eighteen there’s no chance we’ll get a loan.
I thought maybe I could work something out with you, sign a repayment contract, assure you that we’ll pay everything back… because you know we would."
Ennio laughs with a mechanical sound, disbelief humming under it.
"Are you being serious? You really have no idea how big your debt to me already is. And I remember it perfectly. We are not a charity, Bay. When you sign a deal with us you follow through, or you end up in a black bag. Simple."
A heavy silence drops between us. It’s not like I doubted that. But I do believe in my ability to earn enough money. Still… shortcuts exist, right?
"Maybe I could… do some job for you as part of the repayment?"
He goes silent.
"Well…"
I know Ennio is thinking.
"Gurco told me you’re really good when it comes to fighting, but he couldn’t convince you to go pro.
There might be something you could do for me.
My family is deeply rooted in underground fight clubs and of course in the betting tied to them.
I need to shake things up, some fighters have gotten too confident and need to be put in their place, and I have a few plans of my own.
I want to teach a lesson here and there. I could use you for that."
"So we sign a contract for the house in exchange for… what, exactly?"
"You’ll fight four matches for me. And the house will be yours."
I swallow hard.
Gurco really did hype me up, kept saying he no longer had sparring partners who could challenge me.
Luka isn’t available, he’s temporarily staying with a distant uncle instead of with Anzo because he’s going through maturity and, out of fear that he might slip into hormonal Musth, he was placed in the home of a strong alpha.
And his older brother Rocco rarely wants to fight me.
"The thing is, I don’t have ring experience. All I do is spar during training, but I’ve never actually fought professionally."
"I never said you had to win all the fights." Ennio’s tone turns dark. "In two of them I expect you to lose, and in two I expect you to win."
I’m quiet for a moment, letting it sink in.
"I’d prefer the losing matches to be first."
"Fine, I think that can be arranged."
"There’s only one problem. I don’t want to be recognized. I plan to continue my career as a singer, so…"
"That’s not a problem either. Our fighters wear special living masks."
"Living masks? And during a fight don’t those cause more trouble than they solve?"
Ennio snorts.
"Underground fights have existed for centuries. Plenty of people prefer to stay anonymous. There are masks engineered in underground bio-labs that don’t interfere with fighting and still cover your face."
"Okay. Last question. If I do these four fights, am I free? I’m not tempted by a fighter career. I want to be an artist, I want a family, I want to live quietly with Alex. I don’t want to stay involved in this."
"Four fights, Bay. That’s all. If you want to stay afterward and earn some extra money you can, but four is all the contract requires."
I sigh.
"All right." My stomach tightens with nerves as I agree. "But in this situation I think we need a better communication method than a burner."
"Agreed. We have that handled too. Tomorrow you’ll get a package with a special phone. It stores nothing, no data at all, even the FBI couldn’t pull anything from it. I tested it."
Of course he did. Ennio is always one step ahead.
"All right. So you’ll contact me through that phone and give me everything I need to know?"
"Yes." Then Ennio hangs up.
Fifteen minutes later, while I’m still standing outside in a daze staring blankly at the lake, my regular phone starts to ring.
I answer and to my shock it’s the same real estate agent I talked to earlier.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Nolan," he says. "I have great news for you. We’d like to invite you in to discuss the sale of the house."
"But I don’t have the funds yet, I’m working on that…"
"It’s all right, Mr. Nolan, no need to worry. Come in and sign the contract. You will handle the financial side with Mr. Ferro."
"Oh… ah… uh…" I let out a helpless sound of surprise.
Wow. Ennio is fast. Lightning fast. The house will be mine!
Do I sometimes forget that Ennio is mafia, not a charity organization?
No matter how euphemistically he describes his family business, those people…
they’re criminals. Drug trafficking, a network of brothels where omegas are forced into illegal prostitution, underground casinos, betting operations, an entire chain of fight clubs, plus a dozen other businesses I won’t even list, and they have half the local politicians in their pockets. If I don’t keep my word, I’m done.
I turn and look at our mobile home. In the window I see Alex.
He’s standing by the espresso machine with a frown on his forehead as he hooks up a carton of milk. His lips fall into that adorable pout. My heart trembles with love.
His soft pink-blond strands fall across his cheeks and I keep staring like a lovesick puppy, absolutely mesmerized by his very existence.
Alex is my whole universe.
The idea of fighting doesn’t feel that frightening because I know that thanks to it, Alex will live close to campus, safe and without stress. He really loves that little house.
For him I’ll do whatever I have to.
I step inside.
He turns toward me and I see that glow in his eyes he always gets when he sees me, and he simply smiles.
I come closer, grab him by the waist, and lift him into my arms, carrying him to the bedroom.
"I love you, Alex, so much… so much. Take me, take me into you…"
I whisper as we fall onto the bed.
Alex’s arms wrap around my neck, his lips part and I fall into them, drinking them in, drinking the life in him, the essence of my very existence.
Sweetness, warmth, the soft pink glow of him sprawl around me.
His skin smells like strawberries from his shower gel, and I devour it, licking and kissing every inch of his slender body as he trembles and murmurs sweet, encouraging words.
My tongue swirls over the smooth, silky planes of his chest, and I suck on those delicate, conical pecs I love so much, the ones that make Alex so special.
I adore how they ripple slightly when we make love, how I can stare at them, lick them, tease his puffy nipples with my tongue and lips, nudge them with my nose, and watch him writhe, continuing his serenade of sweet, lovely sounds.
Of course, I make my way to his stiff cock, standing at attention, brushing lightly against me as if begging for some tenderness.
I give it to him, my tongue gliding from the base of his small shaft up to the soft, pink crown of his glans.
I suck and massage it with my mouth, gently teasing the thin slit at the center.
"Please, please," Alex moans, his hips trembling, lifting up as if searching for the warmth of my mouth.
But I seek out another spot, his cute little hole, now glistening with a layer of translucent slick. My tongue circles it gently, then dips in, probing that small opening.
Alex bucks his pelvis up now, fervently demanding penetration, but I always hold off. I like seeing him like this, all over the place, lost in a frenzy of love, passion, and hunger.
My fingers continue their parallel caresses, massaging his body, dancing over his skin, teasing his ass, his stomach, his ribs. I pinch and tug gently at his stiff nipples.
"Please, please!" Alex begs, his spine arching intensely.
Finally, the moment arrives. I lower myself onto him, feeling his perfect body beneath me, sensing his surrender, his thirst, his desire, almost as if it’s pulling me deeper into the very core of his being, his essence.
In the end, I give in. I can’t resist. Alex always knows how to make me feel wanted, like I’m the most important thing in his world, just as he is in mine.
I press the head of my cock against his wet, soft ring, which parts slightly, like the cup of a flower, drawing me in inch by inch into his tight, pulsing channel.
It steals my breath away. The sensations rush from my head down the entire length of my shaft, deep into my body.
My muscles tense instinctively, fighting off the urge to come too soon.
I start with gentle, rocking motions, easing in and out. Alex murmurs, and a clear bead of precum drips from the tip of his cock.
"Yes, yes, yes," moans my beautiful omega.
I rock deeper, adjusting my angle to hit his prostate just right. Alex responds eagerly, his body releasing more tiny pearls of precum that glisten and trail in long strands over his stomach.
My body relaxes, sinking into him, almost purifying itself in the warmth of his enthusiasm, his incredible ease in reaching orgasms.
Sex with him is like a feast, and my cock savors every bit of his deliciousness until we’re both trembling with pleasure. As we climax, it’s like a wave of blissful ecstasy that washes over us completely, melting us in pink and golden hues, dazzling and flooding our minds.
But it’s not the end for today. Alex always needs more…
"I love you," I whisper, and he echoes it back.
We belong to each other.