Chapter 21
With my uncles back in New York City and Dublin, I was left to my own devices again.
Outside of work, I’d usually fill this time with fight clubs, sex clubs, and general mayhem.
All of my usual vices ceased to appeal to me.
There had been times in the past when these periods of instability would hit me, but my current state had nothing to do with any of those things.
If I were being truthful with myself, I’d admit it all had to do with a seductive blonde whose siren call intoxicated me and without her even being aware of her power. Of her charms. I doubted she even had an inkling about how she’d altered my life so completely.
Kingston and Cillian saw it. Conor and Liam, too.
I saw it, and odds were good that even she did; however, she didn’t know me well enough to know what this usually led to.
When in this purgatory of thought, I tended to release my pent-up energy through my fists, then drown myself in a bottle until whatever it was passed.
“You not going to the club tonight, Bossman?” Liam asked when he walked into the living room to find me standing there with my gaze out the window.
I turned toward him as he stood there with one hand in his pocket and the other near his holster.
The two right-hand men of mine were always ready to ride and die with me.
Sometimes, I would think they’d made wagers of their own at those fights because they so often encouraged me to participate in them.
“Not in the mood tonight.”
“Hmmm,” he said without elaborating further.
I narrowed my eyes at him, then arched a brow, but he said nothing. He did give a slight shrug. “What’s hmmm mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. You haven’t been in a while, so I—”
“I was fucking shot not too long ago, unless that’s slipped your memory.”
“Of course, it hasn’t. You do appear very reflective right now. It’s just not like you, is all.”
“You wouldn’t know what is truly like me and what is not. Just know that I show you, and others, exactly what I want you to see, and nothing more. Don’t mistake that for anything more than it is,” I said before turning back to the view.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Do you require my cousin and me anymore tonight?”
“I might, so—”
A chime on my phone cut off my response, and I snatched it out of my pocket.
As I looked down at the screen, I cursed.
So much for not doing shit tonight. Conor and Liam saw my expression change because theirs did the same thing.
As one of them went to open their mouth, I raised my hand to silence him.
“Something’s going down on the waterfront,” I said.
“I guess that’s our answer,” Liam said.
“Let’s go,” I told them.
Minutes later, we were headed to the Boston Harbor.
The Branningtons kept several boats at the port, mostly to import and export weapons in and out of the city, and a dock worker of ours had been injured when one of the vessels was set on fire.
We had a few others there, and this reeked of the Sicilians.
They’d be after their pound of flesh for the loss of their men the night of the ambush, but an ever more terrifying thought crossed my mind.
They knew we still had Aurora, and that night had done little to make them forget about her.
She was still a pawn to them... Still a target, and the thought of anyone touching her outside of me had my blood boiling the entire drive to the port.
We arrived a short while later, and I could see the charred section of the destroyed boat, but the others closest to it appeared to be untouched.
Still, I led the way as my two men followed me aboard the first one with our weapons drawn.
Everything appeared to be in order, so without speaking, I simply nodded toward the other boats.
There would be nothing of any value found on them as we didn’t have a shipment scheduled to go out until later in the month.
The damage to our property would hinder those plans somewhat, though.
As I boarded one of the other vessels, goosebumps rose on my flesh.
Someone was here. I could sense them, even though it was too dark to see them.
I slowly made my way farther inside, and my men remained just behind me as they stayed as quiet as me.
For years, I’d been relegated to Boston to handle the shipping and nightclub businesses the Branningtons owned in these parts.
We had several enemies to deal with over the years, so this sort of thing was nothing new for us.
A slight creaking sound caught my attention and I froze.
Holding my arms out to my sides to keep my men back, I moved ever closer in the direction of the noise.
Once on the aft deck, I sensed the intruder before he did me.
It didn’t stop him from trying to strike me.
Turning swiftly, I struck the man hard enough with my fist to make him wobble on his feet.
He nearly fell but was able to maintain his balance until I struck him a second time. He fell on contact, but I allowed him to scramble back onto his feet. I then advanced on him as he steadily took a step back with each one I made in his direction until his back hit the short railing.
“Who sent you?” I demanded to know the moment I wrapped my hand around his throat. When he didn’t answer, I struck him again. “Did Leon send you?”
“Sei Morto,” was all that he said, but it was enough to answer his question.
I recognized the ‘you’re dead’ in Italian, and I delivered a few more blows to his face, then watched as he fell overboard and landed in the water with a loud plop. Liam and Conor watched me carefully, then lowered their weapons.
“We did a sweep and everything else is all clear,” Conor said to me.
“Let’s go. Barganella’s message was received. My response will be forthcoming.”
I had no idea how I intended to retaliate next, but I would figure that out soon. Tonight, I’d return to my place to keep an eye on Aurora. I wouldn’t allow anyone to take what was mine.
Swallowing down the insane notion that she could ever truly belong to me when she was already promised to another, I brushed past my men and exited the boat.
When back on solid ground, I noticed that the knuckles on one hand were cracked open and bloody.
And they hurt, but that was nothing new for me.
I headed back to the car, then ultimately the condo with the other two in tow.
The condo was silent when we arrived back home, and I had no sooner washed my bloody fingers in the water when footsteps approached, and ones too soft to be from either of the other men.
“Zarren,” I heard, and both Liam and I turned at the sound of her soft voice.
“What is it, Bellezza?”
“My... ahh... father, or adopted father’s birthday is today. Whether I was in the States or somewhere else, he knows I’d always wish him a Happy Birthday.”
Liam muttered under his breath but looked at her with the same stone-cold look I’d usually give her.
Not sure what it was, but I sensed some animosity from him toward her, which I needed to address soon.
What would I actually say, though? Why would I actually say something, especially when she’d be gone soon enough?
I was the one to feel like growling, and for what I couldn’t even say. I closed my eyes for a second or two, then, seeing her expectant and hopeful face, I let out the breath I’d been holding inside. Looking to Liam, I cleared my throat. “Retrieve her cell.”
“Are you sure that’s wise? She could be trying to trick—”
“Just do as I’ve fucking asked,” I said to him, and something flashed across his face before he turned soundlessly and left the room. I kept my eyes on him until he left, then turned my attention to Aurora. “I’ll be the one to do the typing, Bellezza.”
“I’m fully capable of—”
“Should I ask Liam to get rid of the phone?” I asked just as he reappeared in the room.
“N-no,” she stammered. “You’ll need my fingerprint for the—”
“On the contrary, you’ll need my fingerprint.” I grabbed the cell phone from Liam’s hand, then pressed my fingertip to it. To her horror, it opened. That shock quickly turned to anger.
“You updated my fingerprints on the Touch ID?”
“Of course, I did. The phone is not yours anymore.”
“If you wanted a pink cell phone with a cherry blossom phone case, I could’ve referred you to a local Verizon or AT&T. You had no right to touch anything on mine.”
Her small hands moved to her hips, and the anger radiating off her was beginning to rekindle something inside of me. I loved when she fought me, and as my expression changed, she quickly clamped her mouth closed.
“What’s the message?” I asked her as I scrolled through her contacts list until I found the one titled Daddy in between multiple hearts on each side. They too were pink, and I’d always had a complete disdain for that color until I looked back at her and arched a brow as I waited.
Her pink lips were pursed together, and remembering them wrapped back around my cock made me want to memorize them. They were the same shade as her lower lips, which already spread so beautifully for me like petals on a flower. Maybe pink wasn’t the worst color after all.
“Well?”
“I... ahh... Just tell him ‘Happy Birthday! I wish I could be there to celebrate with you. We’ll get together when I get back. Until then, I love you, and I hope you enjoy your day.’ After, add X... heart... X... heart...”
I quickly typed up the message, and I had almost thought she was fucking with me over the rest, but as my finger pulled previous messages up, she sure as hell did end her text messages to him with that.
Such a fucking girl! I copied it from a previous message, then pasted it behind the message I’d just composed. When finished, I went to pocket the cell phone, but she looked at it and me with hopeful eyes.
“I’m not texting anyone else tonight,” I told her, and she quickly shook her head.
“No, I didn’t want to tell anyone anything, but I was just wondering if there were any texts... erm... messages from anyone to me since the last time.”
“Messages from who?” I asked her.
“F-friends,” she quickly stammered.
“Ones like Brae?” I questioned, then added. “She’s probably bouncing on your ex-boyfriend’s dick right now.”
“You’re cruel,” she said to me as her pale skin reddened.
“They are, too, because she’s been out with him numerous times since you’ve been gone.”
“She has?” Aurora asked, and I half expected her to call my bluff, but she accepted it so easily. “I... ahh... I’m going upstairs.”
I watched her tremble softly, and knowing her, she was going to escape upstairs so she could cry over Drake. Over another fucking man. Her tears were not his anymore. They were mine. Every part of her was mine. She belonged to me.
I felt Liam’s gaze back on me, and I looked in his direction. “You and Conor can leave. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”
“Sure thing, Bossman,” he said before looking over at Aurora and shaking his head.
She was also still shaking and headed toward the staircase. Liam made it to the front door at the same time I made it to her. Slipping in front of her, I blocked her view, and as suspected, her eyes were full of tears.
“Will you get out of my way, please?”
Even her voice had a slight tremor, and the possessiveness in me wouldn’t stand down. I shook my head as I continued to block her way.
“Are you for real right now?”
“Everything about me is real, Bellezza.”
She let out a breath of frustration, and I realized even something as simple as that made me hard.
I didn’t want her to stay down here so I could ravish her, although there was time to change my mind on that.
For now, I wanted to make sure she didn’t give any part of herself to fucking Drake, or the damn whore that pretended to be her friend.
“I really would like to go upstairs.”
“And I’d rather you stay down here with me. We’re all alone, and—”
“I don’t want to have sex right now, Zarren,” she replied, and I smirked.
“For once, it’s not at the top of my list of things to do, either.”
Her eyes narrowed, then her gaze dropped down to my pants, where my erection could clearly be seen. “That,” she said pointing to it, “says otherwise.”
“Hard is a constant state for me, Bellezza. I do want to just talk, though.”
“You just want to talk? Let’s do it another time because I’m tired.”
“You lie so easily to me, but your eyes betray you every time. And they’re not the only things that do. Those luscious fucking lips of yours give you away, too. The facade you’re presenting is just further proof.”
“You just think you know everything about me. Don’t you?”
I grinned wider. “I know that my words about Drake and Brae stung. Enough so that you plan to go upstairs and cry over them.”
“So what if I am? Would you rather have me cry on your damn shoulder instead?”
“Since your tears belong to me, that’s exactly what I want.”
“They don’t belong to you, and neither does—”
My hand shot out and seconds later, it was wrapped around her throat. “Until you’re shipped off to Russia, I own every part of you, including your fucking tears. Now, I said we’re staying down here, so get your ass onto the couch before I put you on it myself.”