Chapter 2 Vin
Vin
“Jesus fuck,” I snarl, wiping what I know is a ton of dark red lipstick off my face. “You get one of those and one only, and that’s only because you got shot helping us out with that job a few months ago.”
“I’ve done more for this family than just getting shot one time,” she gripes, digging her long manicured nails into my chest and leaning in like she’s going to kiss me again.
I grip her throat hard enough to make a point and push her back. Grit, Matti’s head of security, steps forward with a grim expression, his hand hovering near his weapon, ready to move.
“I’ve told you fucking ‘no’ more than once. Don’t make me embarrass you in front of everyone.”
She grabs my wrist and laughs, the sound throaty and provocative. “You know I love that, daddy. Don’t threaten me with a good time.”
I let her go roughly and shove her off me and onto the couch next to me with enough force that she bounces slightly. Giovanna and Siena turn to stare, their conversation dying on their lips, but my brothers ignore her like always. To them, she’s background noise.
“Jesus Christ. It’s been more than 16 years since we were together. I’m not that 20-year-old kid anymore, Valentina. If you’re going to be apart of the new Demonio Brotherhood, you need to get your shit together.”
She tosses her hair, dark waves cascading over her shoulders, and levels me with an intense stare, her eyes glittering. “Vin, you know I’m joking. But we’ve been friends for too long and know each other too well to hate each other.”
“There’s a lot of gray area between hating each other and fucking each other,” I snap as Giovanna turns back to Tommy and Matti tries to recapture Siena’s attention, his hand sliding up her arm.
“So we shouldn’t have a hard time finding a way to make it work,” Valentina returns. She sighs dramatically.
“Make what work? It’s hard to respect someone who I caught choking on my father’s cock when she was pretending to be my girlfriend.
” Every time I think about it, disgust crawls up my throat like bile.
Not losing her—I got over that years ago—but the public humiliation I was subjected to when the woman I thought I was in love with dropped to her knees for my father.
In my fucking house. In front of everyone. “Fucking disgusting.”
“Come on. He wasn’t always the 60-whatever-year-old, 350-pound asshole he is now,” she purrs, like there is any possible redemption for her choices.
“Because a 275-pound asshole in his 50s is better? Better than your fucking boyfriend who was your age, ripped, and fucking into you?”
“The muscles didn’t come until later, Vin.”
She’s not wrong. I started hitting the gym hard after her and never stopped. Now I’m big enough that no mother fucker would even think about fucking with my girl. If I were ever stupid enough to tie myself down to one.
I side-eye her. “You were 19.”
“Actually I was 17, but I told him I was 21.”
Seventeen? I raise my eyebrows at her, the revelation hitting me like a slap. Is she telling me I fucked a 17-year-old kid when I was 20? It’s been 16 years since all that shit went down, and the hits just keep on coming. “Jesus fucking Christ, Valentina.”
“Don’t lose your shit, Vin. It’s not like you were my first.” She says it like she’s commenting on the weather.
“Of course I wasn’t.” I pause and grin, wiggling my eyebrows at her. “But I was definitely your best.”
Her brows knit together. “You don’t seriously think that, right? I mean you were 20 years old, Vin. You didn’t know how to fuck.”
“Really? Then why are you still begging for my cock all these years later?” I smirk at her. “Unless you’re still in love with me.”
Valentina and Siena both guffaw with laughter.
“Far from it,” Valentina snorts. “But I figure with the hundreds of women you’ve fucked since then, you’ve probably gained something in the way of skill. Call me curious.”
“Don’t count on it, Valentina,” Siena interjects. “I don’t see any of these women begging for seconds, do you?”
“Let’s see,” Valentina responds coyly and grabs my jaw so hard that her long manicured nails dig into my face like claws. She slams her mouth into mine and forces her tongue in my mouth for a split second before I jerk away from her.
The disgust I feel is mirrored on her face as she mewls, “Ew. I feel like I’m kissing my brother.”
I shudder. “Fucking disgusting, kissing a bitch that had my father’s dick in her mouth.”
She snorts at that, and I laugh again, shaking my head. “A normal woman would slap the shit out of me for saying something like that.”
“Probably, but I’m not a normal woman.” She says it with pride, and she’s not wrong.
“Even if you hadn’t fucked Aurelio, I’m sure I would have come home one day to find you blowing some guy on the couch or getting your ass fucked bent over the kitchen counter.”
Women like Valentina are the ones I seek out, the ones who wear their intentions like perfume. They make it crystal clear that they want to get fucked, and I’m more than happy to oblige them. After, they’re never shocked when I disappear.
“You know you love that about me,” she says coyly, her finger tracing a pattern on my arm.
I shrug, pulling away from her touch. “You served your purpose. But if we’re talking long-term—which we’re not—the woman I’d end up with would only have some other dude’s cock in her mouth if he was holding a gun to her head. With you, I’d assume you were doing it for a couple of shots of tequila.”
She feigns offense, pressing a hand to her chest. “Excuse me, good tequila.”
I light a cigarette and shake my head, smoke curling between us as I glance at my brothers.
Siena and Matti are so wrapped up in each other that they can’t see anything else—her fingers disappearing under his shirt, his lips at her temple.
Tommy and Giovanna are no better, lost in their own bubble of domestic bliss.
Fucking hate this. Hate being at a party when we should be planning our next move in this war, strategizing, preparing. Hate sitting here waiting for my brothers to remember that they’re a part of an organization that requires 24/7 devotion, not just showing up when it’s convenient.
Valentina’s voice slithers through my thoughts.
“Somebody like her would be perfect for you.” Valentina’s tone is taunting, but I follow her line of sight anyway.
She’s looking at Siena’s thick, shy cousin who just walked in.
I can never remember if her name is Sophie or Sophia, but I see her at Matti’s a lot.
I think she has a restaurant called the Arsenal because if she’s not cooking for them, she’s bringing them food in to-go containers with that logo.
When I show up, she feeds me too. Not gonna lie, I’ve been going there more recently just for her food. It’s fucking incredible.
Right now, she’s struggling to carry three heavy warming trays, as Siena rushes to help her. She laughs as they get the steaming aluminum containers onto the kitchen counter, a sound so bright and genuinely happy it feels out of place.
She’s cute in a mousy way, I guess. Great ass, so huge that one ass cheek would more than overflow both my hands.
Fuckable mouth. Otherwise, pretty boring.
But when she glances in my direction, Valentina’s voice fades into the background, and all I can see is her eyes.
Big, brown, shining. Kind. Fuck, that’s some powerful shit. But she’s not my type, not even close.
She smiles shyly when she catches me watching her, and I smirk.
Can’t help it, it’s practically muscle memory at this point with women.
I could probably fuck her in the bathroom by the end of the night, but then I’d have to deal with Siena’s mouth.
Ever since Matti got together with her, she’s been a constant pain in my ass, and I’m not interested in giving her another fucking reason to bitch at me.
As if I summoned his attention, Matti groans next to me. “Don’t do it, bro,” he says under his breath.
Valentina tugs on my sleeve and I smack her hand away as I scowl at Matti. “Jesus fuck, you don’t have to tell me not to fuck her. I know.”
Matti gives me a look that says he doesn’t believe me, and as much as I hate it, I get it. This woman is practically family, and there are rules in this thing of ours. You never fuck a woman related to one of your men. It’s code. It’s law.
Matti’s look of disdain makes me want to fuck with him though. “But… a cousin-in-law isn’t exactly breaking the rules, though, right? She’s not a mother, a sister, a girlfriend, or a wife.”
Matti punches me hard in the shoulder, and I laugh, grinding out my cigarette in the ash tray. “Bro, relax. I know she’s like a sister to Siena, and Siena is family. We’re good.”
Siena leans in and says something to her cousin, who darts a glance at Valentina, her expression flickering with something I can’t quite read, before she turns back to the food she brought.
When Siena catches me looking, she glares at me with enough venom to kill a horse, and I give her my biggest smile.
Meanwhile, Valentina won’t shut up. She grips my arm and leans in close, practically purring, her gaze locked on Matti’s head of security like he’s prey. “What’s Grit’s situation? I would love to climb that tree.”
I shake her off and stand, watching Siena’s cousin pull the lids off the aluminum containers. Whatever she brought smells fucking amazing, garlic and herbs and something rich that makes my mouth water. “No idea. But the man is all business, so good luck with that.”
Matti stands with me, watching me with narrowed eyes.
“Wanna eat?” I grin.