Chapter Sixteen
Marco
CADE WAS sitting in front of him with a haunted look in his eyes. Cade had walked right past his men and sat down, wordlessly demanding to speak with him alone. He’d sent his men away much to Rome’s displeasure, but the restaurant was already full and the last thing he wanted was to draw unnecessary attention to himself and his business.
He leaned back in his chair, head tilting to the side.
“Now. What can I do for you, Cade?”
The man’s dark blue eyes held nothing but sincerity as he said, “I need to get inside the Destroyers clubhouse.”
“Why?”
“Why? Oh, you know, just because they’ve started to rape and murder young girls.”
Those words hit him right in the heart. He wanted to throw the man straight out the door, but he knew he couldn’t. He knew he needed to hear him out. He owed him that much.
He stood and motioned for Cade to follow, saying, “Come with me.”
He led Cade into his office at the restaurant, knowing full well that whatever Cade was about to say or ask wouldn’t go over well with his patrons.
He walked straight up to his desk and got the bottle of vodka and shot glasses out of the drawer. He poured them each a shot and when he offered Cade one and he declined, he threw back Cade’s vodka, then slammed the glass down on top of the desk, the sound grating on his nerves.
“What evidence do you have?” he asked Cade.
“DNA.”
Not what he expected though he didn’t let it show. He leaned back against his desk, gaze moving across Cade’s face. “Why haven’t you made an arrest, then?”
“Because I don’t just want to take down one guy. I want them all.”
There was that sense of justice he knew to expect from the man. Considering Cade was here and if he truly wanted back in with the Henchmen, it had to be a CIA job.
“You have no idea why you’re really doing it, do you?”
Cade shrugged, looking almost dejected.
“Most likely not.”
“Spooks. They never tell you anything. They just count on you being able to do your shit without any intel,” he said and grabbed the other shot glass, lifting it to his lips and downing it with a grimace. “Does he know you’re here? No, wait. That’s a stupid fucking question. Did he send you here?”
“You’re still asking a stupid question.”
He snapped his head up, eyes on Cade. There was something in that blue gaze of his. The man knew too many of Marco’s secrets. He didn’t like that very much.
He crossed the room, feeling the tension coming off Cade though the man didn’t move even as Marco grasped him by the chin. He stared into Cade’s eyes, looking for any reason not to trust him. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or disappointed when all he saw was a man of integrity.
He let go of Cade and stepped back to lean against his desk, his body feeling heavy. Everything had been feeling heavy lately. The only thing that… no. Neil was nothing to him. He was simply a means to an end. The love he’d felt for him was gone. It had to be.
“I’ll get you in. Even if I don’t understand why he needs you to do it when he’s got all his fancy spook friends who are actually trained for shit like this,” he said, the dark tone of his voice betraying the anger he felt.
“I asked to go under. I knew something more was going on. Neil confirmed it by showing up and getting involved.”
The name made him flinch ever so slightly. Cade clearly noticed it and he wanted to curse the man but swallowed back those words that would only confirm his reaction.
Cade licked his lips, caution in his eyes as he said, “Whatever happened between you two―”
“Is over. It’s done with. He’s CIA and I’m a god damned mobster. The family is my life, and he lives for taking down people like me. There’s nothing more between us and you’d do best to remember that.”
He didn’t want Cade digging deeper. He didn’t want Cade to know the truth; that he’d let the man into his life and because of it, he’d lost his sister. That he was the guilty one.
Cade dropped his gaze to the floor, his shoulders hunching. His voice was low as he asked, “You think you don’t deserve to be loved?”
Marco straightened. Cade wasn’t talking about him. Or even Neil. Whatever was going on with Cade, it had the man doubting himself.
“Don’t you dare compare either of us with you. You turned your life around. You’re a good guy. You always were,” Marco said.
“So are you,” Cade said, meeting Marco’s gaze with a raised chin.
He knew the man believed it but just because you believe something, it doesn’t make it the truth. He knew that all too well.
“No. I am not a good guy, Cade.”
“Sure, you are. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be doing this. You’re putting your life on the line. You’re trusting me to either succeed or make sure nothing comes back to you if I don’t.”
He gave Cade a pointed look and said, “Trust doesn’t come easy for me.”
“I know.” Cade nodded. “Thank you.”
The second Cade was out the door, he dropped his head back with a groan. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, willing his budding headache to go the fuck away.
“You’re lucky I trust him more than I trust you,” he said.
Neil stood in the doorway, an emptiness in his eyes Marco knew all too well.
“Oh, I know,” Neil said and stepped into the office and closed the door behind him.
Marco sat up straight. He tracked the man’s every step as he crossed the room.
“Are you going to tell me what this whole thing is about?”
Neil’s mask of indifference slipped and as the man ran his hands down his face, Marco saw the weariness weighing Neil’s body.
“Hughes?” Marco asked.
Neil nodded. “One of my Marines, the detective, he’s here. He’s working with Cade.”
Marco cocked a surprised brow at Neil. “You don’t sound too happy about it?”
Neil swallowed, his Adam’s apple moving up and down and Marco found himself unable to look away, something dark and hungry awakening inside of him. Something he tried to contain around Neil, but so far he hadn’t been successful.
“I fear what it’ll lead to.”
Marco snorted and stood, arms crossing as he pinned Neil with a hard stare. “What? The truth?”
Neil looked him in the eyes for a second, then glanced away, his lips pressed together. Oh, he had hit the nail on the head, hadn’t he?
“Aren’t you tired of all your lies?” He threw his hands up. “What exactly have they led to, huh?”
Death. They’d led to death.
Sorrow filled Neil’s eyes, and he shook his head. “It’s not the same.”
“Isn’t it?”
He stepped right into Neil’s space and to his credit, he didn’t move back even an inch. He just looked Marco straight in the eyes and said, “No, it isn’t.”
Marco hummed and turned to sit against his desk. When Neil raised a hand and ran his fingers through Marco’s hair, he let him. For a second. Then he grabbed him around the wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. He slammed Neil across his desk, the man’s ass just at the right height for what he wanted.
Neil didn’t protest as Marco opened his pants and pulled them down around the man’s thighs. He did, however, arch his back and spread his legs as much as he could with his pants in the way. The sight had his blood thrumming, lust coursing through him as his dick hardened in his pants.
He jerked the desk drawer open and grabbed the lube he still kept in there. He spread some over his fingers and then slid them between Neil’s cheeks, finding his hole and pushing two fingers inside. Neil gasped, the sound making Marco’s eyes fall shut.
He fucked the man with his fingers until he ran out of patience. He removed his fingers and lubed up his cock, then dried his hand off in Neil’s shirt. He held his cock against Neil’s hole, watching with his lip between his teeth as he pushed the head of his cock past that tight ring of muscles. Neil took him inside with a deep groan. He was so fucking tight, he had to take a moment just to breathe or he’d end up blowing his load.
Neil tried to wiggle that fine ass of his to get Marco to move. All he got out of that was a hard slap to his right ass cheek. Neil jumped, making Marco curse at the movement.
“Per favore,” Neil whimpered, forehead dropping to the desk.
“What was that?”
He wrapped a hand around Neil’s throat and pulled him up until he had to lean on his hands to keep from being choked. He put his mouth next to Neil’s ear, smirking when his breath on the man’s skin had him shivering.
“What did you say?”
Neil sucked in a breath, then moaned. Marco tightened his hold on Neil’s throat.
“Please,” Neil gasped out. “Please, Marco.”
“Please what?”
Neil’s arms were shaking, his ass clamping down hard around Marco’s cock.
“Please fuck me. Use me.”
He was going to fuck him so hard he couldn’t walk without feeling him. He was going to leave the man a complete wreck. He pulled his hips back, smiling at the groan coming from Neil, and then he thrust forward. He slammed into Neil’s ass, the friction and heat feeling so damn good he couldn’t hold back a moan.
He released his hold on Neil’s throat and pushed him back down across the desk, a hand on the man’s upper back, right between his shoulder blades, the other gripping his hip tight.
The heat and tight squeeze around his cock was incredible. Fucking Neil always rocked his world. Even now.
He was going to come inside him. He was going to flood Neil with his come. He didn’t want to claim the man in any other way, though. He was a selfish motherfucker, after all.
Neil’s moans got louder and more frequent, so he knew the man was close to coming. He slammed into him harder and faster, sending them both over that edge and into a haze of pleasure. He gasped, dropping forward, his hand on Neil’s back the only thing holding him up. He closed his eyes, panting as he tried to catch his breath.
Neil was warm under him. Soft. Filled with his come.
He almost bent down to kiss the side of Neil’s neck but managed to get his head back on straight. He pulled out and tucked his cock away before dropping into his desk chair. Neil pulled his pants up and turned around, leaning back against the desk with a content look on his face. His eyes were dark as they roamed over Marco. There were all sorts of things in those eyes that he didn’t want to see.
“I’ll get the ball rolling for Cade,” he said, chin lifting as he stared at Neil.
Neil blinked, trying to hide the hurt, his jaw clenching ever so slightly.
“Thank you,” Neil said and pushed away from the desk. He hesitated for a second, gaze on Marco, and then he turned and walked out the door.
Marco relaxed back in his chair, eyes closing with a deep sigh. He took a second to just be, and then he picked up his phone and made that call, ignoring whatever the hell his stupid heart was trying to tell him.