Chapter 12
Want You to Stay
Rico
My phone is going crazy in my pocket. I should check it, but the only thing that matters to me is Oni. I need to know she’s okay.
She pulled a gun to cover me. She pulled a fucking gun. I’m still trying to wrap my head around what happened tonight.
I was ready to blow that asshole’s head off for putting his hands on her. He was in my spot, touching my girl, and had the nerve to disrespect me. Me … Rico Gallo.
“I’m sorry,” Oni whispers, pulling me from my spiraling thoughts.
I shake my head. “This was on me. I’ve been allowing too much slack around here. You’ve been opening my eyes to a lot since you took that truck.”
I run The Garden as an underground investment. I don’t run around announcing it belongs to me, but if you’re in the know, you know. That motherfucker knows.
Or should I say he knew. I took care of him and his friend. I also fired every one of the guys who were working security tonight.
That dude shouldn’t have gotten in with that gun. My guys and I went in through the back door, where we’re not searched. There was no reason for him to have had that gun in my place.
He had to pay someone to overlook it. Since that gun almost became a direct problem for me, it’s a problem for everyone.
In a matter of minutes, I sorted all that shit out and took off after my girl. She pulled my gun, ready to have my back. I had to get to her and make sure she was all right.
I guess that’s why they’re blowing my phone up now. Just like that, I dropped everything for some girl. I almost told her that I’m falling in love with her.
I stopped myself before I did. It’s been what? Two seconds. In those two seconds, she has shown me that she’s down for me. I have soldiers in my crew who haven’t shown as much loyalty as she has in the less than two days she’s known me.
I search her face, wondering why. Does she feel this connection the way I do? Is it crazy that I’m falling for her?
“Stay the night with me,” I say as I search her gaze.
Her eyes grow wide, and her chest begins to heave. This is the innocence I expect from her. This is the girl I thought I would meet when I went to trap her.
However, that’s not who she is. There’s so much more to her. I want to get to know every nuance of Oni Raven. I will learn everything that makes her tick.
“Won’t your father be upset?”
I shake my head. “I’ll get you out before he notices. I just need you with me. I’m not going to try anything you don’t want. I want you in my arms.”
She chews on her lip as she looks back at me. I don’t realize I’m holding my breath until she reaches for my face. She lifts on her toes and kisses me.
I take over the kiss and consume her. I know without a doubt I’m falling hard for this girl. Tonight was an epic fail on my part. But Oni? She held her ground and showed me she can handle being in my world.
“What about what I do want?”
“Oni,” I growl in warning as I grab her hips.
I take her lips as I back her toward my bed. I shouldn’t have brought her in here in the first place. Now that she’s here, I want nothing more than to lay her down and feast on her.
I lost my virginity at fifteen to a girl who was nineteen. Yet I don’t want that for Oni. I want her first time to be special. Something she’ll always remember fondly.
She doesn’t deserve to be fucked like a savage and tossed aside the next day. That’s who I’ve become. I make sure they never want to forget me and then I’m gone.
“Rico,” she whimpers as I kiss my way down her neck.
“I’m only going to hold you tonight. Sometimes it’s not the right time for the things we want. I want you bad, but I need you more.”
“What does that mean?”
It means I know where I want to go. I know who I need to be to get there. I’m losing more of myself with each day.
Oni is a breath of fresh air. She’s what I didn’t know I needed. However, I don’t have the words to tell her all of that. So I swallow my thoughts down and tell her what I can say.
“You will understand one day. I’ll get you one of my shirts. You can hop into bed while I shower,” I reply.
She purses her lips and looks as if she’s going to protest. After a beat, she sighs and nods. I close my eyes as she smiles then glides her small hands down my chest.
“Okay,” she whispers.
I take a breath and open my eyes. “Oni?”
“Yes?”
“When I get out of the shower, you better be here. Don’t run from me again. I just watched you stand in the middle of a gunfight.
“I’m not okay. I need you here,” I say, then kiss her nose.
I turn to find her a shirt and gather my thoughts. I fucked up. Tonight, I was supposed to show I could be indifferent to Oni.
Instead, I showed I will kill you for breathing in her direction. I have to spin this and keep her safe. Right now, my head is too fucked up for me to see how.
Losing her isn’t an option. I should send her home. I should walk away. I know all the things I should do, but those are all the things I will not.
“Fuck,” I hiss and punch the closet wall.
Oni
“Here,” Rico says as he hands me a T-shirt to change into.
“Thank you.”
I take it and hold it to my chest as he turns and heads to the bathroom. I don’t release a breath until he shuts the door behind him. Releasing a sigh, I go to sit on the edge of the bed and start to take my shoes off.
They drop to the floor with a deafening thud. It’s then I realize how hard I’m breathing. I’m going to spend the night in his room. In the bed with him.
“What are you doing, Oni?” I hiss at myself.
Megan lost her virginity last year. We’re a year apart, me being the oldest. I will never forget the look of regret on her face.
Would I regret going all the way with Rico? Something tells me I wouldn’t. I chew on my lip as I stare at the bathroom door.
His words come back to me, and I shiver. When I get out of the shower, you better be here. Don’t run from me again. I just watched you stand in the middle of a gunfight. I’m not okay. I need you here.
I understand how he feels. I want to be here with him too. Pulling up my big-girl panties, I stand and reach for the clasp on the back of my jumpsuit. It falls to my waist, and I cover my bare breasts.
I then reach for the side zipper and release it. The jumper falls to the floor, and I step from it. Quickly, I grab the T-shirt and pull it over my head.
The thing swallows me, falling well below my knees. I pick up my romper and shoes and take them over to the chair on the other side of the room.
As I set my things down, pictures on the desk grab my attention. I move to get a better look. A smile comes to my lips as I look at one that seems to be Rico, his cousins, and Mario as little kids.
Everyone has a smile on their face except for Rico. Even as a boy, he had a serious expression on his face. I wonder what he was thinking back then. Did he have so much on his shoulders even then?
The next picture is of Rico and a pretty, dark-haired woman. She’s very pretty. Tall and thin, but not too thin. Rico has his arm around her shoulders and a genuine smile is on his face.
I get the feeling this is his mom. I’ll have to ask him some other time. Suddenly, my body feels so heavy.
I stumble back over to the foot of the bed and climb onto it. The moment my head hits the pillow, my lids grow heavy. I snuggle into the pillow and release a yawn.
The bed dips and warmth hits my back. I open my eyes, confused for a moment. Then I feel soft lips against my skin.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Rico murmurs.
“I didn’t know I fell asleep.”
“Come on, let’s get under the sheets.”
I get up with him as he pulls the comforter back and then peels the sheet up for me to slide under. He climbs in behind me and wraps me in his arms again. I inhale his delicious scent as I lie stiff as a board.
Rico chuckles in my ear. “Relax, baby. I’m not about to pull anything.”
I turn around to face him. He has a gorgeous smile on his face. Smiling back at him, I cup his cheek.
“Is that your mom in the picture on your desk?”
He seems to think for a second. Then recognition hits his gaze. He smiles and nods.
“Yeah, that’s her. That was my sixteenth birthday. She surprised me with a trip to Italy right before that picture. It was just me and her,” he says.
“You sound like she means a lot to you.”
“She does. I think she will love you.”
“Tell me about her.”
“She’s beautiful inside and out. Mama speaks her mind, but she’s not quick to show she’s angry. Oh, but you’ll know when she does something so petty you have no doubt she’s gunning for you.
“I guess you can say she’s sweet until she’s not. You know what I mean?”
I search his face and note that this is the most unguarded he’s been with me. I move closer and snuggle into him. He places his chin on the top of my head and begins to rub my back.
“Yeah, I get it. I hope I get to meet her,” I say softly.
“You will. Can you tell me something?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Can you shoot a gun?”
“No.”
“Oni,” he groans. “Really, baby?”
My heart skips a beat as he calls me the endearment for the second time. I lean in and kiss his bare chest. His hand on my back stills.
I move to press my lips to his, not wanting to talk about earlier tonight. He takes my lips and rolls me onto my back. I spread my legs to cradle him between my thighs.
He deepens the kiss and starts to grind his hips into me. I claw at his back, pulling a groan from deep in his throat. Pushing the T-shirt I’m wearing up, he palms my breast and begins to play with my nipple.
I whimper into his mouth and wrap my legs around him. My heart begins to race. My thong is getting wet.
He’s growing harder as he grinds into me. No way. That can’t be. All of that? No.
He breaks the kiss and looks down at me. “You are my greatest weakness. I don’t want to tell you no.”
“Please don’t,” I plead.
He stares at my lips with longing, then shakes his head as if to clear it. I see the lust in his eyes, but I feel the rejection coming. I sigh in disappointment.
“This once I have to. Good night, baby,” he says and pecks my lips. Then he rolls onto his back.