Logan
The minute Lia is asleep, I turn all my attention back to the road—and to the absolute shitfest we’re in.
I’d never in a million years let Damien take a bullet for me, and knowing he was ready to makes my chest tight. But telling Carmelo our location definitely doesn’t make life easy.
I know tensions have been building for a while, but it feels like everything has changed overnight. Coltello killing the don—I can barely wrap my head around it. I never imagined he could be the rat. The underboss!
I always knew Idaho was a mistake, but these events have just confirmed it.
It would have been pretty fucking hard for Moretti to have gained control of the Syndicate, seeing as he had never even stepped foot in Idaho until a few years ago.
Still, he’s a powerful man, and he was married to the Syndicate boss’s daughter.
I can understand the appeal, too—they deal drugs, but not the street variety.
Their thing is getting their hands on new, powerful drugs, potent shit that can interest the army, or the big crime lords, if the army doesn’t pay up.
Still, taking control of that kind of operation isn’t enough to justify sacrificing the don’s life, and his attention being so focused on Idaho meant that Coltello was able to sneak up behind him and end his life.
Now, that leaves his weak-ass, little bitch of a son in power. Carmelo is far less predictable in a way than his father, because he makes stupid, weak decisions, informed by petty grudges rather than on logic.
I guess it’s not such a petty grudge to want his wife back, but fuck, that’s not going to happen. I’ll burn down the whole mafia before I let him put a grubby hand on her.
I should have fucking killed him when I had the chance. Now, it might be too late.
The heat is on, because Damien is right—Carmelo wants us dead for having taken Lia.
The rest of the family wants us dead too, because they don’t like how much power we have.
It was only a matter of time before that tension boiled over.
People don’t wield real power in the mafia when they don’t have an ounce of Italian blood in them.
Even less when they’re fresh out of high school.
The only reason we did was because Moretti took Damien under his wing, thanks to whatever favor Damien once did for him. Now that Moretti’s dead, the others are out for blood.
Coltello wants us dead too, because we were loyal to the boss. And the Syndicate also wants Damien dead, though I have no fucking idea why.
The only way out of this clusterfuck is to focus on forming alliances, on gaining power. That’s been Damien’s plan from the beginning, but I’ve never once believed it. What are a couple of high school dropouts supposed to do against the all-powerful mafia?
Everest, though, has bought into Damien’s spiel, hook, line, and sinker. Well, whatever he believes is fine by me just as long as he helps us get to a safe house. And he’s done that, alright. I owe him.
Aurora and Dolores wake up first from our night spent driving, and I begrudgingly make a quick stop to load up on food and gas. Lia still isn’t stirring; I must have really tired her out this past month, and the thought makes me smile.
Dolores takes Aurora to the bathroom, and then I let them run around a bit to stretch their legs. I don’t leave the car, though, or Lia. I’m far too nervous.
Aurora has a bit of a meltdown when Dolores buckles her back into the car, and I feel a pang of guilt, because I know how unnatural it is for her to be strapped into a car seat for a whole day and night. But what choice do we have?
“Where are we going?” questions Dolores as I turn the key in the ignition.
“Don’t worry.”
“I do worry. We never discussed this. Damien paid me for my work in Wyoming. We never spoke about traveling, and now you’re taking me to another state, and not even giving me time to get my things together. I agreed to work as a nanny and housekeeper. I did not agree to run from the mafia.”
“Alright.” I frown, a headache beating down on me.
My exhaustion is getting to me. “What do you want me to do, Dolores? Want to get out here? Go on, get out.” I unlock the door, and she scowls at me.
“I do have the money to pay you. I won’t make you do anything but what you agreed to.
But if you don’t want to come along, well, there’s the door. Get out.”
“Get out to go where?” she huffs. “To the gas station? I wouldn’t even have a way to get home!”
“Well, it’s your choice. You have about three seconds to make it. Three… two…”
She settles back against the seat, glaring at me as I press my foot to the gas pedal.
I realize I’m being a real asshole, and I can’t blame her for being upset. But I just do not have the mental bandwidth to deal with this right now.
So I merge onto the highway, resolutely ignoring her angry mood. At last, she turns her attention to an equally moody Aurora, and tries to occupy her with games. Between the two of them, I’m feeling pretty fucking on edge.
And when Lia wakes up, it just gets worse.
“Are we still in the car? I really need to pee. And can we stop to get coffee? My head is pounding…”
“Shut it, or I’ll pound you.”
This time, Dolores hears me, and she throws me a furious glare. But I give it back as good as I get, and she bites her tongue and turns back to Aurora.
“What the hell, asshole?” snaps Lia.
Both Lia and Dolores cry out when I take a hairpin curve onto the next exit and pull up to another gas station.
“Fuck, Logan! What’s wrong with you?”
“Get out. Go pee. Get your fucking coffee.”
The withering look she gives me would probably make most people fall to their knees, but again, I can give as good as I get. My expression clearly scares her, and she looks down.
“I don’t have cash. Remember? I’m your captive.”
“Right. You are my captive.”
I walk around to her side, grab her arm and pull her out. Then I open the back door. “Get out and stretch your legs. And then, I don’t want to hear you until we’re in Washington.”
“Washington?” Dolores stares up at me. “Is that where we’re going?”
Something in her eyes makes me a little nervous, but I push the uncomfortable sensation aside. “Go on, get out.”
“Logan, I don’t know if I’m comfortable with…”
I don’t let Lia finish, pulling her into the gas station.
“You know you could’ve just given me some money for the coffee…”
“Shut up, Lia.”
After getting a key from the guy behind the counter, I pull her into the bathroom at the back.
“Well, here we are. Pee.”
She glares at me. “What, here? In front of you?”
“Go on.”
I lean back against the door, remembering that first night, and that moment when for once, I hadn’t wanted to strangle her.
She’d looked so humiliated, and she’d cried.
For the first time in three years, the pain in my chest had eased, and I’d realized then and there that I wanted to spend the rest of my life making her cry.
“Pee, Lia.”
Grumbling, she pulls down her panties and soon I hear the loud tinkle of her pee against the metal toilet bowl.
“Wipe well,” I say, tossing her a few squares of toilet paper. “I don’t want your pee on my cock.”
She makes a face, then a very different one when the meaning of the words sink in.
“Okay. Done.”
She stands up and walks toward me, her panties still at her ankles.
“Wash your hands. Remember that bacteria, huh?”
She rolls her eyes but obeys, before turning around once more.
“No. Keep your hands against the sink.”
This time, she doesn’t try to be snarky. She’s only too happy to bend down, and even stretches open her legs, showing me her pink pussy, wet with something that definitely isn’t pee.
“You’ve been a real brat, do you know it, Lia?” I murmur, running my fingers over her ass. “I can see a few spots on your bottom that aren’t bruised. Clearly, I haven’t been punishing you hard enough.”
“Logan!” she gasps, as I bring a hand down hard. “Logan, you can’t! They’ll hear you! We have to get back to Aurora! We don’t have time for that!”
“Quiet, brat.” Two more hard smacks, one on each cheek.
“Ow! Fuck! Logan!” Smack. “How much longer do we have to drive?” Smack. “My butt is already so sore!”
“Good. You can cry, and then you can spend the rest of the car drive crying.”
Fuck, it feels so good to get out all my frustration on her, as I paint both her cheeks dark red.
I’ve been on edge since yesterday, and I love her, but goddammit, she’s definitely not made it easy.
“I thought you were going to… fuck me,” she sniffles, and my cock twitches to see tears at last falling down her face.
“I was waiting for those tears,” I breathe in her ear, giving her a few hard smacks just to make sure the crying lasts.
Then I take out my cock, fisting it before pushing it into her pussy. It slides in easily, and I smile as I always do at this proof that pain turns her on just as much as it does me.
I clap a hand over her mouth, stifling her moans, while driving into her hard. My other hand goes to her folds, and she whimpers when my thumb strokes her clit. Her pussy squeezes my cock, and I groan against her as I feel her spasm, her fingers gripping the sink, an orgasm rolling through her.
I pull my hands away from her mouth and folds then, and spread her cheeks, watching the way my cock penetrates her, the way her little ring of muscle twitches. Then my own orgasm breaks over me. I pull out and watch my arousal trickle out of her.
“Logan,” she whispers, “you came… inside me…” She lets out a long shudder, still limp from her orgasm. “I’m not on… birth control… what if I’m…?”
I kiss her pink ear, then pull up her panties and give her a pat on the butt. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
“Well, I guess… not…” She stifles a yawn as I press her to my chest. “I guess I’m just scared, Logan. The future seems so uncertain. What if…” She bites her lip. “What if Carmelo takes me away?”
“Hey.” I tilt up her chin. “Listen to me, baby. That’s just not going to happen. Okay? I promise you, nothing bad will come to you. I’ll always be right by your side, and I’ll always protect you. Got it?”
She tries to nestle against my chest, but I keep her face tilted, my thumb under her chin. “I promise you, Lia. I want you to know it’s true. You’re my captive for life.”
She lets out a low sigh. “Yes, Logan.”
“Now come on.” I give her another pat on the butt, not too hard, but she winces, clearly very sore. “I’m gonna buy you that coffee.”
“I think I prefer the old way you had of yanking me around,” she mumbles, walking out into the main store.
I buy three coffees, the third for Dolores, and Lia picks up a few snacks for Aurora. Then we head out to the car.
“Where did they go?” questions Lia, looking around. “Did Dolores say where she was taking Aurora?”
“Hmm?” I put the cardboard tray carefully on the front seat, then push two of the cups into cupholders. “Aren’t they outside?”
“I don’t see them.” She repeats herself, anxiety giving her words a hard edge. “Logan, I don’t see them! Aurora! Aurora!”
She starts running, calling her daughter’s name. The gas station looks out onto a dehydrated patch of grass, and I’d assumed Dolores and Aurora would be there. But there’s no sign of them. I catch up to Lia, who’s panting, running across the parking lot and crying out.
“It’s going to be fine,” I soothe her. “They’re around here somewhere. It’s okay, Lia.”
But my heart beats in my throat. How long were we in that bathroom? Why did I let Dolores off alone with Aurora, when she was just complaining about going to Washington? Where did Damien find her, anyway?
“There!”
Lia almost shrieks the word, then runs to the other side of the lot, and a car skids to a stop just inches from her.
“Fuck!” I slam both my hands down on the hood, glaring at the driver, before gripping Lia’s wrist. “Fuck! You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”
“There!”
She clearly doesn’t care about my scolding or about the near-accident. For once she’s the one pulling me along as she rushes to Aurora, picks her up and squeezes her in her arms, sobbing loudly.
The little girl is all sticky with ice cream, and Dolores looks at Lia angrily.
“I saw there was a diner a little further down the road. I got her an ice cream. What did you think I was doing? Did you really think—”
“Okay, enough,” I cut in. “Everything’s fine, we’re all on edge. Thanks for taking the kid, Dolores. I got you a coffee.”
“I had a coffee at the diner,” she snaps.
“Well, have another one.” This woman is really starting to piss me off, but I realize I’m going to need to use more tact going forward. She is a huge help, after all. And I don’t need another enemy in my life.
“Let’s go.”
I try to take Aurora, but Lia’s holding onto her too tightly. So instead I slip an arm around Lia’s waist, guiding her back to the car.
“Mama, I had pink ice cream! All pink! Mama, pink ice cream! See?”
“Yes, I see,” laughs Lia, her voice choked up. “I don’t think I see anything else but that pink ice cream! Now, did you eat it or did your shirt eat it?”
Aurora squeals with laughter. “Funny, mama! Funny!”
It’s hard to stay in a bad mood when I see the two of them trade smiles and laughs. Fuck, I love them both. They’re mine.
And that’s just how it’s going to stay, Carmelo be damned.