10. A Woman’s Word
CHAPTER 10
A Woman’s Word
DON’T BE A PUPPET WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO PULL THE STRINGS
S pending the night with Dante did something to me. Something shifted inside of me. While I knew he was the devil beneath an expensive suit I didn’t see him that way anymore. He went on to explain the things his people did. They helped the community where the government failed. They got things done. People treated them with respect.
But also fear. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that part. Maybe his dick just did something to me. He definitely knows what he’s doing with it.
I would like a suit made personally by you.
Cole Anders was a part of the American mafia. They ruled over the city of Eagle Pointe. He was a slightly tall man made of muscle. His hair was a tawny brown cut short with dark eyes.
While he gave off a dark aura there was a second where I saw something behind his eyes the night of the charity event. Something that made me sad. His people wanted my territory. Dante said that it was a possibility but I knew it was true. I felt it in my bones.
However my city was classified as neutral ground. Meaning none of the clans could fight on my turf. My stomach twisted.
How could a simple agreement from my av? keep these people at bay? There was more to it. There had to be. But Dante refused to tell me anything. It needed to come from my av? ’ s mouth.
I shook my head. I needed to get through the work day and then I was going to have a talk with my av? , whether he wanted to or not.
The sun was barely rising when I strolled up to my shop. The sound of glass crashing stopped me in my tracks. Up ahead was my shop. The door was swinging open widely as two masked men stood outside. Anger seared through my veins.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I screamed, pulling my small taser from my bag. The men turned to me with wide eyes beneath their ski masks. I took a step forward, taser buzzing.
“I’m going to call the cops you fucking assholes,” I yelled as I began running towards them
“This crazy bitch!” One of them shouted as they both sprinted down the street. I stopped in front of my shop, watching their retreating figures. My heart sank.
The door was busted open and inside racks were knocked over. My hands kept shaking as I fumbled for my phone. I stared at the blank screen. I should call the cops. Should I though? I bit my lip. I slipped my phone back in my pocket.
I trusted my gut and took a step inside. My shop was cold from the breeze that was pouring in from the outside. I stepped over clothes to make it to the cash register. I luckily emptied it out last night.
But my eyes widened when I could see that it remained untouched.
“That’s fucking weird,” I muttered. Something told me to check the office. I made my way to the back of the shop where the office door stood ajar.
Taking a deep breath I clutched my taser. I leaned towards the door. No sound. I pushed the door open as my taser crackled through the air.
The office was empty but there were papers everywhere. Every draw was open and scattered on the floor. The chair was knocked over. Those fuckers. My heart raced and I stared at my phone again, my fingers automatically dialing.
“Someone tried breaking in,” I said into my phone.
I was still cleaning up the front of the store when Dante and Luca rushed in. I had kept Dante’s phone number after we baked bread. He left it on a piece of paper on my coffee table.
A few of their men hung behind them. Dante looked devastatingly gorgeous in a black polo and slacks while Luca wore a white dress shirt tucked into navy blue pants. I crossed my arms.
“Took you boys long enough,” I said glaring at them. Luca stepped forward and cradled my elbows. His blue eyes bled with concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked. I snorted.
“Yeah but those fuckers were two seconds away from being burnt to crisp by my taser,” I said. Luca placed a kiss on my forehead and my eyes cut to Dante. I couldn’t tell if he was okay with Luca’s affection or not.
“Doesn’t seem like too much damage,” Dante pointed out. He snapped his fingers at his men who stood awaiting orders. “Help her clean this up.”
“Please,” I added, eyeing Dante. He rolled his eyes.
“Please,” Dante said. The men did their best to suppress their chuckle. Luca stepped away and Dante cupped my cheek.
“You okay?” he asked. I looked between him and Luca.
“I’m fine guys,” I said. And I was. Because I wasn’t scared of the two men that broke into my av?’s shop. Sure I had adrenaline pumping through me when I saw them. But it wasn’t because I was scared. It was because I was pissed off.
“Did they take anything? We can get it replaced,” Luca offered. I motioned for them to follow me to the office. They glanced at each other before looking at me and following. Once inside the office I waved at Dante to close the door.
“Fuck, this place is even more trashed,” Dante said. I nodded, lifting the chair back up to sit at the desk. Both men stood before me, watching me, waiting. I crossed my arms over my chest.
“They weren’t after money. The register was untouched and this place was more ransacked than out there where there’s expensive merchandise,” I pointed out. Luca’s hands fidgeted at his sides. He quickly glanced at Dante. Dante’s nostrils flared.
Well, well, well. These boys thought they could hide something from me. All the men in my life apparently did. But they underestimated me. They underestimate my ability to read into situations. You learn quickly when you live in a world run by men.
“Those men didn’t want a fucking three piece suit. They were looking for something,” I said. I propped my feet on the desk. “Someone better fucking tell me about this agreement my av? has because I can sure as hell tell this isn’t some simple neutral territory bullshit.”
After cleaning up the office they forced me to go back to my apartment while they went on mafia business. I sat on my couch annoyed as shit. Who the fuck would dare fuck with my shop? Who thought that was a brilliant idea? If they thought that would scare me they had another thing coming.
There was a swift knock at my door. “Luca?” I said, letting him in. He smiled down at me and stepped inside. “What’s up?”
Luca walked into my apartment as if he lived here. He was completely at peace removing his shoes and making his way to my couch.
“Dante is securing a meeting with some of our people,” he said. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and my eyes stared at the way his bicep bulged. Luca was a model pretty boy handsome. And for some reason I couldn’t help but stare at him. I took a seat across from him.
“Why?” I asked, curiously.
“We both know that wasn’t a simple break in,” he pointed out. I crossed my arms over my chest. His eyes flickered down briefly and I blushed. At this point I was used to Luca’s flirtatious way. I chalked it up to his personality. He scooted himself closer and took my hand in his.
“We’re going to figure this out and I promise everything will make sense to you soon,” he said, softly. My body relaxed, leaning towards him. Dante provided fire that made me feel powerful and Luca calmed me, allowing me to let go.
He wrapped his arms around me and I leaned my head against his chest. His heartbeat was steady and sure like his words. His hands traced lines up and down my back, luring my eyes closed. He was so warm. I found myself pressing against him more.
“Lucia?” Luca’s voice was soft. I hummed, looking up at him. His blue eyes were bright and they wandered all over my face drinking me in. “May I kiss you?” he asked, cupping my cheek. My eyes widened and my core clenched.
“Um. The thing is Dante…” I began to say but his smirk made me pause. His hand slowly trailed down my face towards my neck.
“What makes you think he would be upset?” he asked. I bit my lip. From the brief conversations I’ve had with both of them in the room, a part of me secretly thought that something like this could be a possibility. But I didn’t want to assume. They were cousins after all and the last thing I wanted was two men fighting over me. Especially men with the ability to kill.
“Aren’t mafia men possessive?” I asked. Luca shifted me onto his lap and my eyes fluttered briefly closed. He felt good under me too. Where Dante was shorter and more broad, Luca was long and lean. His hands slipped under my shirt, resting at my hips. He trailed his nose across my cheek before taking a nip at my earlobe. I bit back a gasp.
“Mhmm but some of us like to share,” he said. I swallowed a moan as his fingers teased the hemline of my leggings.
“Are you sure he wouldn’t mind if I have a taste of you?” I asked, pulling back. My heart hammered in my chest. I had never been in this kind of predicament. Hell I hadn’t been on a date let alone slept with a guy for two years and now I had two men at my feet.
“I’ll give you more than a taste,” he said with a grin. Luca shifted and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through it before handing me his phone. It was a text exchange from today when we were cleaning up the office together.
Daddy Don Dante
After Lucia goes back to her apartment I need you to stay with her while I assemble a meeting
Oooo you’re going to let me be alone with her in her apartment. Aren’t you a sweetie?
Don’t roll your eyes at me.
I’m rolling them because you’re an idiot who calls me sweetie. Just make sure she’s okay.
I might kiss her if you leave us alone
You kiss her if she says yes to that dipshit. We may be criminals but we ask for consent
Oooo Daddy Don talking about consent gets me hard
Shut the fuck up and take care of our woman.
Our woman.
Our.
I stared into Luca’s blue eyes. They talked about me. They talked about having me, sharing me. My panties grew wet and I began to rock myself on Luca. I dropped the phone and he took the hint, cradling my head. I leaned forward and before our lips could touch Luca pulled me away.
“No, no gattina . Daddy Don said I needed consent. So be a good girl and give me what I want,” he said. My hands dug into his chest. Fuck. I did not expect that from Luca. With Dante, yes.
Well, after my night with Dante it was easy to understand that while to the outside world he was the boss, behind closed doors I had the reins.
Luca gripped my hips, lifting me up before roughly pulling me down against his erection. I cried out, my head falling back. With his hand still on my neck, he brought me forward and dug his teeth into the bruise Dante had left.
“ Gattina ,” he said with a singsong voice. He shoved my body flushed against his and cocked his head waiting. “Just because Dante is patient doesn’t mean I am. Do not think we are the same,” he said with a wicked grin. Fuck it.
“Kiss m-,” the words were barely out of my mouth when he crushed his lips against mine. Luca was right. He was nothing like Dante.
With Dante I had one hand on the wheel but with Luca I wasn’t in charge. He bit into my bottom lip so hard that I gasped. He took the opportunity to coax my tongue out. His hands wandered down, roughly touching me. He sucked my tongue into his mouth and my body lit up. I threw my hands into his hair, tugging. We were nothing but tongues and teeth, fighting for control.
I rocked faster against him, needing to come. His mouth made its way to the back of my neck, biting and licking next to the bruises that Dante had left. He was leaving his marks next to Dante. I slipped my hands under his dress shirt, creating half-moons into his shoulders with my nails.
A phone beeped and Luca pulled away from me to check. I bit back a snarky remark when I noticed Luca’s reaction. He tossed his phone to the coffee table.
A calloused hand roughly grabbed my jaw, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Listen to me. We have to leave in about ten minutes so I’m going to fuck you hard and fast,” he said, his voice dripping with lust. I swallowed hard. This man.
He gripped the back of my thighs and stood up. I wrapped my legs around him quickly. He walked over to my kitchen counter, his erection rubbing over me. I moaned loudly.
Once I was spread out on the counter, Luca tugged down my leggings and underwear. I heard the faint unbuckling of a belt. Luca’s pants and briefs were hanging low enough to let his cock out. My mouth hung open, hungry and a little nervous. Luca didn’t have the same girth as Dante but he was longer. My core clenched emptiness, needing to be filled. Before I could reach for him his hand smacked my aching pussy. I moaned again.
“I’m going to fuck this pussy, Lucia,” Luca promised as he ripped open a condom. I pulled my shirt up, exposing my breasts as he sheathed himself. “Hold the counter,” he demanded. The second my hands had touched the counter’s edge behind me Luca thrusted into me in one motion. My shrieks quickly turned into moans with every rock of Luca’s glorious cock. I hitched my legs higher up on his waist, locking my ankles.
Luca leaned over me, our mouths fusing against each other as he continued to rut into me. “Five minutes,” he said as his hand traced circles around my clit. I clenched around him as the familiar warm feeling shot through my body.
With a few strokes and flick of my clit I screamed Luca’s name as electricity sparked through me. Luca’s pace turned unhinged as he chased his orgasm and I smacked his thigh to urge him on.
“So fucking tight and p-perfect,” he groaned as my nails dug into his ass. I did my best to tilt my hips up, the angle changing to the point where Luca’s body dropped against mine. “Baby you’re choking me so good. Give me another,” he said, pressing a kiss to my breast. I nodded, too weak to argue.
Luca lifted up and held my waist off the counter as I twisted and pulled at my nipples. His pupils were blown wide enough I couldn’t quite see the blue. His blonde hair has fallen forward. Right now, with his cock thrusting inside of me and my legs wrapped around his waist he looked like a demented Italian god.
His finger swiped around my clit and his thrust turned hard and deep. I nodded back and forth pleading for more. It didn’t take much to make me cry out his name again and Luca groaned deep in his throat. He laid me back on the counter and pulled out slowly.
I was still a mess on the counter, trying to catch my breath when Luca cleaned me up. He ran a hand through his hand and adjusted his shirt. He looked as if he didn’t just have amazing sex while I was still half naked on my kitchen counter.
There was a soft click at my door and footsteps. I reached to yank my shirt down but Luca stopped me with a smirk.
Dante.
Dante stood in my living room and my eyes went back and forth between both men. His gray eyes traveled over my pussy that was still on display before glancing at his cousin with a smirk .
“How do you feel, Bella ?” Dante asked. I blink slowly. My whole body is hot watching both of these men stare at me with hunger.
“Throughly fucked,” I managed to say. Dante nodded, placing a hand on his cousin’s shoulder.
“Good. Now let’s go. We have a meeting.”
I was pulling up to an extravagant house in the suburbs. Specifically in Costa territory. Luca and Dante told me we would be meeting with his men to discuss the break in. But anything concerning ‘the agreement’ was strictly for my av? to talk about. His men had spent the afternoon installing cameras in my shop which I was grateful for.
I was walking across shiny tile floors and being escorted into a room with a giant wooden table and chairs. The men sitting at the chairs eyed me. Some I recognized as customers and others I didn’t. But what was obvious was that I was not welcomed.
I walked in between Dante and Luca. I straighten my back, not giving the men a second to doubt me. Dante pulled a seat open near the front and offered me to sit. Luca sat across from me next to an older gentleman who had the same gray eyes as Dante. Dante himself, sat at the head of the table.
“Dante, why are we here?” a man asked. Dante glanced at the man who I assumed was his father before speaking.
“Silva's shop was broken into,” Dante stated. Someone let out a dry cough and my eyes trailed to find the culprit.
“And? Break-ins happen all the time,” someone said. I snorted. Everyone’s eyes turned to me.
“Who is she?” someone said with an annoyed tone. I swirled my chair to face an old man with a receding hairline.
“Lucia Maria Silva,” I stated firmly. There was no way in hell I was going to let any of them intimidate me. Whispers broke out around us.
“And what? You want us to catch the thieves who stole from your little shop?” someone said with a chuckle. I dug my fingers into my knees.
This is why I had a temper. Because men like them were a piece of shit. Men like them thought very little of women and didn’t realize the power we held. I pretended to pluck a hair from my sweater.
“The men weren’t looking to get some suits,” I said, before making eye contact with asshole number one. “They were looking for something. Something of my av?’s . And with the way Cole Anders approached me with an interest in me and my little shop I think it might have to do with this little neutral territory that you men are keeping from me,” I said, sitting back in my chair. Silence engulfed the room. I swore the temperature dropped.
And then I stood up and all eyes followed me. I moved to the head of the table and tapped Dante’s shoulder. He scooted himself to the side allowing me space. I eyed the second asshole who called my av?’s shop little .
“Oh and my little shop? Really? Because the suit you’re wearing came from my shop. The same suit that you wore with your wife Marie when you both attended the charity to raise money for the private airplane hangar on the outskirts of Costa territory,” I said. I leaned my hands on my table, glaring at each man.
“You can try to belittle my job and my av?’s shop but you wear our clothes when you do your fucking business. You taint our clothes with your blood and the blood of others. Your wives, your mistresses, significant others wear our designs before they drop to the floor to fuck you. So you will respect what my family has provided you,” I said, keeping my voice as even as possible.
The room once again was silent. The men looked away, afraid to meet my eyes. A deep chuckle rang through the air. I turned to see the old man with gray eyes.
“You sure are a Silva, Lucia,” he praised. I nodded. He turned to Dante who stood up from his seat.
“You want the truth don’t you? Your grandfather is on his way back to talk to you. Until then you will continue your life as normal. I assure you we will protect you in the meantime while we find out if those men were a part of the Anders clan,” Dante said.
I stared at the table. My av? was coming home. In a few days I would have the answers I needed. But that wasn’t enough. I knew I was right. Something in my gut told me. I tilted my head, staring at him. He raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll find out,” I said simply. Luca stood from his chair.
“Lucia-” he began before I cut him off with a wave of my hand. Some of the men standing from the back took a step forward. I glared at them. What? Did they really think I was going to do something to Luca? I was impulsive sometimes but I wasn’t stupid.
“I will find out faster than you all,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. Luca shook his head.
“Lucia let us handle this,” Dante said.
“Why do you think you can do it faster?” Dante’s father asked, intrigued. Instead of going back to my seat I took Dante’s. It was a bold move and I could tell the men didn’t like it. But Dante’s father didn’t flinch and if he didn’t I figured I was safe.
“Because I have an appointment with Cole Anders for a consultation on a suit tomorrow.”