Chapter 29—Tommy
I should not be this turned on. I really shouldn’t.
I’m teaching gun safety, for fuck’s sake.
My version, anyway—feeling up my girl while I show her that a gun isn’t something to fear.
And I’m not doing myself any favors right now with all this “teaching.” I know she can feel it.
Mostly because I won’t step more than a foot away from her, making sure she’s secure enough to hold the small-caliber gun I gave her a second ago.
After last night, she became mine. But she’s more than a possession. She’s becoming everything. Which puts a target on her back. She needs to be able to protect herself in case I’m ever not there.
I didn’t tell her where we were going when we left.
She didn’t even question when I gave her clothes to wear, all in her size and made for comfort.
I wanted to keep her dressed in my stuff, but where we were going, she needed tighter clothing that covered her legs, so leggings and a fitted shirt were it.
A last-minute purchase, along with breakfast this morning.
I could have made us something, but I really had no desire to leave her for any length of time in my bed alone.
Plus, you’ve got to love the age we live in.
You can do all sorts of shopping and never leave your house.
And for ten more dollars, you can get shit delivered in an hour.
When she grabbed my sweater to put it over her shirt, I fought my desire to close the gap between us and drag her into a kiss that would no doubt leave her with a clear understanding of how I feel about her. How I want to claim her. Not only mind, body, and soul, but every single part of her.
Who am I kidding? Of course I kissed her. I kissed the ever-loving shit out of her. Would have said “fuck it” and returned to the bedroom if it weren’t for the notification I got on my phone that Vinny was giving me the green light to find out what happened to her family.
And I will.
Last night, Payton gave herself to me. And with it, she gave me something I wasn’t expecting—a reason to believe I might be more than a fuckup with a stupid past. As she slept in my arms after our multiple rounds of lovemaking, I realized I have to be happy with everything in my life.
To accept every part. Because without my past, I wouldn’t be here. She wouldn’t be here.
Maybe Vinny would have made me the face of the company.
Maybe I would have met her. But maybe she could have been shot along with her parents or fucked up by Carl and lost the very essence that I hold dear.
Any small moment could have altered this life, but none of it did.
In fact, it’s all the fucked-up shit I did in my past that led me to her. My salvation.
“Just breathe. You’re doing fine.”
“I… I can’t do this.” She shakes her head as she tries to lower her hands, but I push her arms back up, then move closer so she can feel every part of me at her back. I try to ignore that her ass is so close to my junk.
Okay, I don’t. Not that much. I might even move closer so there’s no mistaking what she does to me.
“Hold it steady.”
I keep my hand over hers, holding it out like I showed her a minute ago but not taking the weight of the gun.
“Good. Feel the weight. Feel the steel between your fingers. It’s just metal. Nothing more.”
She shakes her head as a tear falls from her eye in protest.
“Yes, it is.” I kiss her neck, and she flinches. “Just feel it. Don’t fear the metal. You don’t have to like it, but you shouldn’t fear it.”
I bet anyone else, including my brothers, would have a better idea for how to handle this.
Maybe ease Payton into getting over her gun fear by watching a show or showing her the history of the weapon, like Bobby would have tried.
Danny would tell her the statistics of how guns protect more than hurt, and maybe he would have started by only showing her what he had to, to ease her into seeing them.
I prefer the approach I know Vinny would have taken—full immersion.
It’s how he became the leader of the family in some ways and is something he continues to live by today.
I chose the family gun range, knowing no one would be here.
It’s too far away from their offices, and none of my brothers take a day off to enjoy the property Grandad bought so many years ago.
It has a small cabin beside a lake. We can use it for any outdoor recreation, but it’s mostly just a place to shoot shit when you’re pissed at the world and don’t want anyone to witness your breakdown.
I’ve been out here a few times over the last several months when I couldn’t get my head out of my ass and was caught up in thinking about the past. Not so much since Payton came into my life, though.
“When you’re ready, pull the trigger.” Her body stiffens, and I kiss her neck again. It’s turning into a small addiction. “Take your time. No rush.”
Bang.
She fires it before I can say anything else, and I kiss her neck again and keep my lips there as I smile. She might think this is over. That one shot was all I wanted. But she’s wrong.
“I told you to take your time.” I speak into her ear so she can feel my warm breath on the curve.
I keep one hand steady, holding her hand up to prevent it from falling to her side as my other sweeps back along her other arm, gently caressing her over the sweater.
I reach her shoulder and then spread my hand wide as I trail it down her side, touching the curve of her breast as I move to her hip.
I pull her tight to me, which isn’t much different from before, but this time it’s her coming to me and not me to her.
My hand goes under the sweater and my fingers spread out wide on her stomach.
My hands are large compared to hers. With a small movement north or south, I can touch the lace edge of her bra and then dip my pinkie just under her waistband if I choose to.
I’m not touching anything intimate, but the threat is there. The promise.
“You’re going to do it again.”
Her whine makes me remember the other sounds I was able to get out of her throughout the night. I’m half tempted to push my fingers below her waistline to find out if she’s as wet as I am hard.
But I doubt it.
She’s holding the item that scares her. She was frozen in time and place when I first showed her the gun. And putting it in her hand? She almost dropped it four times, she was shaking so much.
I plan to be there for her. To be the force between her and any gun. But I’m also a realist. In my family, guns are being carried more than cash these days. She doesn’t need it to protect herself, but she needs to not flinch or freeze when she sees one.
She did it when the Kings pulled one on her. I thought it was the threat that had her going still, but after learning about her family, I now know it was the weapon itself.
Even with what happened with Carl, I have to wonder if her stiffness was because of what I had in my hand versus what I did to the man hurting her.
“Fear the person holding one of these, but not the weapon itself. Like everything else, it can be used for good or bad.”
“Not everything is bad,” she mumbles, and I smile at her small pushback.
“Says the woman who stands on her tippy toes for hours, making them bleed and claiming it’s art.”
“But it is.” She turns to me, but I push her back, gun still out and aimed.
“And it still causes you pain. So, is it the shoe that’s the issue or the person wearing them?”
“You aren’t cute when you’re right,” she says with a bit more attitude.
I lean in and kiss her neck once more. I don’t know when it started becoming my favorite spot to kiss. Maybe it’s just because of the position we’re in now, but I can’t seem to stop.
“Yes, I am. Now focus. Take a deep breath and relax. I want you to accept the gun for what it is—nothing but a tool. You’re the one using it right now. You decide if you hit something, not the gun. You make the choice on how you want this to go.”
I rub my thumb just under her perky tits and feel her take a deep breath in. She’s steady, and I feel the tremors in her hands pause a second before she pulls the trigger.
“What a shot.” I take the gun away from her and smile.
The milk jug lies on its side, the contents leaking out onto the ground through the bullet hole.
“Seems like a waste.”
I shrug. “Spoiled anyway.”
“Are you any good?”
I look away from the jug to see her staring at me and gesturing to the gun. “With shooting?”
She nods.
Another shrug, but then my smile slips through.
She crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. “Of course you are. Silly question.”
I wink at her a second before I fire off four rapid shots into the milk jug as well. But with each one of my shots, it moves. Not that I missed. I learned a long time ago to move with the shot to keep the aim true.
My smile falters when my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket when I hear Danny’s ringtone that lets me know something is wrong.
“What is it?” I ask quickly.
“Penthouse. Now. Bring the girl.”
He hangs up, and I look at Payton.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“We have to go.”
“Why?”
“We’ll know soon enough. Come on.”
I greet Marco, Bobby’s second, with a nod as we pass him in the lobby. Each of my brothers’ seconds are here. Dante would be here, too, if I were with him. Normally I would be—after all, it’s three o’clock on a Monday. But I took the day off. Fully.
I had planned to just spend it in bed with Payton, which we did for half the day, then went to the gun range. That would have been followed by more time alone, preferably on a soft, flat surface.
Instead, I’m heading to Vinny’s main office. Which in the famiglia is also known as the penthouse. The title is true, as it’s a vast estate high in the New York skyline.
The house we were at yesterday is the family home. This is the one we house the famiglia in. The business. That’s what this place is. All business.
I hold Payton’s hand openly, not afraid to show my possessiveness of her before announcing it.
I made it known to my brothers when she came to lunch that she was mine.
Now it’s about letting the men who work for us know who’ll be part of their protection focus.
A formal memo will go out soon enough for those who don’t listen to idle chitchat like everyone else.
The private elevator is spacious, but I pull Payton into my arms, pressing her front to mine and resting my forehead against hers.
I don’t need to push a button to go up. This elevator only goes to one place, and once the doors close, it’s automatic.
“After we deal with my brother, I’m taking you home to eat dinner off you.”
“That doesn’t sound very sanitary. I also think it’s against like six FDA rules.”
“Who said I was talking about food?” My hand finds the heat between her legs, and she gasps. “Your pussy is delicious, and I intend to get full from eating it out,” I whisper into her neck, watching the goose bumps spread across her skin a second before the doors open.
“Brother.”
Payton backs away quickly at the crisp greeting Danny gives us.
I expected one of my brothers to be here the moment the door opened; they’re as predictable as they are good at cockblocking.
I just didn’t care enough that they would see me close to her to put any distance between us.
Not when I can enjoy her being all flustered with worry that they might have heard what was being said.
Even if they did, they’d keep their mouths shut.
Some things aren’t on the table for teasing a brother about, and a woman’s pussy is one of them.
“Danny,” I say with a wide smile.
He raises an eyebrow at it, since I doubt he’s seen me like this in a while. And it’s been even longer since it was genuine and not fake for those watching.
“Vinny is waiting for you in the study.”
I grab Payton’s hand once more and pull her along.
“Alone,” he says in a commanding tone that has me stilling and turning to look at him.
Payton follows my gaze, but like me, she sees nothing on my brother’s face to give her a clue as to what’s going on. He’s always had the best poker face.
And if I know my brothers, if any of them wants to be alone when they talk, it’s for a reason I won’t question. So I nod.
“I’ll be back soon.” I lean in and kiss Payton’s cheek before leaving her with my brother, trusting he’ll make her comfortable for however long this will take.
When I get to the study, I barely make it inside before Vinny tells me to shut the door.
Bobby is already sitting in the chair opposite Vinny and his desk. I sit beside him.
“This about Payton?” I ask.
They share a look before Vinny speaks.
“In a way.”
He turns his laptop around and pushes a button.
There, in black and white, is security camera footage of my girl.
No surprise, since it’s at the club. But the part that’s the issue is the fact that she’s taking money.
Not out of the till from the cash box, but from my office.
Next to the books that should be locked away.
“I think I found your thief.”
I watch the video, and instant disbelief bubbles up in protest. No way is what I’m seeing true. It can’t be.
Right?
I look at my brothers, and there are no smiles on their faces. No jest in their eyes. Just concern. Not for the thief, but for me. For how I might react. How I might break from this. They expect a reaction from me. Which speaks volumes.
My brothers are the men I’ve looked up to my entire life. Men I trust more than I trust my own mind some days. They wouldn’t pull a stunt like this just to have fun. If they believe it, then it has to be true.
It kills a part of me that I was just getting back. The part that believed I could be happy again. And this time, I don’t think I’ll ever recover from it.
With a deep breath, I steel myself, what’s left of my tattered soul, and shut down my emotions. Sadness and rage battle inside me, but to my brothers, I’m calm and collected.
“What else do you have for me?”
Vinny slides over a very thick file, and any flicker of hope I had left dies when I flip to the first page.