I stopped by a street vendor on my way home to pick up a bouquet of Water Lilies, her favorite flowers. Excitement and anticipation flooded my senses, the world seeming brighter and more colorful. I was in such a hurry to get to her that when I finally made it to our apartment building, I took the stairs two at a time to get to our floor faster. "I'm home. Kenny says hi," I called out, my voice dying in my throat as I stepped through the door. At my feet was the start of a trail of rose petals, leading through the kitchen and into the living room. I followed it with a stupid smile on my face. The living room was flooded with burning candles. There, in the middle of it all, stood my girl in nothing but a black two piece lingerie set. "Happy six months," she said, her hands behind her back, her tell that she was nervous. "My life rocks," I said, running my fingers through my hair as I made my way to her, flowers in hand. She let out a string of giggles. "You like?" she asked, accep
"What's happening?" I asked, squatting before her, genuinely concerned now. "What's wrong? Do you hate the shelves? Should we paint the room? Did I get the color coding wrong? Let's have it. We can fix it, whatever it is. Would now be the time to tell you I took a week off from work and we're leaving for Vermont tomorrow?" I said, pulling the plane tickets out of my back pocket to show them to her. She took them from me, turned them over in between her fingers, shook her head slowly, then looked up at me and cried harder. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's wonderful," she said, trying to pull it together. "I mean, probably yes to the last two, but," she said, tilting her tear stained face to the side. We shared a little laugh and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, for making me feel like I belong," she said, setting the tickets aside and taking my hands in hers. "I'm such a mess now. When am I even supposed to pack?" she complained with the cutest little pout, her fingers stained wi
How did we get here? An hour ago, we were in our apartment, talking about our first vacation away as a couple. Now we were sitting in a club, in the VIP section, waiting for Luca to show up. "We shouldn't be here. If Jenny's genuinely missing, your mom should have called the cops," I said, trying not to let my frustration show. "We need more information. Jenny is the daughter of Don Angelo. If anyone's going to know what's going on, it'll be Luca," Stacy said, hiding her shaking hands under the table and clasping them together. "Whose number you just so happened to have and who was only too happy to drop everything to come out and see you," I said, realizing how petty and jealous I sounded considering the circumstances."Oh grow up, Scott. He called me once. Once. Coincidentally, it was the night you were flirting with my sister. Remember that? I didn't even know who it was when I answered," she shot back. "We talked about this. I did not flirt with your sister. You knew who it was
"What a dick. He wants her, but he's not willing to do anything to secure her safety?" I ranted, still wound up after our exchange with Luca. "I'm sorry. This isn't how tonight was supposed to go," said Stacy, staring out the window. "I have no idea what to do."Just then, a car pulled up behind us. "Wait here," I said, getting out to meet with the other driver."Did you get it?" I asked Steve, an old friend from college. "Anywhere, anytime, anything," said Steve, handing me a box. "Payment as per our discussion?" "Yes Steve, I'll be your sister's wedding photographer. Send me the details," I said, surprised at how quickly Steve had pulled this off, even for him. When I got back to the car, Stacy was still staring out into the abyss. I went to her side of the car, opened the door and held out my hand to her. She put her hand in mine and allowed me to drag her out of her seat. We made our way to the front of the car, each leaning against the hood. "Was that Stoner Steve? Scott I c
When Scott got home two hours later, we all went over and convened at the Cattaneo estate to discuss Luca and Jenny's marriage. "Let's talk terms," said Luca, as a servant came in and set down a tray with four glasses of Scotch on it. "I thought we did that already," said Jenny. "You want to marry a Luciano. I want to find Peter's killer. What else is there to discuss?" "Don Angelo's condition," said Luca, claiming his glass before taking a seat across from Scott, Jenny and I. "I thought he already gave his blessing," I said, but honestly I should have seen this coming. Olive branch, my ass. What was he planning? "Let me guess: it has to do with Stacy," said Scott, who was notably uncomfortable with us being here. He wanted to drop Jenny off and be on our way, but I had to make sure that Luca would go through with this first. "It's a simple request. He wants you to attend the wedding," said Luca, staring pointedly at me. "Fine," I said, agreeing without thinking it through. I
When we got home, I went straight to my study, wanting the reassurance of seeing my dead man's switch. I waited impatiently for my laptop to start up. Once it had, I accessed my cloud and clicked on a folder I had labelled NYU. This folder was supposed to contain seven years worth of Luciano books. My blood ran cold when I found it empty. "Son of a bitch," I said, pulling myself out of the chair. "I'm going out," I said, rushing past Scott in the living room back into the kitchen. "Where?" he asked with a sigh, following me to the front door. "We should talk about what you said."If my whole world wasn't crumbling right before my very eyes, I'd want to move heaven and earth to remove the pained look in his eyes. As it was though, I was freaking out. Seven years worth of going back to Don Angelo so that one day, when I was brave enough, I could leave him behind for good. Seven years of saying goodbye to Scott over and over, praying I'd make it back to him. All of that couldn't just be
We met Jeff at the same diner as last time as per his request. I wasn't happy about this, considering how things ended last time, but the situation had taken a drastic turn and these were desperate times. We had barely sat down when Jeff was out the gate, already on the offensive. "What will it take to get you to leave my son alone?" he asked, suddenly father of the fucking year. "Don't pull that shit. Don't pretend you care who I have in my life when you're not even in it," I said, unable to not be triggered by Jeff, even after promising myself that I'd keep it together for her. I already had Stacy saying I made her feel like we were a mistake going round and round in my head. Her saying those words was my worst fear come to life. Or at least what I thought was my worst fear, until I was once again faced with losing her. Did I spend six months making her feel unwanted? Unhappy? Miserable? The rest of the night wasn't exactly perfect either. I was primed for a meltdown."I care w
All of a sudden, the perceived danger I was in by being with Stacy took a back seat to his career and I became an afterthought. I tried to shrug it off. After all, I didn't come here for Jeff's protection. Certainly not from Stacy. "Just one thing. No matter what happens, protect Scott at all costs. That's what I want," she said, blowing my mind. All this time, I had assumed that this whole thing was just about Jenny. It didn't occur to me that now that the dead man's switch was gone we'd be back to square one and she'd be thinking of me. Worrying about me. "Is that why you came here? For me? Do you even think this is going to work?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. "Of course I'll protect my son. That goes without saying," said Jeff, and I felt triggered again. Where the fuck was his protective nature when he was fucking Melissa mere feet away from me with the door open? How many times did it take before my mom finally believed me about what a piece of shit he was? This man w
I couldn't ignore him forever. Last night was clear evidence that I didn't want to. He was what I survived nearly dying in those woods for. I wanted him. I just needed to be careful about what came after the talking. Sliding my hand into his while looking out the window, I watched the other cars on the road and took in the fresh air. He stopped talking after that, a comfortable silence settling between us as we squeezed each other's hands, our fingers interlocking. This was the way my day began. I was on cloud nine. The exam was a breeze, even if I had butterflies throughout. I figured since it was okay to leave home without an escort, it was okay to go back without one too. I was so excited to get back home, I left the exam hall early and took a cab home to surprise him. Voices could be heard coming from the kitchen when I entered the cottage. Did I forget to text Tessa, Tony and Marlene about spending the day with Scott?
"All done," said Scott, kissing the bandage he had just put around my arm. I almost said no to having him dress my wound this morning. Tessa, whose turn it was to help me, had an urgent meeting drop into her lap at the last second and I had my exam to get to. There was no time to call anyone else. Even if there was time to call someone else though, I understood what this meant to him, especially after last night. I couldn't just take back what happened. He'd have certain expectations now and frankly so did I. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I risked him finding another erogenous zone and gave him my arm. "How did you know how to do that?" I asked, relieved that my right arm at least was safe to touch without my pussy turning on me. "Don't be too impressed. I did it for my dad a few times in high school after he got shot in the line of duty," he said, not flinching when he brought up his dad for the first time since I met him.
My emotions were all over the place. Confusion. Calm. Fear. Mind you, I wasn't afraid of Scott or anyone for that matter. I was afraid for him because he was sharing a house with me. I kept waiting for the panic attack to hit. For my mind to unravel and turn against me, showing me everything I did in those woods on a loop, but it wasn't happening. There were no nightmares. Nothing hindered my cognitive ability. For fuck's sake, I shot four men and two of them were related to me. I shot Don Angelo. Still no reaction. It was like I was on a constant power trip and it scared the shit out of me. This was why I didn't want to share a bed with Scott. When I closed my eyes to sleep, there was no insomnia. I slept like a baby. I didn't want Scott to see what a fucking sociopath I had turned into. There was something else too. I was horny as fuck. I always thought that since sex was a coping mechanism for me, if the anxiety and stress went away my libido would
"I wanted to kill him, Scott. I wanted to kill my father," she said, turning to face me. "He said I was going to hurt you and I just snapped. I tried to stop. Listening to you remind me of our life together, I tried to stop," she said, frantically crying within seconds. "I hate him so much. I couldn't let anyone hurt you. I—" "Sssshhhh, it's okay," I said, pulling her into my arms and rubbing her back. "I wanted to kill him too for what he did to you," I admitted, unfazed by her admission. "I get it." "It's not the same. You didn't have the gun in your hands. You didn't actually shoot him," she insisted through sobs. I thought about her shooting her father. Visualized him stumbling backwards. After thinking he was the one that shot her, I was relieved to find her in one piece. Maybe it was fucked up, but I was even proud of her. On some level, I knew she did it for herself as much as to protect me. I had no problem with that. It's the v
"How will you stop me?" I asked her, sticking my fingers back into her pussy before trailing my other hand up her back as she started sucking me off. "You can't with dick in your mouth, baby. You love sucking it too much," I taunted her as she pleasured my dick with her mouth. My hand itched to be on her head, helping her efforts along, but I was on a mission. One fucking year and I still didn't know everything about her body. It was fucking bullshit. My hand trailed up her spine and she shook, her pussy clenching around my fingers. It lasted barely five seconds and she didn't tighten around my fingers as hard as after I fucked her, but she still moaned on my dick while it happened. Taking this as a declaration of war, she started sucking my dick aggressively hard and fast. "So competitive," I teased her, but her holes hadn't been on my dick for a while.
After she got mad about not being invited to watch last time, I didn't touch myself when I was alone anymore. So my dick was due for some attention. I was going to enjoy every bit of it and let her know it. "Kiss me again," she said hungrily, just as needy as I was. I gave my lips over to hers, sitting up to be closer to her while we worked on getting each other off. Why couldn't I fuck her again? Something told me it had to come from her, at least the first time. After that, I'd fuck her senseless every chance I got again. This was our naughty loophole, just like in Prague. Her hand wasn't her pussy, but damn if it didn't feel good sliding up and down my dick. Whatever she was willing to give right now, I would greedily take. "Scott," she moaned, her pussy tightening around my fingers buried deep inside her. Her hand stilled on my dick as her body shook on mine. She moaned my name a few more times. I wa
Talk to her the voice in my head said, but the thrill of having her touch me went straight to my head. "Fuck," I muttered with a little sigh. I turned around to face her, reaching out to cup her neck slowly. "Can I kiss you?" I asked her, like some teenage boy who had a girl in his room for the first time. "Kiss me," she said, her voice light and breathy. I touched my lips to hers lightly, not wanting to be too eager and get carried away. She didn't like that though, instantly deepening the kiss. Her hands trailed down my neck, onto my chest, down to my abs. I knew where she was going, but the interaction felt so fragile, I didn't want to scare her off. So I kept my hands where they were and continued kissing her, devoting all my attention to her mouth. "Don't you like the rest of me anymore?" she asked, taking one of my hands off her neck and placing it
I had mixed emotions when I got back to the house half an hour later. Choosing to focus on the positives, I stashed the ring and folder in a closet of one of the unfurnished bedrooms. Then I went looking for her in the study to share the news about Don Angelo being awake and her immunity deal. When I had searched the entire house and she was nowhere to be found, my mind spiraled and my heart dropped into my stomach. I couldn't do this shit again. The emotional turmoil alone nearly killed me last time. I stood before the bedroom door, trying to calm myself down. It was stupid to get so worked up without at least checking the bedroom. Even if she hadn't been next to me in bed in over a week. "Stace?" I called out, opening the door slowly. She didn't say anything, but she was indeed lying in the bed. I breathed a sigh of relief before I started stripping. Sliding in under the covers next to her, I could feel the delicious warmth of her bo
"Is that an engagement ring? She nearly gets you killed and you want to marry her?" Jeff's judgemental voice asked from behind me. Was I the only one who still thought she was my forever? "I just want her so damn much I don't know what to do with myself. I don't even know if she wants me anymore and everyone seems to think we should break up. It's all just—" I said, panicking about the night's events. "Easy, kiddo," he said, patting me on the back before he slid into the stool next to mine. He ordered us each a beer, waited for me to take my first swig, then asked, "Did they ambush you? Tell you to leave her?" "Jee dad, nothing gets past you. No wonder you're the director of the FBI," I said, cracking a smile. "Fucking smartass. I'll let that slide though since you did call me dad. This time without an agenda," he said, grinning back at me. "Look Scott,