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Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XVII
I shake my head with a slight laugh. “Baby girl, that sounds horrific. Your body is perfect to me. Somehow my hands permanently etched into your skin doesn’t scream sexy to me.”“Definitely not. You know there are people who come in to get work like that done. One guy came in and asked for his dick to be inked. He wanted the slogan ‘Melts in your mouth’ wrapped around it like a Christmas tree garland.”“Ouch.” Laughter erupts between us, and I know there’s no way in hell I’m letting another man or woman touch my cock to tattoo it. “I wonder how painful it is.”“Have you ever wanted to get some work done?”“Not really. I’ve seen some amazing pieces done. A client of mine runs a gym and has his entire back done of Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier. It’s one of the most iconic moments in boxing and sports history. He loves it and loves talking about it. I like that aspect of tattoos in that it’s art. It evokes emotion.”Raina nods. “You mean if it’s good, it evokes emotion.”“No, even if y
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XVIII
RAINAThere’s an air of rebellion I feel every time I step inside Tattoo Heaven.Come in and get inked by an angel or a demon. Angel always brags that his wife, Avery, must have sold her soul to be such a damned good artist. The way he looks at her with love in his eyes reminds me of the way I feel when Rex can’t keep his eyes or hands off me.Angel’s not as tall as Rex, but he’s stocky and covered in ink. Avery has two sleeves of artwork that she displays regularly. The glass display case that separates the waiting area from the rest of the shop is now sitting in front of a temporary partition. The accordion-looking paper wall typically goes up whenever someone has an appointment to get a sensitive body part worked on.“Hey, honey. What are you doing here?” Avery asks, her snowflake tattoo beaming in the morning sunlight shining through the window. “I thought you were getting out of town for a few days.”“Owen had other plans that made us rethink that. Rex is running around a bit, bu
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XIX
REXThe tin box sitting in my passenger seat has dents in it from where I had to pull it out from under the sink. What the hell was Owen thinking by leaving it there?I call him as soon as I get into my car. Luckily for me, he answers right away. “What’s wrong, Rex?”“For starters, your little stunt last night set off all kinds of alarms at Raina’s place. I have her place wired with cameras and motion sensors,” I tell him with a twinge of annoyance.“Did you find it?” he asks, with his voice barely above a whisper.“The box? Yes, I found it. It didn’t take a search party or anything. Pretty fucking obvious hiding spot if you ask me.”“I wanted it to be obvious to you. Those are the originals in that box. I have copies with me and that’s what I’m using to lay breadcrumbs for the agents I’m working with.”“Is talking on your phone okay? I feel like you shouldn’t be talking on the phone about this.”He sighs. “I probably shouldn’t but I just don’t give a fuck anymore, Rex. I’m tired of b
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XX
“This is Rex Remington, Mr. Carlyle. Owen’s partner at the firm. Is there something I can do for you that will persuade you to let Raina and the owners of that shop walk out of there? Surely, you’re not holding them hostage.”“That’s a dangerous accusation, Mr. Remington. They’re all fine. Now, as I see things, the shop is open for business. The owners have clients and things to tattoo while Raina is simply keeping me company as a receptionist does. No one’s being held hostage, but they can’t just walk out of the shop during business hours. No, no. They’ll stay put until Owen drags thatbrokenfucking leg down here to talk to me.”He’s smart and I don’t want to play games with this guy. Still, I have to stall on the off-chance that Owen can do something right and figure a way out of this.“How about I come inside for us to discuss the situation like gentlemen?”“It’s a free fucking country, Remington.”He ends the call and hands the phone back to Raina. I’m not going to leave her in the
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XXI
RAINAShades of red bloom across Rex’s forehead along with a pulsating vein on his temple.My heart is racing, but Rex is doing everything in his power to keep his anger under control. Lorenzo Carlyle is infuriating and manipulative. Worst of all, Owen is in up to his neck with this guy.This is the kind of person Owen gets himself tangled up with and then leaves them to barrel their way into my life. He’s so fucking selfish. He never thinks about me.“Baby girl, how are you doing?” Rex asks quietly. His eyes shift from me to Lorenzo to Angel and the gun on the counter.Lorenzo sucks his teeth, taking Angel’s gun to put it in his waistband. “You should not play with guns, Mr. Ramirez. They’re dangerous, and someone can get hurt.”Angel pushes a low exhale through his nostrils, making sure to keep Avery behind him. A woman, Kelly if I remember correctly from the appointment book, begins walking toward the door. Her curly hair jostles in a high bun as she reaches for the door and pulls
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XXII
REXFor fuck’s sake.Raina doesn’t waste any time with that devilish smile and sinks to her knees in front of me. Those bold blue eyes staring up at me with the most preciousFuck Meface a guy can want. Blood pumps directly to my cock while she watches me slide my pants off and sit back down on the bed.I know this is her first time putting me in her mouth, but my body is ready to explode with anticipation.“Tell me how to make you feel good, Daddy.”“You should lick your lips. Taste it first.”She puts her tiny hand around my shaft, positions herself above it, and kisses it gently.“Kiss it the way you’d kiss me. See how it feels and what it tastes like.”She lowers her mouth onto the head, swiping her tongue across the tip and lighting up every never ending in my dick. I don’t have to say much more as she finds a rhythm, moaning with every sultry kiss of my cock.Fuck me, she’s going to make me come before I’m ready.I need to feel her walls tightening around me as I sink myself insi
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement XXIII
I help Raina clean up after I pull out of her, and she goes back to making pancakes. The first bite is damn near as orgasmic as fucking her first thing in the morning.“This is good, baby girl.”“Thank you, Daddy,” she says with a kiss and sets a mug of coffee beside my plate.“I want every morning to be like this one,” I admit to her. However, looking at the food, there’s only enough for the two of us. “Listen, baby girl. I know Owen’s not on your list of favorite people, but I don’t think we should let him starve.”“He left,” she says with a shrug and slides a note over to me. “Look.”I read it out loud:Rex, I know I’ve always made a mess of things. From having you help me get through law school to showing up for Raina every time I couldn't. I hate admitting that you’re the better man, but you are, in life and with her. Keep looking after her, keep taking care of her, and finally, thank you for always taking care of me.When you go into the office, you’ll find my contracts, liquida
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement Epilogue
RAINAOne Year LaterThe sound of Rebecca Remington’s newborn wails piercing through the late-night hours has me on edge.She’s only a few weeks old, the most beautiful thing in this world, and is in full control over me and my body for the foreseeable future.Sleep isn’t ready to let me go check on our daughter who’s my steepest competition for her father’s attention. It brings a smile to my face to see how in love he is with her, with us. Even now, as I flip the blanket off me, the space beside me is empty.I groan because I know that Rebecca wants Mommy to feed her. We’ve been trying to give her a bottle, with every attempt ending in failure. My feet drag across the carpet from our bedroom into the spare room that we’ve transformed into her nursery.The closer I get, the quieter it seems. I can’t imagine she’s put herself back to sleep. It’s time for her morning feeding. When I poke my head inside the room, I see the sweetest sight.Rex is sitting in the chair with Rebecca swaddled
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Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 11
“He has a point. You got shot four times.”“Six times, actually.” I touched the spots on my body like a prayer. “Drive-by shooting. It was apparently meant for him, but I stepped out of the house at the wrong time, and boom. They decided to settle for his daughter instead.”“That’s not supposed to happen,” Mona said, frowning. “We’re not supposed to be fair game.”“It’s not a game to them though, to guys like that. Those assholes don’t care if we’re innocent or not. They’ll hurt us if it gets them what they want.”“I’m sorry that happened to you.”I waved it away and stared out over the yard. I didn’t remember much from the aftermath, but I remembered it happening vividly: the black truck that pulled up, the guns that appeared in the windows, the way I screamed, the pain as it flared, the weird, almost calm knowledge that I was going to die. Then black, then waking up in the hospital, in pain, very, very angry, and all the rehabilitation, the surgery, the bullshit. It took months to g
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 10
Amber After that very strange, but surprisingly good night out at the bar, I did my best to hide from him for the next couple days. When we were sitting at the bar, our legs touching slightly, I felt it: that tingle down my spine, that buzz on my lips. We ate, he asked about me, made me laugh, and toward the end of the night, our fingers touched as we reached for the check, and I stared into his eyes, and I knew in that moment that if he’d kissed me, right then and there at the bar, I would’ve kissed him back. We walked back together, said goodnight, and I’ve been hiding from him ever since. I should hate him. I don’t understand what the heck would attract me to a guy like that. He robbed a man in front of me for fun. I hated that sort of thing, hated men that bragged about crime and thought it was exciting, hated that sort of macho arrogant crap most of all, and yet somehow, he was different. He didn’t seem to take himself too seriously, and he made jokes all the time, and of cou
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 9
I walked along the bar toward a large man up near the door. He was on the way to the restrooms, so I had a good excuse to pass him. I exaggerated my sway, just a little bit, making myself look drunker than I was. The guy had a goatee, a double chin, and a tiny sprout of hair at the top of his head. I noticed the Rolex first, then the way he leaned toward a much younger, much prettier girl and grinned at her with a creepy hunger in his eyes, and I’d watched him down three drinks since I’d started my first. He was rich, he was trying to impress a girl, and he was drunk, which made him ideal.It wasn’t a complicated maneuver. Amber stared at me, wild and ready to get up and chase me down, so I hurried a little bit. I turned the corner toward the restrooms and bumped into the guy, grunting as I did it loudly. My hand slipped into the pocket of the jacket he had hung on his chair— found nothing.“Shit, sorry,” I grunted, and slipped my hand into his pants pocket. It was tricky, but they we
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 8
“To our night out,” I said.She smiled, met my toast, and sipped her drink. “This place isn’t so bad.”“You got a lot of spots like this back home?”She shook her head. “I didn’t come to fancy places like this. I’m more of a dive bar girl myself.”“Funny, I’m the same way. South Philly is filled with little holes in the wall, bars that have been there for generations. Some real cheap, trashy places, but you can get good and drunk and see the boys from the neighborhood there, so it’s not so bad.”“Philly’s a weird place. It seems so small, you know?”“It’s old. Not built in an ideal spot. Didn’t sprawl out like the newer cities. Chicago’s kind of that way too.”“I guess that’s true. I like it though. It’s got character.”“That’s what I think. Philly’s got everything you could want, and it’s cheaper than most other cities, plus it’s a lot smaller, so you can get around way easier.”“If you’re trying to get me to move here permanently, I think I’m sold.”I laughed. “I’m not sure you’d wa
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 7
Ren At first, the job wasn’t so bad. I hung around that big house, watched TV when I felt like it, bothered Amber when I got bored, and kept out of Mona’s way as much as I could. Things were quiet for a while, but after a few days it started to get real old, real quick. Amber wasn’t happy. That got pretty obvious by the fiftieth time she told me to go fuck off. Not that I minded if she told me to go to hell, to be totally honest—I sort of liked that she pushed back against me. The girl had spirit, she was a goddamn handful, but I could tell something hung over her. I kept thinking about those fresh-looking scars on her body, so like the bullet wound scars I’d seen on countless other guys, and had a couple myself, but that made no sense. I couldn’t imagine what a girl like her would be doing with bullet scars. One night, Mona decided to head into the city. Amber watched her go like a sad puppy, and I knew she wanted to go with her, if only to escape the house for a little while. I l
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 6
I climbed out of the water, intensely away of his eyes on my body. He was a good-looking guy, muscular but trim, with light eyes and dark hair slicked back. His pouty lips would’ve made a younger version of myself swoon, but I was over all that, over and done with it. I felt self-conscious, though, and realized that some of my scars were visible— the two on my leg, and the one on my shoulder. I quickly walked to my towel and grabbed it, wrapping it around myself, but too late. I caught him looking with a thoughtful frown. “We should set up some ground rules, if we’re going to do this for real.” He looked at me and shrugged. “All right. You played along with me, so I’ll play along with you. Give and take, the bedrock of any healthy relationship.” I doubted he’d ever been in a healthy relationship, but I didn’t say that out loud. “When I’m swimming, you can’t sit there and watch me.” “Fair enough.” “And you can’t follow me around all the time.” “That’d make me a shitty bodyg
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 5
Amber Vincent hustled me out to his house in Mt. Airy the next day, accompanied by my hired goon babysitter. I ignored him. It wasn’t easy though. He was a big guy, broad shoulders, stubble on his face and chin, but he held himself with this strange grace that I couldn’t totally understand. He commanded a room, and I kept sneaking glances in his direction, and caught him looking back at me, seemingly unashamed at being caught. I didn’t know what his deal was, but it annoyed the hell out of me, and drove me wild at the same time. The Mt. Airy house was Vincent’s wife’s place, a nice, pretty girl named Mona. She met us out front in black pants and a white button-down shirt. She was a few years older than me, with dark hair cut short, and dark brown eyes. She smiled, hugged me, glanced at Ren, then held me by the shoulders. “You must be Amber. Vince told me all about you.” “Yeah?” I asked, smiling a little, trying to ignore the way Ren loomed behind me. “I hope it’s all good thin
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 4
“If you’re asking me to fight your war, I’m not interested.” He shook his head and held up his hands. “Something simpler, actually. There’s a girl that came to live with me, daughter of a capo in the Chicago family. She went through something recently, they’re having their own problems out there, and she was sent here to get away from the heat. Unfortunately, things are getting hot around here now, too.” I thought of the girl I’d seen with the long dark hair and the intense expression. She must’ve been twenty, maybe a little older. It must’ve been the same girl he was talking about. “Not sure what she would have to do with me.” “I need you to be her bodyguard.” I let that sink in for a second then burst out laughing. He stared at me, eyes hard and cold, and I knew this wasn’t a joke—but it had to be. I wasn’t a bodyguard. I was a thief, and the occasional thug. I had a reputation for myself, sure enough, but nobody entrusted a life in my hands—much less the life of a young, bea
Mafia's Cruel Arrangement chapter 3
When Vince came calling, I had to answer. The Leone family was the largest mafia in Philadelphia, and I was still an independent guy, working all my jobs alone. I was happiest that way, and didn’t want to get tangled up by the Leones, but their money was good and the job was simple: track down a couple goons and beat the ever-loving shit out of them. I brought Floyd along and offered to split the pay sixty-forty. He thought it was an even split, but shit, that’s on him for not asking. “Either way. I hope they got the message.” Vincent smiled and clapped me on the shoulder, the one with the knife wound, and I grimaced. He had the good manners to look a little embarrassed before turning to Floyd. “Thanks for the assistance. I’m sure Ren will have your money soon.” “When I get paid, he gets paid,” I said, nodding. “Very good.” Vincent squeezed my shoulder. “I actually have another job for you, if you’d be willing to talk?” I hesitated. I really didn’t want to get too involved. The Le
