The room was silent. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Mom had a feeling that Gary had joined forces with the mafia, but I don’t think she was sure how deep he was in it. She never said anything to me, but I figured it out one night when I heard them talking. I had gotten up when I couldn’t sleep. I had left the kitchen and was heading back to my room when I heard voices. Gary was talking with one of the guys that came over frequently. “When I was 13, I couldn’t sleep one night, so I went to the kitchen. As I was walking back, I heard voices, and at first, I thought Gary was watching a movie, but then I heard another voice, which I recognized. They were talking about usual everyday shit, but I did hear them mention the mafia, and then I heard them talking about it. I know Mom was always suspicious about his link to the mafia, but I don’t think she realized how deep his involvement was.” I tell them. “Yes, Sapphire, we are in the mafia. Richard and I are cousins. Carmine is the c
When Riley threw out that my precious jewel was into underground fighting, I damn near lost it. Don’t get me wrong, watching her in that ring at the gym that one time was a learning experience. She and Riley told us that she had been going to the gym since she was 14, which I thought was suitable for a girl. I thought she had learned some primary self-defense, but I was wrong. My precious jewel had taken gymnastics classes when she was young, thanks to her mother. The gym she, I, and the guys now frequent has some of everything. MMA, self-defense, kickboxing, martial arts, and cross fit are just a few of its programs. I had mixed feelings as I watched my precious jewel in that ring. I wanted to jump in there and beat the shit out of the guy swinging at her, but on the flip side, watching her had that guy his ass turned me on. She might be tiny, but I wouldn’t want to piss her off. Ok, fine, I would let her throw me around anytime. She is welcome to use some of those leg hold
I shouldn’t be surprised that my fucking family didn’t bother telling me they were going to Australia for the holidays. I called my mother only to find out they wouldn’t return until after the New Year. It’s not like I didn’t want to see my son. This will be the second year he hasn’t come home for the holidays. That is just one more thing to make me hate that girl. She has turned my son against me. I hoped to make him hate her, but it didn’t work. Danello and I have been friends since we were in grade school. He knows my parents and siblings. Once we entered high school, Danello told me about his family. I was intrigued but knew getting involved with the mafia was dangerous. His father and grandfather talked with me, and I agreed with one stipulation. I told them I would only join them if my family were left alone, including my future wife and children. They told me they would make sure nothing happened to them, but I had to understand that our enemies would, if possible
“What has you so lost in your head?” Hanae asks. “This entire fucking situation with Gary.” I tell her. I watch as my wife saunters over and sits down on my lap. Many were unhappy, including my parents, that married her. My stunning Hanae is half Japanese. I could fucking care less, but my parents were old school and didn’t want any of their kids with anyone that wasn’t Italian. While my sister married an Italian, that wasn’t on purpose; my brother and I didn’t go along with what they wanted. They bitched, but I ignored them because I didn’t care what they thought. Mateo looks more like me, but I can see Hanae in him too. Our twin daughters look like their mother with my green eyes. I rub her rounded belly. This fourth child was a huge surprise. While this child was a surprise, we are thrilled. She is currently four months along. Our daughters are thrilled to have a younger sibling, and Mateo was happy for us too. “At least we know where she is at.” Hanae says. “I
I am sure the guys were ready to sedate me. Riley, Dylan, Luke, Arlo, Mathius, and I are going to the airport. Luke is driving while Arlo rides shotgun and has taken charge of the radio. I laughed when the other three guys groaned as Arlo chose a station to listen to. I am sitting in between Riley and Dylan. Dylan’s arm is across my shoulder. I can barely contain my excitement. It hasn’t been that long since I saw them last, but it feels like forever. “Stop it, you irritating arse wipe.” Riley growls. I look at Dylan, but all I see is that irritatingly sexy smirk on his sexy face. I roll my eyes at the two of them. I hear Riley grumble and look at Dylan again, but he gives nothing away. The arm across my shoulder moves just a bit as he reaches across me and hits Dylan in the chest. I let out a squeak causing Luke to glance at us in the rearview mirror. I smile at Luke as he narrows his eyes at me. I frown because I have no idea what I did to deserve that frown. “Sorr
I knew something serious was happening back home when Dylan called me and told me to get my ass back as fast as possible. It took me a few days since the holidays were coming up. I had been here in Auckland for a year or so now, and as far as I knew, nothing was happening. Most everyone in the mafia world knows about our family, even if our family isn’t officially in the mafia and our connection with Carmine. They tend to leave us alone, and most stay as far away from Australia as possible. If they do come here, it is for a vacation, and they call and speak with both Uncle Richard and Carmine to let them know when they are there and why they are coming. Of course, some come for meetings and whatnot. I grew up with Dylan, and we are more or less best friends. He knows me better than anyone. I moved to Auckland after graduation. Uncle Richard had me come here to manage some of his businesses; they have been doing well. While I do like it here, I miss home and everyone. I was
“Give it away; you have been cranky for the last two days.” Luke asks. “Piss off, you, imbo. My cousin Kyllyan came back from New Zealand. Sapphire and I went to my parents to meet her and she told us something that pissed me off.” I reply. I was still trying to process what Kyllyan told me. I am not mad that she is pregnant, but I am pissed that the fucker ran off. Kyllyan might be older than me by a year, but I have always acted like she is a little sister to me. I want to find this bastard and rip him apart. I sit there seething until I feel soft hands run my shoulders. I relax when one of the hands slips into my hair and scratches my scalp. Damn, that feels fucking great. I let out a groan when I hear someone snickering. I am sitting on the couch, which we did get deep cleaned after Sapphire’s little revelation. We are waiting for Riley to finish getting ready and heading to my parent's house. Riley will go over there and have some of them ride in his car while the o
I press my head against the wall of the shower. I let the hot water run down my body as I stand there, replaying everything that was told to us yesterday. We should be heading to the house to visit everyone, but my brain can’t stop replaying everything that happened. I was worried about Sapphire, but I knew Dylan would help her deal with this. I was glad she found out she had a family, but now that leaves me with one question. Who was my biological father? Our mothers had passed away, so that was a dead end. I hoped my birth certificate would reveal something, but my mom had put Gary down as my father, so that was no help. I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. “Hey, you never returned my call, and I was worried.” Janessya says. “I am sorry, there was a lot of heavy shit revealed yesterday, and my mind was all over the place. I am fine, but I still need to process a lot.” I tell her. “If you need to talk, let me know.” She replies. “Would you come with m
Riley -One Year Later- I stand here in our backyard watching the chaos unfold. We are celebrating my son, Niko’s birthday. He turns one today. I look over as I hear the door to the house open to see Sapphire and Dylan walking out. Sapphire has their eight month old son, Jayson, in her arms. He is the perfect mix of the two of them. He has blond hair, the perfect mix of Sapphire’s white blond hair and Dylan’s dark blonde hair. Jayson has his mother’s sapphire blue eyes, but you can see flakes of steel-gray in them. He is going to be a ladies man when he grows up. He flirts with all the ladies and all the ladies love him. Sapphire sets him down besides Yasmin and Jack’s twins and Niko. Niko and Jayson are only three months apart which I like. The twins and little Alaynia just turned two years a couple months ago. There are way more people here than I thought there would be, but I guess since Niko and I share a birthday it is to be expected. I walk over to where my beauti
Dylan-6 Months Later-“For fuck sake she is a moody sheila.” Luke says.“I will tell Sapphire you said that and we shall see how she responds.” Riley comments.Luke shoots him a glare. I shake my head at the two of them. We are having a dual baby shower/gender reveal. Riley and Janessya are the other half of this baby shower/gender reveal. They already know they are having a boy and Janessya is due any day now. My precious jewel is six months along and looks stunning with her bump. She woke up two hours later after arriving at the hospital all those months ago. I let her rest overnight before telling her that she was pregnant. To say she was shocked would be an understatement. She shut down and refused to speak for hours. I was getting worried when Jack walked in and asked what was wrong. She burst into tears and told him that she was pregnant. She was pissed that we knew the night before, but didn’t tell her. Thankfully she calmed down after talking about it. I know
We knew the girls were up to something, but never in my wildest thoughts did I think they would plan something like this. Sal had come to us and told us that they were planning something, but he had no idea what they had planned. Keegan told us that he had seen all of them over at Ace’s house along with another guy that none of us knew. No granted we don’t know every friend that they have so it could be someone from one of their classes that they had. I opened my phone and the app that I have to track my precious jewel. I gave her a necklace and pendant. The pendant has a tracker in it. I am pretty sure she knows it is there, but she hasn’t said anything to me. I don’t care either way. Knowing I can find her if shit goes down keeps my stress level normal.“I don’t like this. We know Mateo arrived in town late last night, but we haven’t been able to get eyes on him, Gareth, and Elias. I would add Karleena into that list but we haven’t been able to get a visual on her for clo
These last two weeks have been interesting. We told Carmine, Anthony, and Dad about Aria and who she said she and her father are. They confirmed what she told us was true and that her father was a close friend and ally of theirs. We even brought Aria to meet with them and Aria even called her father during the meeting. Emery was able to do something with her computer and we all saw him on the tv in Dad’s conference room. After that we let her in on our plan. I don’t think the guys fully trust her, but they are coming around. “I still can’t believe that Janessya’s parents cut her off like that.” I sneer. “I know, but they were against her being with Riley in the first place, why I don’t know. Don’t worry, Riley will make sure she and their child are taken care of and I know your grandparents have offered to pay for her school.” Dylan replies. Janessya and Riley had invited everyone to dinner a week ago and announced that they were not only expecting their first child but t
I love Dylan and the rest of the guys, but if they think they are being sneaky they are sorely mistaken. They might as well rent a fucking bill board and advertise that they are planning to try and catch Mateo and his group of dipshits. They have been covertly, well they think they are being covert, around trying to come up with a plan to catch Mateo in the act. We are over at Lina’s house. Emery’s fingers are flying across her keyboard as she checks on what those assholes are up to. “Do Gareth and Elias have any idea that you know they are involved in all of this?” Emmy asks.“No, I haven’t let on that I know they are the ones that were spying on me and that I know they are the ones that were helping to try and break me and Dylan apart.” I replied.I wasn’t initially suspicious of them when we first met in class, but both of them gave me a weird vibe. Elias more so than Gareth, but when we returned to class after our holiday break they were acting even stranger than before.
I can help but stand here and stare at my precious jewel. She is asleep on our bed in our house. We finally finished putting everything where we wanted it. I won’t lie, I was a little worried when I, more or less, gave her full permission to do with the house what she wanted. The only rooms I made sure were ready for her were our bedroom and the room I had turned into an art studio for her. I smile when she turns over and starts trying to find me. I climb back into the bed and pull her against me. She lets out a sigh and melts into me. Things have been quiet, and while I am glad for that it also bothers me. I hate this waiting around shit. I shift to lay on my back and Sapphire follows me laying her head on my chest. “No, it’s too early.” Sapphire whines. “My precious jewel is almost ten.” I snicker.“SHIT!” She states.I laugh when she jumps out of bed running into the closet to grab some clothes and then into the bathroom. I shake my head as I fling my legs over the
I have been here for two weeks and I know that I am going to have to go back to the States soon. My father has been hounding me trying to find out where I am. I am sure he is looking for me, but since I told him I was going to travel around Europe to clear my head he has been trying to find me. I knew he wouldn’t, but he doesn’t know that. I also had work I needed to get back to. I want to bring Karleena with me, but I know if I did that Dad would know that I was here if I were to bring her home with me. “Hey, I am not angry. I know I can’t go back with you, no matter how badly I want to. We have to play this right if our plan is going to work.” Karleena says.The two of us are lying in her bed. We had woken up to her phone going off. She is cuddled into my side with her head on my shoulder as her fingers trace the lines of my muscles. We are both naked after several rounds of sex last night. Gareth had called her letting her know that they needed to talk, but she told hi
I didn’t think this idea through. It sounded great when I said something to Dylan about it, but I didn’t realize how much work this was going to be. I watch as the delivery guys place the last piece of furniture in the house before they leave. Dylan and I have been furniture shopping since our date three nights ago. We talked to Dad and Richard, they agreed that it would make them think that we are not worried about them. They weren’t thrilled with the idea, but they also didn’t tell us not to move into the house. Dad, Carmine, and Anthony left this morning for something in Greece or Italy. I am not sure which country they had to travel to. I let out a sigh as I looked at everything. Most of the furniture had already been delivered, but these few pieces had been out of stock when we ordered them, and they just came back in stock yesterday. I wasn’t expecting to have them arrive this soon. “Don’t worry my precious jewel, the guys are going to come over later and help us arra
I shivered as his breath floated across my ear. Dinner had been amazing, and I was amazed that Dylan was able to reserve a table at that restaurant. I know for a fact that there is at least a three or four month waiting list to get a table there. The food was delicious, making me want to come back as soon as we could. I couldn’t stop staring at my ring. I had a feeling that he was up to something, but I was not expecting this. The ring is gorgeous. The center stone is a large four carat tear drop shaped sapphire with diamonds that decrease in size as they circle the band. The band is rose gold and fits my finger perfectly. I was jolted from staring at the ring when the car stopped. I knew the house, but I wasn’t sure why we were stopping here. I did notice a few new pieces of furniture as we entered. “Why are we stopping at your house?” I asked.“The last part of your surprise is in there. Come on precious jewel, our night is just getting started.” He whispered in my ea