Page 51 of Mafia Rules

There’s a smug, self-satisfied look on her face, the one that sneers at me, making me want to slap it off. Ash’s avoidance and stony silence confirm some painful truth in her accusations. His head bows low, lost in thought. Hardy slouches back against the wall, a smirk playing on his lips, likely waiting for this wrestling match to start.

Every inch of my skin is ablaze with a searing heat. The tightness in my chest mirrored my clenched fists at my sides. I wasn’t built to fight. I’ve never swung at anyone, not even in playground fights. I know she’d beat my ass in seconds. She’s taller and more muscular than me. She’d likely fight till her last breath to get Ash away from me.

“What getaway?” I direct my question to Ash.

“It’s not a getaway. It’s a work trip.” Ash looks in my direction, his eyes lingering temporarily before he looks away. “And I never said I was going.”

“Your father booked us.” Sasha grabs her phone from her pocket. “Yeah, see. He texted you, too.”

With a groan, Ash snatches his phone and reads the screen. His shoulders slump forward in defeat. There’s a long break before he says, “You take the hotel. I’ll stay somewhere else.”

“It’s the fucking penthouse, Ash. You’re not staying somewhere else, babe. I want you next to me.” Her fingers brush against his shoulder, but he shrugs her touch away with a dismissive jerk.

“I’ll go because I have to get this job done. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we don’t need to be in each other’s life.” He takes my arm, his touch warm against my skin but forceful, and leads me to the bedroom. Sasha’s footsteps are close behind.

“Oh! She’s not coming, Ash.” Sasha’s voice, thick with suppressed fury, trembles with barely contained rage.

With a shove, Ash puts himself between Sasha and me, his body a solid wall between us. When we reach the bedroom, he closes the door and locks it. Sasha pounds on the door.

“Hardy!” Ash yells through the door to his brother. “Fucking help me…” He mumbles under his breath.

“You’re not going away alone with her.” I interrupt his self-pity. “There’s no fucking way that’s happening, and you’re coming home to me.”

I watch him pass me and go into the walk-in closet. I hear things being tossed about with some swear words mixed in.

I approach the door and stop. Take a few deep breaths and force them out as silently as possible. Debating on how I can handle this and get Ash to see where I’m coming from. He’d never go for me spending a week away with my ex in a Penthouse.

I stand in the doorway, watching him haphazardly toss clothes into an overflowing suitcase, the quiet thud of each item punctuated by his strained silence, pretending I’m notthere. It feels like watching a stranger, their actions distant and unfamiliar. I don’t recognize him when she’s around. She has some unspoken hold over him he’ll never admit to.

“I have to go.” Ash’s hands, calloused and strong, gripped the island in the middle of the room; his eyes, narrowed in concentration, stay fixed on his suitcase.

“Easier to lie to me when you don’t look at me?” I say, folding my arms and blinking back the tears building up. The pit of my stomach heaves with a sickening motion, feeling like a buoy in the water at the whim of each wave.

Fear. Fear overflows my body, each muscle tense. Flashes of heat, then goosebumps, my body not knowing how to react to Ash and Sasha going away together andalone. A profound ache settles in my chest, a reminder of what I could lose. I didn’t want life not to have Ash in it.

Ash’s concentration is on me now, his body language speaking volumes; the slight slump of his shoulders and the way he clenches his jaw tell a story of his displeasure with me. “I have no choice. I have to do this.” His voice is a low growl, each word measured and slow.

I know this is a battle I won’t win. I’ll never win against his father, and if Ash takes over from him, this is the life I’ll live. Always being on the back burner. The second choice. Never having a voice in my life.

“What if you don’t go?” My voice has a whiny pleading, even if I want it to feel strong right now. But there’s something about feeling like it’s the end where you compromise your values and become someone you’re not. You say and do things you regret later – all in the name of love. I was about to cross that line.

“Not doing what my father says is never an option, Eve.” Ash shoves more clothes into his overflowing bag, not caring to fold them. “Just let me do this. I promise she won’t be in our lives when this deal gets done.”

“Can you promise that?” I ask, knowing she’s around if his father says she is.

“I can promise I’ll try to make it that way. Trust me, I don’t want to be around Sasha any more than you do. I’m required to close this deal. If I don’t somehow save this mess I made, well…I’ll be kissing one of my fucking brother's asses for the rest of my life.”

Ash removes his shirt, grabs an undershirt, and then a dress shirt. He pulls on his dress pants. All the while, I stand there in silence. The only sound being the soft click of his suitcase. This all sounds absurd.

“Why can’t I come?” I untuck his shirt from his pants and run my hand on the inside of the seam against his bare skin.

“Because I don’t trust Sasha around you.” Ash places his hand on my wrist and pushes my hand further down his pants. There’s a drowsy intimacy in his half-closed eyes. “Fuck me, Eve.”

His lips locate my neck as his hand guides me to his hard cock. I palm the head and gently caress him. With each stroke, his eyes burn brighter and his breath shorter.

Did I want to be giving him a hand job right now?No.But did I want to fuck him while Sasha waited and could hear us?Fucking yes.

I unzip his pants and let them fall to the floor. Next are his boxers until he’s fully naked. His muscles flex with each pump of my hand, his body captive to favor my touches. I could stop at any moment if I wanted to and walk out of here.

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