Page 7 of Blood & Loyalties
When her blue—or was it green?—eyes latched on to mine briefly, it made my fucking dick actually stir. I could feel the fucker moving beneath my jeans like a goddamn beacon pointing to the pussy of its choice. Her body was a fucking work of art, nothing like those skinny ass women who were at every turn in California. This woman had curves that went on and on, simply begging for a man to use them the right way.
As her face had seethed with anger at her brother, it had only made her more beautiful, more intriguing. Seeing her standing up for herself, holding her own against Val, was a huge fucking turn on. Then the power she had resonated when it had come to that asshole Antonio who’d fucked her over. Damn.
I would fully admit I wanted to get to know her better, but Val needed to calm the fuck down. I got he was protective of his sister, but she was also a grown-ass woman, and he needed to realize that.
“You want my father and uncle to do what we just did to Antonio to you? ’Cause you know it’ll be a fuck-of-a-lot worse if they get their hands on you.” He smirked, almost in triumph. Like he wanted it to happen, and that pissed me right the fuck off.
I didn’t wish for him to get his ass handed to him, but there he was, hoping the bosses would teach me a lesson. Fuck that.
“You want me to break your jaw?” I asked, my tone even and calm, even though inside I wanted to burst with anger, show him how the hell I had earned my position.
He ignored my question. “You know I’m fucking right, so let’s save us all a bunch of shit and you get a hard-on for someone else. I’ve got a ton of women I can get you right now who would be at your beck and call. Do any damn thing you want, wherever you want.”
There lay my problem. I was so fucking sick to death of the cheap pussy that paraded my way daily. Women begged me at every turn just to suck my cock, not a single one of them worth my fucking time and energy because—let’s face it—any woman who did that shit was not someone I wanted to start a life with.
My second in command, Diego, loved it. Ate pussy like it was going out of style. For many years, I had done the same. Yet over the last three months, I couldn’t bear to even take my fucking pants off for them. The fake-ass tits, ass, hair, nails … everything—they all looked the same. Not one stood out. Just unnamed, faceless women. That shit got old, terribly old.
My thoughts drifted again to Catarina. What a beautiful name to go along with a beautiful woman. She made me want. She made me take notice. She caught my attention in a way I couldn’t deny—wouldn’t deny, not when I could do something about it, even for a short time.
“I’ll make the decisions on my love life and don’t need your help with it.” I reined in all the anger and let it melt away. I knew he was protective, though that night had showed me just how much. I would deal with that.
“But not my sister. She’s … Well, she’s Catarina, a class of her own, and doesn’t need to be in any deeper with our business.”
I quirked my brow. Now that was interesting. It was more about keeping her out than actually anything to do with me.
“So is that the real reason? You don’t want her in?” I questioned.
Val sighed deeply. “It’s one of the reasons. Not to mention, you’re leaving in a few days. Do you really want to start something you can’t finish?”
The calm escaped me, those words sending me into a tailspin. My growl was loud in the cab of the car. All eyes turned to me, including Dan’s in the rearview mirror.
“I always finish what I fucking start; make no mistake about that. We’ll leave this shit up to Catarina. She’s an adult, right?” I didn’t wait for him to answer as I continued, “She decides. As far as us—you and me—I’m not discussing this shit another second. Fuck, I haven’t even seen her a full hour yet, and you’re giving me shit about her. How in the hell do I have any clue what is going to happen? Whatever happens, though, Val, you need to stay out of it. Understood?”
He clenched his jaw, clearly not liking anything I had to say. The entire conversation was weird to me. Why the hell was he warding me off something I hadn’t even gone for yet? The problem with that was she only intrigued me more. Him warding me off of her only dragged the pull I felt toward her deeper.
“Val, let it go. He’s right,” Ace chimed in. “If she wants to fuck him, she can. What’s the harm in it, anyway? After tonight, she’ll know better than to put her heart on the line.”
His words pissed me off. It felt like he was saying I wasn’t fucking good enough for Catarina. However, I let the comment go and peered at Ace in the front seat. From his profile, no malice was intended from his words, but shit if it didn’t cut me. I was definitely good enough for her, probably the fucking best. Fuck, listen to me. This whole conversation needed to end.
“Fine. I’ll be here to clean up the shit-filled mess after it’s over,” Val grumbled, looking out the window like a petulant child, making me wonder how the hell he was running his crew here. Surely he didn’t act like that all the time, because if he did, there were bigger problems there than his sister.
I neededto get my ass moving. Breakfast had to wait, but coffee was a must. There was no way in hell I would be late to a meeting with Remeo Capella and give him any excuses to call me out. He had called this fucking meeting months ago, and after the events of the night before, I was sure he would be pissed as hell and have even more to discuss.
I called in Dan and Brett, my other guard, last night and had them bring in some reinforcements. I took no fucking chances with my safety. Don’t get me wrong, I could take care of myself, but with the actions taken last night, anything was possible.
When I got the call from Remeo, I wondered why, after all this time of pushing Lambardoni product from the West Coast, he was dead insistent that I come and meet with him personally, especially having Vino and Sal so close by. After bringing up my suspicions to the boss and underboss, they had a talk with him.
Apparently, he wanted to expand his distribution channels, but he wanted a face-to-face with me because I handled that part of the business. I was actually surprised Vino and Sal had let him get away with that shit, but they all went way back, so I was there and I would deal.
“Arms up.” The beefy guy had nothing on Dan who was to my left, ready to take out this asshole.
Dan could wipe the slate clean with this joker who thought he was some type of badass from the way he stood with his spine straight and a blank air of authority around him. I stared into his eyes, and a spark flashed within them. Set-up clattered in my head. No fucking way.
“No. If Capella sees me, I’m armed, and my men are armed, or the meeting doesn’t happen.” I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans, giving off a nonchalant vibe, my guns tucked away for convenience.
Most men in this business wore business suits or dress pants, not me. Fuck that. There were occasions where I would dress up, but I refused to wear that shit on a daily basis. Especially when I had been fucking summoned by someone who worked for me.
As beefy man stared at me, sizing me up, I let him take in his fill without saying a word. Finally, after long minutes and realizing I wasn’t relenting, he pulled out his cell, dialing.
