Page 13 of Fortress of the King

beguiling green eyes looking up at me under long lashes. Hearing her purr my name,Mr. Medici.

That tight skirt.

The way her blouse didn’t give me any cleavage to devour only makes me wonder about what she looks like naked. I bet she has a tight sweet pussy, too; one I’d worship like it was a prize.

I need to know her, find out what her story is, wine her, dine her and fuck her senseless, over and over again. That’ll cure this idiocy. That’ll get her out of my system. Even though I already told myself I wouldn’t.

I start to pump my hips at the thought, oh yeah that’s what I want,the chase.

I need something different—someone who will challenge me. Bedding compliant women are getting kind of boring, not that I wouldn’t love to see Rayne submit to me, kneel at my feet while I grasp her hair as she sucks me off. That’d be a sight I’d love to see.

I groan as I shoot my load hard and fast, like a fucking teenager, all over my stomach and onto my imported silk sheets that cost a fortune. And this is what I’ve resorted to, fucking my own goddamn hand.

Life couldn’t get much worse if this is what I’m resorting to.

I need to see her again.

I need her right fucking now.

* * *

I know I dreamt about Lucia. My wife.

I should have gotten up the first time I woke, even though I felt like shit, but I fell back into a hazy sleep.

I hate the dreams I have about her, the nightmares. It rattles me every time.

I was married once, though it seems like a lifetime’s gone by; I gave up counting years ago. We fell in love a few years after college. Back then, the business wasn’t what it is today.

My father mainly had Italian restaurants scattered around the city, and he and Mario worked hard building and buying everything they could. Blood, sweat, and tears are my family’s motto, and it paid off.

Lucia died in a car accident when I was only twenty-three, she was carrying our unborn child.

The horror of that day ultimately changed me, it altered my state of mind, and everything I thought was good in the world slowly faded. There really wasn’t any good to be had if my beautiful Lucia could be gone. I spent a lot of time on a downward spiral, and Mario is the one who got me through it.

After my father passed away, Mario began training Roberto and me from an early age to take over the business one day. I’ve always been firm but after Lucia, everything changed. I changed.

When we lost Roberto, I knew that Mario saw me like another son, that he would pass the reins onto me, and I couldn’t decline. There is no out in this business.

I never wanted it, that’s the truth. I didn’t need or want the power, ever. Then slowly, over time, I began to change.

Mario taught me everything. The good but chiefly the bad. How to bleed someone out without them passing out, how to inflict pain to make our enemies talk. How to not lose sight of yourself with all the power and the demands required of the Don.

I watched, and I learned how he controlled things.

He started off in the rougher parts of the city, gaining power and trust from all demographics, creating loyalty amongst our people, alliances so thick that no one could possibly break the forcefield. People respect the Medici name, but not everyone toes the line, and our enemies lurk on every street corner. You never know where your next blow will come from, and that’s how it is in a crime family.

Not only did Mario teach me about violence and vengeance, but he also taught me about finances and how to acquire property and then sell it for a profit.

It took a number of years, but I was able to secure the land to build what now houses the Fortress Compound and the security business that offers state-of-the-art security, including cameras, fences, guards, and twenty-four-hour patrols.

We supply security and surveillance to most high falutin’ businesses like banks, high-end designer stores, resorts, and casinos. I’m proud of it. To achieve what I set out to in my thirties is a dream come true.

Each and every day, I think of Lucia and what path we would have gone down and, why she was taken from me, why I would never get to meet my unborn child. It’s a hurt I never share, and I’ve never spoken of it to anyone except Mario and Enzo. Some pain just gets buried so deep, like with my father, I barely know it’s there until my nightmares remind me. And they always come.

I loved her with every fiber of my being, with everything I had to give. That was when I was good.

There is nothing good about me now.

My only mission in life is to make Mario proud and keep my city and its citizens where I need them to be. I’ve lost too much and sacrificed many to get here. Now Mario is really sick and past the point of ever ruling again, so I must be the fearless leader everyone expects. The one I was taught to be.

My mask is firmly in place, and there is no one and nothing that will knock me off my throne. But like everything in life that constantly changes, life moves on. It either takes you along for the ride, if you’re willing, or it chews you up and spits you out, leaving only part of your soul intact, the rest of you changed forever.

To protect myself, I’ve had to be soulless. I’ve had to develop a switch that I flip whenever I want. And I thought I had it under control.I thought I was untouchable.

But then, everything changed.

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