Page 30 of Claimed By Him

“Yes, you have!” Obviously, I told Ari all about it as soon as Gio dropped me at her place. “You got yourself one amazing sugar daddy. I mean wow! That picture you showed me? Major hot-grandpa vibes!”

“It’s so weird!” I laughed. “But somehow it feels so much better than anyone else on that stupid list.”

“You know what?” She lifted a finger and sipped on her straw before continuing. “It’s because other men have let you down. Young men, fatherly types, big brother types.” She widened her eyes and nodded, referring to Tony. “So, you’re just yearning for someone extremely stable! You know he’s not going anywhere, the chances of him cheating on you are slim, and he’s got rock-solid financial stability! What could be better?”

“You’re so right. It’s a comfort zone I’m dying to be in.”

“Precisely.”

“Now, I just need to get all the club dancing out of my system before I marry him and mature into a classy old-money lady.”

I perched with my back straight and my hands on my knees, making Ari break into a series of her own lady-like poses.

Right in the back of my mind, I knew I felt sad. It was impossible to not mourn the fact that I would never be with Tony. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted it until he showed me in his bedroom, but now I had to suck it up and accept the fact that that one night was all I was ever going to get. At least I got that one night, right?

Yeah, I’d be fine without him. Totally.

13

Tony

“Who sent you here?”

I held the piece of shit scum by the neck of his T-shirt while kneeling over his body.

“No on—”

Doof!

I punched him in the face. “Who sent you here?”

“I promise—”

Doof!

“This fucking cunt,” I muttered to myself and pulled out my pocketknife, flipping it open, and pinning it against his neck. “I said, who, the fuck, sent you here?”

Ace and another five of our guys stood around me, waiting for their turn. They found this idiot selling powder behind Gianna’s Diner, right under our fucking noses. I couldn’t believe the stupidity, but I was thankful because now I had the chance to send out a message, if not get some information about who was behind these illicit sales.

The man mumbled something through his swollen, bloodied lips, and I leaned in to hear him.

“Com…” He spat blood out. “Coma, mierda!”

“Fucking scum.” I shoved him to the ground and stood up. “Have at it, boys.”

I turned around and lit a cigarette to the sound of Ace and the guys kicking the Columbian. Hit after hit caused him to cry out in pain, but eventually, the man’s grunts stopped, and it became deadly thumping sounds. When I turned back, Ace was kneeling over him, looking at his face.

“He’s still there, boss. Should we keep—”

“Don’t bother.” I held my cigarette between my lips, pulled out my knife again, and shoved it into his neck. His eyes shot open one last time, and the sounds of gurgling blood came from his mouth.

“Nice.” Ace nodded, clearly amused.

I pulled out a small rag from my back pocket and wiped my knife clean while talking to the guys. “Put him on the street, the same one you found him in. If anyone asks, you say his people must fetch him before the cops do. They must walk right up and show us their faces if they want his body back.”

“Yes, boss!” the guys said in unison.

“Call me if you find any more dealers. I’m pulling our boys from the streets. We’re gonna dry this side of town out until those bastards crawl out from the cracks to serve the junkies. Got it?”

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